Novak Djokovic made not one but two brutally honest admissions following his Wimbledon final loss, saying he was “inferior” to Carlos Alcaraz on the court and admitting that he is not currently on Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s level.
On Sunday, Djokovic suffered one of his most brutal Grand Slam final losses after Alcaraz ousted him in just three sets 6-2 6-2 7-6 (4). After starting the match with a break, Alcaraz claimed another break in the fifth game before serving out for the opener in the eighth game.
Right from the start of the match, Alcaraz pressed Djokovic hard and broke the Serb in the opening game that lasted 14 minutes.
After easily winning the first set, Alcaraz didn’t slow at the start of the second set, breaking Djokovic in the very first game of the set. Six games later, the 21-year-old broke the record 24-time Grand Slam champion again to go 5-2 up before closing out the set on his serve in the following game.
Having a two-set lead and having dropped just four games through the opening two sets, Alcaraz continued to play well but Djokovic also raised his level. Still, Alcaraz claimed a break in the ninth game but then stunningly missed out on three consecutive championship points in the 10th game. However, the 21-year-old Spaniard remained laser-focused and opened a 6-4 lead in the third-set tie-break before realizing his fourth championship point.
“The way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court. He was a better player. That’s it. He played every single shot better than I did. I don’t think I could’ve done much more… he wasn’t allowing me to have free points on my serve,” Djokovic said.
“He played with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way. 136. I’ve never seen him serve that fast. He must’ve had a really good serving practice day yesterday. He really outplayed me… he was better than me in every aspect of the game.”
Djokovic: I’m not at Alcaraz and Sinner’s level
At the start of this season, Djokovic suffered his first Australian Open loss since 2018 after Sinner beat him 6-1 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-3 in the semifinal at Melbourne Park. During that match, Djokovic also didn’t look well at all during the first two sets but managed to win the third set. But when the fourth set started, Sinner quickly got back on the track and sealed the deal in four sets.
“Being able to reach the final of Wimbledon gives a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a matchup today against the best player in the world right now for sure, other than Jannik, both of them are the best this year by far… I feel like I’m not at that level,” Djokovic said.
“In order to really have a chance to beat these guys in the Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m gonna have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today. It’s not something I haven’t experienced before in my life.. in the face of adversity, normally I rise, learn, & get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.”
What Djokovic said about Alcaraz after the Wimbledon final?
After breaking Djokovic and giving himself a chance to serve out for the match, Alcaraz had 40/0 on his serve. At that point, it seemed that Djokovic’s fate was sealed. But then, the Serbian former world No. 1 won the next five points to get his first break of the match and stay in the match.
Later, Alcaraz completed his win in three sets but also praised Djokovic for getting back in the match when he had his back turned against the wall.
“It was 40/0 but I was seeing [the trophy] so far away. Djokovic is an unbelievable fighter and I knew he was going to have his chances again, so I had to stay there. I tried to win the point with the serve, but I couldn’t,” Alcaraz said.
“It was difficult for me. I tried to stay calm, I tried to stay positive at that situation, going into the tie-break, and I tried to play my best tennis. That’s all I was thinking about. I’m really glad that at the end I could find the solution and I’m happy to be in this situation.”
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