by Layne Liberg

Image Courtesy of People.com

Carlos Alcaraz, a US Open champion, took on the all time great, Novak Djokovic – a name that would strike fear into any tennis player with his 7 championships at Wimbledon. These two tennis players with incredible skill sets competed in the 2023 finals to see who would take the gold home. The up and coming star, Carlos Alcaraz, defeated the seasoned veteran, Novak Djokovic, which has begun a new Tennis rivalry. They faced off again at Cincinnati. Since this was not a big tournament, there were only three sets. Djokovic was exhausted by the end of this match but fought hard and won.

 In Wimbledon, after a back and forth game, and full of skill and strategy, Carlos Alcaraz took home the gold by beating Novak Djokovic on a grass court. Djokovic is well known for how dominant he is on grass, However, Alcaraz applied pressure when needed. This brought Djokovic to his limit. The strategies implied were a key factor to the success of Alcaraz. The two were nearly matched in skill so skill was not the focus.

 Alcaraz had a bumpy start but after the first set, he started to gain momentum. In the first set, the Spaniard played it aggressively. However, Djokovic answered back and destroyed Alcaraz. It was an embarrassing first set for Alcaraz, but he started to change his tactics, including hitting the ball higher so the wind could move it around, playing it more safe and focusing on nice slices, and applying pressure when he had the lead. Djokovic was replying to all of the shots fired at him but Alcaraz applied pressure. A few similar sets later, Djokovic made a terrible mistake that was his downfall. After a nice hit by Alcaraz, Djokovic slammed his racket against a post. This caused his hand to hurt for the next set.  Djokovic could not return any serves that were being hit at him. This lasted for the game, so this gave time for Alcarazto run all across the court and use his normal techniques. 

For the rest of the match, Alcaraz saved most shots being hit at him and hit the ball back with even greater force. Djokovic was falling behind, so Alcaraz kept using this pressure by hitting lob shots above him and hitting drop shots in front of him. Similarly, Alcaraz was returning drop shots and lob shots being hit by Djokovic . Both men played hard but Alcaraz hit the game winning point and fell on the grass in exhaustion. After his amazing victory, Alcaraz was very grateful just to be playing against Djokovic: “Even if I had lost, I would have been really proud of myself” Many celebrities were amongst the millions of fans. Some famous people that were spotted in the crowd include: Princess Charlotte, Prince George, The King of Spain, Brad Pitt, Ariana Grande, and Tom Hiddleston. There is no doubt that Alcaraz has a very promising future in tennis, and the world of tennis is excited to see where this rivalry will go in the future. 

Works Cited 

Futterman, Matthew. “Alcaraz Wins Wimbledon in a Thrilling Comeback against Djokovic.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 July 2023, http://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/16/sports/tennis/wimbledon-carlos-alcaraz-novak-djokovic.html.

Marzorati, Gerald. “At Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz Defeated Novak Djokovic by Being Himself.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 17 July 2023, http://www.newyorker.com/sports/sporting-scene/at-wimbledon-carlos-alcaraz-defeated-novak-djokovic-by-being-himself.

Roenigk, Alyssa. “Carlos Alcaraz Stops Novak Djokovic to Win 1st Wimbledon Title.” ESPN, ESPN Internet Ventures, 16 July 2023, http://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38020644/carlos-alcaraz-stops-novak-djokovic-win-1st-wimbledon-title.