Alcaraz defends Wimbledon crown with straight-sets final win

Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic in a surprisingly one-sided encounter to win Wimbledon on Sunday in London, claiming his fourth Grand Slam and second of the year.

The 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory was a stark contrast to the pair’s five-set epic played in the Wimbledon final this time last year.

Tennis bookmakers predicted a tight clash, with Alcaraz at -142.86 and Djokovic close behind on +120.

However, the Spaniard played some of his best tennis this year, while Djokovic was below par, resulting in an anti-climactic decider.

Alcaraz makes perfect start

Alcaraz came out of the blocks fast, breaking Djokovic’s serve in an opening game that stretched well over 10 minutes.

While the fierce nature of the first game seemed to signal that another marathon match was cooking, instead it was the beginning of Alcaraz’s domination.

The 21-year-old raced out to a 4-1 lead in the first set, collecting another break in Djokovic’s third service game as well.

The Serbian was far from his best, netting routine backhands and making a plethora of errors at the net, but Alcaraz brought a tremendous level too.

The recent Roland-Garros champion was hitting winners from the word go, peeling off 12 in the first set to move ahead after 41 minutes.

In the second set and start of the third, it was more of the same.

Djokovic persisted in playing an aggressive game, approaching the net regularly and attempting to shorten points.

Alcaraz hit brilliant passing shots, returned phenomenally, and was excellent on serve.

The result was another 6-2 set in the second, and an early break gained in the third.

Djokovic gives flicker of hope

Just when it seemed as though Djokovic would be limping to defeat in barely two hours, the 24-time Grand Slam champion found some magic.

Facing down triple championship point at 5-4, 40-0 on Alcaraz’s serve, Djokovic defied the odds and won five points in a row to break back.

He then forced a tiebreaker, giving himself a chance of taking the match to a fourth set.

However, more brilliance from Alcaraz — this time a deft dropshot — gave the third seed the edge.

There would be no mistake on championship point this time around, with Alcaraz sealing the victory in two hours, 27 minutes.

Alcaraz becomes youngest player to win ‘Channel Slam’

While Alcaraz is still a way away from Djokovic’s 24 Grand Slams, he did break another record with his victory.

The Spaniard became the youngest player to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season, known as the ‘Channel Slam’.

But the 21-year-old is not resting on his laurels.

“Obviously I’ve seen and I’ve heard all the stats that I am the youngest to win at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon the same year,” he said in his post-match press conference.

“I honestly try not to think about it too much.

“Obviously, it’s a really great start of my career, but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my path.

“At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table as the big guys.

“That’s my main goal. That’s my dream right now.

“It doesn’t matter if I already won four Grand Slams at the age of 21.

“If I don’t keep going, all these tournaments for me, it doesn’t matter. I really want to keep going.

“I will try to keep winning and end my career with a lot of Grand Slam titles.”

Next up, Alcaraz will head back to Paris for the Olympics in late July, where he is a +200 favourite at Marantelli Bet to add a gold medal to his resume.

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