Novak Djokovic achieves a record he never wanted! (Provided by Tennis World UK)
Novak Djokovic gave his best in his ninth Wimbledon title on Sunday, aiming for his eighth title and hoping to equal Roger Federer’s record. Instead, Novak suffered his first Wimbledon final defeat since 2013, beating Carlos Alcaraz 1-6 7-6 6-1 3-6 6-4 in four hours and 42 minutes.
So Djokovic is now 23-12 in the major finals and has a negative record. He is the only player with 12 runners-up titles, leaving Ivan Lendl and Roger Federer with 11! Of course, you have to play a lot of major finals to get on that list and Novak stands alone at 35. The Serb tops the rankings with 23 major titles and is now the only player with 12 defeats in the finals.
Djokovic has been thriving in the major finals since Wimbledon 2018, 11-2, dominating the crucial encounters, suffering only losses to Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev. Now, 20-year-old Alcaraz is also on this list, stepping in his first Wimbledon final where he made history in a five set match.
Novak Djokovic is the only player with 12 losses in major finals.
Both players grabbed five breaks, with the youngster scoring in crucial moments.
Novak started perfectly and secured the first set in 34 minutes. He also had a set point in the second set tiebreaker that could have given him a clear lead. However, his backhand shot let him down and Carlos won the tiebreaker 8-6 to level the aggregate after two hours. The Spaniard ended Djokovic’s streak of 15 consecutive tiebreak wins at this year’s Majors to win of momentum.
Carlos dominated Novak in the third set, taking serve from him three times, the same number of times Novak was broken in the previous six matches before the final! The fifth game included 13 debut games and 32 points, lasted 27 minutes and cost Djokovic a lot of energy.
Carlos capitalized on the seventh break point when Novak netted a forehand to gain a massive advantage and drain the veteran’s power. The Spaniard held on 15 points in game six and a little later secured the set with another break and a massive advantage going into the fourth set. Novak enjoyed a lengthy break, fending off two break points in the second game to end his decline.
The Serb upped his level on returns, earning breaks in games five and nine to win the set 6-3. He was ready to do his best and maintain his excellent record in five-set Wimbledon matches.They missed a break point in games one and two of the final set, with Djokovic netting a volley stop in the second game that would cost him dearly.
Carlos earned the decisive break opportunity with a backhand win in the third game and got closer to the goal. Alcaraz served for the title at a score of 5-4 and held by 30 points after forcing Djokovic’s error to win his second major title in 20 years.
2023-07-18 18:14:51
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