Sensational Alcaraz is the new Tennis King

“Let’s have a feast,” Novak Djokovic had said on the eve of the Wimbledon final against the Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz hinting at the hunger that the two had for the coveted title. In the end, it was a feast without doubt with the pulsating final stretching to the limit. Only, in the end, it was a case of one King departing and a new Prince getting coronated! The Spanish delight, it must be said just swept away the dreams of a Serbian great on the threshold of a new peak in his career. Imagine standing at the doorsteps of a 24th Grand Slam title and with form and intent clearly favouring the experienced warrior on the court! Djokovic seemed ready for the big occasion, but the moment for that exalted position just slipped away, at least for the time being. The 36-year-old had to bow down to the youthful exuberance and skills of an opponent, 16 years his junior!

In that over four hours of intense contest testing the physical and mental skills of both players to the extreme several possible records that Djokovic seemed set for grasping slipped away even as a new star was sighted on the tennis horizon. A victory would have put the Serbian well on the road to becoming the first male player since 1969 to complete a calendar Grand Slam aside from clinching his 24th Grand Slam title, which no male player has achieved. He could have been the oldest Wimbledon champion, but instead, Alcaraz rose to become the third youngest victor after Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg. There were so many more achievable highs for the Serb. He could have joined Roger Federer in the all-time men’s list with eight Wimbledon crowns. Besides, he retained the feat of never seen defeat on the hallowed centre court since the 2013 loss in the final to Andy Murray.

Statistics can go on, but they can hardly reflect what transpired in the final, where each had a goal, and as it turned out, the young man from Spain just seemed destined for the big time. Who would have thought when the final had hardly started and still young, things would turn this way? Djokovic seemed to run away in haste as he pocketed the first set in quick time. Things began to happen from there, and in keeping with the occasion the mystery began in the face of the mastery of both players. If there was a whiff of a Federer in the way Alcaraz sent his whipping forehand crosscourt shots, then Djokovic defied his age in the way he rushed to the court to counter his young rival’s measured drops, tumbling and rolling over! Still, the contest had gone on an even scale for those initial parts, but unpredictability was the theme on this Sunday to keep the vast crowd of fans and millions across the globe guessing till the end.

For one so young, Alcaraz has been in the thick of action in international tennis for some time now. What is more, he has one Grand Slam title in his pocket already, the U S Open win last year. There again, the Spaniard had shown his ability to cling on with a kind of resilience that was to highlight his supreme talent. This was particularly given his quarterfinal success over Jannik Sinner of Italy. The match went over 5 hours and set a new record as the second-longest match in the history of the US Open. Alcaraz went on from there to win the US Open and in the process become not only the youngest World number one but the youngest men’s champion since Pete Sampras in 1990. The Spaniard was well on the way. He had beaten Djokovic once in the Madrid Open last year, and so that sense of a hurdle in his mind too was over. Yet, Wimbledon was special and that too the manner in which he achieved everything getting crystallised at the last minute, so to say.

To many aficionados, the Wimbledon final and the way Alcaraz triumphed must have brought memories of how Federer brought down Sampras back in 2001. For the American that seemed the first signal of the end of his era. Later, on the same court, another Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, had beaten Federer to force the focus on him from there on. Now is history repeating with another Spaniard taking the big step to stardom. Alcaraz had been giving the impression of being the future tennis lately, and Wimbledon perhaps has given a confirmation. Djokovic showed grace in himself in the end by acknowledging the rising power of this young man and praising him for the way he had adapted to the surface. But for Alcaraz, the true test starts now as he has to keep intact his freshly gained attention as one of the game’s best.

Indeed, it would be too early to write off the iconic Djokovic as yet. The Serb is not one who would leave the scene that way. He still has in him to spring surprises aplenty, and next month in America, he will have something to exhibit in the US Open. After all, there are promises to keep, and the Serb certainly would not like to retract that. Alcaraz, enriched by the experience in Wimbledon would need to raise such winning moments against Djokovic a few more times to cement his place at the top. For one who began to dream of tennis at the tender age of three when a racket was presented to him, the journey has been steady since. He has already recorded over 100 career wins in his relentless march ahead. For now, the question after Nadal, who is from Spain, has been answered in a stunning way!