Wimbledon 2024: Not a final for the ages but Alcaraz is a player for them

By James Toney at Wimbledon

That's the problem with Gen Z ... too much, too young. Carlos Alcaraz, just 21, retained his Wimbledon title in dominant fashion and, worryingly for the rest, it doesn't look like his game is close to complete. He was very good but how good he could still be, that's a story still left unwritten.

If the early stages of his Wimbledon defence had looked a little rusty, this 6-2 6-2 7-6 final win over Novak Djokovic was a gleaming example of his all-court game.

Fizzing serves, thumping forehands, and delicate drop shots, with a clenched fist and 'vamos'; it's a joy to watch and surely hell on earth to play against.

Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion playing in his tenth final, looked lost for answers—on the ropes from the start as his rival pummelled winners and punished mistakes. It was brutal and beautiful in equal measure.

"I don't know what more I could have done," admitted Djokovic. "I was inferior on the court; he played every single shot better than I did. He played some very complete tennis and he had it all.

"I tried to push him but it wasn't meant to be. From the very beginning, you could see he was at least half a step better than I am in every way."

We've just lived through a gilded age of men's tennis —millennials Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Djokovic with 20, 22, and 24 major wins between them.

They had each other to deny them more success and spur them on too; in contrast, Alcaraz has a much clearer path to a plinth of his own in the pantheon of legends.

After two decades in which we've argued about who was the greatest, he could take that debate and own it. What he might achieve, if he stays fit and healthy, is almost limitless.

This win makes him the youngest player to win four Slam titles; Nadal was 11 months older when he did it but those wins all came on clay. His compatriot has won on every surface and now heads to the Olympics as favourite for gold too.

"I know very few players have done this, it's unbelievable," said Alcaraz, who becomes only the sixth male player to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year; the king of clay and the guv'nor of grass.

"I've heard all the stats that I've achieved, I honestly try not to think about it too much," he insisted. "It's a great start to my career but I need to keep going and keep building my path.

"At the end of my career I want to sit at the same table as the big guys, that's what motivates me, it doesn't matter if I've won four Grand Slams at 21 if I don't keep going. I want to win a lot of them.

"I'm just happy with the work that I'm doing, I'm very proud of how my career is going. I need to keep improving, keep growing up, keep winning. I don't know what my limit is, I don't want to think about it."

The first game gave hope we could be in for a repeat of last year's five-set classic, a mini-epic in what was hoped would be an unfolding opus. It lasted 13 rollercoaster minutes, before Alcaraz eventually converted a flurry of break point opportunities following seven deuces.

However, it was clear the Spaniard had a football match to watch and it took just another 27 minutes to wrap up the first set, Alcaraz's serve unerring as he relentlessly tugged his rival from side to side.

The second set was more of the same, also wrapped up with a couple of breaks, Djokovic struggling to impose himself on the best player in the world, who was playing like he was from another planet.

Tom Cruise was watching in the royal box, but this was surely already a Mission Impossible for the Serb; no player had ever come from two sets down to win a Wimbledon men's final in the Open Era.

You didn't expect to be searching for the shortest Wimbledon final on record — Fred Perry won in 1936 in just 40 minutes - but that's just how one-sided this was.

David Nalbandian only won six games against Lleyton Hewitt in 2002 and Marin Cilic just eight against Roger Federer seven years ago.

Djokovic, always with a keen eye on his place in tennis history, rallied during a closer third set and even broke Alcaraz for the first time when he inexplicably spurned three championship points.

However, the defending champion bossed the tie-break to close out his straight sets win, with three hours to spare before kick-off.

After two consecutive final defeats, Djokovic, 37, gave short shrift to talk this could be his last appearance here—and rightly so. It's also worth noting, just five weeks ago he was undergoing knee surgery, an injury most medics thought gave him no chance of even playing.

"I don't have any limitations in my mind," he added. "I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play at this high level."

But you know that Djokovic is in a battle with the relentless march of time; Alcaraz, he's got time on his side.