An hour after one of the biggest occasions of his career had ended in despair, Carlos Alcaraz was still processing how things had gone so badly wrong during his French Open semi-final against Novak Djokovic. With the match level after two intense but hardly overwhelming sets, Alcaraz’s body began to cramp. In the final two sets, he was uncompetitive until the end.
After such a disappointing outcome, many other players might have tried to play down the events on the court, trying not to give away too much information to rivals, or might even have been too distraught to offer any kind of explanation. It was striking how frank and honest Alcaraz was. He admitted he had simply been too tense and those nerves had caused his cramps. While he usually tackles the pressure moments with a smile, nerves had been present in the pit of his stomach throughout the day and, eventually, they consumed him.
Perhaps that honesty, with the world but most important with himself, is why the 20-year-old Spaniard has been able to bounce back so easily. For some players, such a dramatic physical collapse would have lingered for some time and affected them for months.
After a few days of partying with his friends in Ibiza, Alcaraz, the world No 1, returned to practice on a surface still foreign to him, and he has now won 11 matches in a row on grass. At the next possible opportunity, he has forced another meeting with the Australian and French Open champion.
There is no doubt that Alcaraz has the weapons to break down Djokovic’s supreme defences and potentially to defeat him. Over the past 11 matches, he has shown remarkable improvement on grass, gaining far greater comfort with his movement and learning how his offence and variety can thrive on the surface. He has arrived in the final under ideal circumstances, having played the best grass-court match of his life against Daniil Medvedev.
It seems unlikely that Alcaraz will suffer another nervous cramping episode. The circumstances in Paris, with the Spaniard actually going into his first grand slam match against Djokovic widely considered the favourite owing to the Serb’s dire form, were unique. Still, whether Alcaraz can withstand the mental challenge Djokovic presents and perform at his best is another question.
It feels as if the seven-time champion has not really needed to get his game out of third gear at Wimbledon so far. He has played well, but he also has a deep toolbox of shots and contingency plans that he has hardly had to use. This tournament has been yet another reminder of how far ahead Djokovic is. He remains a complete player, but most fall at the first hurdle of being prepared to match him mentally over five sets.
Djokovic’s mental superiority over the field is best represented by his record 15 consecutive grand slam tie-breaks won. “I think the longer the streak goes, I guess mentally the more resilient or tougher I am in these particular situations,” he said.
As Alcaraz tries to rise up and produce a career-defining win, Djokovic has reached an interesting point on his own career path. After spending so much time chasing down the accomplishments of his two great rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, he is now finally in clear air as the men’s all-time grand slam record holder.
There will, of course, always be records to chase. On Sunday, Djokovic will attempt to equal Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles, win his fifth in a row and extend his men’s record to 24 grand slam titles. He is achieving things that no player aged over 30 has ever done.
But it also seems clear that Djokovic is now strongly motivated by the challenge of holding off the younger generation for as long as he can, and he has become increasingly buoyant and open about doing so. These days, he is practically laughing in their faces. “I know that they want to get a scalp, they want to get a win,” he said earlier in the tournament. “But it ain’t happening. Still.”
Djokovic will face the new leader and highest-profile player of the next generation, a player who has finally broken away from the rest of the field and put himself on the path towards potential greatness. The match-up has been highly anticipated since the start of the tournament, by players and onlookers alike. How satisfying it would be for Djokovic if he could further delay another prospective successor’s rise.
This article was amended on 16 July 2023. An earlier version said that Novak Djokovic had won a record “13 consecutive tie-breaks”. In fact, his record stands at 15 consecutive grand slam tie-breaks.
