As this is being written, both history and retribution are being served on the iconic Centre Court at Wimbledon.
As CNN’s Sam Joseph reported in his preview:
It is the rematch that tennis fans have been waiting for.
Carlos Alcaraz is looking to defend his Wimbledon men’s singles title on Sunday when he takes on seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
The pair played out a thrilling five-set epic in 2023, with Alcaraz eventually prevailing 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 in a match that lasted nearly five hours.
But for Djokovic, there is still more at stake. Such as unqualified immortality:
Djokovic is level with Margaret Court for most grand slam titles of all time with 24…He will have the opportunity to tie Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and become the standalone record holder for most major titles.
Djokovic is revered, but hardly as universally embraced and loved as some of the sport’s recently departed veterans, such as the Williams sisters and Roger Federer, nor the soon-to-retire Rafael Nadal, who exited this year’s Championships in the first round. But this year, he is far and away the emotional favorite with a potential true comeback story:
Djokovic enters the final as the fresher of the two players, having spent less time on court than Alcaraz and receiving a walkover in the quarterfinals after the withdrawal of ninth seed Alex de Minaur.
He has only been taken into a fourth set twice – by Jacob Fearnley in the second round and Alex Popyrin in the third – and looks to be replicating the form that has seen him hoist the men’s singles trophy on seven previous occasions.
All of that is almost miraculous given that he had knee surgery a few weeks ago.
The world No. 2 suffered a meniscus tear during his fourth-round win at Roland-Garros against Francisco Cerúndolo and was forced to pull out of the tournament, ceding his position at the top of the rankings to Jannik Sinner after becoming the oldest ever world No. 1 earlier this year.
Alcaraz is the future and is rapidly emerging as the face of the sport. Handsome, an aggressive player and already well on his way to someday reaching legendary status:
Alcaraz is now a three-time major champion after winning the French Open last month…(and) ended Djokovic’s 10-year, 46-game unbeaten streak on Centre Court last year.
The world No. 3 won his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title in March as he retained his Indian Wells title and defeated Alexander Zverev in a grueling five-setter to win his maiden French Open in June.
“He’s one of the greatest 21-year-olds we’ve ever seen and we’re going to see a lot of him in the future, no doubt,” Djokovic told the BBC when asked about his opponent after his semifinal against Lorenzo Musetti. “He’s going to win many grand slams, but hopefully not in two days.”
As the finishing touches on this post are happening, Alcaraz is virtually a lock to win the first two sets, and by the time most of you read this the final result will be in the books. I’m all for progress, but when we’re this close to something this definitively determinant of who is the absolutely most winning player of all time, particularly for someone whose career trajectory had been decidedly southward for most of the last year, I can’t help but hope against hope Djokovic’s wishes come true.
We shall soon see.
Courage…