Also participating in men’s doubles with Nadal Fast winning speed compared to the ‘Big 3’ Spain to win Wimbledon and Euro 2024
Alcaraz the winner
Carlos Alcaraz (3rd, Spain), born in 2003, swept the French Open and Wimbledon this year and stood tall as the best.
Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic (2nd, Serbia) 3-0 (6-2 6-2 7-6<7-4>) in the men’s singles final of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships held at the All England Club in London, England on the 14th (local time).
Alcaraz, who also defeated Djokovic in last year’s final, won the 2022 US Open, Wimbledon last year, and the French Open and Wimbledon this year, increasing the number of major singles titles he has won to four.
With this, Alcaraz’s chances of winning a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, which opens at the end of this month, have also brightened.
This year’s Paris Olympics will be held at the Stade Roland Garros, where the French Open was held in June.
Alcaraz, this year’s French Open champion, has won eight of his 15 ATP Tour singles titles, more than half, on clay.
Based on recent trends, the only players who could threaten Alcaraz at the Paris Olympics are Yannick Sinner (No. 1, Italy) and Djokovic.
However, Sinner has only won one of her 14 singles titles at tour-level or higher on clay. She lost 2-3 (6-2 3-6 6-3 4-6 3-6) to Alcaraz in the French Open semifinals this year.
Djokovic also has not shown a strong performance in the French Open, and as seen in the Wimbledon final on the 14th, his knee condition is not yet normal.
Djokovic withdrew from the French Open quarterfinals last month with a knee injury, underwent surgery shortly thereafter and played in Wimbledon wearing a brace on his right knee.
Alcaraz, who has been on a tear recently, is also expected to compete in the men’s doubles with Rafael Nadal (Spain) at the Paris Olympics, so there is talk of him possibly winning both the singles and doubles titles.
If Alcaraz wins the singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics and wins the Australian Open in January 2025, he will achieve a ‘career golden grand slam’ in his early 20s.
Only two players have achieved a ‘career golden grand slam’ in men’s singles, winning all four majors and the Olympics: Andre Agassi (USA) and Nadal.
You can get a sense of Alcaraz’s recent rise when compared to the ‘Big 3’ players who have dominated men’s tennis for nearly 20 years: Roger Federer (Switzerland), Nadal, and Djokovic.
At 21, Alcaraz, a four-time major singles champion, is older than Nadal (22), Federer (23) and Djokovic (24).
Also, the number of major tournament matches played by those who achieved their 4th major tournament singles title is 69 for Alcaraz, 79 for Federer, 81 for Nadal, and 134 for Djokovic.
At this point, Alcaras has the highest winning percentage in major tournaments at 85.5% (59 wins, 10 losses). Next is Nadal at 84% (68 wins, 13 losses).
Alcaraz is the second player to achieve a record of 4 wins in a major tournament singles final, following Federer. Federer had a winning streak of 7 wins in a row.
In an interview after winning Wimbledon, Alcaraz said, “Winning Wimbledon has been a dream I’ve had since I was little,” and added, “I’m happy to be able to lift this wonderful trophy again on such a beautiful court.”
Regarding his failure to protect a 40-0 lead in his serve game when the game score was 5-4 in the third set, he said, “It was a critical moment where I missed the opportunity to end the match because Djokovic was so good, but I tried to keep my composure as much as possible.”
“It’s an honour to be compared to those great players,” said the sixth player to have swept the French Open and Wimbledon men’s singles in the same year, adding, “I don’t think I’m at the same level as them yet and I will continue to work hard to improve.”
Since 1968, when professional players were allowed to compete in major tournaments, only five players have won both the French Open and Wimbledon men’s singles in the same year: Rod Laver (Australia), Björn Borg (Sweden), Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.
Djokovic, who was completely defeated by Alcaras that day, also admitted defeat, saying, “Alcaras played better than me to the point that I couldn’t do anything more,” and “He understood my serve exactly and built up points through various plays.”
In an interview after his win, Alcaraz was asked “Where and with whom will you be watching the Euro 2024 final?”, which drew a brief jeer from the crowd.
The Euro 2024 final was set to be a showdown between England, supported by Wimbledon’s home fans, and Alcaraz’s home country, Spain.
“My job is done, I’m going to watch football with my teammates,” Alcaraz said, as Spain eventually beat England 2-1 to win Wimbledon and Euro 2024 this year. 토토사이트