Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic admits ‘level of tennis wasn’t up to par’ during straight-sets defeat to Carlos Alcaraz – Eurosport

The showdown between two giants of the sport, both of whom are in different phases of their career, was expected to be a titanic tussle, but Alcaraz ripped up that script to dominate his rival and complete a 6-2 6-2 7-6(4) victory.

It was a repeat of the 2023 men’s singles final at the All England Club, a dramatic encounter that went all the way to a fifth set before Alcaraz prevailed.

Djokovic, 37, spoke of getting revenge in the build-up to the 2024 contest but was not able to live with his 21-year-old opponent, who produced one of the great Wimbledon performances against arguably the best player of all time.

Alcaraz’s only blip came when he failed to convert three match points at 40-0 on his own serve at 5-4 in the third set, but he brushed off that setback to come through the tie-break.

“He was definitely very hot today on the court,” Djokovic joked in his on-court interview. “Obviously not the result I wanted, and in the first couple of sets the level of tennis wasn’t up to par from my side but credit to Carlos for really playing some amazing tennis, very complete tennis.

“From the back of the court, serving, he had it all today. I tried to push him, saved those three match points and extended the match a little bit, but it wasn’t meant to be.

“He was an absolutely deserved winner today so huge congratulations today to him for amazing tennis.”

The loss means Djokovic is still one shy of equalling Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles and he remains tied with Margaret Court on 24 Grand Slam singles triumphs.

But while he was understandably disappointed in the immediate aftermath, he was also “proud” of his achievement having undergone surgery on his right knee just over a month ago.

Djokovic said: “Obviously there’s a little bit of disappointment right now but when I reflect on the last couple of weeks and the last four to five weeks and what I’ve been through along with my team members and family, I have to say I’m very satisfied because Wimbledon has always been a childhood-dream tournament of mine and I always wanted to be here and play on the centre stage.

“I try to remind myself sometimes of how surreal the feeling is being here and even though I was playing so many matches in my life and being really blessed to be fighting for the trophy 10 times in my career, every single time I step on this court it feels like the first time.

“I’m a child living my childhood dream once again.”