All was well in the tennis world for the “Joker” in the first set. But then followed Novak Djokovic’s creeping downfall against his 16 years younger competitor Carlos Alcaraz. But the Spaniard had to go the full distance.

After a Wimbledon final in a class of its own, a generational change in men’s professional tennis is on the horizon: 20-year-old tournament debutant Carlos Alcaraz showed his 16-year older role model Novak Djokovic the limits and prevented the Serb’s fifth consecutive singles title at the Grand Slam tournament.

After a fabulous 34 consecutive singles victories at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, record Grand Slam champion Djokovic was forced to fold, losing 6-1, 6-7, 1-6, 6-3, 4-6.

The match lasted 4:42 hours. For Alcaraz it was the second Grand Slam success in his career. In 2022, he surprisingly won the US Open. And of course, the Spaniard will still be ranked number one in the ATP world rankings on Monday.

Djokovic, on the other hand, missed out on a prestigious side-effect of another Wimbledon victory: the Serb would have caught up with record winner Roger Federer with a win and set Australian Margaret Court’s record with his 24th success at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments.