Carlos Alcaraz remains the king of Wimbledon.
The 21-year-old defeated Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles championship match on Sunday, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4) to maintain the title that he first won in last year’s championship against the same foe.
Djokovic may be a seven-time Wimbledon champion and hold the record for the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles with 24, but Alcaraz set the tone from the early going and prevailed in the highly anticipated rematch of last year’s thrilling five-set final.
He did so in front of an audience that included Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, in a public appearance amid her ongoing recovery after revealing earlier this year she was diagnosed with cancer.
Alcaraz is now a two-time Wimbledon champion and four-time Grand Slam champion after also taking home this year’s French Open title.
Social media had plenty of praise for the tennis star after his latest victory:
Alcaraz still has a long way to go to catch Djokovic’s record-setting number of 24 major championships, but he was certainly the favorite coming into Sunday’s match. Not only did he have last year’s head-to-head win on the same stage to fall back on, but this was also Djokovic’s first Grand Slam final this year.
What’s more, the 37-year-old underwent knee surgery just last month and is surely working his way back into form.
It was clear from the start that Alcaraz would not bow down to Djokovic’s legacy of greatness. He broke in the match’s first game after a grueling back-and-forth battle at deuce and then parlayed that into a straightforward 6-2 win in the first set.
His serve is such a weapon that even a single break can derail the opponent’s chances, and he seemed to be almost toying with Djokovic at times during a 6-2 second set after yet another early break.
If last year’s match was something of a passing of the torch, the start of this year’s was a defiant statement from Alcaraz that he won’t be giving it back anytime soon.
It seemed like the third set would be a formality at that point, but Djokovic is an all-time great for a reason. He stared down three championship points in the third set just to battle all the way back for a break and eventual tiebreaker with his back firmly against the wall.
Yet Alcaraz was the better player throughout the match and delivered in the tiebreaker.
The result was yet another title for tennis’ brightest young star.