Editorial: Advantage Alcaraz

NEW DELHI: Barring a handful of countries, monarchies around the world are fast becoming extinct. Be that as it may, in the twilight hours of Sunday in London, with the sun still glowing with the same fiery intensity that it did at noon a few hours earlier, we may have witnessed the dawn of a new reign. In a nation that has come to be regarded as a stickler for zealously guarding such time-honoured traditions, and at a venue considered the most pre-eminent of its kind, the hitherto prince-in-waiting ascended the throne majestically following a vintage display of his craft that left nobody in doubt as to what lay ahead in the realm of men's tennis for the foreseeable future.

Britain's politics has been in the crucible of a paradigm shift lately, lending itself to be swept away by upheaval, but the venerable Grand Slam that Wimbledon is, remained impervious to change until Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, in a manner that is reminiscent of a seasoned matador, chose to take the bull by its horns. In a repeat of last year's final, the 21-year-old outclassed seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win his second consecutive Wimbledon trophy.

In front of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, there was an undeniable sense of changing of the guard. After all, this was Djokovic’s second heaviest defeat at a grand slam final – behind only Rafael Nadal beating him more convincingly, for the loss of just seven games at the 2020 French Open – and he is not getting any younger. In truth it looked like a mismatch: a 21-year-old in the prime of life taking on a 37-year-old just 39 days after undergoing surgery on the meniscus in his knee. Alcaraz looked just too quick, too good for Djokovic to handle. Rarely has a tennis racket been wielded like a matador’s sword.

The only sign of nerves Alcaraz showed was when he dropped three championship points at 5-4 in the third set. But an otherwise flawless performance underscored why the Spaniard became only the eighth player to win the first four Grand Slam men's singles finals of his career. He is just the second in the Open Era, which began in 1968, to achieve the feat after Roger Federer, who won the first seven Slam finals he contested. Alcaraz is the ninth man in the Open Era to retain his Wimbledon title and the sixth to triumph at the French Open and All England Club in the same year.

At 21 years and 70 days, he is the youngest player in the Open Era to do the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same calendar year. The Spaniard is also the third-youngest player in the Open Era to retain his Wimbledon title, following Boris Becker (18 years, 227 days) and Bjorn Borg (21 years, 26 days). At 21, Alcaraz is a four-time major champion, and has won the French Open and Wimbledon in the space of five weeks.

However, he has struggled with injury in recent years. The Spaniard missed the end-of-season 2022 ATP Finals because of an abdominal problem and the Australian Open a few months later with a hamstring issue. With attention now turning to the Olympics, on the Paris clay where Alcaraz won his third Slam, many will be wondering who will challenge him for the title.