Wimbledon 2023 LIVE: Reaction after Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic in final for the ages

After the anger and the frustration came the sense and the perspective. Novak Djokovic’s winning run at Wimbledon was over and he had been beaten at his own game. Carlos Alcaraz not only triumphed in the battle of generations but in the contest of nerves and minds, prevailing in the fifth set of a Wimbledon final that will be remembered as one of the greatest ever played.

Regrets? There were two: Djokovic allowed the second-set tiebreak to slip away, then when Alcaraz broke his serve in the fifth, Djokovic smashed his racket into the net-post. “It was a frustration in the moment,” he conceded. “Not much to say about that.”

But Djokovic accepted the result. “He was a deserved winner today, no doubt,” Djokovic said. After winning eight five-setters in a row, he believed a defeat was finally overdue. “I’ve won some epic finals that I was very close to losing,” he admitted. “Maybe this is kind of a fair-and-square deal.”

Djokovic was gracious in defeat, effusive in his praise, and honest when assessing the threat he now faces. “I haven’t played a player like him ever, to be honest,” he revealed, and he was including Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Wimbledon has a new champion, and a new hero. To break new ground and end Novak Djokovic’s dominance at the All England Club, Carlos Alcaraz had to go to a place no one else had dared to reach, dragging the most successful men’s player of all time into a battle that saw this final live up to its hype and will be remembered as one of the greatest ever staged here.

In overturning history, Alcaraz played with a spirit of infectious belief and carried Centre Court with him.

The 20-year-old Spaniard met Djokovic head on, denying the Serbian a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, refusing to go down against the game’s most formidable force and a legend of the sport who had won 104 matches in a row from a set up at the grand slams.

Carlos Alcaraz’s epic win against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final on Sunday was watched by over 15 million people in the UK, the BBC revealed.

The five-set thriller hit a peak audience of 11.3m on BBC One, the highest since Andy Murray won his second Wimbledon title against Milos Raonic in 2016.

There was also an additional 4.1m streams on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website, while the BBC said a total of 54.3m streams throughout the two-week tournament was a new digital record.

Wimbledon is over for another year and as usual it was an eventful fortnight.

There is a new king of Centre Court after Carlos Alcaraz dethroned Novak Djokovic while history was made in the women’s final as unseeded Marketa Vondrousova won.

Here, the PA news agency picks out five things we learned at the championships.

The narrative surrounding men’s tennis changed in the split second it took for Novak Djokovic’s final forehand to hit the Centre Court net and fall to the grass.

A season that looked set to see the Serbian smash the records he has not yet claimed – a first calendar Grand Slam, an unprecedented 25th major singles title – instead has been turned on its head thanks to the brilliance of 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz.

By handing Djokovic his first Wimbledon defeat since 2017, Alcaraz has answered the one question that had been lingering – could he match and surpass the great Serbian on the biggest stage of all?

After the anger and the frustration came the sense and the perspective. Novak Djokovic’s winning run at Wimbledon was over and he had been beaten at his own game. Carlos Alcaraz not only triumphed in the battle of generations but in the contest of nerves and minds, prevailing in the fifth set of a Wimbledon final that will be remembered as one of the greatest ever played.

Regrets? There were two: Djokovic allowed the second-set tiebreak to slip away, then when Alcaraz broke his serve in the fifth, Djokovic smashed his racket into the net-post. “It was a frustration in the moment,” he conceded. “Not much to say about that.”

But Djokovic accepted the result. “He was a deserved winner today, no doubt,” Djokovic said. After winning eight five-setters in a row, he believed a defeat was finally overdue. “I’ve won some epic finals that I was very close to losing,” he admitted. “Maybe this is kind of a fair-and-square deal.”

Carlos Alcaraz won his second grand slam before turning 21 with Sunday’s Wimbledon triumph.

Alcaraz is outstripping the achievements of runner-up Novak Djokovic and the rest of the modern ‘big three’ at the same age and here, the PA news agency looks at the statistics behind the Spaniard’s rapid rise to prominence.

Note to all: sporting fairytales are a rare occurrence. Don’t be fooled by Lionel Messi’s World Cup triumph in Qatar – that was an anomaly. Usually, when the pressure cooker is at its highest and the burden of history is barely a fingertip away, it can all get a little bit too much. And ultimately, it all proved too much for Ons Jabeur on Saturday, with Marketa Vondrousova the women’s singles champion at Wimbledon 2023.

The world No 42 – the first unseeded woman to win the ladies singles in its long history – had a bet with her coach that he would have to get the Wimbledon badge tattooed on his body if she won the title. Whether Jan Mertl will be deep down regretting that decision now is a moot point. The Czech 24-year-old, in beating five seeds in seven rounds, has pulled off one of the all-time shock streaks this past fortnight at the All England Club. In the split-second of victory, 6-4 6-4, with one final volley into the open court, she glanced in disbelief to her box before collapsing to the ground.

Wimbledon has a new champion, and a new hero. To break new ground and end Novak Djokovic’s dominance at the All England Club, Carlos Alcaraz had to go to a place no one else had dared to reach, dragging the most successful men’s player of all time into a battle that saw this final live up to its hype and will be remembered as one of the greatest ever staged here.

In overturning history, Alcaraz played with a spirit of infectious belief and carried Centre Court with him.

The 20-year-old Spaniard met Djokovic head on, denying the Serbian a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, refusing to go down against the game’s most formidable force and a legend of the sport who had won 104 matches in a row from a set up at the grand slams.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic

Wimbledon saved the best for last as Carlos Alcaraz claimed a first SW19 title in an epic final against defending champion Novak Djokovic.

The Serbian had been unbeaten on Centre Court since Andy Murray beat him in 2013 so it was going to take something special from the Spaniard to end that 45-match run – and he delivered.

An inauspicious start saw him fall a set down quickly and then Djokovic had a set point to go 2-0 up and surely on the way to a record-equalling eighth title.

But a missed backhand proved pivotal as Alcaraz mounted an astonishing comeback to go 2-1 up before Djokovic took it to a decider by winning the fourth set.

However, the 20-year-old world number one battled back brilliantly to win 1-6 7-6 (8) 6-1 3-6 6-4.