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

Carlos Alcaraz was the toast of world sport after his stunning victory over Novak Djokovic handed him the Wimbledon men’s singles title for the first time at the age of just 20.

The Spaniard triumphed in a five-set epic to deny the Serbian a 24th grand slam title after a 1-6 7-6 (6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 arm wrestle on Centre Court.

His heroics prompted praise from the tennis glitterati and beyond as they took to social media after a thriller at SW19.

British duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid thrilled a packed Court One by winning their fifth Wimbledon wheelchairs doubles title.

Hewett and Reid reclaimed the trophy, having been runners up last year, with a 3-6 6-0 6-3 victory over Japan’s Takuya Miki and Tokito Oda in three sets.

It was an 18th grand slam win for the pair and a measure of revenge for Scotsman Reid, who was beaten by Oda in the singles semi-final earlier on Saturday.

Tennis fans are watching intently as Novak Djokovic faces Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon men’s singles final today.

Djokovic is attempting to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon crown, which would move the Serbian level with Roger Federer on a men’s record eight singles titles at the tournament.

But eyes won’t only be on the two tennis players battling it out for the trophy – Centre Court is peppered with actors, musicians, film directors and royals, both in and outside of the Royal Box.

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.

Britain’s Alfie Hewett and teammate Gordon Reid, triumphed in the men’s wheelchair doubles on Saturday. The home pair beat Japanese opponents Takuya Miki and Oda to post an 18th grand slam crown together.

Hewett also missed on the men’s singles crown after being beaten in the final by 17-year-old Tokito Oda from Japan. The Briton has won at the Australian Open, the French Open and US Open but his home slam has so far evaded him.

While the singles title at Wimbledon has proved problematic, Hewett had no problems in the doubles with his partner Reid and they claimed a fifth title in SW19.

There was a men’s final for the ages as long-time ruler Novak Djokovic, who had gone 10 years unbeaten on Centre Court, came up against the heir to the throne in the shape of Carlos Alcaraz.

Well, the Spaniard proved that he is ready to take the crown now as he won a near-five-hour final in five sets to claim a first Wimbledon title and deny his opponent a record-equalling eighth.

This is the start of a rivalry that will last as long as Djokovic carries on playing and it is fascinating to see how the 36-year-old reacts to his first SW19 defeat since 2017.

Russian and Belarusian players returned to Wimbledon following last year’s ban due to the invasion of Ukraine and were generally well received.

Men’s world number three Daniil Medvedev and women’s world number two Aryna Sabalenka made up for lost time by each reaching the semi-finals.

While political tensions remained relatively muted, there was a flash point when Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was jeered off court following her fourth-round defeat by Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

Azarenka, who put up her hand to acknowledge Svitolina knowing her opponent did not wish to shake hands with a player from the aggressor countries, branded fans “drunk” and unfair.

The All England Club’s insistence on beginning Centre Court matches at 1.30pm remains a source of frustration for some.

Novak Djokovic led calls to overhaul the scheduling after his match with Hubert Hurkacz had to be suspended overnight due to the council-imposed 11pm curfew, while Andy Murray’s clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas was also impacted.

Despite objections, Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton offered no guarantees that earlier starts will be considered for next year’s tournament.

Beginning matches later makes the final contest of the day a prime-time occasion on BBC television and it appears that is now the goal, with Bolton reporting record viewing figures.

Question marks hang over the state of British tennis after home interest in the adult singles draws was wiped out before the end of week one.

Women’s number one Katie Boulter was the last Briton standing but her hopes were emphatically ended by a thumping third-round defeat to defending champion Elena Rybakina on day six.

Two-time winner Andy Murray, men’s number one Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady had all crashed out the previous day, while the raft of wild cards failed to produce a surprise package.

On a more positive note, 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and potential star Jack Draper should soon return after missing the Championships through injury while 17-year-old Henry Searle became the first British boys’ singles champion at Wimbledon since 1962 and 14-year-old Mark Ceban won the boys’ under-14 event.

For the first time since Ashleigh Barty won the 2022 Australian Open and subsequently retired, there was a grand slam champion from outside the so-called ‘big three’ of the women’s game.

Three-time major winner Iga Swiatek has been the dominant force post-Barty, while Arnya Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina have each won one of the leading tournaments in that time.

But Sabalenka’s semi-final exit to Ons Jabeur, which prevented her from replacing Swiatek as world number one, signalled an end to the trio’s stranglehold on the slams.

World number 42 Marketa Vondrousova was the surprise new name on the trophy, becoming the first unseeded player to win the women’s tournament in her first significant grand slam run since she lost the 2019 French Open to Barty as a teenager.