Carlos Alcaraz Wins First Wimbledon Title

There is a new champion at Wimbledon and his name is Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic in an epic five-set match 16 76 61 36 64 to capture his first Wimbledon Title. He also stopped history from happening. Alcaraz denied Djokovic his eighth Wimbledon title and his 24th Grand Slam title.

In addition, Alcaraz made some history of his own becoming just the fifth player to win his second major title before the age of 20. Not to mention he is the youngest man to hold the World No. 1 ranking and oh by the way he is the first man since Andy Murray to beat Djokovic on Centre Court Wimbledon in the final. Alcaraz is also the third Spaniard to win Wimbledon behind Manuel Santana and Rafael Nadal. Just a remarkable start to a young career.

Entering the 2023 Championships Wimbledon, Alcaraz was the second betting line favourite to take home the title behind the seven-time Champion Novak Djokovic despite his lack of play on grass. Then coming into the final, the oddsmakers put Djokovic as the clear favourite. However, if you were watching the broadcast of ESPN, IBM Watson favoured Alcaraz to win the title.

However, as the first progressed things did not look good for Alcaraz and IBM Watson or anyone who put money on Alcaraz. The line was teetering during the match. And it started teetering towards the Djokovic side of things after an early break of serve in the first set. Things look to be a runaway in favour of the defending champion as he saved a break point on his opening service game of the match. From there Djokovic broke Alcaraz and took the first set 6-1.

If you were paying attention to the odds, the time to bet Alcaraz was at the start of the second set. Alcaraz broke early, but Djokovic showed the heart of a champion and broke right back. If you read the preview to the Gentlemen’s Final we told you to bet on at least one tiebreak set. That came in the second set. It was crucial. Alcaraz came up with unbelievable shot-making. The point at 4-4 really turned things in his favour.

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Alcaraz was able to take the second set 7-6 ending Djokovic’s 15 consecutive wins in tiebreaks. A couple of backhand winners and some errors from Djokovic had the match even at a set apiece. Again the odds swung back to Alcaraz. He had the belief and confidence in his abilities to hang with Djokovic on this surface and on this court.

The moment was not too big for the 20-year-old as we saw in the third set. In the fifth game of the third set was where the match was really won by Alcaraz. He was able to grind out a 27-minute service game from Djokovic to break him and go up 4-1. Nobody ever had Djokovic serve for 27 minutes not in a Grand Slam final. You knew the moment was big. If Alcaraz did not break on that service game, Djokovic was going to when Alcaraz came up to serve next.

Instead, Alcaraz broke and then consolidated the break to go up 5-1. Djokovic through in the towel and was broken as Alcaraz won the third set 6-1. After both players took time off the court, Alcaraz had some shaky service games. Though he was the heavy favourite with a set to go to win the title, you could not count out the defending champion.

Djokovic broke Alcaraz at 1-1 and did not look back winning the fourth set 6-3. This is where Alcaraz broke down in Paris in the semifinals. This match was already four hours long, but Alcaraz looked like the fresher player. Both players took falls on the grass. But Alcaraz was in a good position to claim the title.

History was on the line as both men entered the fifth set. At this point, it was a pick’em. However, you could see if Alcaraz was going to win he was going to have to take it from Djokovic. And take it he did. At 1-1 in the fifth set, Alcaraz got the crucial break to go up 2-1 with a backhand pass. His odds went up to -6000 to win the match. He was able to hold serve to consolidate the break as Djokovic again had to play from behind.

After smashing his racquet on the net post, Djokovic would look to his wrist, but each player would be able to hold serve. Djokovic was not going to give Alcaraz the title that easily he made him serve it out. If you thought the pressure was big for young Carlos Alcaraz think again. Despite putting a drop shot into the net on the opening service point, Alcaraz was calm and cool serving out the match to 16 76 61 36 64 in five sets to deny Djokovic the honor of being the third man to win five straight Wimbledon titles. The only men to do so are Bjorn Bjorg and Roger Federer.

Carlos Alcaraz showed a lot in this match. He learned a lot from his loss in Paris as he can stand toe to toe with Djokovic on the big stage.

There is a reason why Carlos Alcaraz is always high on the oddsmakers’ list to win titles. He has the skill, talent, and tools to do so. He adapted so well to the surface and made the proper adjustments to win his first Wimbledon Title.

Expect Alcaraz to be high up on the favorites list to defend his title in New York at the US Open.

Note: Carlos Alcaraz is the first male player to win Wimbledon outside the Big 4 of, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray. He is also the first man to beat Djokovic on Centre Court in the final of Wimbledon since Murray in 2013.