Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon final for second straight year

Last year, Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-set match to win his first Wimbledon title.

Twelve months later, the 21-year-old Spaniard was victorious again without as much of a challenge from the 24-time Grand Slam winner.

No. 3-seed Alcaraz was dominant in Sunday’s match at the All-England Club, defeating No. 2-seed Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

This is the fourth Grand Slam title for Alcaraz, and it comes just over a month after he won his third at the French Open on June 9. He’s now a perfect 4-0 in Grand Slam finals over his young career.

Djokovic went down quietly in the first two sets before fighting back in the third. He held serve to get the set to 4-4 before Alcaraz broke him to take a 5-4 lead. Facing a triple championship point, Djokovic scored five straight points to extend the match as the set went to a tiebreak.

Alcaraz took leads of 3-1 and 5-3 in the tiebreak before holding on to win 7-4 with his final two serves.

The Spanish phenom, who turned 21 in May, is just the ninth man to win back-to-back Wimbledon singles titles — a feat that Djokovic has achieved three times (2014-15, 2018-19, 2021-22).

With the loss, Djokovic falls to 7-3 in Wimbledon finals during his career. The 37-year-old Serbian, who withdrew from the French Open due to a torn meniscus, lost just two sets in his first five matches of the tournament before Sunday’s loss.

The final Grand Slam of the 2024 season is set for later this summer in New York, where the U.S. Open will be held at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center from Aug. 26 to Sept. 8. Djokovic is the defending champion and a four-time winner, while Alcaraz won the event in 2022 when he was just 19 years old.