Novak Djokovic says he is “not at that level” after falling to a chastening defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles Wimbledon final.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner looked almost helpless as Alcaraz powered to a 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-4) win – his second straight victory over Djokovic in the SW19 showpiece.
It is another result that marks a changing of the guard in men’s tennis.
Between them, 21-year-old Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, 22, have won all three of this year’s Grand Slam tournaments.
“Both of them are the best this year by far, I feel like I’m not at that level,” said 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.
“In order to really have a chance to, I guess, beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today.”
Yet to win a title this year, it has been Djokovic’s worst start to a season since 2006.
The 37-year-old was outplayed by Alcaraz in Sunday’s final, with the young Spaniard reeling off deft drop shots, hefty serves and thunderous forehand winners.
“Just overall the way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court,” Djokovic said in his news conference.
“That’s it. He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did.”
When Djokovic fell a break down in the fourth set of last year’s final, he took out his frustrations by smashing his racquet against the net post.
However, there was barely a flicker of emotion from the seven-time Wimbledon champion when he found himself two sets to love down on Sunday.
Nick Kyrgios, a runner-up to Djokovic in 2022, described him as being “so flat”.
“I would have liked to have seen – whether it was a racquet smash or a roar or something – after Novak went down those two sets, I needed to see an outburst to kind of reset his energy,” Kyrgios told BBC TV.
“He was so flat for so long and then there was a game at 3-2 in the third set where he really came alive, but it was a bit too late.”
The Serb underwent surgery on a medial meniscus tear in his right knee less than a month before his first-round match.
“If someone told me I would play Wimbledon finals three, four weeks ago, I would take it for sure,” Djokovic said.
Alcaraz said it was “amazing” and “unbelievable” what Djokovic had done over the fortnight, describing his opponent as “superman”.
“I did all I can to prepare myself for this match and this tournament in general,” added Djokovic.
“Today I saw that I was just, as I said, half a step behind him in every sense. That’s the reality that I have to accept at the moment.”
