LONDON— Novak Djokovic has vowed to get back to work after being outplayed by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, just 1 1/2 months after undergoing knee surgery.
Despite the setback, Djokovic is determined to contend for a gold medal at the Paris Olympics and a record 25th Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
“In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger,” Djokovic stated following his 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) loss to Alcaraz. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
This defeat marked Djokovic’s second consecutive loss to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final. The 37-year-old Serbian has had a challenging season, with a 23-7 record and no titles. Sunday’s match was his first final appearance in 2024.
Djokovic’s Grand Slam journey this year has been turbulent. He was eliminated by current No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semifinals in January. He reached the quarterfinals at the French Open but had to withdraw before the match due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. After undergoing surgery on June 5, Djokovic was unsure if he would compete at Wimbledon until a few days before the draw.
“My preparation for Wimbledon wasn’t as I would have it normally. … There was hindrance obviously because of the injury,” Djokovic explained. “That probably had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I felt better and better. I reached the finals. Some matches I played some really good tennis. Some matches I kind of battled my way through. But today, I saw that I was just half a step behind him, in every sense.”
Wearing a gray sleeve on his right knee, Djokovic won just 27 of 53 points at the net and finished with 26 winners compared to Alcaraz’s 42. Djokovic was broken five times and won only one of the 21-year-old Alcaraz’s service games.
“Being able to reach the finals of Wimbledon … (is) a great confidence boost. But I also feel like in a matchup today against the best player right now in the world, for sure — I mean, other than Jannik, and both of them are the best this year by far — I feel like I’m not at that level,” Djokovic admitted.
“In order to really have a chance to, I guess, beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics,” he added, “I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today.”
Despite the loss, Alcaraz acknowledged Djokovic’s remarkable feat of reaching the Wimbledon final post-surgery. “What he has done this tournament — with a surgery just before a few weeks before the tournament — (began) is amazing. It is unbelievable,” Alcaraz remarked.
Djokovic’s next target is the Summer Games, with the tennis competition starting at Roland Garros on July 27. An Olympic gold is one of the few accolades missing from his illustrious career, which includes 10 titles at the Australian Open, seven at Wimbledon, four at the U.S. Open — where his title defense begins on Aug. 26 — and three at the French Open, along with a total of 98 tour-level titles and the record for most weeks spent at No. 1 in the rankings.
Djokovic plans to analyze his performance, train rigorously, and aim to be at his best. He remains self-critical but refuses to dwell on what could have been done differently in his match against Alcaraz.
“Of course, I can always be self-critical, which I am. I can always find the flaws, which I can already see. Things that I maybe should have executed better,” Djokovic said on Sunday. “I don’t think that would change too much the course of the match, to be honest.”
Source: AP
