Djokovic after losing to Alcaraz: “I was half a step behind him in every way” | ATP Tour

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Djokovic after losing to Alcaraz: “I was half a step behind him in every way”

The Serbian played his tenth Wimbledon final on Sunday

July 14, 2024

Novak Djokovic stepped onto Wimbledon centre court to face Carlos Alcaraz in a bid to win his 25th Grand Slam title. Two hours and 30 minutes later, the Serb was left with a helpless look on his face after the Spaniard had edged him out in straight sets.

“Overall, I was inferior on the court. That’s all. He was a better player. He played every shot better than me,” said the seven-time tournament champion.

“I don’t think there was much more I could have done. Maybe try to get myself going, get the crowd involved… That’s what was happening in the third. That got me going a little bit. But he wasn’t allowing me to have a lot of free points on my serve either. I was reading it, and playing with a lot of variety. And I’d never seen him serve like that, to be honest.”

Alcaraz closed the Lexus ATP Head2Head between the two at 3-3 and now has a 2-0 record against Djokovic on grass. However, the Serbian is happy to have been able to be so competitive at Wimbledon despite undergoing knee surgery three weeks ago.

“I did everything I could to prepare for this match and this tournament in general,” Djokovic said. “If someone had told me that I would be playing in the Wimbledon final three or four weeks ago, I would have signed it without hesitation.”

“Of course, I feel disappointed. It is a bitter taste to lose the final like I did today, but it must be a success to have played the Wimbledon final and lost against the best player in the tournament.”

Djokovic trained for the first time on grass six days before the tournament began on July 1. The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings shared more details about his difficult process leading up to the event.

“My preparation for Wimbledon was not how I would normally have done it,” Djokovic said. “Obviously, there were obstacles due to the injury. I had to create a kind of hybrid training program between rehabilitation with specific exercises for the knee, with physical training and with tennis training.”

“That probably had an effect, particularly in the early rounds. But as the tournament went on, I felt better and better. I reached the final. In some matches I played really good tennis. In some matches I struggled to get ahead. Today I was just half a step behind him in every way.”

Djokovic leaves West London with a 23-7 record on the season. He is still looking for his first title of the year and his first Top 10 win in 2024.