Analysis of the Wimbledon 2024 final: Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz

Carlos Navarro | 13 Jul 2024 | 20.15

Sign up with Bet365 here
Make your first deposit of at least €5
Go to the “Live” section and watch every match

Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic have starred in countless dances on the best stages of planet Earth. Some were danced slower and others faster, but the audience always kept their eyes on two prodigies of nature, two competitive beasts who strive to leave their opponent behind and add performances to history. At Wimbledon 2024, they will face each other again in a legendary men's final, a rematch of the 2023 title match, which marked Nole's first defeat at the Cathedral's Center Court in 10 years and crowned Carlos in what many called a changing of the guard.

However, the changing of the guard had to wait. Djokovic responded in the only way he knows how: by winning. First, taking sweet revenge in another historic final in Cincinnati; then, adding another Grand Slam to his illustrious trophy cabinet in New York. There, he did not cross paths with Carlos... just like he hasn't throughout 2024, a year marked by inconsistency, lack of hunger, and difficulty in gaining momentum consistently.

Nevertheless, Nole forgets all of that when Wimbledon arrives. It is his garden, where he has lifted the trophy 7 times. Ahead, only Roger Federer's 8 crowns... a record held last year by the prince of a sport that welcomes him with the smile with which he crafts impossible shots. Carlos Alcaraz did last year what many thought was unthinkable: defeat the Serbian in a Wimbledon final. He arrived at that match as the challenger, deemed the underdog due to those intangibles he always boasted about (hierarchy, experience, mentality, pressure tennis...) and that tested a lad from El Palmar capable of looking him in the eye and toppling him in a fifth set for the title.

A year later, the tables have turned. Carlos comes as the Roland Garros champion, showcasing the most mature version of his career. Of course, that was not a fluke: in this very Wimbledon, Alcaraz has emerged unscathed from very dangerous situations simply by correctly identifying when he needed to raise his level during the match and, above all, making his opponent play poorly. After dispatching two dangerous rivals like Tommy Paul and Medvedev, his form is slightly better than Djokovic's, who comes from strength to strength, being very aggressive against Rune and Musetti, but has not yet faced opposition that truly pushed him to the limit.

AGGRESSIVENESS AND CONSTANT PACE, KEYS FOR NOLE

Alcaraz was able to turn around last year's final thanks to two clear tactics: neutralizing Novak's serve and becoming unpredictable from the baseline. The use of sliced backhands, with floating shots bouncing three-quarters down the court, took Djokovic out of his comfort zone as he lost the long-distance rallies. And, of course, there were more than he would have liked: his serve did not function at the desired level, with very improvable percentages and few free points.

In this final, Nole will need order. Clarity. Vision. Short points, precise forehands, and a serve that hugs the lines. Engaging in baseline rallies against Carlos is an increasingly difficult task where there is only one scenario where he can survive: playing diagonally, with great precision, targeting Alcaraz's backhand. This was how he won the battle in Cincinnati, heavily loading his shots on the advantage side (where 77% of his shots from the baseline in the third set of that final landed, frustrating a tired Alcaraz who ended up rushing and making poor decisions). Combining the strength of his crosscourt backhand with short points from the serve is the antidote to the perfect storm that Carlos will want to unleash.

The hunger of youth, with several historical prospects to fulfill (if he wins the final, Alcaraz will become the sixth man in the history of this sport to achieve the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same calendar year) against the dignitary who refuses to be dethroned, against the weight of history and his meticulous knowledge of the sport (Novak wants to increase his tally, with 25 Grand Slams, and add another year to his tally of Major victories). The epitome on a tennis court, a duel that promises to engage both nostalgics and future enthusiasts of this sport. Who will come out on top?

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Análisis de la final de Wimbledon 2024: Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz