“I’ve never seen him serve like this.”

From our correspondent
LONDON – The first game alone is already a page in a novel. Nineteen points, fourteen minutes, five break points.J.K. Rowling wrote: Magic, in fact, as at Hogwarts, turns out to be an illusion. The Wimbledon final between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, which seemed to contain the seeds of a marathon, instead gives birth to Lawn tennis lesson It goes from the youngest to the oldest, and is an almost obsolete message. Joker is now 37 years old. He welcomes resignation: “You are still a boy, you will win a lot,” he says to Carlito, the arch-enemy who reminds him on Wimbledon’s main court of everything, and everything at the same time. The years that pass, the meniscus operation a month ago, the natural law of the future imposing itself on the past, so that the world continues to move in the right direction.

On Church Road, on the Sunday that marks Princess Kate’s return to public view, the pimply, laughing-eyed Spanish boy leads by two sets (6-2, 6-2), then allows himself the luxury of throwing generously on the court. The Times Three points against the bestBefore reaching the tiebreaker and regaining control of the proceedings (7-4).
A very clear match, absolutely no doubt, almost decisive, ending with Djokovic returning on a second serve from Alcaraz. Perhaps only in Paris in 2020 with Rafa Nadal did the Serbian, winner of 24 major titles, get such a radical result in one direction. The third set, had the Spaniard not insisted on ending the match with an ace, would have ended 6-4 instead of 7-6. “I tried to get a match point with the serve, but I didn’t succeed. At that moment I told myself to stay calm so as not to lose sight of the goal,” he explained.

There were no emotions last year, but these two phenomena assert themselves like gunpowder and fire: when they meet, fire breaks out (see Cincinnati 2023). The final was predictable but enjoyable thanks to Carletto, an exceptional shot-maker: he has them all (and the ones that don’t exist, he invents them), with any cut of the ball. A native of Murcia, with the imaginary hand of Michelangelo. “He was better, I was less than him. I’ve never seen him serve like that: he beat me,” the Serb admitted. Joker, who has not won a single game so far, confirms his seasonal objectives and goes further: «Olympic and Open in the United States of America“I will work hard to live up to the new generation.” It almost sounds like a threat.

For the second year in a row, Wimbledon ends in the pocket of the most formidable 21-year-old sent to earth by the tennis gods, Carlito, after Paris’s triumph in London – the sixth tennis player to do so in the Open Era. Along with Laver, Borg, Djokovic, Federer, Nadal, an achievement within an achievement, he prevents his rival from winning a 25th tournament by bringing home a very personal fourth major, the Declaration of Mayura. There is no forbidden surface for him: no one has ever torn it up. 4 peace At his age. “I don’t consider myself a hero yet,” the nerd smiled shyly as he bowed awkwardly before the princess. The only moment we saw him struggle yesterday was when he remembered what he was supposed to wear. No Smoking He opened the winners’ dance, a Wimbledon tradition, alongside queen Barbora Krejcikova, who narrowly edged out Jasmine Paolini. “I’m writing my story. I hope to one day sit at the table of the immortals. I don’t set limits for myself,” he says.

The last player to beat him on the grass of Wimbledon (fourth round 2022) is about to return from a short holiday in Sardinia with his girlfriend, ready to resume work on the red clay. Monte Carlo Before the Paris Games. The world rankings are unchanged: Jannik Sinner first, Djokovic second, Alcaraz third, with a gap. The rest, from Zverev on down, seem like unpaid spectators trapped in the isosceles triangle, the inevitable neighbors – The wrongdoer and the preacher – And the joker, the hero behind it all. Of the records, of the greatness of Federer and Nadal that has surpassed them, of Jannik and Carlos’s relentless pursuit of excellence. “We are the useful innovations of tennis: I am happy to have Sinner in my time.”