Novak Djokovic believes the prospect of making tennis history will provide the “fuel” he needs to defeat Carlos Alcaraz for an eighth Wimbledon title and record a 25th Grand Slam on Sunday. Just five weeks after undergoing surgery on his right knee, 37-year-old Djokovic could become the oldest Wimbledon champion of the modern era and avenge his painful five-set defeat to the Spaniard in last year’s final. “I’m aware of what’s at stake. In any Grand Slam I play, there’s always history at stake,” Djokovic said. “I will try to use this as fuel to play my best tennis.”
Djokovic will play his 10th Wimbledon final and 37th in the 75 championships he has played in.
A 25th Grand Slam title would be an all-time record for both men and women, breaking the mark of 24 he shares with Margaret Court.
“It’s a great motivation, but at the same time it’s also a lot of pressure and expectations”, added the Serb.
“Every time I step onto the court now, even though I’m 37 years old and competing with 21-year-olds, I still expect to win the majority of matches, and people expect me to win 99% of the matches I play.”
Djokovic arrived at Wimbledon under a cloud of form and fitness.
22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner won the Australian Open title and then number one in the world rankings.
Alcaraz succeeded him as French Open champion.
Djokovic had not reached the final at the All England Club.
When he played his first round match, just 25 days after going under the knife to repair a torn meniscus that caused him to withdraw from Roland Garros.
“We agreed that we would not talk about my guaranteed participation in Wimbledon until three, four days before the start of the tournament,” Djokovic explained.
“I understand why people thought it was premature, maybe reckless, but I don’t think it was, to be honest.”
Alcaraz, 16 years younger than Djokovic, is in his fourth Grand Slam final and is looking to add a second Wimbledon to his 2022 US Open win and last month’s French Open title.
His victory in the 2023 All England Club final broke Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at the tournament.
Alcaraz suffered an uneven tournament.
On Friday, he defeated Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals, but only after having to recover from his third first-set loss in the tournament.
He aims to become the sixth man to win the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively.
However, Djokovic has won their last two meetings – in the final of the 2023 Cincinnati Open and then in the semifinals of the season-ending ATP Tour Finals.
Alcaraz hopes to make this a great Sunday for Spain by winning the Wimbledon final, before the country’s national football team faces England in the Euro 2024 final in Berlin.
“Being Spanish, yes, it would be a perfect Sunday,” Alcaraz said.
“It’s going to be a really fun day for the Spanish to watch my final, to watch the Euro final.”
Alcaraz was warned to expect a super-charged Djokovic, who reached the final with two straight sets victories, punctuated by an injury to Alex de Minaur in the last eight.
“This was the seventh time we met and I’ve never faced a Novak like this,” said Lorenzo Musetti, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals.
“I didn’t see him struggling physically. I have to say he played a really incredible match. He showed that he’s in great shape – I think not just in tennis, but physically.”
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