Novak Djokovoic's bid to a 24th Grand Slam title took a pause when Spain's Carlos Alcaraz edged past the Serbian great with a thrilling five-set win in Wimbledon final. Djokovic was the reigning champion at the event and looked poised to bag his eighth SW19 trophy but was stopped on the final hurdle by a 20-year-old prodigy. However, the 36-year-old veteran not only suffered a match loss but has also been inflicted with the heaviest fine of 2023 after his racquet abuse in the summit clash.
The match went for four hours and 42 minutes where Alcaraz edged past with a 1-6, 7-6(6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 win to pocket his first Wimbledon and second Grand Slam. But the incident took place in the tense fifth set when Djokovic's serve was broken. Djokovic took a 1-0 lead before the Spaniard bounced back on his serve to achieve parity. However, when the 20-year-old broke Djokovic's serve, the Serb smashed his racquet in anger on the net-post, which broke his playing gear badly.
After the match, the organisers hit a fine of $8,000, which is the joint-highest fine handed in 2023. In the same tournament, Russia's Mirra Andreeva attracted the same financial cut during her fourth-round match against USA's Madison Keys. The reason behind this fine was Andreeva's abuse of the racquet as she threw it to the ground.
Alcaraz break Djokovic's dominance
In a humdinger finale at Center Court, Alcaraz broke Djokovic's great dominance. The Serb was in the hunt for a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon trophy with Roger Federer and a 24th Grand Slam. He was undefeated at the Center Court since 2013 and won Wimbledon in all the previous four years.
This was Alcaraz's second Grand Slam win after the US Open triumph in 2022. The Spaniard also broke the 'Big Four' dominance with his win. Since 2002 none other than the Big Four - Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray won the Wimbledon title.
