NPR’s Scott Detrow speaks with Washington Post sports reporter Ava Wallace about the men’s final that took place Sunday at Wimbledon.
SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Twenty-one-year-old Spanish phenom Carlos Alcaraz swept his opponent, legendary tennis player Novak Djokovic, in three straight sets in today’s men’s final at Wimbledon. And he was crowned the champion by British royalty, the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton. Joining me once again is Ava Wallace. She’s in England, has been reporting on Wimbledon from The Washington Post. Ava, a lot’s happened to the world since we talked about the women’s final. Good to have you on again.
AVA WALLACE: Thanks for having me.
DETROW: What was the atmosphere like at the stadium today?
WALLACE: It was really electric, which isn’t something that’s usual for Wimbledon. It’s usually pretty subdued crowds. They’re very polite, unless, of course, Roger Federer is playing. That’s their favorite here. But just with the Princess of Wales being there, with, of course, the final of the European champion today happening in soccer with England playing Spain, there was kind of a lot of chatter. And Centre Court felt really alive and really kind of rowdy in a way that it usually doesn’t.
DETROW: I feel like you were saying, if I remember correctly – and again, I may have forgotten because a lot has happened – that you thought this would be a long match, and Alcaraz really dominated.
WALLACE: I was honestly stunned with how this match began. Well, actually, it began kind of like we expected. There was a 14-minute game for the first game of the opening set, where, you know, there were seven deuces. It was 20 points. It was back and forth, and it really felt like an opening statement. And I was sitting there on Centre Court kind of thinking, gosh, neither of these guys wants to give an inch. This match is going to last forever. And then I blinked, and Carlos Alcaraz was up 4-1. And he was taking a really big lead after breaking Djokovic’s serve twice in a row, and it was really kind of straightforward from there on out, which was not at all what I was expecting.
DETROW: Can you pinpoint any specific moment where the momentum shifted, any particular back-and-forth or exact moment, or was it just a gradual picking up steam by Alcaraz?
WALLACE: It really was gradual. I think it was huge that he was able to win that opening game and break Djokovic’s serve kind of right off the bat. But I was actually surprised that there was no counterpunching because this is something that’s happened to Novak Djokovic before, where he will get down two sets to love, and you’ll say, OK, I’ve seen this before. He’s going to come back. He kind of…
DETROW: Yeah.
WALLACE: …Does this thing where he bugs his eyes out and really focuses in and then summons the energy from somewhere. But the problem with Alcaraz is that is totally his style of game where he kind of gets a racket on every ball. And mentally, it just makes his opponent think double, kind of just question everything and say, should I come to net? Should I serve a different way? And it really saps all of the confidence out of someone even like Novak Djokovic, which was just – again, it was – I can’t emphasize enough how shocking it is to see, you know, Novak Djokovic shaking his head at a shot that he can’t reach or just looking up at his player box and laughing.
DETROW: Yeah, he’s, of course, one of the best players of all time, but this is the second straight loss at Wimbledon for Djokovic, depriving him of that record-tying eighth championship. Is this a passing of a guard? Or you think Djokovic can come back and win a few more?
WALLACE: No, I don’t know if Djokovic can come back and win a few more. I wouldn’t count him out of it, but it definitely felt like a passing of the guard today, if only because of how Alcaraz is winning right now. So he really can kind of do every shot in the book. And his game isn’t just versatility, but he’s really able to surprise opponents as well. He can hit any shot from anywhere on the court at a moment’s notice. He can defend really well and loves defending. He can also attack. So it’s kind of hard to formulate a game plan against him. And it kind of feels like one of those pivotal moments in tennis like the way Serena Williams revolutionized the women’s game…
DETROW: Yeah.
WALLACE: …With bringing so much more power than there was before or the way the Big Three revolutionized it just by how long they were able to dominate. It feels like this is something new that we’re seeing.
DETROW: That’s sports reporter Ava Wallace of The Washington Post, joining us from London. Thank you so much.
WALLACE: Thanks.
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