Wimbledon 2023

Jack Daw

Incredible final.

Alcaraz has it all , no reason he won't dominate for a good while now, nobody under the age of 35 looks close to him.

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860002#Comment_120860002

This all seems to matter to you for some reason

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860001#Comment_120860001

There's a toilet connection somewhere here alright.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860020#Comment_120860020

Just an odd lie. Doesn't matter a jot , great final today , delighted. Just sad about Kerry winning

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860030#Comment_120860030

There is nothing odd about giving a smart a$$ response to a smart a$$ question.

The match was epic. I am delighted too. I don't have any time for Novak's style of play, for want of a better word. And I firmly believe today was the first time in a very long time he met decent opposition and I feared for tennis.

I didn't even know that result, must watch the highlights.

yerwanthere123

Someone called to my house right at the end of the 4th set, so I watched a hour behind everyone else.

Absolutely DELIGHTED for Alcaraz. We knew he was good already, but it remained to be seen whether he was just better than most of the 'next gen', or actually able to compete with the very best. Today answers that question pretty firmly; beat Djokovic in a slam final, at Wimbledon, over best of 5, and also ended Djokovic's tiebreak run too. Amazing, and undisputed world #1 now.

tiegan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860064#Comment_120860064

I too had to watch an hour behind, had to turn my phone off in case someone let the result slip - great match, also delighted to see Alcaraz getting the better of Djokovic, my nephew was one of the ballboys, so even more interesting!!

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860141#Comment_120860141

Wow, what a moment for your nephew 🙂

Royale with Cheese

It was hard to imagine a day like today would ever come, it was like Djokovic would just go on winning forever. Delighted 😍

Especially since it was on grass, which you'd have thought would be the last surface that Alcaraz would beat Djokovic to a grand slam on. Instead it was the first, his rise has been meteoric. I'd never count Djokovic out but if Alcaraz can outlast him over 5 sets on grass then you'd have to fancy him in New York in September. Djokovic doesn't have a great record there anyway.

kevthegaff

Saw a highlights of one of alcarezs French open matches and I said to.myself this guy is unreal. I reckon hel surpass Novaks records in 10-12 years time as he doesn't have the same level of players to contend with as novak had to. I think djorkovic might become more aggressive with his shots the next time they meet could be his best hop but he's on the decline and alcarez will just get better. Alcarez in a year or two won't have a Federer, Nadal or Murray to beat.

kirk.

Never in one thread was so much humble pie eaten by so many

Winston Churchill

mailburner

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860443#Comment_120860443

I think the next 3-4 years in particular look great for Alacarez, could see him with 10 slams in 4-5 years being realistic, should dominate at roland garros though, looks to be a bit better than some of the up and comers so just beat Djokovic and I think he could dominate for a few years and who knows maybe in 10-12 years he might be good enough to match nadal, fed, djok?

He was great today but Djok missed shots he normally puts away, play that match 10 times and I think they split it...when he's firing he's

just a joy to watch though, those drop shots are just sublime.

What made it more amazing was how he came back to win the second set and the mental strength he possesses for a kid.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860386#Comment_120860386

Similar to you, I gave Alcaraz a punchers chance today but really thought grass would be the last surface he would conquer. His improvement really has been meteoric.

As for the USO, it's a long ways off yet, but Alcaraz is 100% favourite there. Reigning champion, surface more suited to his game, and Djokovic has a poor-ish record there. Plus I don't think Alcaraz has anything to fear now. I think he would have won the FO semi too, only for nerves, amazing turn around in attitude and approach since then. Credit to his team.

MisterAnarchy

https://twitter.com/Wimbledon/status/1680649158317731840

Crazy stat that.

kevthegaff

Alcarez will be GOAT in the future, unless there's the players to come through or through bad injuries.

kirk.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860647#Comment_120860647

Another crazy stat

If Novak gets to us open final

He'll have reached the final of more than half the slams he's played

walshb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860718#Comment_120860718

Just not seeing it. Unless the opposition are weak

Augme

At the very least the lose will help refocus Novak. He's had it too easy and I think that showed today. Once he won 6-1 in the first set he seemed more interested in arguing with the crowd than actually pushing on and winning. He got complacent and thought he had it in the bag. He had so many unforced errors today, he seemed to lack that real drive and determination.

In hindsight I'd say reaching the 23 grand slams probably impacted him on that front a lot.

Swaine

Wonderful final. Alcarez deserved that, he hung in there and reaped the rewards. Djokovic's speech after the game speaks volumes about him, genuine and a top top man as well as the best ever to pick up a tennis racket.

The young man Alcaraz will dominate for years to come, he's a different breed to Rune, Sinner etc.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858203#Comment_120858203

Only starting to catch up on all the posts now.

This has to break all records for the earliest write-off of a game!

14 minutes in to a near-5-hour game 🤣🤣

Musicrules

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860806#Comment_120860806

At least you waited for the match to finish to do your gotcha this time. 😂 The last one backfired.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858302#Comment_120858302

So how did that go?

Musicrules

Novak is the GOAT. Alcarez could be a challenger in the future but he could be the new Fed, the new Nadal could come in a few years and then the new Novak to set up another great era.

Swaine

Was great to see Alcaraz go straight to his family and mentors after the game finished then acknowledged the Djokovic camp. Really classy young man.

Ardillaun

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120858296#Comment_120858296

Well known for it. Sure didn’t he lose loads of matches? Folderer I used to call him. Ah, here’s me bus.

Swaine

A good way of determining how stupid one is is how much they use the word 'bottler'.

Sometimes one player/s is better than the other on the day. No one "bottled" anything.

Despise that word.

Ardillaun

Linear projection - the error of presuming that future change will be a simple and steady extension of past trends.

What a joy to be able to watch such an extraordinary match. Until the end of the second set I was guilty of the above delusion, unable to see how Djokovic could be beaten.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860817#Comment_120860817

It really didn't.

I never predicted the outcome of that match, and I posted just as Jabeur had broken back for the second time to bring the set back on serve.

She never looked likely to win, but given she'd levelled the score in that set, you couldn't have known. I've seen less likely comebacks.

I really enjoyed reading through this thread, particularly the screeching u-turn by the poster who'd written the match off before it even got going (and doubled down later on in the game until it became clear they realised the error of their ways 🤣).

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860806#Comment_120860806

I’ll give you that. However when you hear of finalists throwing 2 set leads you lose hope. That set 6-1, really looked ominous

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860821#Comment_120860821

Here we go

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860915#Comment_120860915

I had never seen Alcaraz play and it did look like another bottler (like the Greek guy & someone else who messed up a 2 set lead over the Serb)

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860909#Comment_120860909

I too believed that once Alcaraz allowed him back in on set 4 it was game up, yet again

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860884#Comment_120860884

Here we go again. So today I’ve been called idiotic & now stupid. Do people really need to hurl such insults?

Ardillaun

Is this the year of the drop shot at Wimbledon? All four singles finalists were expert at it but Alcaraz was in another league.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860943#Comment_120860943

So you'd never seen him play but you wrote him off after less than 15 mins?

That says all we need to know, tbh - maybe you should spend more time actually watching and learning a bit about sports than spouting ridiculous knee-jerk opinions online.

My ignore list beckons.

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860965#Comment_120860965

I

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860965#Comment_120860965

oh no please don’t ignore me. How will I cope?

I watched Tennis for many years. So what if I thought Alcaraz was just another Tsitsipas etc?

Swaine

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860949#Comment_120860949

Normally no, but in this case, yes.

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861026#Comment_120861026

Sad

tiegan

Thoroughly enjoyed the two weeks of play, but this thread is the gift that keeps on giving, highly entertaining!!

Asdfgh2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120860490#Comment_120860490

Could he be using PED’s…?

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861281#Comment_120861281

Course he could , any sports person could. Anything to suggest he is? Answer is no.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861281#Comment_120861281

Idiotic comment

Girly Gal

Delighted Alcaraz won. Mens tennis really needed that outcome as, Djokovic has been too dominant with next to no opposition in the last few years( outside of Nadal at FO).Finally he has a genuine challenger. It was hugely important for Alcaraz to come through especially in the way the match panned out, like most on here I feared the worst after the first set, but, Alcaraz showed great composure to get back in the match and turn things around, and even when Djokovic won the 4th, Alcaraz still held his nerve and showed no real signs of nerves when serving it out. Djokovic started to look his age for the first time, I suppose he's used to opponents folding once he gets on top as he did in the 4th, so wasn't prepared for Alcaraz to put it up to him in the 5th. He tried every trick in the book, the slow serving was an absolute joke, constant yabbering with the crowd, long toilet break, but it didn't work. I think him breaking the racket was him realising he wasn't going to win, at that point the match was up, Alcaraz had mentally broken Djokovic at that point.

There's been a lot of BS in the media about Djokovic playing better than ever, and his unforced errors being low, I think yesterday showed that while he's still playing at a high level he is still well past his prime. The unforced errors being low is because he's not under much pressure normally, but, yesterday they started to pile up as he was under pressure. Yesterday also showed why Djokovic is not liked, his constant gamesmanship throughout was very poor form, constant bickering with the crowd and even in his speech he couldn't resist a dig at Federer. Ironic that he ended in tears considering his gesture to the crowd earlier in the week.

Alcaraz is a breath of fresh air, has a nice style of play, isn't waiting for the opponent to make a mistake but, will go for a winner if it's there. I hope someone comes along to challenge him in the next few years, as having proper rivalries is what makes the sport. Djokovic hasn't gone away and will likely win a few slams yet, but, he's in decline, so important that at least 1 or 2 others emerge or step up to challenge Alcaraz in the next few years. All said and done, it was a great day for tennis.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861524#Comment_120861524

Yesterday truly was a gladiatorial final and a good day for mens tennis. Whilst the outcome could have gone either way, what was notable was you could see that Alcaraz believed he could defeat Djokovic, that he was there for the taking. And Djokovic knew it too, that's why he was losing his cool & messing about. Carlos still had to deliver but he had the core belief. That psychological barrier is what has held many back against Novak, Nadal, Federer and Williams in the past. They might have had the skills but were overcome by the dominant personality on the other side of the court in big games.

HeidiHeidi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120851810#Comment_120851810

I felt compelled to repost this.

Suffice to say, the last 24 hours has done nothing to change my opinion!

forumdedum

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861524#Comment_120861524

intelligent and articulate. While I realise don’t belong on this thread I’m glad I popped back to read this. Bye all & thanks to those of you who are courteous.

Augme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861524#Comment_120861524

Djokovic also helped lay out a blueprint that every other tennis player should be taking a leaf out of. As I mentioned earlier, his antics with the crowd are what cost him. But his slow serving was a brilliant tactic in not letting Alcaraz get into his rhythm and is something others on tour really need to take note of when playing him.

Unfortunately I get the sense from most of this younger generation that they would prefer to lose and be liked than win and be unliked. Novak was very different in that regard.

Royale with Cheese

Djokovic is desperate to be liked though. It clearly bothers him that the crowd are against him practically all of the time and he was never loved liked Federer or Nadal were.

Oscar_Madison

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120861673#Comment_120861673

Did you see the stats they put up on screen at one point in the match on Djokovic?

They picked a number of game key indicators - about 4 or 5 I think - throughout the tournament he was at an 8 on this scale. At the final he was down to a 6- essentially a 25% reduction in performance.

His unforced errors were off the scale. Was he alright I wonder on the day? Like did he have a dicky tummy or something that impacted his performance?

Not taking away from Carlos’ victory at all - he’s an incredible player either way- but did feel Djokovic wasn’t completely on form

I was convinced at the start of the 5th set that Djokovic would ramp it up a gear but it never happened.

kirk.

It's a weakness in Djokovics mental game

You cannot fight the crowd and benefit from it, you have to win them

Maybe Fed understood this or was he just a nicer guy