By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Friday, July 14, 2023

Wimbledon—It's the Wimbledon final the world wants: defending champion Novak Djokovic vs. world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Seven-time champion Djokovic views Sunday's final as both his greatest possible challenge—and the tennis hunger games.

More: Wimbledon Ladies Final Preview 

"He's very motivated. He's young," Djokovic said of Alcaraz. "He's hungry. I'm hungry, too, so let's have a feast."

Both men ride streaks into this showdown.

The second-seeded Djokovic has won 27 straight major matches, 34 consecutive grass-court matches and owns an astounding 45 wins in a row on the iconic Centre Court.

Queen's Club champion Alcaraz has won 11 matches in a row on London's grass.

In their last meeting in last month's Roland Garros semifinals, No. 3 Djokovic battered No. 1 Alcaraz with body blows until he broke him down in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach his seventh Roland Garros final and 34th major championship match.

Five weeks after a ruthless Djokovic dispensed growing pains in Paris, he sounds pumped to give the people what they want: Another quality clash vs. Alcaraz.

"This is probably the most anticipated finals I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people, Alcaraz, myself," Djokovic told the media at Wimbledon after defeating Jannik Sinner in straight sets. "It will be his first finals in Wimbledon...

"We had a very good match until he started struggling physically in Paris. I think we really took the level of tennis very high. I think was great for the audience and great for us players to be part of that. Obviously completely different conditions here. Grass is massively different from clay."



US Open champion Alcaraz, whose lone win over Djokovic came on Madrid's clay in 2022, said the single toughest task of facing Djokovic is coping with the relentless pressure he imposes over best-of-five sets.

"The pressure. I would say the pressure that [Djokovic] put to everyone," Alcaraz said. "You know, not only to me, to everyone to play at their best about three hours in a Grand Slam. I'm talking about the Grand Slam.

"I have to deal with that, but is something that I really want it. I hope to play a final here against him. But for me, this probably is the toughest thing facing Novak."

Grass rewards athleticism, all-court acumen and improvisational skill—qualities both finalists share.

They are two of the fastest men in tennis and both possess gears in their games to adapt to varied surfaces and situations. 

"I don't think many people expected him to play so well [on grass] because his game is basically, yeah, built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts," Djokovic said. "But he's been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day. I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue.

"I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt, and adjust my game depending on the challenges basically. That's what he's doing very early on in his career."

A core question is: Will Alcaraz, an excellent volleyer who won 27 of 35 trips to net sweeping Daniil Medvedev in today's semifinals be able to finish moving forward against Djokovic, a sniper on the return and pass?



The 36-year-old Serbian superstar is 16 years older than that 20-year-old Alcaraz creating the most expansive age gap in a Wimbledon men's final. Djokovic is also a far more accomplished and experienced Grand Slam and grass-court player.

Playing for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon crown, Djokovic owns a 115-18 grass-court record with his lone Wimbledon final loss coming 10 years ago to No. 2 Andy Murray on Centre Court.

In contrast, Alcaraz has played just 17 grass-court matches in his life, winning 15 of them.

Djokovic, who has won 15 consecutive major tiebreakers, said he believes experience will be an edge for him at the outset though he doesn't think it will be a decisive factor.

"Experience, yeah, could help a little bit I think maybe in some important moments, beginning the match, managing the nerves, managing the occasion, circumstances," Djokovic said. "Yeah, that's where experience could play a role.

"But it's not going to be the deciding factor really. It's not going to affect that much on the game itself. So whoever on a given day is in a better state, I mean, mentally and physically, will be the winner."

Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport