Carlos Alcaraz, the 21-year-old Spanish phenomenon, hopes for a “perfect Sunday”.
The defending champion takes on seven-time title winner Novak Djokovic in a re-match of last year’s Wimbledon men’s final in the afternoon with his opponent insisting “history is on the line”.
And Spain’s footballers play England in the 2024 Euro final in Berlin in the evening.
The third seed admitted when asked how it would feel should he and his country’s manager Luis de la Fuente’s side complete a sporting double: “Yes, it would be a perfect Sunday.”
He said: “I have spoken to a few of the Spanish footballers and wished them the best of luck for Sunday. I have to concentrate on my work in the final. Let’s see if I can finish so I can watch the Euros.”
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates a win during The Championships 2024
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Alcaraz, who has already won three majors on different surfaces, is in a positive mood.
He said: “It’s great to be back in a Wimbledon final and I’m going to enjoy it for sure.
I’m coming into a final feeling great, with a really high level of tennis, moving well, with a really high level of confidence for really good results on Sunday.
“I know how it’s going to feel playing against Djokovic. I’ve played him a few times in grand slams, finals of Masters 1000s (down 2-3 on their head to head). I know what I have to do.
“I’m sure he knows what he has to do to beat me. It’s going to be a really interesting one, but I’m ready to take that challenge and I’m ready to do it well.”
But the player who became the youngest ever world No.1 when he was 19, knows he has to step up his performance level after an erratic display defeating Russian Daniil Medvedev for a second successive year in the semi-finals.
He said: “Honestly, I feel I’ve played better matches this year here, like against Tommy (Paul in the last eight). Obviously, Daniil and Tommy have differing styles of play and you have to adapt your game to both matches.
“I’ve been working on controlling my nerves. Having them is normal and good. But when you’re not controlling them, it’s difficult to deal with situations and play your best tennis. That’s what happened to me in the first set against Daniil. I was struggling to play calmly on my service games. It was in a rush. After I lost that set, I calmed myself and started to play better. I haven’t thought I’m the defending champion. I try to be better every day, to play better tennis every match. Every match is a war. Your opponent is going to play his best tennis to beat you.”
His campaign this year has been different to 2023 when he came into the tournament after losing to Djokovic in the French Open semi-finals before lifting the Queen’s title and charging through the draw in The Championships before overcoming the Serbian in an epic five-set decider.
He managed to win on the clay of Roland Garros recently before losing to Jack Draper, the British No.1, at the cinch Championships and had a bumpier ride towards his latest showdown with Djokovic at The Championships.
He said: “I’m not going to lie – it’s difficult switching from clay to grass. Everybody could see at Queen’s that I didn’t play well and had a lot of work to do. I needed hours of practice on grass just to be better. To try to feel as comfortable as I could. There’s no secret to it. You have to put in work and trust that it’s going to be better.”
Novak Djokovic is keen to add to his already impressive record
(Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
Djokovic, 37, is determined to keep rewriting the history books. He hopes to become the first player – man or woman – to seal 25 Grand Slam titles in his tenth All England final while aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record eight triumphs in London SW19 and become the oldest player in the open era to seal the most coveted prize in tennis. And there are a host of other milestones that could be thrown in.
Djokovic said: “History is on the line. I will try to use that as fuel to play my best tennis. It’s a great motivation, but it is also a lot of pressure and expectation. I’m 37 and playing 21-year-olds and still expect myself to win most matches. People expect me to win 99 per cent of my matches. Wimbledon extracts the best out of me.”
The Serb had a knee operation a month before the tournament and was uncertain as to whether he could take part. He said: “I don’t want to prove people wrong. I was really focused on trying to make Wimbledon happen for me this year. The first couple of rounds maybe I wasn’t moving as well, and I was still finding that freedom to move, so to say. Then third, fourth round particularly onwards I felt like, OK, I’m not thinking about the knee. I’m actually playing free, and I’m playing as good as I can.”
He praised Alcaraz. The second seed, who has also won majors on hard, clay and grass like the Spaniard, said: “I see a lot of similarities between me and him in his abilities to adapt to a surface. He has got the ability to play on any. To adapt. He’s a very all-around player, very complete player, Impressive what he has done for such a young age. I think probably all of us share the same opinion, that he’s going to win many Slams in his career.
“I hope he’s going to give me this one! Let’s see. After that I’ll cheer for him.”
And he finished with a word on the Euros, believing home tennis and football fans will be able to witness both sports finals.
Djokovic said: “I think that the English crowd will have best of both worlds because I think the (football) finals is at night, so we are starting I think at 2pm, so they’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the tennis and football as well.”
Fifth seed Medvedev seems to favour Alcaraz in the final. The 28-year-old Russian has played the Big Three, which includes Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal, and rates Alcaraz his “toughest” opponent. He said: “The Big Three are all different. Carlos has a different game to all of them, but he can do it all, attack defend, be the aggressor, use the slice. He can do it all.”
