The Spaniard won 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in front of a crowd which included a surprise visit from the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton.
ADVERTISEMENTCarlos Alcaraz defeated Serbian legend Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the Wimbledon men’s final Sunday to collect his fourth Grand Slam title at age 21.
It was a rematch of last year’s championship match on the grass of the All England Club, which Alcaraz won in five sets.
This one — played in front of a Centre Court crowd that included Kate, the Princess of Wales, in a rare public appearance since announcing she has cancer — was much easier for Alcaraz, at least until he stumbled while holding three match points as he served for the victory at 5-4 in the third set.
Still, Alcaraz regrouped and eventually picked up a second major trophy in a row after last month’s triumph on the clay at the French Open.
The Spaniard won his first Slam title at the 2022 U.S. Open as a teenager, and no man ever has collected more Slam hardware before turning 22 than he has.
He improved to 4-0 in major finals.
The 37-year-old Djokovic, wearing a grey sleeve on his surgically repaired right knee, was denied in his bid for an eighth Wimbledon title and record 25th major overall. He tore his meniscus at Roland Garros on June 3 and had an operation in Paris two days later.
A royal surprise attendance
The Princess of Wales, wife of heir to the throne Prince William, arrived at the All England Club on Sunday for the Wimbledon men’s final, only her second public appearance since announcing she was diagnosed with cancer.
She and her 9-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte, got to the site of the grass-court Grand Slam tournament in southwest London in a motorcade about a half-hour before the final was scheduled to begin. They went to a terrace at the club that is connected to the main stadium by a pedestrian walkway and greeted several people, including 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu and other young British tennis players.
Kate was wearing a purple dress — one of Wimbledon’s official colours.
She was joined in the front row of the Royal Box by her sister Pippa Matthews. Two rows behind them were actors Tom Cruise and Benedict Cumberbatch, while a number of former Wimbledon champions were also on hand — including Rod Laver, Andre Agassi and Stefan Edberg.
Since 2016, the princess has been the patron of the All England Club, which hosts Wimbledon each year. Her ceremonial duties include handing out the winner’s trophies after the singles finals, although she was not on hand Saturday when Barbora Krejcikova defeated Jasmine Paolini for the women’s title.
Kate revealed in March that she has cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. Her lone public appearance since then was attending last month’s birthday parade for King Charles III. Before that event, she released a statement saying she was “making good progress” but still had “good days and bad days.”
Prince William has been a regular at Wimbledon finals but was not going to be there Sunday. Instead, he planned to go watch England face Spain in the final of the men’s soccer European Championship in Germany. He is the president of the English Football Association.
Queen Camilla, wife of King Charles III, also visited Wimbledon on Wednesday.
