Now that the 136th Wimbledon Championships is over let’s look back on the men’s and women’s finals with our Wimbledon 2023 Review.
Wimbledon 2023 Review
The last two weeks have brought us many storylines, twists and turns, and new champions. I’m unsure how many people had Marketa Vondrousova and Carlos Alcaraz lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish and the Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy.
Wimbledon 2023 Ladies’ final
Before this year’s tournament, Vondrousova had only ever won one match on the grass courts of SW19. The Czech drop-shotted her way to the final before dismantling Ons Jabeur to become the first unseeded player to lift the women’s Wimbledon trophy.
Once again, it was heartbreak for Jabeur, losing her second successive Wimbledon final in a match where she was the overwhelming favorite. Last year felt like the title was Jabeur’s to lose, and this year, even more so. She’d done the hard work by defeating the defending champion, Rybakina, in the quarter-final and coming back to beat the world number 2, Sabalenka, in the semi-final.
The occasion seemed to affect Jabeur. She looked tight and nervous, spraying shots all over the court. Was this a missed opportunity for the Tunisian? I think so. In her on post-match on-court speech, Jabeur said her defeat to Vondrousova was the most painful loss of her career. It’s hard to see that the Tunisian will have a better chance to win than she did on Saturday.
But one thing is for sure. Jabeur will keep fighting and believing she can lift the Venus Rosewater Dish.
Wimbledon 2023 Men’s Final
The men’s final couldn’t have been any more different.
The 20-year-old, world number 1 sensation Carlos Alcaraz knocked the defending champion Novak Djokovic off his throne in an enthralling final, which lasted just shy of five hours.
They say to become a great, you have to beat a great. This is what Alcaraz did on Sunday evening.
What was even more impressive was that he was playing in his first Wimbledon final. On the other hand, Djokovic was competing in his ninth final at the All England Club and hadn’t lost on Centre Court for ten years.
After a slow start from Alcaraz, which saw Djokovic take the opening set, the young Spaniard came back in the second-set tiebreak. Alcaraz hit some out-of-this-world drop shots and a stunning backhand return winner to make it one set all.
To summarise the third set, you only need to watch the grueling 26-minute game, which included 13 deuces. Both players were hitting winners, which they had no right to hit and scrambling around the court to retrieve almost unretrievable balls. Throw in some challenged line calls. This game had everything.
But once again it was Alcaraz who came up with the goods, giving him a healthy double break.
The match that had it all
A dejected Djokovic looked on as Alcaraz took 2 sets to one lead. Now it was do or die for the Serb looking to win his fifth straight title at SW19.
In Djokovic fashion, he piled on the pressure, playing more aggressively, and broke Alcaraz in the fourth to take the match into a deciding set.
Coming into the final set, the match hung in the balance. Djokovic had the momentum, but Alcaraz looked like he had another gear.
How many times have we seen Djokovic save breakpoints on his own service game and immediately break his opponent in the next one?
It was Alcaraz’s time to play one out of Djokovic’s handbook. Djokovic earned himself a breakpoint in the Spaniard’s first service game of set five. The Serb continued to attack, hitting the corners and making Alcaraz devise some absurd defense.
Under pressure, Alcaraz hit a lob while Djokovic was at the net. Expecting Djokovic to let it bounce, he instead took the ball out of the air and attempted to hit a two-handed backhand smash. The Serb pummelled the ball into the middle of the net.
Alcaraz responded by breaking Djokovic in the next game with a super backhand passing shot before serving his way to the title.
Djokovic didn’t play a bad match by any means. Alcaraz played a level of tennis I didn’t think he had, or I don’t think Djokovic thought he had.
If this is truly the passing of the torch, I don’t think you could have asked for a better match for this moment.
