THOUGHTS ON WIMBLEDON 2024

Alcaraz dominates Djokovic, Krejcikova surprises and more in my look back at talking points from the tournament

By Stephen Higgins | 15th July 2024

My musings on a tournament where Carlos Alcaraz moved to a new level at the expense of Novak Djokovic, Barbora Krejcikova summoned some of her old class to claim a first Wimbledon title plus much more.

Alcaraz Unleashed

As the Spaniard strode up to the baseline to serve at 5-4 in the third set, I thought this had to be one of the greatest ever performances in a grand slam final. A wobble ensued before Alcaraz finished the match off but the sentiment remains intact.

On Sunday, a 21-year-old completely overwhelmed and outplayed the greatest male player of all-time on the sport's most important court. That’s monumental. Before the contest, I felt it would be a close encounter and edged slightly towards Djokovic given his remarkable recovery and the ferocious quest to collect major no.25.

However, Carlos had no interest in nostalgia.

The men's final finished a lot closer to two hours than five as the Murcian dismantled Djokovic. Against the finest returner we’ve seen, Alcaraz won 71% of his service points (1st and 2nd) and stole 42% of those on return. He broke the 37-year-old five times and hit almost twice as many winners. The 24-time major winner was dismissed.

Alcaraz, now on four career majors, has joined a select group by securing Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back. While his talent, athleticism and desire are unquestionable, Alcaraz must pursue gods. In order to rank amongst them, the 21-year-old will need to acquire two grand slams a year for the next eight (Federer), nine (Nadal) or ten years (Djokovic).

Krejcikova's dormant class erupts

Between 2000 and 2016, only six women lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish with the Williams Sisters accounting for 12 of those years. Since 2017, there have been seven different champions.

The Czech’s victory is quite a feat given her persistent injury and illness issues over the past few years. The 28-year-old only won seven matches all season before the seven she reeled off at Wimbledon.

It is extraordinary given recent form, but not the Czech’s heritage.

Krejcikova is of course a former Roland Garros winner, but she also recorded 11 top 10 wins between 2021 and 2023 including victories over Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessie Pegula. Apart from all the doubles and mixed major titles, Krejcikova has a WTA 1000 (Dubai) and two WTA 500 (Ostrava, San Diego) titles in her cabinet. She hardly came from nowhere.

That’s the chief point. Of those seven different women who have won Wimbledon recently, Elena Ryabkina was the only one who had never experienced a major final before. So while it’s hard to predict who will win the women’s event these days, the winner still tends to have an elite backstory.

Pivotal juncture for Djokovic

Should we have predicted it?

While Alcaraz arrived in London as the new Roland Garros champion, Djokovic turned up fresh from the surgeon’s table, just the latest setback in a subpar season for the legend.

The world no.2 managed his way through an appetising draw before a dose of luck in the quarter-finals with the withdrawal of Alex de Minaur. That would have been a hell of a contest and you wonder now if the Australian might have stopped the Serb.

Djokovic was still good enough to vanquish Musetti in the last four but when it came to Alcaraz, the greatest problem solver we’ve seen on the men’s side had no answers. He simply could not cope with the Spaniard’s level of play.

“Today against him, I was inferior on the court. That’s it. He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did,” said Djokovic after the final.

The question now is: can Djokovic rediscover his highest level?

Paolini charges on

There's little to add about the inspiring Italian that hasn’t been said.

The Tuscan has risen from the (relative) ranking doldrums to a top five talent at the age of 28. The fact that Paolini has done this through hard work whilst maintaining an expansive game and bubbly personality is heartening. She’s just great for the sport.

Magic Musetti wows Wimbledon

While he still hasn’t figured out the Djokovic conundrum (which few have), the Italian put together a wonderful semi-final run. Dashing, gifted and stylish, the 22-year-old will surely become a huge fan favourite as his career develops.

I sincerely hope that Musetti progresses to become a grand slam contender, or at least a fixture in the pack behind Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. While he is glorious to watch, we have seen how difficult it can be for flamboyant talents to continuously challenge for the big trophies.

Swiatek still searching for SW19 formula

Given her complete dominance on clay and general wizardry on hard courts, it’s surprising to once again see the world no.1 fall short at the most important tournament in the sport.

After crashing out to the tricky Yulia Putintseva in the third round, Swiatek conceded that she “didn’t rest properly” after Roland Garros and won’t “make this mistake again.”

I do hope the Pole finds the solution to truly compete for the Wimbledon trophy. The 23-year-old has the ability to complete the career grand slam but still needs to figure out how to best adapt her game to the unique challenge of grass so soon after clay.

Speaking of issues with the grass...

While the surface at SW19 has slowed considerably from the zippy surface of Sampras and Navaratilova, there are still a cohort of top players who struggle to adjust to it.

Despite what looks to be a super game for grass, Stefanos Tsitsipas bombed out in round two this year and has never made the last eight at the All England Club. There are worse examples though. Naomi Osaka and Casper Ruud have never been past the third round at Wimbledon and maintained that habit in 2024. They should maybe give Andy or Tim a call.

Sun breaks through the clouds

While we've seen unlikely contenders at grand slams, Lulu Sun's story takes some beating.

Born in New Zealand to a Croatian father and Chinese mother, and then reared in Switzerland, the 23-year-old was in the process of adjusting to the WTA tour before she took Wimbledon by storm.

While the New Zealander was a NCAA champion with the University of Texas in 2021, Sun hardly came to London in form. She lost in in the qualifying of 's-Hertogenbosch and then the first round of the Veneto WTA 125 to world no.281 Susan Bandecchi.

However, after saving a match point in Wimbleodon qualies, Sun made the fourth round of the main draw thanks to wins over Emma Raducanu and the Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng.

How's this for a difference: Sun has more than doubled her career prize money thanks to the $375,000 cheque from the All England Club.

Rain, rain here to stay

Just as Roland Garros was blighted by rain, Wimbledon had to toil through the inclement weather. There was such a backlog of doubles matches that emergency plans to play some contests on indoor hard courts were mooted.

While climate change has far more worrying and devastating effects, grand slams will need to prepare for more of this disruption. Like Roland Garros, Wimbledon currently has two show courts equipped with retractable roofs. Tournament organisers must wonder if two covered courts are enough going forward?