Sasa Ozmo: “Alcaraz was tremendous, but Novak didn’t show up for two sets”
Novak Djokovic was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s Wimbledon men’s singles final. For our journalist Sasa Ozmo, it’s a bittersweet defeat for the Serbian, who reached his record 37th major final but has now lost two consecutive Wimbledon finals to the rising Spaniard.
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Serbian tennis expert Sasa Ozmo says there are two ways to look at Novak Djokovic’s loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final on Sunday.
“From one point of view, you can be satisfied that he’s been able to reach the Wimbledon final, having had surgery on June 5. Not many people even saw him play at Wimbledon, yet he still managed to reach the final,” shared Ozmo in his post-match Tennis Memos analysis.
“The other point of view is that the way he lost was quite worrisome. If we remember that semi-final against Sinner at the Australian Open and now against Alcaraz at Wimbledon, this is the second big match in a row against two of his now biggest rivals where Djokovic did not show up in the first two sets.
“I’m not sure why Novak rushed so many times to the net when he saw that it’s not working, and it seems to me that he maybe panicked, similar to the way he played and acted during that US Open 2021 final against Medvedev.
“Also, I don’t think he was 10/20 of first serve points won, and at some point he managed to win only 66 percent of points after his first serve, which I don’t think happened that often.”
Alcaraz rose to the occasion
However, Ozmo asserts that perhaps the most important factor in this match was Alcaraz’s level when it mattered.
“For me, I don’t think Carlos had to do much in the first two sets, and for the first set and a half, I would say he was just playing decent. He was making the most of Djokovic’s errors.
“But once he had to raise his level, boy did he raise it, especially in the third set when Novak played that great game, I think at 3-2 in the third set, and Alcaraz had all the answers.
“What I’m most probably most impressed with Alcaraz is the way he reacted after he squandered those three match points. John McEnroe used to say that how you react to the choke is what counts, and Alcaraz managed to react perfectly.
“So for Novak, it’s a bit bittersweet. I don’t think anyone expected it to be this easy.”
Can Djokovic bounce back?
Time and time again, Djokovic has bounced back after a result like Sundays. You only need to look back to the months following last year’s Wimbledon final, where the Serbian beat Alcaraz in a Cincinnati epic, then raced past him in Turin.
“Like Novak said, he’s always risen in the face of adversity. So let’s see,” surmised Ozmo.
“Two big goals for him until the end of the season Olympics and New York. Good news is that he played his first finals this season. Obviously, he’s not at the level Sinner and Alcaraz are at the moment, but he’s been known to prove doubters wrong time and time again.
“So I guess he’ll probably do it this time as well, although he’s 37.”
