Alcaraz races to two-set lead against Djokovic in Wimbledon final

Carlos Alcaraz has made a red-hot start to Sunday’s championship match at Wimbledon.

The defending champion leads Novak Djokovic 6-2, 6-2 in the highly anticipated second consecutive SW19 final between the two players. After converting his fifth break point to clinch a 14-minute first game on Centre Court, Alcaraz has quickly built on his early advantage.

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The third-seeded Spaniard produced some classy winners across the opening two sets, but it has been his consistency that has proven to be the key to his lead. After breaking an uncharacteristically low-energy Djokovic twice in the first set, Alcaraz also repeated the feat in the second. The 21-year-old has faced just one break point and has produced a series of delightful touches at the net in a complete performance so far.

Alcaraz holds a perfect 3-0 record in Grand Slam finals after he defeated Alexander Zverev to win Roland Garros last month. If he can complete victory against Djokovic on Sunday, the 21-year-old would become just the sixth man in the Open Era to win the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double in the same year, after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.

The Wimbledon championship match is one of the highlights of a huge sporting Sunday for British sports fans, with the England men’s national football team set to take on Spain in the Euro 2024 final in the evening. Tickets for the rematch of the epic 2023 Wimbledon final were reported to be going for over 10,000 US dollars online, while Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales, is among those watching. It is just the second public appearance the royal has made since she announced her cancer diagnosis in March.

As well as the Princess, there is plenty of tennis royalty enjoying Alcaraz and Djokovic’s sixth Lexus ATP Head2Head clash. Former Wimbledon champions Stan Smith, Chris Evert, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt are in attendance, as is British WTA star Emma Raducanu. Other high-profile spectators include actors Tom Cruise, Benedict Cumberbatch and Julia Roberts.

The 37-year-old Djokovic is bidding to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles by avenging his 2023 championship-match defeat to Alcaraz. He will need to raise his game if he is going to work his way back into the match, however.

The Serbian, who made a remarkable comeback at Wimbledon this fortnight after undergoing knee surgery in early June, has been particularly vulnerable on serve. He won just 57 per cent (21/37) of points behind his first delivery in the first two sets, and double faulted at 2-4, 30/40 in the second set to hand Alcaraz his fourth break of the match.

If he can engineer a turnaround, Djokovic would also become the first player in history to win eight or more singles titles at two different Grand Slam events, having also won the trophy 10 times at the Australian Open. He has won a record 24 major titles overall.

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