Carlos Alcaraz Starts Huge Day for Spain With Wimbledon Title

It’s a great day to be a Spaniard.

In a dominant performance, Carlos Alcaraz knocked off Novak Djokovic to win his second straight Wimbledon men’s singles title Sunday, beating the Serb in three sets.

It was a championship rematch, with Alcaraz beating Djokovic in a five-set classic last year. Alcaraz captured his second straight Wimbledon and his second straight major title after winning this year’s French Open last month. 

The Spanish men’s soccer team was set to kick off in the European championship final just hours after Alcaraz’s win, which he joked about after qualifying for the final Friday. “It’s gonna be a good day for Spanish people as well,” he said, eliciting boos from the English crowd who was hoping for a title of their own Sunday.

Though Alcaraz has now won three of the last five majors, and he is clearly positioned to be the dominant player of his generation, it would be premature to say he’s fully seized the torch from the Big Three era, even as his Spanish compatriot Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have faded. Federer retired nearly two years ago, while Nadal skipped Wimbledon to focus on the Olympics, where he’ll be paired up with Alcaraz in the men’s doubles draw.

Djokovic won three major titles last year, and he stormed back to Sunday’s final barely a month after having knee surgery. Djokovic’s remarkable run in London this summer came after tearing his meniscus at the French Open in May.

In a sign of Djokovic’s staying power, the title rematch was the first in the men’s draw since Djokovic and Federer faced each other in 2015.

Alcaraz, still only 21, won a whopping $3.45 million Sunday, part of a significant increase in Wimbledon’s prize money.

He has a long way to go to match Djokovic’s stunning record. The 37-year-old Djoker was playing in his 37th Grand Slam final—having won 24 previously—and his 10th Wimbledon final. Djokovic won seven of those, but in the end, Alcaraz denied him the bid to tie Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon titles.