Wimbledon Trivia: Who is Carlos Alcaraz, the challenger to Novak Djokovic

World number one Carlos Alcaraz ended Novak Djokovic’s long reign at the All England Club to win his first Wimbledon title with a 1-6 7-6(6) 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory in the final on Sunday.

The Spaniard, 20, beat the seven-time champion to become the youngest man to lift the Challenge Cup since 18-year-old Boris Becker won the second of his three Wimbledon titles in 1986.

Novak Djokovic was bidding for his record-tying eighth Wimbledon singles championship and fifth in a row. Djokovic is attempting to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight titles at the All England Club and match Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 Grand Slam crowns. Alcaraz is trying for his first trophy at the All-England Club.

Alcaraz, a 20-year-old from Spain, is ranked No. 1, and Djokovic, a 36-year-old from Serbia, is ranked No. 2. In addition to the Wimbledon trophy, the winner will have the top ATP ranking.

Factfile on Carlos Alcaraz who on Sunday won his first Wimbledon title and second career major:

Name: Carlos Alcaraz

Date of birth: May 5, 2003

Place of birth: El Palmar, Murcia, Spain

Professional debut: 2018

Career earnings: $19,634,952

World ranking: 1

Career honours

Titles: 12

Grand Slams: 2

US Open (1) — 2022

Wimbledon (1) — 2023

Year ending world number one (1) — 2022

At 20, Alcaraz is Djokovic’s junior by 16 years. Sunday’s match sees the biggest age gap between two men’s Grand Slam finalists in almost 50 years.

When Djokovic captured the first of his 23 majors at the 2008 Australian Open, the Spaniard was still three months shy of his fifth birthday.

Djokovic can become Wimbledon’s oldest male champion, while Alcaraz is bidding to be its third youngest after Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg.

This is a rematch of the showdown between Alcaraz and Djokovic in the French Open semifinals last month.

Carlos Alcaraz won the third set of the Wimbledon final 6-1 against Novak Djokovic on Sunday and leads two sets to one. Djokovic won the first set 6-1 and Alcaraz won the second 7-6 (6).

Djokovic is bidding for his record-tying eighth Wimbledon singles championship and fifth in a row. Alcaraz is trying for his first trophy at the All England Club.

The first two sets were terrific, and each man won one. But then Alcaraz was overcome by cramping — he said later he thought nerves were the main cause — and Djokovic took the anticlimactic last two sets 6-1, 6-1.

— Novak Djokovic won the fourth set of the Wimbledon final 6-3 against Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. He won the first set 6-1 and Alcaraz won the second and third 7-6 (6), 6-1.

*With inputs from agencies

Updated: 16 Jul 2023, 11:40 PM IST