Novak Djokovic makes brutally honest confessions after Wimbledon defeat against Carlos Alcaraz

Novak Djokovic has not been forced to admit he was powerless on a tennis court too many times over the last two decades, but that was the reality he faced up to after his crushing defeat against Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

After a five-set classic between these two champions from different generations on Wimbledon’s Centre Court saw Alcaraz dethrone Djokovic, the 2024 was a one-sided affair as Alcaraz won 6-2 6-2 7-6(4).

He didn’t waste any time completing his media duties after the match as he was quick to face the world’s press on the upper balcony of Wimbledon’s media centre and here are the best bits of what he had to say.

Q. Could you have done more to turn the match in your favour?

ND: I don’t think so, honestly. You can always analyze the match, of course, after and say, I could have done this or that. Just overall the way I felt on the court 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. I don’t think I could have done something much more.

Try to pump myself up maybe, yes. Get the crowd involved. That’s what was happening in the third. That got me going a little bit. Yeah, he wasn’t also allowing me to have much of a free points on my serve. He was reading the serve. He was playing with a lot of variety. I’ve never seen him serve that way, to be honest. 136. Maybe I was missing something this tournament, but I’ve never seen him serve that fast. He must have had a really good serving practice day yesterday (smiling). Yes, overall he really outplayed me.

Q. Why was this match so different compared to last year’s final?

ND: Obviously I felt better last year. I started 6-1. It was first Wimbledon final for him. For me it was ninth. I felt like I had the better start. Had a set point. Missed a relatively easy backhand in the rally in the second set tiebreak, 5-1 that set. Maybe things could be quite different in the end of the match. Again, I lost in an epic five-set match that we went toe-to-toe. This year it was nothing like that. It was all about him. He was the dominant force on the court and deserved to win.

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Q. Would you change anything you did on court?

ND: I did all I could to prepare myself for this match and this tournament in general. If someone told me I would play Wimbledon finals three, four weeks ago, I would taken it for sure. Where I was three, four weeks ago, where I am now… Of course, I do feel disappointed. It’s a bitter taste to lose the finals the way I did today.

It has to be a success at the end of the day with me and my team playing Wimbledon finals and losing to the best player of the tournament without a doubt. That’s all I can say. Of course, I can always be self-critical, which I am. I can always find the flaws, which I can already see. Things that I maybe should have executed better. I don’t think that would change too much the course of the match, to be honest. From the very beginning, you could see he was at least half a step better than I am in every way.

Q. What comes next?

ND: I still have intentions to play the Olympic Games, hopefully have a chance to fight for a medal for my country. On a completely different surface obviously, going back to the place where I got injured some weeks ago. Let’s see. Let’s see how physically and mentally I’m going to feel. Hopefully I can find the right tennis because I’m going to need all I have and more to go to the final of the Olympic Games. As far as coming back here, I mean, I would love to. I don’t have anything else in my thoughts right now that this is my last Wimbledon. I really want to play at least whatever. I don’t know. I don’t have any limitations in my mind. I still want to keep going and play as long as I feel like I can play on this high level.

Q. Did your knee injury affect you in the final?

ND: Of course, my preparation for Wimbledon wasn’t as I would have it normally, usually or commonly to prepare myself. There was a hindrance obviously because of the injury. I had to kind of create a hybrid program of training between the rehab, specific exercises for the knee, and the actual pre-Grand Slam fitness training and tennis training. Yeah, that probably had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I felt better and better. I reached the finals. Some matches I played some really good tennis. Some matches I kind of battled my way through.

Q. Did you still feel you can compete against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner?

ND: In order to have a chance to beat these guys in Grand Slam latter stages or Olympics, I’m going to have to play much better than I did today and feel much better than I did today. I’m going to work on it. It’s not something I haven’t experienced before ever in my life. I’ve had so many different experiences throughout my career. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger. That’s what I’m going to do.