2023 Wimbledon men’s final info, head-to-head and preview: Carlos Alcaraz v Novak Djokovic

The dream match-up that everyone wanted is happening as Carlos Alcaraz will take on Novak Djokovic in the 2023 Wimbledon men’s final.

It is the Grand Slam kingpin against the pretender to the throne as Djokovic will go in search of his 24th major title and eighth at Wimbledon on Sunday while Alcaraz will look to win his second Slam and first at SW19.

Victory for Djokovic will also see him put yet more daylight between himself and Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer when it comes to the Grand Slam record and perhaps the greatest of all time (GOAT) debate.

Alcaraz knows he faces an uphill task against a player who hasn’t lost a match on Centre Court in a decade, but if he does pull off a victory then he will prove that the baton has been passed on and he can consider himself the new king.

But how do the two stack up ahead of Sunday’s final?

Carlos Alcaraz

Age: 20
Nationality: Spanish
World ranking: 1
Career-high ranking: 1
Career singles titles: 1
Grand Slam singles titles: 11
Career prize money: $16,660,732

Sunday 16 July. Centre Court. No.1 vs No.2.#Wimbledon | @carlosalcaraz | @DjokerNole pic.twitter.com/DWTjbrwr1u

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 14, 2023

Novak Djokovic

Age: 36
Nationality: Serbian
World ranking: 2
Career-high ranking: 1
Career singles titles: 1
Grand Slam singles titles: 94
Career prize money: $169,762,762

Carlos Alcaraz’s path to the Wimbledon final

Carlos Alcaraz started with straight-set wins over Jeremy Chardy and Alexandre Muller before he dropped a set against Nicolas Jarry in the third round. At one point it looked like Matteo Berrettini would give Alcaraz a real go for his money after winning the opening set, but the Spaniard soon found his rhythm and won 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

It was then time for the battle of the young guns, but Holger Rune proved no match as Alcaraz won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-4 before Daniil Medvedev was dismissed 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Novak Djokovic’s path to the Wimbledon final

In all honesty, Novak Djokovic’s run to the final has been a breeze in the park and it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with the quality of the opponent as Djokovic battered them all into submission.

Pedro Cachin, Jordan Thompson and Stan Wawrinka were all dismissed in the first three rounds before Hubert Hurkacz tested Djokovic in round four, but in the end he succumbed to a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 5-7, 6-4 defeat.

Seventh seed Andrey Rublev then took the first set in the quarter-final, but he was eventually dismissed 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 while Jannik Sinner never really got going in the last four as he was beaten 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

Carlos Alcaraz’s recent form

Carlos Alcaraz is now 11-0 on grass as he came into Wimbledon on the back of winning his maiden title on the surface at the Queen’s Club Championship. Not bad for someone who before this year played only six matches on grass and lost two of those encounters.

Before the grass season, he lost against Novak Djokovic in that semi-final at the French Open while he won the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open.

Novak Djokovic’s recent form

As has become tradition, Djokovic didn’t play any warm-up events before Wimbledon so his last match before the grass-court Grand Slam was the final of the French Open where he defeated Casper Ruud in three sets.

Before Roland Garros, he reached the quarter-final of the Italian Open and the Srpska Open, lost early in Monte Carlo and was defeated in the semi-final of the Dubai Championships.

And if you go even further back, he of course started his year with a 12-0 record Down Under as he won the Adelaide International and the Australian Open.

Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic head-to-head

They have faced each other twice and the head-to-head record is 1-1 with both matches take place on clay.

Alcaraz won their first encounter in the semi-final of the Madrid Open last year, winning 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), before Djokovic hit back in the strongest possible fashion at Roland Garros just under a month ago.

The French Open clash looked set to turn into a classic as they slugged it out in the first two sets, but then the pressure got to Alcaraz as he started cramping and lost 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

What they’ve said

Carlos Alcaraz

“Playing a final here in Wimbledon is something that I dream about when I start playing tennis. As I said before, it’s even better playing against Novak. It’s going to be a really emotional moment for me. But I’ll try to stay calm in that moment. For Novak is one more day, one more moment. For me, it’s going to be the best moment of my life I think.

“I have to get deep into that because Novak has no weakness, so it’s going to be really tough to find the way to be danger for him.

“Right now is not the time to think about it. I will have time tomorrow, the day off before, to prepare the match. I talked with my team. We will find the way to win Novak.”

Novak Djokovic

“This is probably the most anticipated finals I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people. Alcaraz, myself… It will be his first finals in Wimbledon.

“He’s so young, but he’s incredibly consistent now, also on grass. Which I don’t think many people expected him to play so well because his game is basically, yeah, built and constructed and developed for clay mostly or slower hard courts. But he’s been incredibly successful in adapting to the surfaces and demands and challenges of opponents on a given day.

“I see this as a great trait, as a great virtue. I see this as one of my biggest strengths throughout my career, that I was able to constantly develop, adapt, and adjust my game depending on the challenges basically. That’s what he’s doing very early on in his career.

“Kudos to him. Amazing player. Great guy also off the court. He carries himself very, very well. He respects the history of the sport, respects everyone. No bad words about him at all.”

Conclusion

It will take a brave person to bet against Novak Djokovic as he has won his last 34 matches at Wimbledon with his last defeat at SW19 coming in 2017.

Roger Federer used to be the king of Centre Court, but Novak Djokovic is about to join him on the throne as he could draw level with the Swiss on eight Wimbledon titles.

As if Djokovic doesn’t already have enough going for him at Wimbledon, he will also have the psychological edge following his semi-final win over the Spaniard in Paris as the youngster admitted that the pressure got to him.

The 20-year-old Alcaraz, though, does have the exuberance of youth and that often gives players the freedom to express themselves on court whereas older players might dwell on the past.

Djokovic is the clear favourite, but the match itself might just live up to the hype.