Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic may have only played two Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes in 2024, but both matches were played out with a significant prize at stake.
The pair faced off in two title matches this season: at Wimbledon, where they collided in the championship match for the second consecutive year, and at the Paris Olympics, where Djokovic was chasing the only significant title in tennis — an Olympic gold medal — that he was yet to capture.
As part of ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series, we look back at Alcaraz and Djokovic’s two matchups in 2024.
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Wimbledon F, Alcaraz d. Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(4)
Despite defeat in his five-set epic with Alcaraz in the 2023 Wimbledon final, Djokovic entered 2024 with a 3-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against the Spaniard following back-to-back victories in Cincinnati and the Nitto ATP Finals. This year, fans were made to wait until July for another installment of their intriguing rivalry, and it was Alcaraz who struck back in commanding fashion on the lawns of SW19.
Djokovic had dropped just two sets en route to the championship match at the grass-court major, where he was competing just weeks after undergoing knee surgery. Yet the Serbian had little answer to a sparkling championship-match performance from Alcaraz, who converted five of 14 break points he earned en route to his fourth Grand Slam crown.
The only moment of peril for Alcaraz came when he let slip three championship points from 5-4, 40/0 in the third set. Up against a record-24-time major champion with a renowned reputation for winning matches from impossible positions, Alcaraz could have been forgiven had he panicked when Djokovic went on to break serve in that game. Yet he soon nipped any potential comeback from the Serbian in the bud with a rock-solid tie-break.
“It was 40/0 but I was seeing [the trophy] so far away,” reflected Alcaraz. “Djokovic is an unbelievable fighter and I knew he was going to have his chances again, so I had to stay there. I tried to win the point with the serve, but I couldn’t. It was difficult for me. I tried to stay calm. I tried to stay positive at that situation, going into the tie-break, and I tried to play my best tennis. That’s all I was thinking about. I’m really glad that at the end I could find the solution and I’m happy to be in this situation.”
<img alt=”Carlos Alcaraz/Novak Djokovic” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/07/14/16/41/djokovic-wimbledon-2024-final-reaction.jpg” />
Alcaraz and Djokovic at the 2024 Wimbledon trophy ceremony. Photo Credit: Getty Images.
Djokovic, whose final defeat left him still without a tour-level title in 2024 at the time, had few complaints about the outcome of the most one-sided Grand Slam match between himself and Alcaraz so far.
“Obviously it is not the result that I wanted and especially in the first couple of sets, the level of tennis wasn’t up to par, really, from my side,” said the Serbian. “But credit to Carlos for playing some complete tennis. From the back of the court, on serve, he had it all today.
“I tried to push him and saved the three match points, extended the match a little bit, but it wasn’t meant to be really. He was an absolutely deserved winner today, so congratulations to him for amazing tennis.”
Paris Olympics F, Djokovic d. Alcaraz 7-6(3), 7-6(2)
There were plenty of reasons to think Djokovic’s chances of finally clinching an Olympic gold medal, at the age of 37, were slim. His Wimbledon final run aside, the Serbian endured an injury-disrupted first seven months of the season and had been outplayed by a younger rival at two of the year’s three majors up to that point (Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals, Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final).
However, in true Djokovic fashion, the Serbian found a way to win, and triumph against a great rival in a championship match, when it mattered most.
Chasing the only significant title in tennis that had eluded him, the then-No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings breezed into the Paris 2024 gold medal match without dropping a set. He dispatched his old foe Rafael Nadal, Stefanos Tsitsipas and the in-form Lorenzo Musetti en route, but the final barrier that stood between Djokovic and becoming just the fifth player to complete the ‘Golden Slam’ of winning all four majors and an Olympic gold medal was a familiar one: Alcaraz.
What transpired was one of the most remarkable turnarounds of the year. Just three weeks after being comprehensively outplayed by the Spaniard on the SW19 grass, Djokovic produced his best performance of the season to fend off his rival and claim an emotional victory.
The pair went toe to toe in a bruising 94-minute first set on Court Philippe-Chatrier. Djokovic saved all eight break points he faced, while letting slip five of his own, before raising his level to clinch the set in a tie-break. In a second set of far fewer chances on return, the Serbian again found something extra in the tie-break: he reeled off five points in a row from 2/2 to charge to victory before turning to his box almost in disbelief at his achievement.
<img alt=”Novak Djokovic celebrates the moment he clinches the gold medal at the Paris Olympics.” style=”width: 100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2024/08/04/15/25/djokovic-olympics-match-point.jpg” />
Novak Djokovic celebrates the moment he clinches the gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images
“We almost played three hours for two sets. It was an incredible battle, incredible fight,” said Djokovic. “When the last shot went past him, that was the only moment I actually thought I could win the match. I mean I believed that I could win, but to actually win it, because he keeps on coming back. He keeps on asking me to play my best tennis.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock, honestly. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. I finally did it.”
Alcaraz, who had lifted his maiden Roland Garros crown on the same court just two months prior and by no means produced a below-par performance in the Olympic final, was quick to salute his rival.
“It is painful to lose the way that I lost this match,” said the 21-year-old, who will look to overturn a 3-4 Lexus ATP Head2Head deficit against Djokovic in 2025. “I had my opportunities… I couldn’t take them. Novak is playing great, he really settled in his position, in the difficult moments he increased his level, he played unbelievable.”
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