‘I thought I’ll have trouble with you on clay. Maybe hardcourt, but not on grass’: Djokovic tells Alcaraz

Despite suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the men’s singles final of Wimbledon on Sunday that moved him to tears at one point, Novak Djokovic was his magnanimous self when complimenting his rival Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz ended Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at the All England Club with a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory in the final on Sunday. The 20-year-old thus claimed his first title at Wimbledon and second Grand Slam trophy overall.
The Serbian, meanwhile, was chasing his 24th Grand Slam title.
“I thought I’ll have trouble with you on clay and maybe hard, not on grass!” the 36-year-old Djokovic told the Spaniard at the presentation ceremony on centre court. “It was an amazing way to adapt to a surface on which you must have played maybe once or twice before this year! Amazing, amazing.”
Djoko went on to add: “You never like to lose matches like this. I guess when all the emotions are settled, I have to still be very grateful because I won many, many tight and close matches in the past here. I lost to a better player, so I have to congratulate him,” said Djokovic, whose last loss at Wimbledon was in 2017.
“What quality in the end of the match. You deserve it, absolutely,” he added.
Later on, Alcaraz also heaped praise on the World No 2 from Serbia.
“Playing a final against a legend of our sport — for me, it’s incredible,” said Alcaraz. “I have to congratulate Novak. It’s amazing to play against him. What can I say about him? It’s unbelievable. You inspire me a lot. I started playing tennis watching you,” Alcaraz said.
The largely partisan crowd, who backed the Spaniard throughout the final, then burst into laughter as Alcaraz joked: “Since I was born, you (Djokovic) already were winning tournaments.”
The age gap between the two was the widest in any men’s Slam final since 1974.