Novak Djokovic sends message to Carlos Alcaraz before Wimbledon final showdown

Seven-time champion Djokovic – who has become the first player to reach 35 Grand Slam singles finals – is on the verge of more history as he looks to equal Roger Federer for the most Wimbledon men’s singles titles ever.

A triumph in Sunday’s Championship match would also see him move two ahead of Rafael Nadal on 24 Grand Slam trophies and level the great Margaret Court.

But world No.1 Alcaraz stands in his way and the young Spaniard is more than capable of pulling off an upset, telling Djokovic that he believes he can win.

Djokovic has now responded to his fellow Wimbledon finalist and he told a post-match press conference: ‘This is probably the most anticipated final I guess from the beginning of the tournament, from most of the people.

‘Alcaraz, myself… It will be his first final at 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.

‘His team, his family… I’ve seen him play at Queen’s [Club] a little bit. Here he’s been very impressive. I think he already developed a very accurate game on grass.

‘I think, judging by the performances that we have seen from all the players, I think this is probably the best final that we could have. We are both in good form. We’re both playing well.

‘I guess I want to take this title without a doubt. I look forward to it. It’s going to be a great challenge, greatest challenge that I could have at the moment from any angle really: physical, mental, emotional.

‘He’s one of the quickest guys on the tour. He can do pretty much anything on the court. I consider myself also very complete player.

‘We had a very good match until he started struggling physically in Paris. I think we really took the level of tennis very high.

‘I think was great for the audience and great for us players to be part of that.

‘Obviously completely different conditions here. Grass is massively different from clay.

‘Yes, I do have more experience playing in many more Grand Slam or Wimbledon finals than him. Still he’s in great shape. He’s very motivated. He’s young. He’s hungry.’

I’m hungry, too, so let’s have a feast (smiling).

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