Wimbledon men’s final: Novak Djokovic says ‘history will be on the line’ against Carlos Alcaraz – BBC Sport

Novak Djokovic says “history will be on the line” when he faces Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon men’s singles final.

Djokovic has the opportunity to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight men’s Wimbledon titles and secure a record 25th Grand Slam singles triumph with victory on Sunday.

The Serb, 37, who had knee surgery three weeks before the start of the tournament, is level with Australian Margaret Court on the all-time list with 24 singles majors.

“Of course, it serves as a great motivation,” Djokovic said.

“But at the same time there is also a lot of pressure and expectation.

“Wimbledon just extracts the best of me and motivates me to always show up and perform the best I can.”

It starts at 14:00 BST and will be live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app.

Djokovic has not always seen eye to eye with fans at Wimbledon this year, accusing some of the Centre Court crowd of using their bellowing of Holger Rune’s name as “an excuse to boo” during his fourth-round win.

Following the second seed’s semi-final victory over Lorenzo Musetti, some fans booed him as he imitated playing a violin – a light-hearted celebration intended for his six-year-old daughter Tara.

But he has also shown a lighter side. Given an extra day’s rest after quarter-final opponent Alex de Minaur withdrew, he spent it playing tennis with his children on Wimbledon’s practice courts.

He pretended to take a penalty after his third-round match was momentarily delayed by fans celebrating England’s shootout win over Switzerland at the Euros.

And he kept up the football banter on Friday by telling reporters he expects Gareth Southgate’s side to “bring it home”.

Djokovic is having – by his lofty standards – a below-par 2024.

He has not won a title yet, his worst start to a year since 2006, while Wimbledon will be his first final since the ATP Finals in November.

But he has seemingly regained top form at SW19, playing his usual brand of dominant tennis and dropping just two sets in six matches.

“I wasn’t sure until three, four days before the tournament whether I’m going to take part,” added Djokovic who had surgery in June after tearing the medial meniscus in his right knee at the French Open.

“I made an extra effort to recover as quickly as possible just because it was Wimbledon.”

Alcaraz recovered from a nervy start in last year’s championship match to beat Djokovic 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 3-6 6-4.

The 21-year-old, now a three-time major champion, could become the youngest back-to-back men’s singles winner at Wimbledon since Boris Becker in 1986.

This is only Alcaraz’s fourth appearance at the Championships.

However, the Spaniard – a crowd favourite wherever he plays – says he is “not thinking about taking the crown” off Djokovic as the next tennis superstar.

Alcaraz is unbeaten in Grand Slam finals, a feat he admitted he “thinks about” but believes will “be difficult” to keep up.

Five weeks ago he lifted his first French Open title and should he win on Sunday, he would be the youngest man to win at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in the same year.

“Sometimes I feel like I’m 26 or 27 and then I realise that I’m just 21 and everything is coming too fast and too quick,” Alcaraz told BBC Sport.

“It could be better if I had to wait a little bit, but I’ve put in the hard work every day and I am glad people get to see me achieve my dreams.”

Alcaraz has had a trickier run to this year’s final and narrowly avoided a shock loss to Frances Tiafoe in the third round, eventually winning in five sets.

He has dropped a set in each of his three matches since that scare, against seeds Ugo Humbert, Tommy Paul and Daniil Medvedev.

The third seed, who has won 13 consecutive matches at Wimbledon, had the support of most of the crowd during last year’s final, although he may be pushing his luck by jokingly poking fun at England supporters this week before his nation’s Euro 2024 final with the Three Lions.

He received gentle boos during an on-court interview following his semi-final win when he said Sunday will be a “good day for Spanish people”.

And asked if the football match – which kicks off at 20:00 BST in Berlin – might be a distraction, Alcaraz said: “I am going to play first so it’s going to be difficult for me. I will try not to think about it and leave everything on the court.”

Britain’s Alfie Hewett could complete a career Grand Slam when he plays in the wheelchair men’s singles final on Court One at 11:00 BST on Sunday.

The 26-year-old has won 28 Grand Slam titles and has secured every major singles and doubles title – except the Wimbledon singles.

Hewett came agonisingly close to Wimbledon singles glory in 2022 when he had four opportunities to serve out for the trophy but could not capitalise.

He will face Spanish fourth seed Martin de la Puente, who beat defending champion Tokito Oda in the last four on Friday.

Hewett will then partner fellow Briton Gordon Reid in the doubles final.

In the doubles, he and Reid have won five of the past seven Wimbledon titles and they take on Japan’s Oda and Takuya Miki on court three.