Carlos Alcaraz turned on the style as he defeated Novak Djokovic in straight sets to retain his Wimbledon title.
In a repeat of last year's final, Alcaraz prevailed 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7-4) on Sunday to become the youngest player in the Open Era to triumph at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season.
Alcaraz started as he meant to go on, breaking Djokovic in the very first game to immediately put the seven-time champion on the back foot.
Another break followed in game five, as the Spaniard truly took control, wrapping up the opening set in just 41 minutes and offering up only one break point, which he clawed back anyway, en route.
It was a similar story in set two - Alcaraz crisply putting himself a break up and playing some immaculate shots as he made even lighter work of making it 2-0.
Djokovic fended off four break points to go 2-1 up in the third set and had a fantastic chance of pulling a break of his own back in game six, until Alcaraz hit back with some venomous serves to claim a crucial hold before then setting himself up for apparent glory.
Yet a remarkable wobble saw Alcaraz squander three championship points on serve, and Djokovic needed no second invitation to edge himself ahead, with a tiebreak required.
A bad miss on a forehand pass compounded Alcaraz's frustration, yet the 21-year-old recovered and, with two exquisite drop shots, teed up his fourth championship point.
And this time, there was to be no mistake, a loose return into the net from Djokovic marking a resounding success for tennis' bona fide superstar.
Changing of the guard
For the vast majority of this final, Alcaraz dazzled on Centre Court. Djokovic, in his 10th Wimbledon final, simply could not cope during the opening two sets.
Indeed, even in the third, Alcaraz had the match in his hands until that incredible slip-up. But he recovered, and even if he does not top the ATP rankings, there can be no doubting Alcaraz will always be the man to beat.
At 21 years and 70 days, Alcaraz is the third-youngest player in the Open Era to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon in back-to-back editions, after Boris Becker (18y 227d, 1985-86) and Bjorn Borg (21y 26d, 1976-77).
Only Rod Laver (19) has registered more wins from his first 20 matches at the All England Club than Alcaraz (18/20) during the Open Era, who is the youngest player to win all his first six seasonal matches against top-five ranked players since the ATP Rankings were published in 1973.
It is now four grand slam titles for Alcaraz, who will be hoping his victory set the tone for a great sporting day for Spain, with their national football team in action against England in the Euro 2024 final later in the day.
No joy for Novak
At 37, time is running out for Djokovic as he looks to match Roger Federer's haul of eight Wimbledon titles.
For a fleeting moment in that final set, Alcaraz's stumble looked like it might open the door for the Serbian great, but as it was, Djokovic will have to come back and have another shot at that Federer record next year.
Djokovic is also still one away from overtaking Margaret Court for the player with the outright most major titles in history, while he has also been made to wait for his 99th ATP Tour-level title (only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) have more in men's singles during the Open Era).
He is the only player to reach 10 men's singles finals at three of the four majors, but the day belonged to Alcaraz, who is just the second player in the Open Era to win his first four singles finals at grand slams, after Federer.
Djokovic keeps Serbia on track as Ruud seals Norway win
Novak Djokovic marked his return to action with a dominant 6-0 6-1 victory over Greece's Ioannis Xilas to put Serbia in control of the Davis Cup tie.
The 24-time major winner was playing his first match since his US Open third-round defeat by Alexei Popyrin at Flushing Meadows a fortnight ago.
And Djokovic, who helped his nation win the Davis Cup in 2010, looked close to his best as he dropped just a single game, while converting five of the seven break points he forced.
Wrapping up a dominant victory in just 45 minutes, he put Serbia 2-0 to the good in the World Group I tie.
Elsewhere in that group, Casper Ruud helped Norway wrap up a 3-1 win over Portugal.
The three-time major finalist, who put his nation 2-1 to the good alongside Viktor Durasovic in the doubles rubber, was a 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 victor over Jaime Faria in their singles clash.
Later in the day, Argentina booked their place in the final eight after Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni saw off Finland in the doubles decider.
Nadal unsure of future involvements after Laver Cup withdrawal
Rafael Nadal says he cannot commit himself to future tournaments after his withdrawal from the Laver Cup.
Nadal shared news on Thursday that he would not make an appearance at the annual event in Berlin, stating that it would not be in the best interests of Team Europe if he were to participate.
The Spaniard was last in action playing doubles at the Paris Olympics with Carlos Alcaraz, and while he says he is in a good space mentally, he was not able to confirm when he would next make a professional appearance on a tennis court.
He said: "Mentally, I’m good, no problems. I'm at home enjoying other things, training as much as I can every day.
"No drama, obviously these are decisions [the Laver Cup withdrawal] that are being made, and this was a possibility - it's been a while without competing. There will be someone else who can do better.
"Right now I’m not in a position to put myself down for anything.
"I said [I would play] until the Olympics and then we would see, and I'm in that period of rest."
Nadal has endured a difficult 2024 so far, playing just 21 competitive singles matches with a record of 13-8.
He has only one grand slam victory to his name this year, beating Jack Draper in the Australian Open, but he lost in the first round of the French Open to eventual finalist Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz sends Spain into Davis Cup last eight
Carlos Alcaraz has led Spain to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup Finals after a straight-sets win over Ugo Humbert.
The 21-year-old needed just one hour and 21 minutes to cruise through with a 6-3 6-3 victory, hitting 21 winners to his opponent's 14 as he backed up Roberto Bautista's win earlier on.
Bautista had to come from behind to edge past Arthur Fils, beating him 2-6 7-5 6-3, and converting 40% of his break points, bettering the Frenchman's 27%.
Spain are through in Group B, but elsewhere in Group D, US Open semi-finalist Jack Draper's return was unable to inspire Great Britain to victory.
Dan Evans was beaten by Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier on Friday before Draper's first match since New York ended in a straight-sets 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.
Despite making fewer unforced errors than the Argentinian (23 to 39), the British number one struggled to find an edge, though Evans and Neal Skupski claimed a consolation win in the doubles to make it 2-1.
They sit second in the group, missing the chance to qualify for the last eight, and now needing a win against Canada, who have been in fine form so far.
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