Bet on a long match between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final

Tennis fans are salivating at the thought of another Wimbledon final between two of the best players in the world.

On Sunday, Novak Djokovic will seek his 25th Grand Slam title and eighth at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. He’ll face a familiar foe in Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in five sets of last year’s final.

The Spaniard already has three Grand Slams under his belt and has been up to the task of facing Djokovic, as evidenced by their six head-to-head meetings. With the series tied at three matches apiece, there’s not much that separates these two generational talents.

There are quite a few interesting similarities between Alcaraz and Djokovic. For one, Alcaraz was 19 when he won his first title, compared to Djokovic, who was 20.

Both players are also probably more suited to playing on grass, despite Alcaraz honing his skills on the clay courts in Spain and Djokovic winning 14 of his Grand Slams on the hard court.

At one point, when asked to assess his style of play, Alcaraz could have compared his game to that of another great Spanish player, Rafael Nadal. Instead, the reigning Wimbledon champion said that while Nadal was his idol, his game is actually more like Roger Federer’s.

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As part of his development, he exhausted his time watching clips of Djokovic on hard courts, Nadal on clay and Federer and Andy Murray on grass. Tennis fans can often see traces of all three of those great players when Alcaraz steps on the court.

Alcaraz and Djokovic always seem to be in control on the court because they’re such great ball returners. According to ATP statistics, both players rank in the top five regarding return rating.

However, the data also suggests that Djokovic has an added advantage in controlling matches with his serve. The Serbian ranks fifth in server rating (289.7) and eighth in points won (76%) on his first serve. In comparison, Alcaraz ranks 13th (281.7) and 44th (71.9%) in those same categories.

Djokovic will need his serve to avoid getting into long rallies against Alcaraz. It’s been roughly three weeks since Djokovic returned from meniscus surgery on his right knee.

However, he benefited from a walkover in the quarterfinal after Alex de Minaur withdrew due to a hip injury. He also needed the minimum number of sets to get past Lorenzo Musetti in the semifinals.

His exceptional conditioning will be the foundation for what I project will be a competitive back-and-forth match that will likely require five sets to determine a winner.

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