At Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz Defeated Novak Djokovic by Being Himself | The New Yorker
The match was even more engrossing than the setup makes it sound. Over nearly five hours, what held the attention—even in the two sets with lopsided scores—was the players’ decision-making, which had a way of mattering even more than the execution of those choices. Neither Alcaraz nor Djokovic came into the match with a weak shot that could be probed and broken down, and neither player had an outright advantage in speed or athleticism. It came down to strategy and tactics and, in the moment, choosing to go here instead of there, with this shot instead of that one. This was an afternoon of two players pointing again and again to their heads after rallies: with their chins up if they had made good decisions, and with their heads shaking when they had made poor ones.