pa href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/novak-djokovic/d643/overview'Novak Djokovic/a walked onto Centre Court to face a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a on Sunday aiming to win a record-extending 25th major crown. Two hours and 30 minutes later the Serbian was left with a look of helplessness on his face after the Spaniard outplayed him to earn a straight-sets win./p
p“Just overall the way I felt on the court today against him, I was inferior on the court,” Djokovic said. “That's it. He was a better player. He played every single shot better than I did./p
p“I don't think I could have done something much more. Try to pump myself up maybe. Get the crowd involved. That's what was happening in the third. That got me going a little bit. He wasn't also allowing me to have many free points on my serve. He was reading the serve. He was playing with a lot of variety. I've never seen him serve that way, to be honest.”/p
pAlcaraz improved to 3-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and now holds a 2-0 record against Djokovic at the grass-court major./p
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pDjokovic arrived in west London just fewer than three weeks ago having undergone knee surgery in early June. The Serbian is pleased he was able to be so competitive at a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a. /p
p“I did all I can to prepare myself for this match and this tournament in general,” Djokovic said. “If someone told me I would play a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a finals three, four weeks ago, I would take it for sure. Where I was three, four weeks ago, where I am now./p
p“Of course, I do feel disappointed. It's a bitter taste to lose the finals the way I did today. It has to be a success at the end of the day with me and my team playing a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a finals and losing to the best player of the tournament.”/p
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pDjokovic, who has earned seven a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a crowns, first trained on grass six days before the tournament started on 1st July. The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings shared further insight into how his preparation was hampered in the lead-up to the event./p
p“My preparation for a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/wimbledon/540/overview'Wimbledon/a wasn't as I would have it normally, usually or commonly to prepare myself,” Djokovic said. “There was hindrance obviously because of the injury. I had to kind of create a hybrid program of training between the rehab, specific exercises for the knee, and the actual pre-Grand Slam fitness training and tennis training./p
p“That probably had an effect, particularly in the opening rounds. But as the tournament progressed, I felt better and better. I reached the finals. In some matches I played some really good tennis. Some matches I kind of battled my way through. Today I was just half a step behind him in every sense.”/p
pDjokovic leaves west London holding a 23-7 record on the season. He is still searching for his first title and his first Top 10 win in 2024./p
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