An eventful Wimbledon Championships concluded on Sunday as Carlos Alcaraz ended Novak Djokovic’s 45-match center court winning streak with a stunning five-set victory.

Here’s what we learned from this year’s tournaments.

Alcaraz reignites the men’s tour

He hadn’t lost a match on center court in 10 years, was on a 34-match unbeaten run at Wimbledon, and was looking to win a record-equalling eighth All-England Club title, and fifth in a row… Novak Djokovic was considered the undisputed favorite for the title at SW19.

The Serbian was narrowly tested on his way to the final, dropping just two sets – one to Hubert Hurkacz and one to Andrei Rublev – and was poised to secure his 24th Grand Slam title.

But then came 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, playing his fourth Tour-level tournament on grass and making his second major final. In comparison, Djokovic was in his 35th Grand Slam final, an all-time record in singles for both men and women.

Showdown between the world’s first and second seeds, the four-hour, 43-minute final was all a sports fan could ask for. It had momentum swings, unimaginable shots, a broken racquet (and a scatter net), code violations, tweener lobs, Brad Pitt and Princess Charlotte, the first hero and the crying legend.

Alcaraz, a twice Grand Slam winner, has now claimed his second win in three meetings with Djokovic, who is already keen to set up a rematch with the Spaniard at the US Open next month.

For a long time, we’ve had tournaments involving either Alcaraz or Djokovic but not both. When Alcaraz won the US Open last summer, Djokovic returned home, unable to participate due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.

When Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open title in January, Alcaraz was sidelined with a calf muscle injury.

In the two major tournaments since then, the impressive duo have faced each other in the Roland Garros semi-final and now the Wimbledon final, teasing us with the prospect of a major rivalry developing between them, despite their 16-year age difference.

At a time when only a handful of young players on the men’s tour have risen to the occasion at major tournaments, Alcaraz has distinguished himself and could provide a consistent challenge to the immortal and still somewhat hungry Djokovic.

Both players should definitely continue to take this offer on the road. It is exactly what men’s tennis needs as it faces life after the “Big Three” era.

Under the radar, Vondrousova stands out as a heroine

It’s fair to say that Marketa Vondrousova’s run to win her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon surprised many, not because she didn’t have the talent or the pedigree (she was already a finalist and Olympic silver medalist) but because of the fact that she had He had limited turf experience, was unrated, and was not on anyone’s radar as a potential contender for the All England Club’s purveyors.

This time last year, the Czech lefty was in a cast, emerging from wrist surgery and playing the London tourist while sidelined with injury for six months.

In the final match, she faced a lawn-loving opponent. Since the start of 2021, Anas Jabeur has won the most grass-court matches on the women’s tour, and the Tunisian was making her second consecutive Wimbledon final.

Jabeur was the heavy favorite, despite two losses to Vondrousova earlier in the season, but she ended up falling to the Czech in straight sets.

From the outside, it seemed that the Tunisian was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, unable to reproduce the magic that made her knock out four consecutive Grand Slam champions in the previous rounds, including world number two Arina Sabalenka and the number. 3 Elena Rybakina.

Vondrousova stayed composed and played freely, while Jabeur looked taut and was understandably devastated after losing a third major final in the last five tournaments.

The 24-year-old Vondrousova climbed into the world’s top 10 for the first time, while Jabeur remains sixth and has runner-up spots at the US Open in September.

Just as she rebounded remarkably well from her Wimbledon final defeat to Rybakina 12 months ago by enjoying a stellar run at the US Open, we can expect Jabeur to break out herself and compete again at the season’s Grand Slam finale in New York.

If you make it to three Grand Finals in the space of a year, you should never be discounted or let down. Its time will come!

Swiatek one step closer to turf discovery

Aryna Sabalenka was one away from dethroning Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings but fell to Jabeur in the Wimbledon semi-finals to remain in second place.

Swiatek has been open about her feelings about grass, the surface on which she won Wimbledon as a junior but which poses many challenges for her, due to her playing style and movement on the court. Her run to the quarter-finals this year was her best performance yet at the tournament on a professional level. She fought valiantly against Belinda Bencic in the fourth, saving a match point before moving on to the quarterfinals, eventually losing to Elina Svitolina in three sets.

Paul, 22, says she’s eager to learn and feels most comfortable on the grass, and it shows. It’s hard to imagine that she won’t win Wimbledon one day.

Svitolina and Eubanks deliver the feel good factor of SW19

Driven by a higher goal of doing everything possible to help her country and the people of Ukraine, Elina Svitolina has been incredibly inspiring to watch the past few weeks.

The former world number three gave birth to her first child, Skye, last October and returned to action in April to claim the title in Strasbourg, reach the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and now reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

Working with one of the top trainers in the business at Raemon Sluiter, Svitolina revamped her game, showcasing a more aggressive style that resulted in a much higher average win count.

The Ukrainian has a new swagger on and off the field and it was a pleasure to watch. So much respect to this latest super mom for enjoying an amazing return to the WTA Tour.

On the men’s front, American Chris Eubanks has proven to himself and the world that he can go toe-to-toe with the 27-year-old Wimbledon best who reached the quarter-finals. He broke the record for most winners at a single Wimbledon Championship (since the tournament began holding the record in 1977) by shooting 321 through five matches.

En route to the quarter-finals, he was knocked out by No. 12 seed and British No. 1 Cameron Norrie, as well as No. 5 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the quarterfinals, he led former US Open champion and third seed Daniil Medvedev by two sets to one before losing in five sets.

Eubanks was a great player with more personality, he had the entire Wimbledon crowd going. He is likely to be seeded at the US Open after starting the year outside the top 100.