Just two minutes and six seconds into his fourth Grand Slam final, Carlos Alcaraz was just a point from adding to his three-major tally.
Comfortably up 40-0, 5-4 in the third set, Alcaraz held three championship points and was expected to sail through after a sublime performance all match.
Instead, Alcaraz blinked, struggling to find his first serve and spraying errors from his forehand to give up five straight points and give his worthy opponent, seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, his first break of the match.
Alcaraz, at 21, is already displaying mental fortitude in tough moments better than his peers.
But across him was someone who thrived in great pressure, capable of turning any setback, whether it be sets or championship points down in the biggest occasions, or opposition from the crowd, into his favor.
That gave Djokovic 24 Grand Slam trophies and 98 titles overall, breaking record upon record, even those set by his fellow legendary "Big Three" members Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Alcaraz knows that Djokovic could smell blood, and when he does, he so often does the right moves, not looking back to conquer his prey.
If there was a moment that Djokovic, broken four times to surrender the first two sets, would turn the match around, this would be it.
Carlos Alcaraz raises his second Wimbledon trophy. | Photo (c) Wimbledon
“It was 40-0 but I was seeing so far [ahead]. Djokovic is an unbelievable fighter, and I knew he was going to have his chances again. So I had to stay there. I tried to win the point with the serve, but I couldn’t," Alcaraz said during the on-court interview for the trophy ceremony.
Many of his peers, some, members of the Next Gen so long awaited to follow after the footsteps of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, would have fumbled in this situation.
Carlos Alcaraz goes for a slice backhand in the first set of his championship match against Novak Djokovic. | Photo (c) Wimbledon
There was then 22-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who squandered a 2-0 set lead in the finals of Roland Garros in 2021 to eventually surrender a 6-7(6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 decision and subsequently, the trophy, to the Serb.
Alexander Zverev, who totes wins over the Serb in other tournaments, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, just could not find the answer against the long-time World No. 1 in the Grand Slam stage.
The German faltered thrice in as many of their meetings in the majors, the latest of which is a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 loss in the US Open 2021 semifinal where he could not sustain the momentum of his first and fourth set wins.
But not Alcaraz.
While Djokovic held for a 6-5 third set lead where Alcaraz was able to only score a single point on the Serb's forehand error in the game, the Spaniard opened his next service game with a forehand winner, a play that was similar to what he did in the ninth game when he tried to go behind Djokovic, except it did not result to a mistake this time.
A down-the-line return by Djokovic went wide then a deft volley against a ball that went near his foot gave Alcaraz a 40-0 lead.
The 21-year-old reigning Roland Garros champ pumped his fist, seeming to have regained the confidence that he seemed to have lost when he tried to secure the trophy, also at love, a couple of games ago.
Novak Djokovic lets out a roar after saving three championship points. | Photo (c) Wimbledon
He closed it out this time on Djokovic's errant forehand to force the tiebreak.
"I was inferior on the court. Carlos was the better player from the beginning till the end. He played every single shot better than I did," said Djokovic during the post-game presser.
After a tight exchange in the first nine points in the tiebreak but holding a 5-4 lead, Alcaraz scored on a sublime drop shot and flashed a huge smile to his box to gain his fourth championship point, twenty minutes after blowing the first three.
As Alcaraz swung his second serve, Djokovic, arguably the best returner of all-time, sent his backhand return to the net to give Alcaraz his second straight Wimbledon title, and second straight Grand Slam win after also ruling the Parisian major to complete the Channel Slam.
For the fourth time in as many tries in a major final, Alcaraz was the one in celebratory mood, dropping his racket as he raised both arms and let out a roar from the baseline before returning at the net to share a gracious hug with Djokovic.
In the sequel to their Wimbledon finals battle, the result is the same for champion Carlos Alcaraz and runner-up Novak Djokovic. | Photo (c) Wimbledon
“It was difficult for me. I tried to stay calm, I tried to stay positive at that situation, going into the tie-break, and I tried to play my best tennis. That’s all I was thinking about. I’m really glad that at the end I could find the solution and I’m happy to be in this situation," said Alcaraz.
Alcaraz is the ninth man to successfully defend his Wimbledon title and only the sixth to achieve the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double - and the youngest at 21 years and 70 days to do so - after Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.
His 4-0 record in major finals made him just the second player in the Open Era to score this feat, next to Federer who went unbeaten in seven.
While Alcaraz would have loved to carve his own path in tennis, the "Big Three" comparisons would always trail him behind, with his achievements often drawing parallels to theirs.
His latest feat gave him one-up over the "Big Three" in terms of the age when they got their first four majors. Alcaraz was younger than them at 21 years old, with Nadal getting his in the 2008 Roland Garros at 22, Federer in the 2004 US Open at 23 and Djokovic, in the 2011 US Open, when he was 24.
Alcaraz also needed fewer Grand Slam matches to collect a fourth trophy in that level. He secured his in just 69 matches, Federer, 79, Nadal, 81, and Djokovic, 149.
The Spaniard's winning percentage at the Grand Slams at the time of his fourth major title there was also better at 85.5 percent, with Nadal logging 84 percent, Djokovic, 82.1 percent, and Federer, 77.2 percent, when they got theirs.
In the match, he simply outclassed Djokovic, winning 84 percent and 51 percent of his first and second serves, respectively, to Djokovic's 66 and 40. He also won more return points at 42 percent, 13 higher than the Serb.
Carlos Alcaraz kisses his fourth Grand Slam trophy. | Photo (c) Wimbledon
Djokovic went to the net 53 times but only converted 27 of his points there, while Alcaraz ventured forward less at 22 but was more successful whenever he did at 73 percent.
The youthful Spaniard had more break point opportunities at 14, converting five of them, while Djokovic went 1-for-3.
"It's a huge honor for me to be a part of those players who achieved Roland Garros and Wimbledon on the same year. Really glad to be in the same table as Novak to do it. Huge champions just did it. I don't consider myself a champion yet. But you know, I'm trying to," said Alcaraz, pausing as the crowd made known their opposition to his statement.
"Not as them. But I try to keep going, keep building my path, my journey. But it's a huge honor for me," he added.
Djokovic was once again denied of a chance to tie Federer's record eight titles in Wimbledon and, consequently, to hike his Grand Slam tally to an all-time record 25 and surpass Margaret Court.
But as Djokovic had many times said and done, he will keep going.Turning emotional as he addressed his wife and children in the on-court interview, Djokovic, just a month and a half removed from a torn meniscus surgery that put in doubt his participation in Wimbledon, told his whole team: "Thank you for sticking with me in good and bad times. We are probably the only ones that know what we have been through in the last, not only in the last month but in the last 20 years. I've been with most of you for that long, so I love you guys, thanks for being in my corner, and let's keep it going."