Novak Djokovic humbly accepts he was 'inferior' against Carlos Alcaraz as the 24-time Grand Slam champion hails Wimbledon's new new back-to-back winner as a 'dominant force'

For Novak Djokovic it looked an awful lot like the beginning of the end, and if the great Serb is a setting sun then Carlos Alcaraz is a comet hurtling in the opposite direction.

Do not let a brief rally at the end of the third set fool you: this was an evisceration and Djokovic made no attempt to sugar-coat the brutal truth.

'Last year I lost in an epic five-set match. We went toe-to-toe,' he said of his defeat by Alcaraz in last year's final. 'This year it was nothing like that. It was all about him. He was the dominant force.

'I was inferior on the court. That's it. He played every single shot better than I did. He was at least half a step better in every way.'

Carlos Alcaraz was like a young lion challenging the grey-maned elder for dominance of the pack. He got Djokovic in his jaws and tossed the seven-time champion around Centre Court like a rag doll.

And as the 37-year-old slinks away to lick his wounds it is difficult to see him consistently challenging this blazing new force in tennis.

It was, of course, a minor miracle Djokovic was in the final to begin with, given he had meniscus surgery on his right knee less than six weeks ago. And one should not forget he won three of the four Grand Slams last year.

But 2024 has been the worst year of his career; this was his first final and he is yet to record a win against an opponent ranked in the world's top 10.

'Jannik Sinner (and Alcaraz) are both the best this year by far, I feel like I'm not at that level,' Djokovic admitted.

'In order to have a chance to beat these guys, I'm going to have to play much better. I'm going to work on it. In the face of adversity, normally I rise and I learn and get stronger.'

But time is not on Djokovic's side and even if he is able to rebuild form, Alcaraz is only going to get stronger.

The Serb's movement has not looked right all fortnight but those issues had never been exposed until now.

He tried to avoid long rallies by coming forward but won only 27 of 53 points at the net. Alcaraz flashed the ball past him or dipped it down at his feet, forcing that right knee to bend. Djokovic has fashioned himself into a highly effective volleyer but is not a natural and Alcaraz made him look ham-fisted.

Djokovic did his best to attack from the baseline too but found no way through: he managed a shockingly meagre nine winners from the back of the court compared to 31 from his opponent. He looked utterly discombobulated, a pale shadow of himself.

As for Alcaraz, he is the only man in the Open Era other than Roger Federer to win his first four Grand Slam finals in a row. What is so terrifying for the rest of the tour is that, until Sunday, the 21-year-old Spaniard has not been at his best since last year's Wimbledon.

He was shaky at the French Open and still won it. He was up and down this fortnight and still reached the final.

But on Sunday in the sunshine came one of the greatest displays this old court has ever seen, the clearest glimpse so far of the titan Alcaraz will become once he reaches his final form. There were no nerves, no showboating, no lapses of concentration; he was a narrow blade of focus, with the tip laced in cyanide.