Stat of the Year, No. 3: Carlos Alcaraz puts an end to the Big 4’s domination of Wimbledon
This week we’re counting down our top five stats of the year. Next up: a 20-year-old ends a 21-year drought.
The first two entries in our Top 5 Stats of the Year saw Barbora Krejcikova pull off a historic Top 3 sweep and Coco Gauff become the first U.S. teenager to win the US Open this century.
Today, a 20-year-old ends a 21-year drought.
This year’s Wimbledon final was a battle between the Top 2 players in the world at the time, No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz and No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Despite being No. 2, all signs pointed to a Djokovic win—he had won his last 27 matches in a row at Grand Slams, his last 34 matches in a row at Wimbledon and an all-time record 45 matches in a row on Centre Court, specifically.
But with a grueling 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory, Alcaraz put an end to all of those streaks, as well as one other one—he became the first man other than the "Big 4" of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray to win Wimbledon since 2002, which was before he was even born.
The last man outside the Big 4 to win Wimbledon was Lleyton Hewitt in '02. Alcaraz was born 10 months later in May 2003.
WIMBLEDON MEN’S CHAMPIONS (2002-2023):
- 2002: Lleyton Hewitt
- 2003: Roger Federer
- 2004: Roger Federer
- 2005: Roger Federer
- 2006: Roger Federer
- 2007: Roger Federer
- 2008: Rafael Nadal
- 2009: Roger Federer
- 2010: Rafael Nadal
- 2011: Novak Djokovic
- 2012: Roger Federer
- 2013: Andy Murray
- 2014: Novak Djokovic
- 2015: Novak Djokovic
- 2016: Andy Murray
- 2017: Roger Federer
- 2018: Novak Djokovic
- 2019: Novak Djokovic
- 2020: [tournament not held]
- 2021: Novak Djokovic
- 2022: Novak Djokovic
- 2023: Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz was also the third-youngest man to win Wimbledon in the Open Era after Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg, and the second Spanish man to win Wimbledon in the Open Era after Nadal.
Check back tomorrow for our No. 2 Stat of the Year…