Novak Djokovic gets up after slipping and falling while attempting a return to Carlos Alcaraz in men’s singles final at Wimbledon on July 16. Alcaraz beat Djokovic.Alberto Pezzali/The Associated Press
A few minutes before the Wimbledon men’s singles final began on Sunday, a great ripple went through the stand. Someone told someone who told someone else that they’d seen Brad Pitt.
Apparently, he was nearby. Sitting somewhere just ahead of us.
“Sunglasses,” someone said.
“Blue shirt,” said someone else.
On either side of me, two tabloid journalists began taking random photos of the crowd and then expanding them on their phones to furiously examine the backs of heads. Nope. Nope. Not him. Nope.
One of them was texting with her photographer. Her final had already begun.
“Are you on Brad Pitt duty, too?” she said.
No, no, not me. I’m just here waiting on history. For the next five hours, it would slowly, and then suddenly, arrive.
Carlos Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4. It was Djokovic’s first loss on Centre Court in more than a decade.
It was a match of uncommon attrition. Just one example – the fifth game of the third set took 26 minutes to play. Other, lesser players can finish a set in that much time. You half expected these two men to slowly make their way to the net, drop their tools and begin hitting each other. It never grew heated, but it still managed to seem close to violence.
There are two ways to look at this signpost encounter.
The most obvious is that Novak Djokovic was deposed as tennis’s dominant force.
Would the Djokovic of five years ago have romped in the first set, as he did on Sunday, and then allow Alcaraz to reel him back in? Would that Djokovic have tried to chop down one of the posts holding up the net when things started to go sideways in the fifth? Would that Djokovic be seen bent over, using his racquet as a crutch, after long points late in the match?
Probably not.
The other way of looking at it is that now Djokovic is dangerous again.
He hasn’t had a lot to worry about since his best frenemies drifted out of the game. With Roger Federer gone and Rafael Nadal on hiatus, there wasn’t anyone to put a real fright in him.
The entire world’s bottled-up pandemic hysteria was enough to knock Djokovic sideways for a few months there, but that couldn’t stop him from winning whatever he was allowed to enter.
Lacking enemies of quality, Djokovic devoted himself to winning over the crowds. They’d loved Federer and still loved Nadal, but those two were gone. Now it was his turn.
On Sunday, we saw how poorly that has gone.
The crowd wanted very little to do with Djokovic from the off. By the end of the first set, he’d begun bantering with them. When he felt he wasn’t getting enough credit, he would applaud himself. When he upset them by winning points, he’d blow them kisses.
There was a moment late in the match when Djokovic decided to give himself a little mental-health break by screaming at the chair umpire for a few moments. Over what? Over nothing. This was a rest disguised as a strop.
In the middle of it, the crowd began to jeer him. All the fun had drained from Djokovic now. He stopped what he was saying and stared at them with barely concealed contempt. It was the look that said, ‘After all I’ve given you, this is what I get back?’
In the end, he reminded us of his many great attributes – an unwillingness to submit, tempered with grace.
He has never been charismatic, but it is difficult to think of any great athlete who has ever been as cordial.
If I’d spent a day of my life being booed for supplying one of the great sporting entertainments in recent memory, I might be a little peevish in my remarks immediately following it. But not this guy.
“Good afternoon everyone,” he started. “Not so good for me. But good for Carlos.”
The crowd tittered. They only really like him in London when he’s being sportsmanlike to someone they prefer.
Djokovic played it perfectly. He praised Alcaraz. He promised to be better. He admitted that he’d had his own share of luck.
“Maybe I should have lost a couple of finals that I won,” Djokovic said, specifically referencing his legendary last final on this same court against Federer in 2019. “So maybe this is even-steven.”
Djokovic had the crowd in his hands now. Too late to do him any good, they were falling under his sway. When he began to weep after seeing his children in the stands, they were fully in his thrall.
But history has proved that Djokovic can never maintain these connections. It’s hard to say what it is about him. Maybe it’s the dominance. Nobody roots for a robot.
If so, a little of that came off him on Sunday. For the first time ever, you looked at him and thought, ‘Maybe he’s gotten old.’
He’d said earlier in the tournament that his age, 36, is the new 26. Nice thought. But it isn’t. On the back half of 30, any athlete who runs around for a living is fighting a rearguard action with his own body. How many tennis players have dominated – not just won things, but dominated – at this age? Until Sunday, just one – Djokovic.
But whether he wants to or not, he has entered his lion-in-winter phase.
What took a hit on Sunday wasn’t Djokovic’s reputation or his legacy. Those remain unassailable.
What Djokovic lost was his aura of invincibility. Until the last point, you really didn’t think this guy would allow himself to be beaten. But he did.
Most opponents will still be terrified when he lands in their half of a draw. But there is now at least one who need never fear him. Once one guy has your number, the buzzards are never far behind.
When Federer lost that shine near the end, it became hard to watch him. You found yourself perilously close to pitying him.
Djokovic isn’t anywhere close to that point. Had a couple of small moments gone differently on Sunday – the second-set tiebreak in particular – this match might’ve been a walkover rather than a loss.
What would we be saying then? That he was the greatest of all time. That there was no stopping him.
What should we be saying instead? That tennis acquired a couple of new rules on Sunday.
The first is never sit beside Brad Pitt if there are cameras around (RIP Guy Ritchie).
The second is if you’re going to poke tennis’s still-reigning bull, prepare for the horns.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
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