'Some regrets..had my chances': Teary-eyed Novak Djokovic after losing Wimbledon

There was that tiebreaker pretty early in the Wimbledon final on Sunday when 36yearold Novak Djokovic was one point from taking a twosetstonone lead over his 20yearold opponent Carlos AlcarazAnd then there was that missed volley on break point early in the fifth set with all the momentum at that stage going the seventime Wimbledon championrsquos wayldquoSome regretsrdquo Djokovic said after losing 16 76 6 61 36 64 in a highenergy and highly entertaining championship match on Centre Court ldquoI had my chances I think I could have closed out that secondset tiebreaker better But credit to him for fighting and showing some incredible defensive skills passing shots that got him the break in the fifthldquoHe was a deserved winner today no doubtrdquoDjokovic has been a deserved winner on so many occasions in the past Seven times right here at the All England Club where he was one victory from matching Roger Federer with a menrsquos record eight titles at the grasscourt Grand Slam And 23 times overall at major championships tied with Serena Williams for the most in the Open era which began in 1968Back in 2019 for instance Federer was going for his ninth Wimbledon title while Djokovic was the defending champion Federer had two match points in the fifth set but Djokovic saved them both forced a tiebreaker at 1212 and then ran away to claim his fifth championshipldquoIrsquove won some epic finals that I was very close to losingrdquo said Djokovic who had earlier mentioned those match points in his oncourt interview during the trophy ceremony ldquoMaybe this is kind of a fairandsquare deal I guess to lose a match like this for me hererdquoAfter breezing through the first set on a windy day the pair traded breaks of serve early in the second ahead of the eventual tiebreakerAlso Read Carlos Alcaraz admits father probably filmed Novak Djokovic during practice at WimbledonDjokovic took a 30 lead and having won his last 15 tiebreakers in Grand Slam play it was looking good for the fourtime defending champion But Alcaraz won three straight points including a 109 mph ace to get back even Then with a set point and Alcaraz serving at 65 Djokovic put a backhand into the net And then anotherldquoThe backhands kind of let me down to be honestrdquo Djokovic said ldquoSet point I missed the backhand He did play a backhand that was quite long in the court had a little bit of a bad bounce But I should not have missed that shotldquoThen on 6all again another backhand from middle of the court in the net Just two very poor backhands Thatrsquos it The match shifted to his side It turned aroundrdquoDjokovic hasnrsquot missed too many of those shots over the years In fact his last loss at Wimbledon was way back in 2017 when he retired in the second set from his quarterfinal match with an injury His last loss on Centre Court was in the 2013 final against Andy MurrayldquoBeating Novak at his best in this stage making historyrdquo Alcaraz said ldquobeing the guy to beat him after 10 years unbeaten on that court is amazing for merdquoThat other point Djokovic mentioned The other regret That miss was even more surprising mdash especially coming from a guy who has made a career of making shot after shot and waiting for his opponents to mess upAlcaraz was serving in the second game of the final set and Djokovic had what looked to be an easy volley to break for a 20 lead mdash the kind of lead he doesnrsquot often relinquish But his forehand went into the top of the net instead of over it allowing Alcaraz to recover In the very next game the Spaniard broke giving him the edge he needed to win his second major title after last yearrsquos US Open championshipWith AP inputs