Such a Spanish Sunday

“I’VE ALREADY DONE my job. So, let’s see the football,” said Carlos Alcaraz at the presentation ceremony, seconds after winning his second Wimbledon title, magically turning boos into applause. Just a moment earlier, the most prestigious tennis court in the world, the fabled Centre Court, began to echo with catcalls targeted at the grinning 21-year-old, who is quite possibly the most beloved and complete tennis player of the new generation. Why? Well, only because Alcaraz was asked by the presenter: “Dare I bring up the Euro final [between Spain and England]? Where are you going to be watching it?” And instantly, she had turned a largely English crowd against the blushing Spaniard. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up,” said the presenter but the damage had long been done.

But Alcaraz was right; he had held up his end of the bargain to make this Sunday not only a Super Sunday, but a Super Spanish Sunday, by beating the greatest of all time, Novak Djokovic, for the second year in a row at this stage and becoming the first Spaniard ever to defend his Wimbledon crown. Some six hours later, La Roja, or The Reds, as Spain’s national football team is fondly called, painted Berlin in exactly that colour to become the most successful country in the history of the European Championship (Euro) with four titles; one more than Germany and two more than Italy or France. What’s more, both Alcaraz and Spain pulled off their final victories in the most convincing of fashions: the tennis player in straight sets (6-2, 6-2, 7-6) and the footballers within regulation time (2-1). And a delirious nation celebrated its finest sporting day ever.

Yes, Spain may have won a FIFA World Cup in the past while also producing some of the greatest sportspeople in the form of Rafael Nadal and Fernando Alonso. But never before had this country, or any other for that matter, experienced two major global titles on the same day before, and it all started when young Alcaraz allowed Djokovic to walk ahead of him through the maze of corridors of Wimbledon’s clubhouse, leading towards Centre Court. On the patchy lawn, he wouldn’t give the Serb any concessions whatsoever, breaking his exceptional serve with regularity in the first and second sets, only experiencing a slight hiccup while armed with three match points at 5-4, 40-0 in the third and final set; match points that Djokovic would end up saving to push the set into a tiebreak.

Against any other player, Djokovic would have nicked the set and perhaps the following one as well, for no one knows how to win Grand Slam finals better than the 37-year-old, having already pocketed a record 24 majors before the start of this Wimbledon final. But Alcaraz is not just any player, he is the heir-apparent to Djokovic’s GOAT title, whose game seems to be a perfect mix of Djokovic’s, Nadal’s and Federer’s, an inkling shared by not only the fans of this great game but also by each of the three greats. So, almost casually, Alcaraz held his nerve, quietened the excited crowd and extinguished all hope in the tiebreak, forcing Djokovic to click his tongue and smile wryly at the net during the customary handshake.

“Credit to Carlos for playing some really amazing tennis, very complete tennis from the back of the court, his serves… he really had it all today. I tried to push him, saved the three match points and extended the match a little bit. But it wasn’t meant to be; he is an absolutely deserved winner today, so huge congratu­lations to him for some amazing tennis,” Djokovic would say later, while cradling the runners-up plate, a piece of silverware he wasn’t really used to owning before the rise of Alcaraz. In eight Wimbledon finals appearances before he came up against the Spaniard, Djokovic had won seven trophies, losing only once to Andy Murray. Now he has lost two in a row to a man who has won each of his four appearances in Grand Slam finals, which is already more than Murray and Stan Wawrinka’s tallies. It is worth repeating here that he is all of 21.

Carlos Alcaraz helped make it a Super Spanish Sunday by beating Novak Djokovic for the second year in a row at this stage and became the first Spaniard to defend his Wimbledon crown. Some six hours later, La Roja, or The Reds, as Spain’s national football team is fondly called, painted Berlin in that colour to become the most successful country
in the history of the European Championship

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Youth also flows freely through Spain’s winning football side, their engine room powered by the genius of 22-year-old Nico Williams and the greatest teenage player in the world today, Lamine Yamal. Yamal is so young that for Spain’s first six matches of the campaign, all of which they won comfort­ably, he was 16 years young. As a 16-year-old, he became the youngest-ever goal-scorer at the Euro with a most sensational strike against France in the semi-final. Trailing 1-0 after just nine minutes in Munich, Spain pressed ahead with gusto and the curly mop of Yamal found himself with the ball just outside France’s box, loaded with six defenders and midfielders, notwithstanding the goalkeeper. So, Yamal coolly skipped one way, then the other, dropped the ball on to his favoured left foot and swerved it around all legs and hands and into the top corner.

That was rated by UEFA as the best goal of the championship, his twinkling moves reminiscent of another prodigy who began his career at Barcelona, Lionel Messi. What are the chances, then, that Messi had met, carried and even bathed a toddler Yamal, the internet now abound with those images, as well as theories of how the latter’s wizardry had passed on through touch and soapy bubbles. A day before the final against England, Yamal turned 17 and in the second half after a goalless first, he slipped in the assist for Williams to put Spain ahead. England clawed back with a stunning long-range equaliser from Cole Palmer to have the stands at the Olympiastadion ring with chants of ‘It’s coming home’, England’s go-to anthem at the majors.

But the youngest team at this Euro and the highest pressing one at any Euro did what they do best: press on. And hence, the winner arrived late, in the 86th minute, with a sizzling cross from the left by Marc Cucurella that was clinically finished by substitute Mikel Oyarzabal, ensuring Harry Kane and Gareth Southgate’s England finished runners-up for a second straight Euro. So, football may not have gone home, but it certainly went to the right place, at the right time, dragging along with it tennis’ greatest trophy too.

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Aditya Iyer

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