Andy Roddick completely disagrees with what he’s heard about Novak Djokovic after his Wimbledon final defeat

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Novak Djokovic was quite simply outclassed by Carlos Alcaraz in their latest encounter at Wimbledon.

In a rematch of the 2023 final, the duo went head-to-head on Centre Court on Sunday in front of an expectant crowd.

The Spaniard had only just come under fire from supporters, with Alcaraz booed ironically after his semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev.

He was certainly in high spirits going into another Wimbledon final, where he was aiming to once again stop Djokovic from winning an eighth title.

And that is exactly what happened in London, with the Serbian blown away by Alcaraz in a straight-set encounter.

Andy Roddick makes Novak Djokovic claim after his Wimbledon final loss

The 24-time Grand Slam winner was often emotionless and lacking energy during the match, while many questions have been asked about his tactical approach.

But former US Open champion Andy Roddick believes many people are wrong in their verdicts about the losing finalist.

“People are like Novak’s volleys are horrible,” Roddick said on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast. “Okay, time out. Let’s just stop. 

“Nothing he does on a tennis court is horrible. Because he lost to a younger player who is going to be one of the all-time greats, does it mean that we deal in absolutes? Did he volley well? No. Does he want four of those back? Absolutely.

“But one thing always bleeds into the other. We are talking about that aggressive mentality where he was forcing the issue early in points.

“He didn’t want to get into these extended rallies with Carlos for whatever reason. There is a good reason why he is making that decision, we just don’t know what it is.

“But if you are forcing your way into the net, whether that be serving and volleying, or approaches from imperfect position, you are going to get tougher volleys.

“If you hit great approaches from great positions you tend to look like a better volleyer, as everything is above your waist. One thing bleeds into the other.

“If you are forcing it from bad positions and getting forward too quickly, a lot of your volleys will be tougher and from below the net. And there is no such thing as an easy volley from below the net against someone who is as fast as Alcaraz.”

Andy Roddick empathises with Wimbledon finalist Novak Djokovic

It was perhaps a mixture of Djokovic lowering his standards and Alcaraz raising his at the All England Club.

Despite back-to-back final losses at Wimbledon, the Serbian is, of course, among the all-time tennis greats.

That is certainly the view of the SW19 champion, with Alcaraz saying it is ‘unbelievable’ how Djokovic performed at Wimbledon after his recent knee surgery.

It was a difficult final for the 37-year-old, with Roddick able to empathise with Djokovic, having finished as runner-up at Wimbledon on three occasions.

“People are going ‘oh my gosh, he is missing those little drop shots’,” Roddick added. “They are below his net, he is hitting up to the fastest player on the planet.

“Not to say that he can’t pull it off or hasn’t pulled it off, but there is an extra layer with everything you do when you are playing the greats. Even if you are a great.”