Novak Djokovic is in pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title at Wimbledon this year, and an eighth crown at the All England Club.
In his way, however, is the defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, who is bidding to become the fifth man in the Open Era to three-peat at the championships.
Alcaraz beat Djokovic last year to hold the famous trophy aloft for the second consecutive time, besting the Serb in straight sets.
In a Wimbledon final rematch, the two stars took to Centre Court to play a practice match ahead of the upcoming tournament.
Novak Djokovic’s practice match against Carlos Alcaraz
Prior to the practice set between Djokovic and Alcaraz, the roof was closed due to light rain in South West London.
The Spaniard served first against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, and got off to a good start with a strong hold.
Djokovic replied with a quick hold of his own, and for the rest of the match, there wasn’t a break of service.
The two competed for 45 minutes, and the final score of the practice set was 5-5; a much better result for the world number six than his opening set in last year’s final, which ended 6-2 to Alcaraz.
Carlos Alcaraz’s route to the 2024 Wimbledon title
Alcaraz’s 2024 Wimbledon campaign began with a first-round matchup against Mark Lajal, which he won in straight sets.
He then swept aside Aleksandar Vukic, before enduring a five-set marathon with Francis Tiafoe, where the American came close to winning.
After defeating Ugo Humbert, he played Tommy Paul in the quarter-final, beating him over four sets.
His semi-final opponent came in the form of Daniil Medvedev, whom Alcaraz lost the opening set to in a tiebreaker, but managed to fight back to advance to the final.
Then, in a much more comfortable final than the year prior, he overcame Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 6-7, to win it all.
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