Wimbledon Men's Final Tip: How to back Alcaraz at 6/4 to win defend his crown

• A good day for Spain?

• Djokovic against the world

• Alcaraz looks too strong

Carlos Alcaraz raised the ire of the Wimbledon crowd following his semi-final win over Daniil Medvedev on Friday by claiming "Sunday will be a really good day for Spanish people, as well with the Euro Cup."

There is reason to be optimistic. Both he and the Spanish men's team will start as favourite in their respective finals. For Betfair's Euros 2024 final previews check here:

And at least as far as the tennis goes, I expect Spanish supporters will have good reason to celebrate.

Defiant Djokovic

That's not to say it will be easy. After all Novak Djokovic has seven Wimbledon titles at home.

If he were to win this one it would arguably be his greatest Grand Slam win to date given the circumstances. A few weeks before the off Djokovic had knee surgery, he wasn't moving his best in the early rounds.

He has been sporting knee strapping throughout the tournament and to his credit his movement has improved with every match. You must respect that he can still work his way through a draw even though he was on one leg for at least some of it.

I think deep down Djokovic is aware of his subpar fitness and that is why throughout this tournament he has been stoking negative crowd reaction as a means to fire him up. Against Holger Rune and Lorenzo Musetti he was actively inspiring boos from the audience, and it drove him on to rather comfortable victories.

However, I think only the most optimistic Djokovic watcher would give a good appraisal of his performance levels respective of where they would typically be when he's competing for major titles.

There is a notable dip in level from this Djokovic compared to what we've seen from him in years gone by. At 37 he is not the player he used to be.

History maker

Alcaraz by contrast has his best years ahead of him and is starting a career that may in time come close to matching the honour roll of today's opponent and the sport's other GOAT candidate players.

One achievement that he could well match already is to win consecutive Slam titles at Wimbledon and Roland Garros.

Djokovic completed the French Open and Wimbledon double in the same year once in his career. For the most successful player of all time to have done that only one time tells you all you need to know about the scale of Alcaraz's potential achievement come Sunday.

Similarly the greatest clay player of all time Rafael Nadal completed the French/Wimbledon double only twice over his 20+ season career and considering he won 14 times at Roland Garros his form during that period was never in question.

Roger Federer achieved it only once in 2009, and in the women's game Serena Williams could complete it only twice.

It is also incredibly difficult to win back to back Grand Slam titles. A few years separate Djokovic and Serena's first and second Grand Slam titles at the same event. Although Federer and Nadal were both able to defend their first Grand Slam titles - it is rare.

Superman

Alcaraz has felt the pressure of defending this title throughout this tournament but he is finishing with a flourish. He has found form at just the right time, bringing out more good than bad in his wins against Tommy Paul and Daniil Medvedev.

And when he's good, I don't think there's a player that can match those levels. Not even Djokovic, who isn't the same player as when he lost as a finalist this time last year.

I do think nerves and the weight of history can become a factor, as is the stubborn old fella on the other side of the net. The best bet is to back Alcaraz to win and both players to win a set at 6/42.50

Now read our Spain v England Euro 2024 final previews here.