Andy Roddick branded Novak Djokovic’s run to the Wimbledon final as “absurd” off the back of the 37-year-old’s knee surgery less than a month before the Grand Slam. The 24-time major champion lost in straight sets on Sunday (July 14) to Carlos Alcaraz who retained his title at the All England Club, having also beaten Djokovic in the 2023 final.

In what was a dominating run to his 10th Wimbledon final, Djokovic stunned the tennis world by his mere appearance at the Grand Slam considering he was forced to go under the knife to repair a torn meniscus that he suffered during his French Open quarter-final against Casper Ruud.

The sporting legend faltered at the final hurdle to extend his record-breaking achievement of 24 major titles with his Spanish opponent increasing his own tally to four at just 21 years of age, already surpassing the likes of Sir Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka who both have three majors.

Speaking on his podcast ‘Served with Andy Roddick’, the former US Open champion and three-time Wimbledon finalist was stunned that Djokovic made it all the way to the final considering his surgery and lack of fitness. “It is absurd that Novak was able to make the finals of this event,” the American said.

“Surgery, no fitness, not a lot of tennis, no matches. Finals at Wimbledon. Gave yourself a look at the basket. Props to him. Novak had no reps, no fitness, all he was trying to do was get healthy enough to play his first round and then after that, healthy enough to play second round, so on and so forth.”

Roddick explained just how much was working against Djokovic in the final with a lack of preparation befalling him against an elite opponent like Alcaraz. “So for people to say ‘oh he wasn’t moving great’, well no kidding, you have to practice to be great at something, and through no fault of his own he didn’t have those quick reps and when you get to the top level of the game, those margins get exposed quickly and I think that’s what happened.

“My gut, based on his strategy coming forward, going line early was that he didn’t have confidence making those quick adjustments and Carlos exposed him, [he] went big when he had to, hit those dropshots when he had to, took second serves early, [he] did not want Novak to get settled and when Novak had a shot because he was unsettled, [he] maybe pulled the trigger a little bit too early.”

Speaking to Annabel Croft after his loss, Djokovic was humble in defeat as he paid tribute to Alcaraz for his impressive performances. “Not the result I wanted, of course. In the first couple of sets, the level of tennis wasn’t up to par with myself. Credit to Carlos for playing some complete tennis. Back of the court, serve…

“I tried to extend the match a little bit, he was absolutely a deserved winner today. Huge congratulations to him for that. And to his team of course, the family, amazing job. It’s a one-man show when you’re on the court but there’s a big team. Only 21 years of age, we’ll see a lot more of you (Alcaraz), I’m sure.”