Djokovic arrived here weeks ago in questionable condition, having undergone surgery on June 5 for a torn meniscus in his right knee and also dealing with his weakest start to the season in years.

But there was no magic left for him on Sunday at Wimbledon. It was all absorbed by the young wizard standing across the net in the men’s championship match for the second year in a row.

Carlos Alcaraz won his second consecutive Wimbledon title and his fourth Grand Slam title with the typical sparks from his racket. He produced a rather unusual scoreline in the clash against Djokovic, beating his volatile opponent 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) and inflicting the Serbian’s second worst defeat in a Grand Slam final of his career.

Djokovic made no excuses afterward.

“Overall, the way I felt on the court against him today, I was just outfield,” he said. “That’s it. He was the better player. He played every single shot better than me.”

The most surprising result of Djokovic’s 13 losses in major finals was his 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 defeat to Rafael Nadal at the 2020 French Open.

Alcaraz denied his generational rival the chance to make history for a second consecutive year. The 37-year-old Serbian was attempting to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon men’s singles titles and win his 25th Grand Slam title overall. The No. 25 ranking would have moved him ahead of Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam singles titles of all time.

But Alcaraz, 21, was looking to write new lines in the record books as he continues to cement himself as one of the greatest young men’s champions in history with titles in the 2022 U.S. Open, 2023 Wimbledon and last month’s French Open. He joined Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg as the only players to win multiple Wimbledon men’s singles titles before the age of 22 in the Open era that began in 1968, and he tied the Open-era record for most Grand Slam singles titles won before that age with Becker, Borg and Mats Wilander.

There’s more: Alcaraz is also only the second player to win his first four Grand Slam finals in the Open era, after Federer (who won his first seven), and the sixth man to make the difficult and intense transition from clay to grass court tennis in the Open era, winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.

For Alcaraz, all the age-related records didn’t matter. As he was guided through all the post-match logistical stops that a new champion must make at the All England Club, he was told he should know what to do by now. Alcaraz chuckled and said he had forgotten where he was going because everything still felt new.

“Of course, I’ve seen and heard all the statistics that show that I’m the youngest person to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year, whatever. Honestly, I try not to think about it too much,” Alcaraz said. “Of course, it’s a really great start to my career, but I have to keep going. I have to keep building my way. At the end of my career, I want to sit at the same table with the big guys. That’s my main goal.”

Centre Court was already full when Djokovic and Alcaraz arrived shortly before the players walked onto the court. The crowd rose to greet Princess Catherine of Wales with a standing ovation — her second public appearance Sunday since her cancer diagnosis was announced in March. Catherine, who has been the royal patron of the All England Club since 2016, followed her sister Pippa Middleton and daughter Charlotte to her front-row seat in the Royal Box and gave the crowd a few quick waves before taking her seat.

Celebrities such as Tom Cruise and Benedict Cumberbatch were also nearby, as were tennis legends Andre Agassi, Stefan Edberg, Chris Evert, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Stan Smith.

They had come to see history made in some way. Instead, they watched what at times looked like an imposter in Djokovic’s place. He entered Wimbledon facing questions about his knee and with a meager 18-6 record this year, having never reached a tournament final. But amid positive reports about his physical condition, he had dispelled concerns about his game with five characteristically straightforward wins here.

But on Sunday, he appeared several steps behind against an opponent 16 years his junior.

The opening match looked set to be another marathon, similar to last year’s final, when Djokovic and Alcaraz battled for 4 hours and 42 minutes. It featured seven draws and 20 points and lasted nearly 14 minutes, as if both players were itching to make opening statements.

Alcaraz blitzed Djokovic’s opponent to win the match with a 125 mph serve, never losing control of the match and electrifying the excited crowd that never calmed down.

“I think he came out of the blocks ready to fight and ready to play his best level right away,” Djokovic said. “It wasn’t like that last year; I started better, I had a comfortable first-set win.”

The match remained scripted, with little interest after that opening, except for Djokovic’s uncharacteristic stumble. He double-faulted on break point to give Alcaraz a 5-1 lead in the first set, and occasionally gave up on Alcaraz’s signature drop shots. Alcaraz was like a puppeteer, expertly manipulating Djokovic around the court with tennis. But Djokovic looked hopeless at times, shrugging or shaking his head and laughing when a shot was out of reach.

The only real drama came when Alcaraz had three match points at 5-4. He blew them all, first double-faulting and then handing Djokovic his first break of the day.

He finally did it in a tiebreak, proving his generational versatility once again, as he did last month when he won the French Open, becoming the first male player to win three Grand Slam titles on three different surfaces.

“I don’t know what my limit is. I don’t want to think about it,” Alcaraz said. “I just want to keep enjoying the moment, I just want to keep dreaming. So, at the end of my career, I’ll see if I have 25, 30, 15, four (Grand Slam titles). I don’t know.”