Novak Djokovic has urged tennis fans not to worry about potentially missing England’s Euro 2024 final against Spain, amid fears kick-off in Berlin could clash with the Wimbledon final.
Djokovic is gearing up for his sixth consecutive Wimbledon final and his second in as many years against Carlos Alcaraz.
The Serb will be eyeing up revenge in south London this weekend after Alcaraz defeated Djokovic in the Centre Court showpiece last time around.
The 2023 final – which Alcaraz won 1–6, 7–6, 6–1, 3–6, 6–4 – proved to be a marathon encounter, with the match running for just under five hours.
Another titanic battle is expected on Sunday and by the time the trophy presentation and speeches have been wrapped up, kick-off between England and Spain is likely to be fast approaching.
As such, Wimbledon goers have shared concerns about potential overlap, with some calls for the game to be shown on the big screen at the All England Club’s Murray Mound.
But Djokovic has squashed any worries, saying: “I think that the English crowd will have best of both worlds because I think the finals is at night, so we are starting I think at 2pm, so they’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the tennis and football as well.
I think Wimbledon finals is probably the most watched tennis match in the entire year in the world. So not only England, but I’m sure that a lot of people around the world will follow it. It adds more, I guess, to the importance of the match.”
Djokovic is eyeing up an eighth title at the All England Club, with last year’s defeat against Alcaraz the only time he’s lost a final on Centre Court.
Despite the setback, the 24-time Grand Slam champion revealed he sees plenty of comparisons between himself and tennis’ latest star Alcaraz.
On the Spaniard, he said: “I see a lot of similarities between me and him in terms of ability to adapt and adjust to the surface. I think that’s probably his biggest trait, is that he’s got skills to play equally well on any surface and to adapt to a given opponent that particular day.
“So he’s a very all-around player, very complete player. Impressive what he has done for such a young age. I said on the court, which I think probably all of us share the same opinion, that he’s going to win many slams in his career.
“Hope he’s going to give me this one in two days, and let’s see (smiling). After that I’ll cheer for him.
