For the Wimbledon title, Djokovic and Alcaraz face off in the “ultimate showdown.”

LONDON: Novak Djokovic says that everyone in sports will be watching his “ultimate showdown” with Carlos Alcaraz in Sunday’s Wimbledon final, where history and a generational shift are at stake.

Djokovic is trying to tie Roger Federer’s record of eight All England Club titles and match Margaret Court’s record of 24 Grand Slam titles.

The 36-year-old has already won the Australian Open and the French Open in 2023. If he wins on Sunday, he will be just one major away from becoming the first man since 1969 to win the calendar Grand Slam.

“It’s the ultimate showdown,” said Djokovic, who will be playing in a Grand Slam final for the 35th time, a record.

“It all comes down to a single match. Everyone in sports will be watching this Wimbledon final. It’s probably the tennis match that the most people in the world watch.”

Alcaraz is 16 years younger than Djokovic.

When Djokovic won his first of 23 major titles at the Australian Open in 2008, the Spaniard was still three months away from turning five.

Djokovic could become the oldest winner of Wimbledon, while Alcaraz is trying to be the third youngest winner after Bjorn Borg and Boris Becker.

“I have more experience, that’s clear. “It can help a little bit in some important moments, like at the start of the match, when you’re trying to control your nerves and the situation,” said Djokovic.

“But it’s not really going to make a difference. On any given day, the winner will be the person who is mentally and physically in the best shape.

When they played each other in the semi-finals of the French Open in June, Djokovic won the mental games.

Alcaraz’s body cramped up and he passed out. He freely stated that just seeing Djokovic on the other side of the net caused this.

“If you think about how big he is, it’s hard,” said Italy’s Jannik Sinner, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-final on Friday.

Alcaraz is still feeling the pain of his Paris nightmare, so on Sunday, when he plays Djokovic for the first time on grass, he plans to do a series of mental exercises to ease the stress.

“I’ll try to forget that I’m going to play the final against Novak,” he said.