Novak Djokovic's and Carlos Alcaraz's match was always the one people circled as crucial when the draw came out.
Unfortunately, it happened already in the semi-finals of the 2023 Roland Garros and not the final like many expected or wanted, but it was still a good match, mostly. The first two sets were excellent unfortunately the body of the 20-year-old Spaniard couldn't hold on as he started to cramp early in the 3rd set.
That resulted in him being unable to move properly and obviously Djokovic quickly started to overpower him. The Serbian ultimately won the match and advanced to the final where he proved better than Casper Ruud to make history.
Even though the match didn't deliver on its full promise, it was still a match worth watching as the second set was incredible by both players. It's not by chance that Alcaraz started to cramp right after because he pushed really hard in very unfavourable conditions. Many people tuned in, so much so that it became the 2nd most-watched tennis match on the Tennis Channel ever.
The American broadcaster published the numbers as 530,000 people tuned in to watch the match. That's the highest number since last year's Roland Garros quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic which the Spaniard won.
That match was watched by an incredible 666,000 viewers. It's not a huge surprise as the match was highly anticipated since the draw showed it would likely happen. Many pointed towards this matchup as the one which will determine the winner of the event and it proved true.
The winner of the match did ultimately end up as the champion. It also shows that Alcaraz is a very popular player, probably one of the most popular ones among the younger generations. It leaves the sport in good hands when players like Djokovic retire from the sport in the coming years.
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