Carlos Alcaraz and the best of the rest at Wimbledon

LONDON — Carlos Alcaraz was not supposed to win Wimbledon.

Not yet anyway.

For weeks, Novak Djokovic, the seven-time champion and winner of the last four at the All England Club, had been all but declared the victor due to his dominance on grass and titles at both of the year’s previous majors. A win, which would have tied him with Margaret Court for the most Grand Slam titles in history at 24, seemed all but certain.

But it wasn’t to Alcaraz. And on Sunday, with all of the eyes of Centre Court on him, including British and Spanish royalty and a slew of Hollywood A-listers, the 20-year-old Spaniard claimed his second Grand Slam title and first at Wimbledon with a 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Djokovic.

Playing in just the fourth grass-court tournament of his career, Alcaraz made up for his lack of experience on the surface with a staggering display of athleticism and mental maturity, dazzling the crowd with each mind-blowing point after the next.

At the end of the four-hour-and-42-minute match, Alcaraz fell to the ground in stunned shock and rolled over with his hands on his head before running over — and up through the crowd — to celebrate with his box.

“It’s incredible,” Alcaraz said on the court moments later. “A dream come true to be able to play on these stages. It’s amazing for a boy, 20 years old, to reach these situations really fast. I’m really proud of myself and really proud of the team that I have and the work that we put in every day to be able to live this experience.”

With the win, Alcaraz will retain the world No. 1 ranking and will attempt to defend his US Open title at the year’s final major when it gets underway in August.

While Alcaraz was the one lifting the ultimate trophy on Sunday, he was far from the only player who had a triumphant fortnight. Here are seven other men whose success in London shows big promise for the future.

It was unclear what to expect from Medvedev at Wimbledon this year. He had a career-best result of fourth round at the All England Club, and was unable to participate in 2022 due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players. Not to mention, he had lost in his first-round match at the French Open in a stunner and had a 2-2 record on grass during his two lead-in events. But the 27-year-old reminded everyone why he remains one of the best players in the world, no matter the surface, with a semifinal run.

Sure, he never defeated a seeded…