Did Novak Djokovic miss ex-coach Goran Ivanisevic in his box against Carlos Alcaraz in Wimbledon final? 

Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion and current world No. 2, lost in straight sets to Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the Wimbledon final on Sunday, July 14. The manner in which the Serb capitulated was quite disappointing for his supporters.

Djokovic decided to part ways with his coach Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia earlier this year after their five-year-long professional association that yielded 12 Grand Slam titles. The Croat, who is a former Wimbledon champion, might have actually helped the Serb out by being present in the latter's box.

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Did Djokovic do anything wrong tactically in the final?

Quite uncharacteristically, Djokovic tried to shorten the rallies by going to the net frequently during the initial stages of the match. However, his approaches were often not powerful enough, which allowed Alcaraz to hit the passing shots with ease. It resulted in the Serb losing most of those points.

Alcaraz, meanwhile, went for the kill from the outset, giving his much older opponent no breathing space. The 21-year-old Spaniard hit his first serve with a lot of venom, often breaching the 130 mph mark with it. He also refused to play it safe with his second serve most of the time, hitting it quite hard to rob Djokovic of the opportunity to exploit it.

Moreover, Alcaraz hit his down-the-line forehand wonderfully well from the deuce court throughout the match. In comparison, Djokovic often hit his down-the-line shots out to make things easier for his opponent.

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What could the Serb have done differently with Ivanisevic in the box?

Djokovic made a comeback from a knee injury at Wimbledon and thus, was not at his absolute best in the final. Quite understandably, he had difficulty matching Alcaraz's groundstrokes in the match. He was never going to win if Alcaraz had the opportunity to dictate terms with his forehand.

Thus, the logical solution for the Serb was to apply pressure on Alcaraz's backhand, thereby not allowing the Spaniard to hit his forehand as often as he would have liked.

Djokovic tried doing the above in the third set by playing his inside-out forehand towards Alcaraz's backhand at times. That resulted in better control of the match for the Serb, as the set went into a tie-break after Alcaraz had run away with the first two. Djokovic could also have played the backhand slice more often, thereby altering the pace of the rally to force the Spaniard to exert more power in his shots.

Lastly, Djokovic could have played his down-the-line backhand more frequently to make Alcaraz stretch towards his forehand wing more often. That would have stopped Alcaraz from hitting his forehand from the deuce court as comfortably as he did.

Goran Ivanisevic, had he been present in the box, could have helped Djokovic with his on-court coaching as far as the above tactics are concerned. The Serbian was outserved and outhit comprehensively in the final by the Spaniard and would have probably lost anyway. However, Ivanisevic's inputs would have helped him strategize better and make things considerably more difficult for Alcaraz.