Battle of Ages: Five Sets of Wimbledon

Shakespeare's 'Seven Ages of Man' from As You Like It found a new form in Five Sets of Wimbledon on Sunday. Two men in their time played many parts - offender, defender, counter-offender, survivor, champion, ex-champion - on Centre Court. But if there was one single overarching narrative in this epic final, it was that of a Gilgameshian contest between 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz and 36-year-old Novak Djokovic. It was the Battle of the Ages.

Theory does not always inhabit the same world as practice. So, if you thought the World No. 1 youngster - in India, we call 20-year-old men 'boys' - would quickly envelop the more 'mature' No. 2 player, you would have been wrong. In the first set, the older Djokovic made paella out of the Spaniard in a rapid 6-1 wrap. The second set also looked like going the master Serb's way, but Alcaraz dredged out something from his socks and barely crossed over 7-6 on a teetering tie-break. The third set showed how, in physical contests, the younger body holds an advantage, talent being equal on either side of the net. But the 6-1 Alcaraz win was only another twist in the tale. The 7-time Wimbledon champion pulled back a set - and how - 6-3. But the longer the game, the more spent are the body's cells. And, here, the younger man took to the last set like Achilles to Hector. Age is real, the contest was glorious.