Novak Djokovic's quest for grassy greatness in Wimbledon's intriguing conclusion

Serbia’s legendary tennis star, Novak Djokovic, will be in action on Sunday as he will be looking to lift the Wimbledon title for the eighth time. The third Grand Slam of the year will end with a mouthwatering grand finale between the world number two and defending champion Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz.

The 37-year-old, who is often regarded as the greatest player in the history of men’s tennis in the singles category in the Open era, having won as many as 24 Grand Slam titles, cemented his spot in the grand finale after beating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-4. On the other hand, Spain’s young tennis star defeated Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the semifinal with a score of 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

The contest will be a rematch of last year’s final, where Alcaraz came out on top in a five-set thriller with a score of 1–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1, 3–6, 6–4. If Djokovic manages to get revenge over the current world number three, he will be following a tradition he started more than a decade back. The Belgrade-born star, after winning his first Wimbledon title back in 2011 after beating Spain’s Rafael Nadal with a score of 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3, started the tradition of eating grass.

The 24-time Grand Slam winner later, while talking in an interview, revealed the reason behind eating grass after winning the title. “I didn't know what to do from the emotions that I had at that moment," he said. "It was an incredible feeling so the tasting of the grass came spontaneously. It tasted really good! It's a little tradition obviously. As a kid I was dreaming of winning Wimbledon, so, like every child, you dream of doing something crazy when you actually achieve it, if you achieve it, and that was one of the things."