Novak Djokovic was waiting. He waited for Nick Kyrgios to lose focus and get lost. He was waiting to find the right reading of his opponent’s big serves. He waited until his own level rose to the occasion.
Djokovic is not worried about a deficit – in a game, a set, a match. He doesn’t mind solving problems. And at Wimbledon for quite some time now, he has not been defeated.
Djokovic used his consistent brilliance to beat the ace-delivering, trick-hitting, constant-chattering Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday for a fourth straight All England title Club and seventh overall.
“Every time it gets more meaningful and special,” top-seeded Djokovic said. “It has always been and always will be the most special tournament in my heart. The one who motivated me and inspired me to start playing tennis in a small mountain resort in Serbia.”
He extended his grass-court Grand Slam unbeaten streak to 28 matches and increased his career tally to 21 major trophies, breaking a tie with Roger Federer and only 22 behind Rafael Nadal for the most in men’s tennis history .
On the men’s side, only Federer, with eight, has won more Wimbledon titles than Djokovic. In the professional era, only Federer was older (by less than a year) than the 35-year-old Djokovic when he won at the All England Club.
WATCH | Djokovic wins 7th Wimbledon title, 21st career Grand Slam:
Djokovic beats Kyrgios for 7th Wimbledon title
The top-seeded star won his 4th consecutive Wimbledon title by defeating Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
That comeback on a sun-filled afternoon followed those in the quarter-finals, when Djokovic erased a two-set deficit against No. 10 seed Yannick Sinner, and in the semifinals, when No. 9 Cam Norrie took the first set. In last year’s Wimbledon title match, Djokovic lost the first set.
Kyrgios was terrific early on Sunday, almost perfect in the first set, with 11 aces before committing a second unprovoked error. But can it last?
There were two particularly key moments, ones that Kyrgios wouldn’t miss, when he started monologuing, yelling at himself or his entourage, getting a warning for profanity, finding a reason to disagree with the chair umpire he hit with a fist before the match and threw a bottle of water.
In the second set, with Djokovic serving at 5-3, Kyrgios reached love-40 — three break points. But Kyrgios played some haphazard returns and Djokovic eventually held on.
When that set ended, Kyrgios waved dismissively at his box, sat down and dropped his racquet on the grass, then growled to no one in particular: “It was love-40! Can it get bigger or what?! Is that big enough for you?!”
And then, in the third set, with Kyrgios serving at 4-all, 40-love, he again let a seemingly decided game slip away as Djokovic broke there.
Kyrgios’ pursuit of history is failing
Kyrgios, 40, was trying to become the first unseeded men’s champion at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Ivanisevic is now Djokovic’s coach and was in the guest box on Center Court for the match.
Kyrgios, the 27-year-old Australian, has never made it past the quarter-finals in 29 previous Grand Slam appearances – and the last time he got there was seven-and-a-half years ago.
Still, his talent is unmistakable. But over the years, Kyrgios has attracted more attention for his preference for style over substance on court, his boisterous intensity that has earned him expulsions and suspensions, and his taste for nightlife.
In the past two weeks alone, Kyrgios has racked up US$14,000 in fines – one for spitting at a screaming spectator after a first-round win, another for swearing during a highly controversial third-round win against No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas – and caught flak for carrying of a red hat and trainers before or after matches in a venue where all-white clothing is mandatory. It has also emerged that he is due to appear in court in Australia to face an assault charge.
On Sunday, Kyrgios tried shots between his legs, hit some with his back to the net, hit serves up to 218 km/h and served 30 aces. He uses an underarm serve, then fakes one later.
Perhaps, in a sense, it would be fitting that such a unique player should emerge as the champion of such a unique Wimbledon.
Missing players, surprises of the tournament
All players representing Russia or Belarus were banned by the All England Club due to the war in Ukraine; among the men kept off the field was No. 1 ranked Daniil Medvedev. In response, the WTA and ATP professional tennis tournaments took the unprecedented step of stripping Wimbledon of all ranking points.
Elena Rybakina, born in Russia but representing Kazakhstan for four years, won the women’s trophy on Saturday with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ons Jabeur. It was the first Wimbledon title match since 1962 between two women making their debut in a Grand Slam final, and Rybakina, ranked No. 23, is the second lowest-ranked women’s champion at the All England Club since the computerized rankings of The WTA started in 1975.
There’s more: Federer missed the tournament for the first time since the late 1990s because he’s still recovering from a series of surgeries on his right knee. No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev is out after tearing ankle ligaments at the French Open. Three of the top 20 seeded men pulled out of Wimbledon after it started because they tested positive for COVID-19.
And Nadal withdrew before he was due to face Kyrgios in the semi-finals, the first time since 1931 that a man had bowed out at Wimbledon in a semi-final or final.
Djokovic and Kyrgios haven’t always gotten along.
Kyrgios was quite critical of Djokovic publicly until he became one of the first voices in support of the Serb during the legal saga that unfolded before the Australian Open in January, culminating in Djokovic’s deportation from that country for not having been vaccinated against COVID-19 (which may also prevent him from participating in the US Open in August).
This has obviously helped to create something of a detente; Kyrgios used the term “bromance” to describe the state of their relationship. They joked around on social media on Saturday, exchanging messages about going out for drinks or dinner, with the winner footing the bill.
“He’s a bit of a god, I’m not going to lie,” Kyrgios said at the trophy ceremony. “I thought I played well. You’ve won the championship I don’t even know how many times.”
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