Bully Kyrgios without a chance: Novak Djokovic remains the king of Wimbledon

Bully Kyrgios without a chance
Novak Djokovic remains the king of Wimbledon

07/10/2022, 6:12 p.m

Serbian Novak Djokovic will face off against Australian bully Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final. After losing the first set, the former world number one dominates and gets his Grand Slam number 21. It is the seventh triumph in his living room and a liberation.

Novak Djokovic spread his arms, took a piece of grass in his mouth and lay down on the ground overjoyed. From the hands of Duchess Kate, the tennis superstar received the gold trophy for his fourth Wimbledon title in a row. Djokovic was crowned king of the lawn classic for the seventh time and celebrated his 21st title in a Grand Slam tournament. In an emotional and high-class final, the 35-year-old Serb defeated unseeded challenger Nick Kyrgios 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3).

“I have no more words for what this tournament and this trophy means to me. Every single time it becomes more and more important and special,” enthused Djokovic and also congratulated the Australian. “You showed why you are one of the best players in the world.” He also alluded to the long-term difficult relationship with Kyrgios, which had only improved this year when he supported him when he was refused entry to the Australian Open. “I never thought I would say so many nice things about you. Now it’s officially a bromance. Hopefully it’s the start of a wonderful relationship.”

The Aussie with the bad-boy image also threw himself out of rhythm after a strong start through debates with the referee, spectators and his own supporters. After the defeat, he sat motionless on his bench with a blank stare and a red cap on his head. “He’s a kind of god. I think I played quite well,” said the 27-year-old and even thanked the referees: “You know, you and I have a difficult relationship.”

Djokovic is now chasing Federer

After 3:01 hours, Djokovic converted his third match point. For him it was the fourth title in a row at the classic lawn. In the all-time leaderboard for Grand Slam successes, he is only one title behind the 22-time winner Rafael Nadal. The Spaniard had to miss his semi-final against Kyrgios because of an injury.

Djokovic won his 28th Wimbledon game in a row with the final success, only Roger Federer has triumphed more often with eight titles at Church Roard. Kyrgios, on the other hand, missed the coup as only the third unseeded player after Boris Becker in 1985 and Goran Ivanisevic, Djokovic’s current coach, in 2001.

Kyrgios delighted his fans with shows such as punches through the legs and his serve at up to 218 kilometers per hour. But through a private feud with an allegedly drunk spectator, whose ejection he demanded, and allegations against his box, the 27-year-old also underpinned his negative public image.

The reactions after the surprising final victory of the Kazakh Jelena Rybakina over the world number two Ons Jabeur from Tunisia were less spectacular. The Russian-born celebrated her 3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 2 almost without emotion, only when she thought of her parents did the tears flow on Saturday evening.

Royal box well filled

Djokovic had promised “emotional fireworks” from both players in advance – and the mood on the completely filled Center Court was great from the start with similarly distributed sympathies. In his first service game, Kyrgios served directly from below to the murmur of the spectators, Djokovic countered ice cold after the return by stopping at the net.

In the royal box, eight-year-old Prince George took his place for the first time in a dark suit with a tie between his parents, Duchess Kate and Prince William. And the family saw a fearless performance from Kyrgios, who hadn’t faltered after his three-day break. Instead, Djokovic again had problems in the first set, as in the previous two rounds, a double error by the Serb brought Kyrgios the break to 3: 2 from the Australian’s point of view. He secured the first round with an ace after just 31 minutes.

Kyrgios fights with a spectator

Djokovic had also lost the opening set in two of his six previous Wimbledon titles and again did not lose his concept. With a net scooter, the 35-year-old used his first breakball to make it 3-1, Kyrgios showed the first negative emotions and ironically pointed his thumb up towards the stands. When the Australian made a stop and Djokovic dived onto the lawn in vain, almost the entire audience stood up cheering for the first time. Djokovic fended off four breakballs and equalized after sets.

Genius and madness in Kyrgios alternated at ever shorter intervals, dream strokes followed slight mistakes. The controversial Australian debated more and more often with referee Renaud Lichtenstein, accused a spectator of having had “700 drinks” and received a warning. At 4: 4, Kyrgios was already leading 40: 0, losing five points in a row and his serve. In the meantime, the Australian just ranted and lost the sentence.

The fourth movement became a nerve thriller. Kyrgios stabilized again, both players stayed constant on their own serve for a long time. At 5: 6 and 30:30 Djokovic had to tremble. He made it to the tiebreaker and kept his nerve. After missing the Australian Open because he was refused entry, it will remain Djokovic’s only Grand Slam triumph this year, as he is not allowed to travel to the US Open without being vaccinated.