Djokovic wins the final, Kyrgios sympathies

The world number 1 from Serbia prevails against the Australian in four sets. But Kyrgios gains some sympathy despite his quarrels.

Novak Djokovic (left) says a lot of nice things about Nick Kyrgios after the final – he repeatedly violates Wimbledon’s dress code with the red cap.

imago

Nick Kyrgios has the talent and the physical ability to win big titles. But whether he will ever do that depends less on his hands and legs than on his head.

In Sunday’s Wimbledon final, he played like a reformer for a set. He was focused and disciplined. With occasional interludes such as a forearm serve in the second game or a ball returned between the legs, he entertained the audience and aroused expectations of a spectacular final. He won the first set 6:4 and celebrated this first step with a restrained gesture of jubilation.

Djokovic wins Wimbledon for the seventh time

But in the end everything was the same as it had been at Wimbledon in recent years. Novak Djokovic received the most important tennis trophy from the hands of the Duchess of Cambridge. He turned the match around and won it 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6. It is his seventh title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, fourth after 2018, 2019 and 2021 in a row. In this respect, he is on a par with Björn Borg, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. In the race for the most major titles, he left Federer (20) behind with his 21st win and now only has Rafael Nadal ahead of him (22).

Kisses the winner's trophy once again in Wimbledon: the Serbian Novak Djokovic.

Kisses the winner’s trophy once again in Wimbledon: the Serbian Novak Djokovic.

imago

And yet the story of the afternoon was that of Nick Kyrgios, that Australian who was as gifted as he was eruptive. The shitstorm against him on social networks began long before he missed the last ball. For once, the 27-year-old Australian’s anger and frustration was not directed at his opponent, the chair umpire, or any of the accompanying staff. When he was unable to break Djokovic in the second set with a score of 3: 5 despite three breakballs in a row, he shouted in the direction of his box: “0:40, damn it.”

It wasn’t the only curse words that escaped Kyrgios in the good three hours of the match. It is still unclear whether this will be capitalized in the form of further fines. Two or three minor gaffes in the five previous games had already cost him around 14,000 francs. In view of the prize money of the equivalent of 1.38 million francs, that should be manageable for him. In his eventful career he has already had to pay around half a million in fines.

What probably hurts Kyrgios more is the missed opportunity to become the first Australian to win the Wimbledon title since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. In his 30th Grand Slam tournament he was in a final for the first time.

Kyrgios played well and consistently at Wimbledon like never before in his career. Not only his older brother Christos therefore suspected a purification. In an article in Sunday’s Sydney Morning Herald he wrote: ‘For the better part of the last six or seven years I’ve lost my little brother. The boy I grew up with who was so carefree and involved was almost gone. The world changed him, tennis changed him. He became confused, constantly worried about something. Even when you were with him, he was never really present. He was a prisoner in his own body, going through emotions with no trace of satisfaction in the life he had worked so hard to create.”

In the second set, Kyrgios’ demons returned

Christos Kyrgios also wrote in the same article that the world will know Wimbledon champion Nick Kyrgios that evening. He should be wrong about that. The demons he thought his brother had defeated began to gnaw at his nerves from the second set. He began commenting on every devious ball, complaining about spectators who disturbed his concentration. His father and sister tried to encourage him from the player box. The new partner Costeen, who according to the older brother is said to have played such a large part in the purification of what has been driven, remained on the left edge of the box with a stony expression.

The match was basically decided long before the last ball was played. In the tie-break of the fourth set, Kyrgios hung out. He took risks that you simply shouldn’t take at this level. When he congratulated Djokovic on the win on the net, he beamed all over his face and patted the Serb on the chest as if he were glad to have it all behind him and to be able to leave the stage, which was unfamiliar to him.

Nick Kyrgios (right) and Novak Djokovic in Sunday's Wimbledon final.

Nick Kyrgios (right) and Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s Wimbledon final.

Alastair Grant/AP

A nonconformist and free spirit like Nick Kyrgios finds it difficult to find his way in the conformist environment of tennis. This suits an ascetic like Novak Djokovic better. The Serb celebrated his victory in the usual manner – with a tuft of grass from the court, which he put in his mouth, then with the ritual greeting in all four directions, with which he likes to thank the higher powers in which he believes . Later he sat in his chair and waited for the trophy, which is the most important to him and makes his mixed year a good one.

Kyrgios with one last little provocation

When Nick Kyrgios went to receive the silver plate, which is awarded to the runner-up of the tournament or its last loser, he had put on that red basketball cap again, which violated Wimbledon’s dress code and had previously cost him a fine of 4,000 francs.

His thanks went first to the chair umpires, although not without mentioning that he had a difficult relationship with them. When he was asked in the field interview whether this final had awakened his hunger for more, he replied: “Absolutely not. I’ve played so much tennis in the past two weeks, I’m completely exhausted.”

When Novak Djokovic thanked Kyrgios and said at the end: “I never thought I would ever say so many nice things about you,” the Australian burst out laughing and raised his fist in a triumphant gesture. For years, the two had exchanged almost acrimonious verbal rudeness.

The stage belongs to the winner. But since Roger Federer lost to Djokovic in 2019 after two missed match points, no final loser in Wimbledon has experienced as much sympathy as Kyrgios. The demons continue to haunt him, robbing him of focus and preventing him from winning a major title. Nick Kyrgios doesn’t fit into this circus where everything and everything is regulated and prescribed. But that is what makes him so exceptional. That’s why he was a bit of a winner on Sunday.

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