Wimbledon: Nick Kyrgios' loss of control with a fair end - "Like a god"
Novak Djokovic wins Wimbledon for the seventh time. Nick Kyrgios had his chance but lost control.
by SID/red.
last edit: Jul 10, 2022, 08:22 pm
After defeating the Australian rebellion with merciless precision at his turf empire Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic weaved his way through the crowd. In the stands he hugged his mother Dijana, father Srdjan and his wife Jelena. Down on the edge of the Sacred Lawn, Nick Kyrgios crouched in deep disappointment and shook his head blankly.
Djokovic had unnerved the unpredictable final debutant with almost inhuman composure and after 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3) won his fourth title in a row at the All England Club. Only Kyrgios had burned down an "emotional firework" - and could only marvel. "He's a bit of a god," said the fair loser.
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Djokovic also found words of praise for Kyrgios, who had once mocked him. "You showed that you are one of the best players in the world," said the Serb: "I respect you very much and never thought I would say so many nice things about you. Now it's officially a bromance." However, the dinner together was cancelled, Djokovic preferred to enjoy the eighth wedding anniversary with his wife.
There was enough to celebrate: With a total of seven titles in Wimbledon, he caught up with his youth idol Pete Sampras and is only one success behind record champion Roger Federer - he is also approaching the leader in the Grand Slam ranking: After Djokovic's 21st triumph in the 32nd final Rafael Nadal (22 titles) is within reach again.
Djokovic, Federer, Nadal: The dominance of the big three was often overwhelming. In the last 20 years, only Andy Murray has joined this winning trio at Wimbledon. 27-year-old Kyrgios brought the unpredictability back to the final: genius and madness, world class and tantrums are closely related for him. But the outsider had his nervousness well under control, the first dropout happened to Djokovic: he gave up his serve with a double fault.
The sentence was gone a little later, but Djokovic wasn't worried about that. He made his breakthrough in the second round: for the first time in the third duel he took Kyrgios' serve, Djokovic had lost the first two matches in 2017. So he was warned, especially since Kyrgios had made an amazing progression from super-flail to title contender in the tournament.
But Kyrgios walks a fine line, Djokovic picked up the pace, his opponent shrugged his shoulders. Kyrgios yelled more and more often across Center Court, where Djokovic hasn't lost a match since 2013 (!). He railed against a bystander who was said to have been disruptive and who looked "like she's had 700 drinks." Words were spoken that little Prince George may not have heard very often.
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Djokovic stayed calm, he had Kyrgios where he wanted him, he dominated the game, broke after 0:40 to make it 5: 4 and took a 2: 1 lead. Kyrgios looked for the culprits in his box, Djokovic the decision, Kyrgios saved himself with his strong serve (30 aces in total) in the tie-break, Djokovic kept his nerve.
For him it could have been the last Grand Slam title for a long time. He will probably miss the US Open in New York (from the end of August), Djokovic refuses the vaccination and is therefore not allowed to enter the country. Even in Australia at the beginning of 2023, the 35-year-old will certainly not be welcomed with open arms after the court theater this year.
Here is the individual tableau in Wimbledon.
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