Djokovic outlasts Kyrgios to claim 4th consecutive Wimbledon title

Novak Djokovic waited. He waited for Nick Kyrgios to lose focus and lose his way. He waited to find the right read on his opponent’s big serves. Expected his own level to be up to the occasion.

Djokovic is not bothered by a deficit – in a game, a set, a game. He is not afraid of problem solving. And at Wimbledon, for quite some time already, he hasn’t let himself be defeated.

Djokovic used his constant talent to beat Kyrgios, who delivers aces and strikes piecemeal, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship and a seventh in total.

Top-seeded Djokovic rode his grass-court Grand Slam unbeaten run to 28 games and took his career to 21 major trophies, breaking a tie with Roger Federer and moving just one behind Rafael Nadal’s 22 to the most in history. men’s tennis.

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 35-year-old Djokovic when he won at the All England Club.

His comeback on a sunny afternoon followed those in the quarter-finals, when Djokovic erased a two-set deficit against No. 10 seed Jannik Sinner, and in the semi-finals, when No. 9 Cam Norrie won the first set. In last year’s title match at Wimbledon, Djokovic lost the opening set. In the 2019 final, he erased two championship points against Federer.

There were two particularly key moments on Sunday that followed Djokovic’s path, ones that Kyrgios wouldn’t let go of as he began running monologues, yelling at himself or those around him (which doesn’t include a coach). full-time), finding reasons to disagree with the chair umpire (and receiving a swearing warning) and throwing a water bottle.

Kyrgios, ranked 40th, was trying to become the first unranked men’s champion at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Ivanisevic is now Djokovic’s coach and was in the center court guest box for the match.

Kyrgios is a 27-year-old Australian who had never made it past the quarter-finals in 29 previous Grand Slam appearances – and last did so 7½ years ago.

In some ways, he stole the show on Sunday. He attempted kicks between his legs. Hit it with his back to the net. Pounded serves up to 136 mph and produces 30 aces. Used an underarm serve, then faked one later.