Novak Djokovic beats Nick Kyrgios for seventh Wimbledon title

 

Novak Djokovic was waiting. He waited for Nick Kyrgios to lose his focus and dodged. He was waiting to find the right value on his opponent's big serves. He waited until his own level was up to the task. , a set, a match.He doesn't mind solving problems. And in Wimbledon he hasn't been able to get down for quite some time. Djokovic used his consistent brilliance to beat the ace-throwing, tricky and constantly talking Kyrgios 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) on Sunday to earn the fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship and the seventh to secure in general . to 21 major trophies, breaking a tie with Roger Federer's
and placing just one behind Rafael Nadal's 22 for the most in men's tennis history. For men, only Federer has won more Wimbledon titles than Djokovic with eight.In the pro era, only Federer was older (less than a year) than 35-year-old Djokovic when he won at the All England Club. This comeback on a sunny afternoon followed those in the quarter-finals when Djokovic leveled a two-set deficit against number 10 Jannik Sinner and in the semi-finals when number 9 Cam Norrie won the opener. In last year's title match at Wimbledon, Djokovic lost the first set.In the 2019 final, he erased two championship points against Federer. There were two particularly important moments on Sunday, moments Kyrgios didn't want to let go of when he started engaging in monologues and yelling at himself or his entourage (which doesn't include a full-on). time coach), received a warning for swearing, found reasons to disagree with the chair umpire he punched before the game, and threw a water bottle. 40: A set of
breakpoints. But Kyrgios played some easy returns and Djokovic finally held on. one in particular: "It was love-40!Can it be bigger or what? Is it big enough for you?! And then, in the third set, as Kyrgios served 4-4, 40-0, he let another seemingly tight game slip by as Djokovic broke Kyrgios, who is ranked 40th in the rankings, trying to become the first men's champion not to be set at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Ivanisevic is now Djokovic's coach and was in the center court guest box during the game.Kyrgios, the 27-year-old Australian, had never made it past the quarter-finals in 29 previous Grand Slam appearances and the last time he made it that far was seven and a half years ago. He somehow stole the show from everyone. Sunday. He attempted between-leg shots, hit some with his back to the net, connected serves at up to 136 mph and produced 30 aces. He used an armpit cuff and later faked one. The 560-page Wimbledon compendium, which includes categories such as "two-handed players" or "runners-up who wore glasses in a final," makes no mention of "forearm serves in a men's final," but seems certain there was one Premiere. Perhaps, in

, it would have been fitting in a way that such a unique player would have emerged champion from such a unique Wimbledon. All players representing Russia or Belarus have been banned from the All England Club due to the war in Ukraine. ; among the men who stayed off the field were No.Daniil Medvedev, current U.Open champion, No. 1, and Andrey Rublev, No. 8. In response, the WTA and ATP professional tennis tours took the unprecedented step of revoking all Wimbledon ranking points. Elena Rybakina, a Russian-born who has represented Kazakhstan for four years, won the Women's Cup with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Ons Jabeur on Saturday.It was the first Wimbledon title match since 1962 between two women debuting their Grand Slam final and Rybakina, ranked 23rd, is the second-lowest female winner at the All England Club since the WTA's computerized Wimbledon rankings began in 1975 There's more : Federer missed the tournament for the first time since the late 1990s as he is still recovering from a series of surgeries on his right knee. .Three of the top 20 seeds, including 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini, withdrew from Wimbledon after it started because they tested positive for COVID-19. And Nadal pulled out before he was due to face Kyrgios in the semifinals for the first time since. 1931 that a man was eliminated in a semi-final or final at Wimbledon. As for Kyrgios, his talent is undeniable. But over the years he's garnered more attention for his preference for style over substance on the pitch, his storminess that has earned him
sackings and bans, and his taste for nightlife. In the last two weeks alone, Kyrgios has raked in $14,000 in fines, one for spitting at a booing spectator after a first-round win, another for being caught during a wildly controversial win over No.Fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round was criticized for wearing a red hat and sneakers before or after matches in a place where white clothing is mandatory. He and the world also learned that an assault charge is due in court in Australia.