Djokovic Downs Kyrgios For 7th Wimbledon, 21st Grand Slam
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Novak Djokovic is back in the Grand Slam win column. After a miserable run in Slams, Djokovic is back on top with a strong win today over Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3).
“I’ve lost words for what this tournament and what this trophy means to me. It always has been the most special tournament. It was the one that motivated me to play tennis. Every time this tournament gets more special and meaningful,” said Djokovic.
“I was four or five years old and I saw Pete Sampras win his first Wimbledon in 1992. I asked my Dad and Mum to buy me a racquet, and my first image of tennis was grass and Wimbledon. I always dreamed of coming here, just playing in this court, and then realizing the childhood dream of winning this trophy. Every single time it gets more meaningful and more special, so I’m very blessed and very thankful to be standing here with the trophy.”
Kyrgios won both their previous meetings in straight sets in 2017, and today started like those two finished, with Kyrgios serving bombs.
Unshaken by the moment or the stage, Kyrgios was able to break Djokovic and then rode his serve to a quick first set win.
As he had done in his previous two matches, Djokovic settled down once behind. He got his own serve going and managed to break Kyrgios. The Australian had been composed but then began a running dialogue with his player box.
Kyrgios would get a chance to level with Djokovic serving 5-3, 0-40. But Kyrgios couldn’t convert and Djokovic leveled.
Djokovic had his first set over Kyrgios and he wasn’t done. Kyrgios would survive opening break points but serving 4-all, 40-0, things fell apart. A double fault and then an unforced error gave Djokovic and unexpected break and the former No. 1 served it out.
Both players went untroubled on serve until the breaker when Djokovic took over going up 6-1 to salt away his fourth straight Wimbledon championship.
Djokovic’s Wimbledon streak is now at 28 straight and he’s won 39 consecutively on Centre Court. His 86 wins at the club are more than he has at the Australian Open where he has won nine times.
His 21 Grand Slams put Roger Federer in third on the all-time list. And his seven Wimbledons equal Pete Sampras.
Kyrgios cracked 30 aces and held up well against the Djokovic pressure hitting 62 winners to just 33 unforced. The 27-year-old showed himself a worthy finalist on Centre Court.
“He’s a bit of a god, I’m not gonna lie,” said Kyrgios on court. “I thought I played well… It’s been an amazing couple of weeks for me personally.
“Myself, my team, I think we are all exhausted, we’ve played so much tennis. I definitely need a well-earned vacation after this one. I’m just really happy with this result, it’s probably the best of my career. Maybe one day I’ll be here again.”
Djokovic, though, might not be back on court for a while. The Serb, who will see his ranking drop to No. 7, might not be able to play on hard courts until after the US Open, if vaccine requirements remain in place.
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