Novak Djokovic has successfully defended his Wimbledon title against the Australian Kyrgios. The notorious Swedish player does it in style as he beats his Australian counterpart by a margin of 3-1.
It was the second grand slam participation for Djokovic. He had missed the Australian Open due to COVID-related complications. And was unable to make it to the finals in the Roland Garros.
But the story of Wimbledon was different. He looked on song throughout the tournament. And was rewarded with another title to add to his long tally.
Nadal wins Wimbledon 2022
Nadal faced the only unseeded player Nick Kyrgios in the final. The Australian was appearing in his first grand slam. And his journey to the final was nothing less than a dramatic narrative.
A tough battle with Tsitsipas in the third round. Followed by a cruising win in the fourth and then a walkover in the Semis against Nadal saw him into his maiden Grand Slam final.
Before his tournament, the 40th-ranked player had never passed the Grand Slam tournament’s quarterfinal round. But the tabled had turned in this tournament.
Hence, although inexperienced in the pressured stages, Kyrgios was considered a formidable opponent.
The Australian started in that manner as well.
In the first set of the game, he dominated the former world no. 1. Using all his skills, wits and chicanery, Kyrgios secured the first set with 6-4.
Novak was definitely outsmarted in the first set. But the 20-time Grand Slam champion was not under pressure. He had done this many times before. In fact, last year, he came back from 2 sets down to win the match. So, he knew that he was just supposed to keep his head straight, and everything else would fall in line.
Something similar happened. And Novak had the next two sets to show for it.
He won the second set with a massive margin of 6-3. In that set, he made Kyrgios work hard for every point. He controlled the game, for which he is renowned worldwide. Playing long rallies, he tired his competitor and won the first set for himself.
Kyrgios’ antics cost him the match.
The third set was more competitive. Kyrgios made an excellent comeback to lead the game 5-3 at one point. But somehow, he started losing his head.
During that set, he was seen talking with people sitting in stands. He had a tiff with the audience, which seemed to have taken his focus off the game. As a result, he could not keep up with Djokovic, who was cool as a cucumber.
In the end, it was Djokovic who won the set 6-4.
Kyrgios once again put up a great competition in the fourth set. He knew that the title was on the line in that set. And he played as if his life depended on it.
However, by that time, Djokovic was in his element. He was dictating the pace of the game and his opponent as well.
Kyrgios still somehow managed to keep up with the Serbian. And the game went to a tie-breaker where Djokovic emerged champion by the margin of 7-3.
The joy of winning a Grand Slam almost after a year was palpable on Djokovic’s face. He even did a new kind of celebration, which Wimbledon’s official handle called an aeroplane celebration.
Then the Serbian headed to the stand where he celebrated the championship victory with his family.
Djokovic now has 21 Grand Slam titles to his name. He is one title ahead of Roger Federer and one behind Rafael Nadal, who became the first men’s tennis player to win more than 20 titles.
With this title, he also became the first player to have won 7 Wimbledon titles. Djokovic has 9 Australian Open, 3 US Open, and 2 Roland Garros as well.
