Novak Djokovic won his seventh Wimbledon crown after beating Grand Slam final debutant Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Wimbledon 2022, men’s singles final blog: Djokovic wins in four
The top seed at the Championships has now won 21 Major titles, just one short of all-time record men’s leader Rafael Nadal, and one ahead of 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer - who has won a men’s record eight titles at Wimbledon.
Djokovic joins Federer, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras as the only men’s players to have won four consecutive Wimbledon titles.
The match, however, started with Djokovic serving a double fault in the first point of the match.
Kyrgios held his own with his blistering serve, and broke Djokovic when the Serbian was serving at 2-2 in the first game. The Australian then held onto his serve through the rest of the set to claim it 6-4.
At that stage, the often volatile Kyrgios had been rather level-headed. Soon though he would start to mutter to himself, and shout as his box as the match started to slip away from the second set.
Djokovic started to extend the length of the rallies in the second set, pushing Kyrgios around the court and drawing an error to finish the point. Considered one of the game’s greatest returners, Djokovic started to put back more balls in play off Kyrgios’ big serve to give himself a chance to earn a break.
It came late in the fourth game of the second set, taking Djokovic up 3-1. He eventually closed out the game.
The Serbian World No 3 then broke Kyrgios at the end of the third set to go up two sets to one.
Kyrgios had been screaming relentlessly at his box between points, but still remained focused on the match, bringing out the best from the Serb.
There were no breaks in the third, eventually going into the tiebreaker. But Kyrgios trailed immediately. Djokvoic eventually converted his third Championship Point, but first on serve, to win the match that lasted exactly three hours.
“I’m lost for words for what this tournament and this trophy means to me,” said Djokovic during the post match presentation. “It always has been and will be the most special one in my heart.”
This may just be the only Grand Slam he gets to win this year, as he will not be allowed to compete at the US Open due to his unvaccinated status, as it stands.