Preliminary point (and with due apologies to Nick Kyrgios fans): this final should be the story of the 60th duel between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. The duel that, in the event of the Asturian’s victory, would make it 30-30 in matches between the two and would put the left-hander with a difference of three Grand Slams in relation to Roger Federer and the Serbian in what would be a kind of match point in relation to who will be the best of the best. The duel that, in the event of a Serbian victory, would maintain the advantage in the direct confrontation (he also has it with Federer), would put an end to the Majors that he has been going through since the last edition of Wimbledon and that would leave him with just one more victory of the Nadal match 22.
It was not. And for the first time in her career, Nick Kyrgios reached a Grand Slam final with a direct pass from the quarterfinals to the decisive match before the withdrawal of Rafa Nadal, who still did the impossible in the match with Taylor Fritz but ended up being forced to abandon the fight for the third consecutive Major of the season with a seven-millimeter abdominal tear that led to his abandonment. Thus, the Australian who in this edition of Wimbledon continued to express his excesses with fines for spitting on a fan and for abusing his conduct on the field in the match with Tsitsipas (who left on the verge of a nervous breakdown) has reached where Few would think of a kind of high point in the redemption of a career marked in some borderline stages by the abuse of alcohol and drug use to the extent possible.
Ahead, Novak Djokovic. The same Djokovic who, despite the defeat in the final of the last US Open against Daniil Medvedev, entered the year 2022 as a great candidate for all the Grand Slams and an even higher position in history, but who until this Wimbledon final survived. all little between the controversy until the exclusion from the Australian Open, the absence in the main hard court tournaments in the USA, the defeat in the first round of Monte Carlo and the lost final in Belgrade before winning the first tournament of the year in Rome and falls in the Roland Garros quarters against Nadal. And if it was already seen that the relationship with part of the public was now different after everything that had happened, the way he said goodbye to the court The central blowing kisses to the bench for the way the public supported Cameron Norrie did not help.
Even in the run-up to the final, the two players did not fail to exchange a few “mouths”, after training just ten meters away from each other. “It took you five years to say something good about me,” Djokovic fired. “But I defended you when you needed it most”, Kyrgios replied. “It’s true, you did it and I thank you for your attitude,” admitted the Serb. Later on social media, the Australian player picked up this conversation with a question: “Are we friends now?” “If you invite me for a drink or dinner, I accept. tomorrow’s winner [hoje] pay,” said the former world number 1. “It’s settled then, we’re going to spend the night and go crazy,” promised Nick Kyrgios. If before they were almost “public enemies”, now the two “villains” already had a relationship but only one could win in that duel. And Djokovic did not let his favoritism escape, winning Wimbledon for the seventh time but having that “penalty” of not defending the points and thus falling to seventh place in the classification (was third) due to the rules of the organization after the ban of Russian and Belarusian players.
First establish He showed what was perhaps the most relaxed version of Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon, as if he knew it was time to put aside all the usual eccentricities to focus solely on the game. That was how, after the first four service games won by both, the Australian player made the break to the second attack against the Serb, later confirmed with 4-2 and closed the initial partial with 6-4, revealing a display of resources especially in his service games that left the favorite (at least in theory) Novak Djokovic on alert against the debutant in the Grand Slam finals.
Kyrgios was not exactly “silent” throughout the matches without breaking the necessary concentration later in the match, as he had done so many times throughout the two weeks of the English tournament. And he got worse when he got mad because there was someone in the stands who wouldn’t shut up while he was playing and had provocative behavior that wasn’t reprimanded by the main referee, even be reprimanded for obscene language by a French judge who did his best not to worry about everything else so as not to spoil the final by being a bit stricter. However, on the other hand, Novak Djokovic “sniffed” these moments to take advantage, scoring points at key moments to turn the final around.
In a second establishthe Serbian managed to make a break blank that made it 3-1 in the quarter and kept it 6-3 in the ninth game despite the two break points not achieved by the Australian who was able to equalize the score and take the decision to another outcome; In the third establishand after eight games won by the server, Kyrgios had a 4-0 lead, lost five points in a row between forced errors, double faults and balls to burn the line, went to the chair to rant more than ever against himself speaking to his box where there were coaches, parents and girlfriend. “This is it, it’s always like this! 40-15! 40-0! Why don’t you stop? Because? Because? Because? Say something!” There was no “answer” from the stands, there was from the other side of the field and Djokovic closed the match with 6-4.
followed everything to the room establishby the way the first to have 12 consecutive service games without breaks with Kyrgios making use of direct serves at key moments to add his games and Djokovic having a more regular performance always on the lookout for the right period to finish the accounts. Everything would be resolved tie-breaker, with the Serb coming back stronger and winning 7-3 despite Kyrgios’ 30 aces. He closed the seventh win in eight Wimbledon finals (as many as Pete Sampras, one behind Federer), and now it is very likely that he will not be able to participate in the next US Open per Covid-19 rules. And that continues to be the main problem of the Serb, either in the sporting aspect, or in the connection with part of the fans, as was seen again over the last two weeks in which he played in British territory.
Source: Observadora
