In one of the most keenly awaited grand slam finals for neutral fans. Novak Djokovic beat Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon men’s championship and seventh overall.
It is Djokovic’s 21st Grand Slam title overall, putting him one behind record-holder Rafael Nadal. Only Roger Federer has won more Wimbledon titles, with eight.
In the process, top-seeded Djokovic ran his unbeaten run at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 28 matches.
The 40th-ranked Kyrgios was trying to become the first unseeded men’s champion at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Ivanisevic is Djokovic’s coach and was present for the match. It was Kyrgios who had marginally the better of the crowd support.
He knew he had to channel that and serve out of his skin to give himself any chance. His first-serve percentage for the tournament had been 70 percent, comes the first set it was 77 percent, and the threat of a shock loomed when he took it.
But Djokovic’s ability to change the tempo in his favor allied with Kyrgios’s demons – he remonstrated with his box, a spectator, and an umpire – turned the match in his favor. One wonders what might have been had.
