WIMBLEDON, England — Novak Djokovic waited. He waited for Nick Kyrgios to lose his concentration and swerve. He waited to find the right reading on the big serves of his enemy. He waited until his own level rose to the occasion.
Djokovic is not bothered by a deficit: in a game, a set, a match. He doesn’t mind solving problems. And at Wimbledon, for quite some time, he hasn’t let himself be beaten.
Djokovic used his consistent brilliance to beat ace-dealing, trick-taking Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) on Sunday for his fourth straight Wimbledon championship and seventh overall. .
Top-seeded Djokovic maintained his unbeaten streak at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament to 28 matches and raised his career to 21 major trophies, breaking a tie with Roger Federer and moving just one behind Rafael Nadal’s 22 for the major. amount in history. men’s tennis.
Among the men, only Federer, with eight, has won more Wimbledon titles than Djokovic. In the professional era, only Federer was older (less than a year) than Djokovic, 35, when he won at the All England Club.
His comeback on a sunny afternoon followed those in the quarterfinals, when Djokovic erased a two-set deficit against No. 10 seed Jannik Sinner, and in the semifinals, when No. 9 Cam Norrie clinched the first set. In last year’s title match at Wimbledon, Djokovic lost the first set. In the 2019 final, he erased two championship points against Federer.
There were two particularly key moments on Sunday that went Djokovic’s way, moments Kyrgios wouldn’t let pass as he began engaging in monologues, yelling at himself or his entourage (which does not include a full-time coach), finding reasons to be in disagreeing with the chair umpire (and earning a warning for swearing) and throwing a water bottle.
In the second set, with Djokovic serving at 5-3, Kyrgios went to love-40, a trio of break points. But Kyrgios played a couple of casual returns and Djokovic finally held. And then in the third set, with Kyrgios serving at 4-4, 40-0, he again let a seemingly close game slip away, with Djokovic breaking there.
Kyrgios, who is ranked 40th in the rankings, was attempting to become the first unseeded men’s champion at Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. Ivanisevic is now Djokovic’s coach and was in the center court guest box for the match.
Kyrgios is a 27-year-old Australian who had never advanced past the quarterfinals in 29 previous Grand Slam appearances, the last time he made it that far was seven and a half years ago.
Somehow, he stole the show on Sunday. He tried shots between the legs. He hits some with his back to the net. He hit serves at up to 136 mph and produced 30 aces. He used an underarm serve, then faked one later.