Nobody expected Nick Kyrgios to be Novak Djokovic’s opponent at Wimbledon. Although his name was strong in the pools, he did not sound like a dangerous tennis player in the first round. We were not able to believe that he would make it this far in the tournament. This year was the worst of his professional career. His ranking in March had dropped to 130th place in the world, just before he played Indian Wells. He was last at this level before Wimbledon 2014, when he beat Rafa Nadal.
Kyrgios reached the quarterfinals in Australia 2015, but that was his only appearance since then. With that impressive resume and the assistance of Nadal (who had to withdraw from the semifinals due to an abdominal injury), he will be playing today’s Grand Slam final.
The controversial Australian has now left behind his ghosts and is putting all of his tennis on the grill in order to win a perfect tournament. After skipping clay, he already knew the ways he could do it on the grass tour. He reached the semi-finals in Halle and Stuttgart, but he proved that if he’s focused, he can accomplish great things at The All England Club.
Kyrgios, now 27, has parked the problems, or most, of his troubles. He will fight for what he wanted to be when he was number 1 junior and won Grand Slams for that category.
“Honestly, this is something I would never have imagined. “I never would have imagined that I would get to this point,” said the Canberra man who, while considering quitting tennis some time ago, began to think about retirement and slowly retired from this sport. There are times when I don’t like this sport. But there are also times when I feel I am the most competitive person I have ever known. He explained that he is a great player, whether it’s in basketball, tennis, or on the console.
“I love tennis but I also love playing with other people. Sports are my favorite sport. I don’t care if you win or lose. I am happy regardless of how much I lose. This is an amazing achievement, something I didn’t think I would be able to achieve. My age is a significant factor. “Added the “aussie”, who will, no doubt, have a difficult time because he will be compared to the man who has had the greatest success in this area over the past years.
Novak Djokovic will be facing Kyrgios, who has six Wimbledon crowns including the three previous editions. The Serbian will be aiming to win a fourth consecutive title at All England Club. This is the same goal as Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, and Bjorn Borg in the Open Era. He also hopes to win a seventh Wimbledon like William Renshaw or Sampras and to win a twenty-first Grand Slam to break the tie between Federer and become one behind Nadal.
Djokovic is also racing against the clock, as he must wait until Melbourne to win. Djokovic cannot enter the United States because he is not vaccinated.
Although his favoritism seems logical, he has not been able to shake off doubts during the tournament. In the most dangerous sign of danger the Belgrade player has managed to avoid, it was a set against Soonwoo Kan, one against Tim Van Rijthoven and two against Jannik Siner.
He will not raise his game until he feels it is necessary. It is hard to believe that all the odds are in his favour, even though Kyrgios has played Djokovic multiple times and remains invincible against him. The Australian has never lost a set to Djokovic, but their duels date back at least to the beginning of 2017, when Djokovic was in a slump.
The tribute to Manolo Santina, Wimbledon champion in 1966 and who died last December, will precede the final at 15:00 Spanish time.
