Novak Djokovic defeats Nick Kyrgios to win seventh Wimbledon title
Novak Djokovic used his steady brilliance to beat the ace-delivering, trick-shot-hitting Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship and seventh overall.
“It’s weird. I felt like he didn’t do anything amazing today,” said the unseeded Kyrgios, offering an assessment with which some might not concur, given that Djokovic accumulated 31 winners and merely eight unforced errors over the last two sets, while facing zero break points in that span.
“But he was just so composed. That’s what I was just thinking to myself. In big moments, it just felt like he was never rattled. I feel like that’s his greatest strength: He just never looks rattled,” said Kyrgios, about whom those words likely have not been uttered. “He just looks completely within himself the whole time. Didn’t look like he was playing overaggressive, even though it felt like he was playing big.”
Among men, only Roger Federer, with eight, has won more titles at Wimbledon than Djokovic, with eight, and only Rafael Nadal owns more major trophies, with 22.
“The more you win, it’s logical the more confident, the more comfortable you feel out there every next time you step out on the court,” said the top-seeded Djokovic, who was pleased to hear some spectators at Centre Court chanting his nickname, “No-le! No-le!” as he served out the final point of a tremendously well-played tiebreaker.
As of now, Djokovic will not be able to try to pull even with Nadal by winning the US Open, which begins in late August: The 35-year-old Serbian can’t enter the United States because he decided not to get any shots against COVID-19, the same reason Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January.
