Tennis Prose




Jul/22

10

Djokovic Wins Wimbledon For Seventh Time

By Scoop Malinowski

Novak Djokovic overcame losing the first set to Nick Kyrgios to prevail 46 63 64 76 to win his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam title overall. Djokovic has now won four straight Wimbledons.

But the match also had some Twilight Zone bizarre qualities which made the duel confusing and frustrating to watch. Kyrgios was brilliant in the first set, dominating with his serve and sharpshooting. Kyrgios won service games easily, reducing the all time great Djokovic to looking almost helpless at times, like an overmatched college player.

The turning point came early in the second set. Having won all five professional sets he’s played vs Novak, with Kyrgios in control and winning the match, the charismatic, colorful Aussie went off the rails. He inexplicably began to argue and complain to his box, accusing them of not giving him enough proper support. The self-sabotage distraction made no sense at all and the expression of the negative energy opened a door for Djokovic. If you give Novak an inch he will take a mile and that is what he did. Nick blew the second set.

For no acceptable reason, Nick put himself in a bad mood. He continued to mutter and moan, vehemently complaining on changeovers about his missed chances in the match. He totally lost his focus on the difficult task of beating Djokovic.

It was strange to see Nick so upset and expressing all negative energy, a contrast to his positive spirit in his five previous wins during the fortnight. It was as if 2017 Nick came to Centre Court from a time machine and the 2022 Wimbledon Nick vanished.

The match seemed more like an exhibition, mostly shorter points, some flashes of brilliance and some silly stupid shots from the underdog. Djokovic played the way he needed to and won the third set without doing anything extra special or memorable. The fourth set pattern continued and concluded in a tiebreaker with Djokovic prevailing 7-3. Kyrgios suddenly looked very happy at the net handshake, smiling and embracing his new pal Djokovic. The 27 year old first time Grand Slam finalist looked more relieved that the whole episode of suffering was finally over.

Nick stated to Sue Barker he wasn’t sure if he would ever get to another Grand Slam final again and that he was just happy to be in a final. When Djokovic spoke the first thing he said was Nick would play a major final again and that he was thrilled to see him finally reach this new height in his up and down, controversial career.

But there was something of a hollow feeling about the match and the victory, compared to some of the other spectacles we have been privileged to see in recent years. Then during the post match on court interview Djokovic revealed his son was not even at Centre Court to watch this historic final – instead he was out on the practice courts playing a set with Mike Bryan’s son.

Despite the win and title defense, the 35 year old Djokovic will lose his 2000 points from last year and drop from 3 to 7 in the ATP rankings.

Tennis world comments:

Stefanos Tsitsipas: Always remember to congratulate the champion who sacrificed tremendously for sports. Congratulations @DjokerNole on this flawless triumphant run! Well deserved.

Paul McNamee: My final word tonight on the Wimbledon final… the ball striking by Novak Djokovic in the last 3 sets was other worldly…even a player with the freakish talent of Nick Kyrgios could not stand up to it … hence he called him ‘a bit of a god’

Kyrgios: “Djokovic doesn’t make you feel as bad as Federer does at times. Federer makes you want to leave the court. He makes things seem really quick and the court suddenly becomes very small.”

Tennys Sandgren: He really is the supreme alchemist. Turning the battlefield into a sanctuary and doubt into courage Congratulations legend @DjokerNole

Goran Ivanisevic: You can’t prepare for a match against Kyrgios. Kyrgios is a genius, a tennis genius. He doesn’t know which shot he will play next. Best serve in the game to me. Very unpredictable game. Novak knew at this stage when Nick starts to talk he’s vulnerable. That’s Nick. You need to take every chance you get because he doesn’t give you many chances. All you can do is prepare Novak. Just concentrate on what he has to do.

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2 comments

  • Sam · July 12, 2022 at 6:30 pm

    Scoop, who was the crowd rooting for most of the match?

    And was Djokovic passive, or has he finally rediscovered his “beast mode”? 🐺 😁

    There are some rumors going around that a door could open up for him to attend the U.S. Open. What do you think?

  • Scoop Malinowski · July 14, 2022 at 7:17 am

    Sam he didn’t need to go beast mode, nick intentionally distracted himself and self destructed in the second set. Looked like nick gave his buddy a gift slam after dominating the first set.

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