To win a fourth straight men’s singles championship at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic defeated Nick Kyrgios of Australia in a controlled and collected comeback.
The opening set was lost by Serbia’s Djokovic, 35, due to excellent serving from Kyrgios, but he ultimately prevailed on Centre Court by scores of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, and 7-6 (7-3)
Only Roger Federer has more SW19 men’s titles than Djokovic who just won his seventh title. His victory puts him behind Rafael Nadal’s record of 22 male championships.
In his first Grand Slam singles final, the 27-year-old opponent, who was the top seed, got off to a slower start than Djokovic.
The Serb, though, never lost hope and used all of his knowledge and cunning to turn the match around.
As he congratulated Djokovic, Kyrgios added. “He’s a bit of a god, I’m not going to lie. I thought I played well,”
Kyrgios, who is renowned for both his fiery demeanor and his explosive tennis, became irate when he started to lose his winning position.
On a hot Centre Court, Djokovic maintained composure while Kyrgios argued more and more with his support group.
Djokovic went to his haunches and picked a blade of the Centre Court grass to eat in what has since become a typical celebration after converting his third match point to secure victory.
The Serb, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open quarterfinals and was denied entry to the Australian Open due to his immunization status, achieved his first major victory of the year with this triumph.