Novak Djokovic returned to the summit of the tennis world at Wimbledon as the top seed defended his SW19 crown for the fourth year in a row after beating Nick Kyrgios in the final. Djokovic produced an incredible fightback after losing the opening set in Sunday’s final, beating the Australian 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to claim his seventh crown at the All England Club.
The Djokovic-Kyrgios showdown concluded a fortnight of breath-taking tennis on the grass banks of the championships, and here are the major talking points from Wimbledon 2022.
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It’s been an enduring year for Novak Djokovic in 2022. The 35-year-old was deported and subsequently banned from entering Australia for three years in January before suffering an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
However, despite the recent turmoil, Djokovic weathered the storm and returned to the peak of his powers to win his seventh Wimbledon title and 21st Grand Slam crown, one more than Roger Federer and one less than the record-holder Rafael Nadal on the all-time list. Although Djokovic was fortunate enough to have not played a top ten player on his way to a grand slam victory for the first time in his career, the Serbian was nigh-on impossible to stop at the championships.
He came back from two sets to down to beat Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals before comfortably dealing with Nick Kyrgios and his rocket serve in the final to close out the win in four sets. With this triumph, Djokovic becomes just the fourth player in history to win Wimbledon four times in a row – the others being Borg, Sampras, and Federer – and the world number three is now unbeaten at centre court in his last 39 matches, stretching back to 2013.
While Djokovic remains on top of his game and a class above the field on grass courts, his immediate future lingers in controversy as the Serbian is unlikely to play in the final Major this year at the US Open next month. Foreigners need to be vaccinated to enter the United States, and with Djokovic unwilling to go down that path, the next time we see the Serb at a Grand Slam event could be Roland Garros next year.
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No player attracts more controversy or media attention on the tour than Nick Kyrgios, but the Australian finally backed up his words with his on-court display at Wimbledon in 2022 as he reached the first grand slam final of his career. The 27-year-old has always been touted as one of the most talented and dangerous players in the world due to his menacing first and second serve and incredible forehand, and the former Australian Open junior champion’s aggressive game is incredibly well suited to grass courts.
Although he came up against a better player in Novak Djokovic in the final, Kyrgios beat world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round and displayed plenty of character that shows he belongs in the latter stages of a grand slam.
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Rafael Nadal’s dream of completing the calendar slam was cruelly cut short at Wimbledon due to injury, forcing the Spaniard to withdraw from the competition after the quarterfinals. The 22-time Grand Slam winner enjoyed a tremendous year in 2022, winning the first two slams of the season in Melbourne and Paris for the first time in his career.
Nadal carried that form from the clay season into Wimbledon, comfortably cruising into the quarterfinals before suffering another injury heartbreak on the biggest stage. Nadal faced physical issues and discomfort in his last-eight clash against Taylor Fritz, and although he managed to beat the American in a five-set epic, the world number three was forced to abandon his semi-final tie against Nick Kyrgios due to a reported 7mm tear in his abdomen.
The good news for the Spaniard is that he remains unbeaten at majors in 2022 with a 19-0 record. Moreover, with Djokovic and Federer unlikely to play at the US Open later this year, Nadal could be the favourite to add title number 23 to his collection in New York.
[Featured Image Credit: Wimbledon]
Shivaan Shah