Wimbledon 2022: 3 Factors that stood out in Novak Djokovic's win over Nick Kyrgios in the final
Top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia beat Nick Kyrgios of Australia 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) to win his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday. This was also the 35-year-old Serb's 21st Grand Slam title and he has now surpassed Roger Federer's tally.
Magnificent.
In its 100 years, Centre Court has seen few champions like @DjokerNole
#Wimbledon | #CentreCourt100 https://t.co/vffvL2f08Q
The 27-year-old Kyrgios, however, did not give up without a fight in his maiden Grand Slam final and exhibited his monstrous serve extensively. However, Novak Djokovic was the better player overall and deserved to win his fourth Wimbledon title in a row.
On that note, let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Kyrgios won the first set by serving flawlessly
Both players started the match by holding their respective serves for the first four games. However, Nick Kyrgios then got a vital break in the fifth game as Djokovic first netted a volley after rushing forward and then committed a double fault to hand the Australian the game.
Kyrgios then held serve to go 4-2 up and maintained his serve for the remainder of the set to win it 6-4. The Australian served really well and repeatedly breached the 125 mph mark. He hit 14 winners in the first set, including a number of aces.
However, the Australian's return of serve remained ordinary and it was evident in the first set itself that once Djokovic got his first break, it would be difficult for Kyrgios to break back.
#2 Djokovic bounced back in the second set by hitting his returns superbly
Novak Djokovic finally succeeded in breaking the Australian in the fourth game of the second set to go 3-1 up. The Serb did not lose his serve thereafter and drew level by winning the second set.
Kyrgios' serve remained superb in the second set as well, but Djokovic was equal to the task. He kept landing his returns deep to nullify Kyrgios' advantage. Moreover, Djokovic used his down-the-line backhand and crosscourt forehand to keep Kyrgios moving towards his right.
The Australian committed seven unforced errors in the second set while the Serb committed only four. Djokovic was back on level terms and looked motivated to go for the kill. Quite surprisingly though, Kyrgios kept playing his forehands with a fair amount of top spin rather than hitting them flat and with more power. As a result, Novak Djokovic often had enough time to defend from the baseline.
#3 Djokovic displayed all-round quality to win the next 2 sets
Djokovic was in his element and managed to keep his nose ahead in the next two sets. Kyrgios kept firing aces, but Djokovic got a vital break to win the third set. The fourth set went into a tie-break, but the Serb once again showed his class to go 6-1 up. Kyrgios managed to save a couple of Championship points, but Djokovic then finished off the match to win his seventh Wimbledon title.
Djokovic was brilliant with his returns throughout the match, and also started to play the drop shot more frequently off his backhand to good effect from the third set onwards. Nick Kyrgios hit a staggering 62 winners, including 30 aces, in the match. He served impeccably, but the other aspects of his game could not match those of Novak Djokovic. The Australian committed 33 unforced errors in the match against the Serb's 17.
Despite being outserved by the Australian, Djokovic served reasonably well himself and managed to hit 15 aces in the match. He held serve throughout the last three sets of the match.