Wimbledon 2022

Kirius: "Are we friends now?", Djokovic: "If you invite me to dinner, I will agree"

The two Wimbledon finalists, who used to be bitter rivals, exchanged jokes on Instagram, Australia: "Let's go to a nightclub and go crazy"

Walla!

sport

09/07/2022

Saturday, 09 July 2022, 20:02 Updated: 20:19

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We ticked off, today's summary clip, 8.7 (Sports 1)

The eyes of the tennis world will be turned tomorrow (Sunday, 16:00) to the main field at the All England Club, where Novak Djokovic will play against Nick Kirius in the Wimbledon final.

The Serb is looking for the 21st Grand Slam title, fourth in a row at Wimbledon and seventh overall there, while the Australian - who rested and did not play in the semi-finals due to the retirement of Rafael Nadal - is dreaming of a first Grand Slam final in his career at 27

. 2017. Surprisingly the balance between them stands at 0: 2 to the credit of Kirius, but the two games were held five years ago on hard surfaces so it is hard to know how much they are an indication of what we will get this time.

More on Walla!

Touching distance from the 21st Grand Slam: Djokovic advanced to the Wimbledon final

To the full article

Djokovic arrives for training and meets Kirius (Photo: Reuters)

"We have a bit of a romance between us now, which is weird," Kirius said ahead of the game about his rivalry with Djokovic who was once turbulent, "I think everyone knows there was no love between us. I think it was healthy for the sport. I think every time we played one "Against the other there was hype around it. I think I'm the only player who stood by his side in all this drama that was at the Australian Championships earlier this year."

Djokovic less agreed on the issue of renewed love and said: "I do not know if it can be called a romance, but we have a better relationship than it was before January this year. When I had a really hard time in Australia, he was one of the few actors who came out and publicly supported me. It's something I really appreciate and I respect it very much. "

Ahead of the upcoming game, the Serb said: "Sparks will fly."

Oddly enough the two practiced next to each other.

On Saturday evening, Kirius posted a tweet from Serbian journalist Sasha Ozmo,

Djokovic said: "It took you five years to say something nice about me."

Kirius responded: "But I defended you when it mattered."

Djokovic replied, "True, I appreciate that."

Kirius posted this tweet to his Instagram story, tagged Djokovic and wrote: "Are we friends now?".

Djokovic replied: "If you invite me for a drink or dinner, I get it. By the way, the winner tomorrow pays."

Kirius replied, "Shut up. Let's go to a nightclub and go crazy."

Both are in a good mood.

Djokovic and Kirius on Instagram (Photo: Official website, from Instagram)

Became a good friend of Djokovic all of a sudden?

Kirius (Photo: Reuters)

Djokovic, who is reaching the final after 27 consecutive victories at Wimbledon, did not lick honey on his way to the game.

He came back from a two-set deficit in the quarter-finals against Yannick Zinner and then from a single-game deficit against Cameron Nuri in the semi-finals.

In total the Serb has won only twice in three sets throughout the entire tournament.

Kirius has also won just twice in three sets and has only played five times so far.

Kirius, ranked 40th in the world, is the lowest ranked in the Wimbledon final since compatriot Mark Philipposis who reached the final while ranking 48th in 2003.

Kirius could be Australia's first Grand Slam champion since Leighton Hewitt won Wimbledon in 2002. If Djokovic wins the tournament, he will reach seven Wimbledon wins and equal Pete Sampras with just one title away from Roger Federer.

The Wimbledon Serb's balance sheet stands at 10:85 and he overtook Jimmy Connors in the number of wins (18:84) and is in second place all time.

Djokovic is also the top scorer in the Grand Slam finals when it will be his 32nd, one more than Federer and two more than Mandal.

It will be the fifth consecutive Grand Slam final in which Djokovic plays against a tennis player who did not win a Grand Slam tournament before after last year defeating Daniel Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Matteo Bartini and then Medvedev avenged him in the United States Championship final.

This year he did not participate in Australia as remembered and lost in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal.

By the way Djokovic, the record for consecutive Wimbledon wins stands at five (Bjorn Burg and Roger Federer), but he can at least equal Pete Sampras who has won four times in a row.

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• Novak Djokovic

• Nick Kirius