Forgotten the setbacks of the Australian Open when he was expelled for non-vaccination and the domination of Rafael Nadal at Roland-Garros, Novak Djokovic (35 years old, world No. 3) has once again become the king of the courts in winning the Wimbledon final (4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6).
His 21st Grand Slam, his 7th victory on the London lawn.
The first set turned to Kyrgios' advantage.
Unquestionably and flawlessly.
The whimsical Australian unfolds the full range of his shots and the result is impressive.
An underhand serve, a groundstroke between the legs... You might think he was off to a performance, pushed by an audience in demand, but it's actually a demonstration.
The perfect match.
Novak Djokovic is helpless, drunk on his opponent's aces and winning shots.
The case is quickly folded (6-4, 31 ').
The world No. 3, who will drop four places on Monday since no ATP points were distributed this year at the English tournament which banned Russian and Belarusian players, has not won 20 Grand Slams so far, including 6 Wimbledon by chance.
He tightens the game, takes advantage of a slight disruption of Kyrgios, who gets angry against his clan, to equalize (4-6, 6-3).
The fight is balanced.
The Australian, under pressure, loose shots from elsewhere and a few grunts.
Swearing too.
He receives a warning at 2-2 in the 3rd set for “audible obscenity”.
He recovers for a moment but he explodes alone in his chair when he has just dropped his serve at 5-4.
“You are not encouraging me, you are standing there doing nothing”, he shouts to his clan, his father, his companion, present in the stands…
The 3rd set is complete (4-6, 6-3, 6-4).
Kyrgios remains thoughtful, almost haggard as Djokovic went out to cool off before attacking the 4th round.
The Serb is heading for a 7th success at Wimbledon where he has not lost since his quarter-final in 2017 against Tomas Berdych, and again, on retirement.
But the Aussie has changed.
He no longer swings matches when the winds are against him.
He hangs on, even if he is physically weak.
His inspirations delight the public.
He takes risks, assumes them.
Tie break.
Djokovic wins 7-3.
Without burr.
Here he is sitting on 21 Grand Slam victories, just one unit behind Rafael Nadal.
