No Kyrgios scare for Novak Djokovic
NOVAK DJOKOVIC won Wimbledon on Sunday because of two reasons.
One, Rafael Nadal wasn’t around.
Two, Nick Kyrgios wasn’t ready for big time play. Nadal quit due to an abdominal pain. A pity. Just when we thought the Spanish Armada would be OK with his ailing foot, the abdomen butted in.
Indeed, our body is as complex as the Edsa traffic. Kyrgios got a free Finals ride following Nadal’s withdrawal in the semifinals. It also virtually assured Djokovic of a title retention as he was on a 27-match winning streak at Wimbledon going to Sunday’s final.
While Kyrgios gave Djokovic quite a beating in putting away a 6-4, first-set win, that was hardly considered a scare.
Oh, yes, Kyrgios magnificently made himself a force to reckon with in the opener, firing seven aces to begin with.
But that was all there is to it. He was more of a pure fluke than a true threat after that.
Coming to the fore in no time was Kyrgios’s penchant for eerie shift-modes of character in many of his past matches, mostly transforming himself from sane to insane—the Djokovic match another screaming testament to that.
The first two times they met, in 2017, Kyrgios prevailed, with Djokovic not winning a set and not scoring one single break point.*
History seemed ready to repeat itself when Kyrgios won the first set.
And then it happened.
Kyrgios’s mind strayed from straight to crooked and, as in many past battles, the 40th-ranked Australian would end up a sorry wreck.
The succeeding three sets were a sob story of selfdestruction for Kyrgios, paving the way for Djokovic’s fourset victory at 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 that gave the Serbian No. 1 his fourth straight title on grass.
After the first set, turbulence wholly struck Kyrgios’s brain as the mercurial power-server of Greek descent would either berate the umpire on trivialities or pick up a fight with a woman from courtside he has accused of taunting him.
She is a “drunk out of her mind” after downing “700 drinks,” Kyrgios would tell the wind.
The fan was never identified—otherwise, she would have been thrown out of Centre Court. She was but a figment of Kyrgios’s imagination?
Kyrgios’s father and brother, both at ringside, were so angered at Krygios’s crazy antics of quarrelling with
an invisible that, at one point, the brother yelled to his brother: “Focus on your foe!”
The stubborn mule that he has always been, Kyrgios didn’t take heed.
And doing that against a Djokovic, you pay the price. “I wish you all the best. I really respect you a lot. I think you are a phenomenal tennis player,” said Djokovic of Kyrgios.
Said Kyrgios: “I definitely need a well-earned vacation. I’m really happy with this result.”
He forgot everything about the “drunk” lady fan. And Kyrgios on Djokovic: “He’s a bit of a God.”
THAT’S IT Elena Rybakina is the Wimbledon ladies champion after beating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Officials banned players from Russia and Belarussia from participation in protest over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24. But the Moscow-born Rybakina, 23, escaped disqualification after adopting Kazakhstan citizenship in 2018. Fate was kind to her...asked to rank men’s tennis alltime Top 3, Du Hizon said: “Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.” Your take, fellas?