Djokovic, Krygios to meet for men's championship

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios used to not get along at all.

Now the two men who will meet in the Wimbledon final on Sunday have developed a bit of a “bromance,” as the 40th-ranked Kyrgios put it. “Everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there,” said the 27-year-old from Australia, whose first Grand Slam title match will be Djokovic's 32nd. “It was healthy for the sport. I think every time we played each other, there was hype around it. It was interesting for the media, the people watching, all that.” Kyrgios, not one for holding his tongue, was particularly critical of Djokovic for organizing a charity exhibition tour in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Fast forward to January of this year, and Kyrgios was an early voice supporting Djokovic when his decision to not get vaccinated against COVID-19led to a legal saga and deportation from Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open. So where do things stand nowadays?

“We definitely have a better relationship than what it was,” is the way the topseeded Djokovic described things.

Kyrgios sounded a tad more excited. “We actually message each other on DMs in Instagram now and stuff. It's real weird,” Kyrgios said. “Actually, earlier in the week, he was like, `Hopefully, I'll see you Sunday.'”

Well, they certainly will see each other at Centre Court on Sunday afternoon, with quite a bit to play for.

For the No. 1-seeded Djokovic, a 35-year-old from Serbia, it's a chance to win a fourth consecutive trophy at the All England Club and seventh overall (Roger Federer's eight singles championships at the grasscourt major are a record for a man).

It's also a chance for Djokovic to claim a 21st Grand Slam title, which would move him one ahead of Federer and just one behind Rafael Nadal, who withdrew before his semifinal against Kyrgios because of a torn abdominal muscle. And there's this to factor in, too: Djokovic can't know for sure the next time he will get to participate in one of the four major tournaments, the events that matter the most to him these days. As things currently stand, he is not allowed into the United States as an unvaccinated foreigner, which mean he couldn't go to New York for the U.S. Open in August..