Welcome to live coverage of Wimbledon’s men’s final between Australian Nick Kyrgios and 20-time grand slam champion Nick Kyrgios. Follow all the action in our blog below!
Nick Kyrgios broke Novak Djokovic in the fifth game and he didn’t look back, as the Australian — playing his first grand slam final — claimed the first set against the 20-time champion in the Wimbledon men’s final.
Djokovic has since “turned the tables” however, with the Serbian starting to dictate terms. He leads 5-3 in the second set but Kyrgios is hanging in there despite threatening to explode after being broken.
He broke Kyrgios in the fourth game, winning the game to love as the Australian started to increasingly talk to himself after a quiet and focused opening set. It was the first time Djokovic had broken Kyrgios in their three matches to date.
On a lovely summer’s day in London, the Australian’s first set matched the hot conditions on Centre Court at the All England Club.
After saving the first break point, Djokovic double faulted to hand Kyrgios the fifth game.
Kyrgios then consolidated with a clinical service, holding Djokovic to love.
Already the tricks are out on display too, with the 27-year-old having the audacity to mix things up by producing an underarm serve in the first game. Kyrgios did so at 40-0 up in first service game.
He has moved to a 3-5 lead, having lost just two points on his service.
As Kyrgios served for the first set, Tim Henman described the Australian’s first set as a “masterclass”.
Djokovic took Kyrgios to deuce in the final game of the set, but with a massive serve down the middle the Australian took advantage and claimed the set with his next serve.
Kyrgios’ first serve percentage (77) was higher than Djokovic (72) in the first set, where the Serbian double faulted twice. His second serve winning percentage (83) was also much higher than his opponent.
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Kyrgios is 2-0 against Kyrgios, winning two meetings on hard courts in 2017. His 12 wins on grass this year are the most of any man.
But Djokovic, in a record-setting 32nd grand slam final and seeking a fourth straight Wimbledon title, is looking to end the enigmatic big-server’s remarkable run. He is on a 27-match losing streak, having last lost to Brit Andy Murray in 2017.
Kyrgios is already the lowest-ranked player to reach the Wimbledon final since compatriot Mark Philippoussis, who was ranked No.48 in 2003.
He is trying to become the first Australian man to win a Slam since Lleyton Hewitt won Wimbledon 20 years ago – the longest drought for Aussie men in history.
Ash Barty broke an eight-year Australian women’s drought when she claimed the 2019 French Open, going on to win Wimbledon 2021 and the 2022 Australian Open.
The chair umpire for the final was revealed as Renaud Lichtenstein, a veteran who Kyrgios blew up at during the 2020 Australian Open.
After Kyrgios cut his hand and was taking his time to wipe up the blood, Lichtenstein gave the Aussie a code violation for taking too long to serve.
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“My hand is bleeding. My hand is bleeding. What do you want me to do? … There’s blood all over the towel. I told the ball kid not to touch it,” he said
“What are you, stupid? Can you not see? Well, take it back then. Why do I get a time violation? My hand’s bleeding.”
Kyrgios then called him a “f***ing idiot” and added “don’t look at me, do your job”.
The five-set final gets underway at 11pm AEST, and can be watched on Nine.
Follow Nick Kyrgios v Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon men’s singles final live below from 11pm AEST!
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MATCH PREVIEW
Nick Kyrgios can become one of Wimbledon’s most controversial champions on Sunday when he faces Novak Djokovic in a final set to showcase flamboyant shotmaking punctuated by likely dark mood swings.
The maverick Australian crowd-pleaser is in his first Slam final at the age of 27 after a roller-coaster career.
There have been tempestuous outbursts, spats with players, officials and media and fines that he has previously estimated have cost him $500,000.
When Rafael Nadal’s injury-enforced withdrawal gave him a free passage into Sunday’s final, the UK Telegraph asked if it represented “Wimbledon’s worst nightmare”.
Kyrgios, bidding to become Australia’s first Grand Slam men’s champion since Lleyton Hewitt at Wimbledon 20 years ago, has been box office on and off the court at the All England Club.
In a campaign of all-out attack, he has fired a tournament-leading 120 aces, 292 winners, the second-fastest serve of 137 miles (220 kilometres) per hour while being broken only six times.
But he has picked up $14,000 in fines, spat in the direction of fans and was even accused of having an “evil side” and being a “bully” by third-round rival Stefanos Tsitsipas.
He also has the added distraction of a court appearance in Australia next month, related to an allegation of assault.
“I never thought I’d be here at all, to be brutally honest with you,” he said.
Kyrgios, ranked 40, said that, win or lose on Sunday, he has already put his many detractors in their place.
“Since I was born, only eight people have ever won this title. I’m just going to give it my best shot.”
– AFP
‘GOT MY BROTHER BACK’: KYRGIOS’ ESTRANGED BROTHER’S EMOTIONAL TRIBUTE
Nick Kyrgios forgot how important family was as his life spiralled into chaos, but sibling Christos told Australian media Sunday he has finally “got my baby brother back”.
In an emotional tribute penned ahead of the divisive star’s Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic, Christos revealed the pair were recently estranged.
“For a big chunk of the last six or seven years, I lost my little brother. That kid I grew up with, who was so carefree and engaging, was almost gone,” he wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The world changed him. Tennis changed him. He became distracted; always worried about something. Even when you were with him, he wasn’t present in the moment.”
The richly talented but deeply controversial 27-year-old has long been a polarising figure, with his on-court tantrums resulting in countless fines since bursting on the scene in 2014.
Kyrgios has been fined a total of $14,000 at this year’s Wimbledon for his antics, which included spitting towards fans. He also has a looming court appearance in Australia, related to an allegation of assault.
Earlier this year, Kyrgios admitted it all got too much, having suicidal thoughts, abusing drugs and self-harming during a dark period in his life in 2019.
He blamed his depression on the relentless grind of the tennis tour, being away from family and putting pressure on himself.
“He was a prisoner in his own body, going through the motions without any sense of happiness in the life he’d worked so hard to make for himself,” said his brother.
“I’d come over to visit mum and dad’s and Nick wouldn’t get out of bed before midday. And when he did, he was straight out the door. In four or five days, I’d see him for an hour.
“I missed my brother. I didn’t know this other person that he had become.”
He pinpointed the turning point to Kyrgios meeting current girlfriend Costeen Hatzi late last year, with the player crediting her with helping him switch off after big matches and to separate tennis and life.
“She’s helped open his eyes again. She’s cut from that same cloth where family is the most important thing,” said Christos.
“There was a lot of chaos in Nick’s life before he met her. The way he wanted his life to be was not the way things were unfolding.
“Seeing him mature and evolve back into the happy fulfilled version of himself is all that I could have asked for. For us, we’ve already got our baby brother back. Mum and Dad have got their son back.”
– AFP
