Wimbledon glory may be Novak Djokovic’s salvation and sustenance

After keeping his cool through the first set, and most of the second set, Nick Kyrgios had started behaving like, well, Nick Kyrgios. He picked a fight with the chair umpire over a rowdy crowd member. He had an ongoing dialogue with his player box, muttering things to himself and shouting out to them after almost every point. Kyrgios is loud, he is extreme. But on Sunday he also broadcast the utter frustration Novak Djokovic’s opponents feel once the Serb starts turning the screws. Especially on Wimbledon’s Centre Court. The Australian, who had dissed Djokovic for not being able to even take a set off him during their two previous Tour matches, got the full blast of the Djokovic effect on a hot, sunny day at Wimbledon. Even though it was one of the few matches that Kyrgios was engaged from the beginning to the end, he couldn’t keep up with the 35-year-old’s intensity. Like he had against Jannik Sinner in the quarter-final, and Cameron Norrie in the semi-final, Djokovic came back from behind to defeat Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) in Sunday’s final. It was the fourth consecutive Wimbledon title for Djokovic, a seventh overall Wimbledon title that put him on level with his childhood idol Pete Sampras and his 21st Grand Slam title, that took him one past Roger Federer and within one of Rafael Nadal’s record tally of 22. Another astounding stat: Djokovic hasn’t lost a match at Centre Court since the 2013 Wimbledon final, when he went down to hometown hero Andy Murray. “I love this court,” the Serb, who was present during the Centre Court centenary celebration last Sunday, told Sue Barker during the trophy presentation. “And I think it loves me back.” Also Read: Novak Djokovic officially declares ‘bromance’ with Nick Kyrgios   It was poignant, because Djokovic hasn’t quite felt the love in recent times, particularly since the start of this season. The Serb, who entered the tennis scene during the high-noon of the Federer-Nadal dominance, has, over the years, grudgingly resigned to being the third wheel in the best generation of men’s tennis. Though he has finished seven of the last ten years as the world No 1, he’s been cast as the antagonist and is used to the crowd vociferously backing his opponents. But in Australia, early this year, he was turned into an international figure of hate. An unvaccinated Djokovic, trying to sneak into the tournament through a medical exemption, was first detained then, after a protracted legal drama, deported on the eve of a major he had won nine times. At the French Open, he walked out for his quarter-final clash against Nadal to a clamour of boos. Whether it was the crowd, the Phillipe Chatrier under a closed roof or Nadal’s undying brilliance on clay, Djokovic looked distinctly out of sorts as he stumbled to a four-set defeat. “If I can say it was a s**t year, a tough year, especially for him, but also for us that were close to him,” Djokovic’s coach and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic told reporters on Sunday. “This was a huge thing what happened to him. For some people, they don’t recover. They will never play tennis. Unbelievable how he recover and how he got through that. It’s really for me heroic because it was not easy to digest all the thing and come back to play tennis. Then you’re thinking, ‘Why you have to play tennis?’” Coming into Wimbledon, Djokovic knew it was probably his only chance of winning a major in 2022. The USA doesn’t yet allow unvaccinated foreigners into the country, meaning the Serb is ineligible to play the US Open – the last Grand Slam of the year.

As Djokovic narrated once again during the trophy presentation, Wimbledon has been the most important tournament of his career. That’s the one he dreamt of winning while growing up in war-torn Serbia. In 2018, after an elbow injury sent his career into a tailspin, Wimbledon had provided a way back. He’d beaten Nadal in a five-set thriller in the semi-final before winning the first of his four consecutive titles. His Grand Slam record is a testament to Djokovic’s mental strength, but the Serb seemed to feel the weight of the occasion this time around. The title defence got off to a scrappy start against Soon-woo Kwon and Djokovic looked in deep trouble when he went two sets down against a hard-hitting Sinner in the quarter-final. It was in that match that Djokovic hit the shot of the tournament – a backhand pass while executing a perfect split. The Serb fell over and extended his arms, like a bird taking flight, to celebrate the point. But if the win against Sinner underlined his tenacity over five sets, it was his tactical brilliance that ended Norrie’s fairytale run in four sets in the semi-finals. With Nadal pulling out of the tournament with an abdominal injury, Kyrgios was given a free pass into his first ever Grand Slam final. Djokovic promised ‘fireworks’ in the summit clash. And that’s exactly what we got at the beginning. Kyrgios, like he does, walked into the match, wanting not just to win it but make it as entertaining as possible. He unveiled the underarm serve in the very first service game and pulled Djokovic into his web of slices and drops and volleys and sledgehammer forehands. The 27-year-old Australian, whose mood can quickly turn dark, intimidated Djokovic with his serves. He got a break in the fifth game and carried the lead through to win the opening set. That was five sets in a row that Kyrgios had won against Djokovic. Would this be the day that Kyrgios’ big talent and tall claims came to fruition? Also Read: Nick Kyrgios showed he belonged on Grand Slam stage in Wimbledon loss The first act of resistance from Djokovic came in the third game of the second set. Unable to keep pace with the fiery Australian, the top seed dragged him down to earth with a perfectly constructed 23-shot rally. On the next point, he moved Kyrgios from corner to corner and won another long rally with a backhand drop shot. The Serb had started sinking his teeth into the battle. In the next game, Djokovic showed why he is considered the best returner in men’s tennis history. He retrieved three powerful deliveries by Kyrgios and forced the Australian into errors to break his serve for the very first time. By the fifth game of the second set, Kyrgios had started shaking his head. The demons were back; Djokovic had planted the seed of doubt. To be fair, despite the constant talk from Kyrgios’ end, the Aussie never truly went into a meltdown. On the opposite side of the net, Djokovic shut his opponent out and focussed on the job at hand. Against one of the best servers in the game currently, on grass, the Serb delivered a returning masterclass. The 21-time major champion also displayed nerves of steel as he saved four break points – the last with a gutsy drop shot– while serving for the second set at 5-3 and broke the Kyrgios serve in the ninth game of the third set, even though the Australian was 40-0 up. He applied relentless pressure on Kyrgios’ serve and kept a lid on his audacity. His backhand down the line, in particular, was devastating on the day and kept Kyrgios on the back foot. In a high-quality match, Djokovic finished with 46 winners while Kyrgios with 62. But the Serb made only 17 unforced errors over four sets, converted two of four break opportunities and saved five of six break points he faced. Like he had against Federer in 2019, when he won three tie-breaks to script a famous win, Djokovic was bulletproof in the fourth set tie-break. He raced off to a 6-1 lead, and converted the first match-point on his serve. “He’s bit of a god, I’m not going to lie,” Kyrgios said of Djokovic. With a touch of the divine, Djokovic had brought his Grand Slam career back on track. As the Serb may be forced to sit out of the next two majors – the 2022 US Open and 2023 Australian Open – due to his vaccination status, the Wimbledon triumph may work as salvation and sustenance. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .