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On the women's side, this was a historic final. It featured Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and world number 3 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia meeting one another in what was the first Grand Slam Final appearance for either woman. Not only were both of them making their first trip to a Grand Slam final but, in fact, they both became the first woman ever from each of their respective countries to reach a Grand Slam final. Indeed, Rybakina is the first player from Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam final and Jabeur became the first not only Tunisian, but African and Arab to reach a Grand Slam final.
So it was going to be history, one way or the other. In fact, this was the first Grand Slam final on either the men's or women's side that I can remember which did not feature either someone from Europe, North America, or Australia. Usually, there is somebody playing from one of those places. In fact, Australia is relatively rare, although I can remember one US Open Men's Final back in 1998, I believe, which featured two Australians (Pat Rafter and Mark Philippoussis). Until today's Women's Final at Wimbledon, that was the only other Grand Slam final in memory that featured two players from outside of either Europe or North America.
Jabeur came out on fire, racing off to a 6-3 win in the first set. After that, however, Rybakina managed to take over by winning the second set, then going up a break in the third set. She was dictating the tempo of the match.
Yet, Jabeur had a chance to get back in the match and pull back even at 3-3. She had Rybakina down 0-40, but was criticized for being overly casual, and perhaps trying to outsmart her opponent. Possibly, she outsmarted herself instead, as Rybakina came storming back to win the game and take a 4-2 lead in the third set, ending the threat. Perhaps she smelled blood, because she then followed that up by breaking Jabour to take a commanding 5-2 lead in the third set, really putting Jabeur's back against the wall.
In the end, Rybakina survived to win the match, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Elena Rybakina has won the first Grand Slam title for Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile on the men's side, Novak Djokovic is back, competing in his record 32nd Grand Slam Men's Final. By qualifying for this Wimbledon Men's Final, he surpasses Roger Federer for most ever played in, and now stands alone with 32 Grand Slam Finals which he qualified for. Nadal is right behind them with 30 Grand Slam Finals which he qualified for, one behind Federer and two behind Djokovic, although Nadal has won more (22) than either of the two other men (20 each, with Djokovic having the chance to surpass Federer for good in wins as well, should he defeat Kyrgios tomorrow.
Kyrgios is looked upon as a very talented, albeit a quite inconsistent, tennis player. Many people expected some great things from him, but this was the first time that he had gotten past the quarterfinal round in any Grand Slam tournament. This also marks the first time since 2015 that the 27-year old Australian reached the quarterfinal round at a Grand Slam event. He reached the semifinal round, and then advanced to his first ever Grand Slam Final when Rafael Nadal had to pull out of the match due to an injury.
If Kyrgios wins his first ever Wimbledon title, he will have a tough road ahead. He should be well-rested, which very well may help out a lot. But Djokovic is one of the greatest tennis players in history, and it is for good reason. He has been to the Wimbledon Men's Final seven times before, and won the title six times. If he wins this one, he will tie Pete Sampras with seven, and pull within one of Federer's record eight Wimbledon titles. Clearly, the advantage in terms of experience at this level easily goes in favor of Djokovic.
Kyrgios spoke about the legacy of the "Big Three," and was quite complimentary of them, heaping praise on each elite player:
"We’ll never see a competitor like Rafa again. You’ll never see someone wield a racquet like Roger so effortlessly. You’ll never probably see anyone who just plays the game so good as a winner than Djokovic. It's going to be a sad day when they retire."
Despite admitting that it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to match their level of success in the future, Kyrgios did sound optimistic about the future of men's tennis. He mentioned some of the young crop among the men who should make some noise in the years to come:
“I don’t think anyone’s able to fill those shoes,” he said. “We’ve got a great crop of young players coming up. [Carlos] Alcaraz is unbelievable. [Jannik] Sinner, you saw what he’s able to do. So many younger guys. Even [Brandon] Nakashima, the way he played this tournament.
Kyrgios himself is no stranger to being in the spotlight of the tennis world, albeit not always for the right reasons. He has received some serious criticism for his conduct, including one legend and fellow countryman:
Pat Cash, the Australian who won Wimbledon in 1987, has described Kyrgios’ behaviour as an “absolute circus,” adding: “He has brought tennis to the lowest level I can see as far as gamesmanship, cheating, manipulation, abuse, aggressive behaviour to umpires, to linesmen.”
To his credit, Kyrgios is trying to overcome some of those past difficulties. He did not try a counterattack against Cash, although left him perhaps conspicuous in his absence when he named Lleyton Hewitt as the only Australian tennis great to have been fully supportive of Kyrgios throughout his career. Mostly, what he had to say about the rest of the Australian tennis greats of the past was, at best, luke warm, and sounded at times almost cold:
“They haven’t always been the nicest to me personally,” said Kyrgios. “They haven’t always been supportive. They haven’t been supportive these two weeks. So it’s hard for me to kind of read things that they say about me.
So, what do I think will happen in the match?
Well, Kyrgios is playing likely his best tennis. On top of that, he really should be very well rested, having not played a tennis match in almost half a week now. Plus, he won that in straight sets, so it was a fairly quick match. Kyrgios had never been to a semifinal of a Grand Slam before this year's Wimbledon. Now, he is close to his first ever Grand Slam title.
All of that bodes well for Kyrgios. Perhaps an even better sign is that he is 2-0 in his career against Djokovic. That probably comes as a surprise. That said, they have only met twice before, and both times came in 2017, when Djokovic was trying to bounce back from an injury. Also, they were both on hard court surfaces.
The fact of the matter is that Kyrgios will be playing Djokovic. This guy is one of the most decorated and accomplished tennis players in history. He knows the grass courts of Wimbledon, clearly, since this is his eighth time qualifying for the Wimbledon Men's Final. He has won six of those seven, and needs to win this to try and stay close on the heels of Nadal, who won the first two Grand Slam titles of this year, which pulled him ahead of both Federer and Djokovic by two (all three were tied with 20 career Grand Slam titles at the start of this year). With a win here, Djokovic can finally, most likely once and for all, pull ahead of Federer, who seems unlikely to return to elite enough form to win another Grand Slam title, let alone make another run of winning a few in quick succession.
So, while Kyrgios certainly has a chance, especially if Djokovic comes out looking nervous, as he did in the semifinal match when he dropped the first set. If something like that can happen, and Kyrgios plays his very best tennis and keeps the pressure on against an increasingly flustered and frustrated Djokovic, then yes, he can win. That said, Djokovic has been a master of overcoming bad starts and making the necessary adjustments, then proving to be very, very tough to beat as the match goes along. He dropped the first set against Cameron Norrie, who had the solid support of the home crowd fully backing him, and he also dropped the first two sets against Italian up and comer Jannik Sinner. In last year's Wimbledon Men's Final, Djokovic dropped the first set against Matteo Berrettini, then won in straight sets the rest of the way. Kyrgios can race off to an early start, get excited, perhaps even get the crowd behind him (not sure if they will root for him or not, truth be told). But one of the weaknesses with Kyrgios has been discipline and keeping cool. It feels more a question of with, rather than when, Djokovic begins to apply some serious pressure on Kyrgios in this match. The biggest question, then, is how will Kyrgios respond.
For my part, I suspect that Djokovic will, in the end, hoist that golden Wimbledon trophy for a seventh time at the end of this one.
My pick: Novak Djokovic Wins Wimbledon
All quotes used above were taken from the article below (see link):
Nick Kyrgios: I’m an inspiration but will never replace Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Roger Federer by Michael Hincks, July 8, 2022:
Ahead of his Wimbledon final, Kyrgios also discusses that ‘hungry’ throwback photo and says some former Australian players have a ‘sick obsession with tearing me down’
https://inews.co.uk/sport/tennis/nick-kyrgios-wimbledon-2022-rafael-nadal-novak-djokovic-roger-federer-1732164
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