2022 Wimbledon men’s final info, recent form, head-to-head, what they said: Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios

Wimbledon
2022 Wimbledon men's final Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios

The 2022 Wimbledon men’s final is a dream match-up, but not necessarily in the way that many would have predicted as the Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios match is a mouthwatering prospect due to the fireworks that they could deliver on Centre Court on Sunday.

It is no surprise that six-time champion Djokovic has reached another final at SW19 as he is gunning for a fourth consecutive title with his last defeat coming in 2016 when he lost in the third round against Sam Querrey (he retired from his quarter-final clash in 2017).

However, no one would have predicted the man on the opposite side of the net would be Kyrgios. Heck, even Kyrgios himself admitted that he thought his Grand Slam ship had sailed.

The big questions come Championship Sunday are: Which Djokovic and Kyrgios will turn up and who will the crowd support as neither of them have really endured themselves with the public?

Both Djokovic and Kyrgios are known to lose their cool and yet when the red mist appears, it often brings out the best in them so here is to plenty of entertainment.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Wimbledon (@wimbledon)

Novak Djokovic

Age: 35
Nationality: Serbian
World ranking: 3
Career-high ranking: 1
Career singles titles: 87
Grand Slam singles titles: 20
Career prize money: $156,541,453

Nick Kyrgios

Age: 27
Nationality: Australian
World ranking: 40
Career-high ranking: 13
Career singles titles: 6
Grand Slam singles titles: 0
Career prize money: $9,905,710

Novak Djokovic’s path to the Wimbledon final

Novak Djokovic started the tournament as the clear favourite and he initially took a while to get going against Kwon Soon-woo as he won in four sets, but then brushed aside Thanasi Kokkinakis and Miomir Kecmanovic before dropping another set against Tim van Rijthoven.

The quarter-final against Jannik Sinner came close to being his last match at Wimbledon this year as he made a shocking start before getting his act together to win 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

He also made a sluggish start in the semi-final as he dropped the first set against Cameron Norrie, but then won the next three to book yet another spot in the final.

Nick Kyrgios’ path to the Wimbledon final

Some will consider Nick Kyrgios fortunate to be in the Wimbledon final following Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal from their semi-final, but there was nothing fortunate about his run at SW19 this year.

He was made to work for his win in the first round as British wildcard Paul Jubb took him to five sets before the Australian won in just over three hours. He then brushed aside Filip Krajinovic.

The clash against fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was a classic, but not necessarily for the quality of tennis as it was feisty affair with Kyrgios emerging victorious in four sets.

He then needed another five sets to see off Brandon Nakashima before a three-set win over Cristian Garin saw him reach his first-ever Grand Slam semi-final.

Recent form

Djokovic didn’t play any warm-up events before Wimbledon, but that has rarely been an issue for him. His last match before The Championships was his French Open quarter-final defeat at the hands of Rafael Nadal.

Kyrgios has played the most consistent tennis of his career the past few months as he reached the semi-final in Houston (hard-court) and also made it to the last four on the grass in Stuttgart and Halle.

Novak Djokovic vs Nick Kyrgios head-to-head

It is something that Kyrgios likes to remind tennis fans about every now and then: he leads the head-to-head against Djokovic 2-0.

Both of those wins came on hard courts in 2017 with the first a 7-6 (11-9), 7-5 win in Acapulco and the second a 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory at the Indian Wells Masters a few weeks later.

What they’ve said

“The experience that I have at this level, playing in the finals against someone that has never played a Grand Slam final, could be slightly in my favour. But at the same time, knowing who he is and how he goes about his tennis and his attitude on the court, he doesn’t seem to be falling under pressure much.

“He plays lights-out every time he steps out onto the court. Just [has] a lot of power in his serve and his game. So I’m sure he’s going to go for it. No doubt he’s going to be aggressive. I expect him to do that.

“He’s a big-match player. If you see his career, the best tennis he’s played is always against the top guys. That’s why we all respect him, because we know what he can come up with. It’s going to be [an] interesting match.” – Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic Wimbledon press conference

“I think a Kyrgios-Djokovic final would be mouth-watering. I feel like if you do your research, I think you would consider him the favourite today. That’s who I’m probably going to be preparing for. We definitely have a bit of a bromance now, which is weird. I think everyone knows there was no love lost for a while there.

“I think 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.

“I felt like I was almost the only player and someone to stand up for him with all that drama at the Australian Open. I feel like that’s where respect is kind of earned. Not on the tennis court, but I feel like when a real-life crisis is happening and someone stands up for you.” – Nick Kyrgios

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Nick Kyrgios (@k1ngkyrg1os)

Conclusion

Novak Djokovic is not the favourite for nothing, he has been the King of Centre Court for the past few years, but if there is one player who can get under his skin then it is Nick Kyrgios.

Just ask Stefanos Tsitsipas, you can’t allow yourself to lose your cool against Kyrgios when things get ugly as you will probably end up on the losing side.

The Australian also has the game for grass with his powerful serve likely to pose big problems for Djokovic. Mind you, the 20-time Grand Slam winner is quite good when it comes to returning.

If it was just about the tennis, then you would no doubt be heading to the bookies to put money on Djokovic winning No 21 as this is after all his 32nd Slam final.

However, this is about the fireworks and who will keep their cool.

Nick Kyrgios Novak Djokovic

Latest