How Novak Djokovic came back to win Wimbledon final over Nick Kyrgios
Novak Djokovic kept his cool in the furnace of Centre Court against Nick Kyrgios to win his seventh Wimbledon championship. As Kyrgios stuck the ball in the net on championship point, Djokovic looked to his team and let out a massive exhale. The triumph sees him go one behind Rafael Nadal's record of 22 men's singles titles.
In a match in which Kyrgios grew increasingly frustrated with interruptions and his own team, Djokovic stayed calm in balmy temperatures to see off Kyrgios in four sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
This was Kyrgios' first singles Grand Slam final while it was Djokovic's 32nd, and eventually experience won out.
Kyrgios stormed through the first set in just 31 minutes to win 6-4, with Djokovic finding it hard to read the Australian's serve.
But then Djokovic found his rhythm, lowered the tempo ever so slightly and got a foothold to take the second set 6-3 -- which proved to be the turning point in the match.
Kyrgios grew visibly more frustrated during the third set and asked the umpire to remove a spectator who he said had "drunk 700 drinks, bro" and was talking to him during a point.
Kyrgios also frequently directed frustration toward his team, as Djokovic largely kept his cool. He broke Kyrgios in the ninth game, and then served out to go up 2-1 in sets.
The fourth set, after a mighty effort from both players, went to a tiebreak. Djokovic got the read on Kyrgios' serve to win on the third championship point.
This triumph moves Djokovic level with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw at seven Wimbledon men's singles titles, one short of Roger Federer's record.
Here's how the men's singles final went down on Centre Court and how Djokovic kept his cool as Kyrgios lost his.
Djokovic doesn't have the reputation for being the best returner in the game for nothing. The man is a machine. But in the first set he really couldn't get ahold of Kyrgios' serve -- which included a second ace at 125mph in just the second game of the match.