By: Jessica Wang

About a month ago, Djokovic won his fourth Wimbledon in a row – he had one in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The final match was Djokovic against Nick Kyrgios, an Australian professional tennis player ranked world number 13 in singles. Djokovic won by 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has won 88 career titles; eight Australian Open titles, two French Open titles, three US Open titles, and seven Wimbledon titles. He plays right-handed with a two-handed backhand, which is a very effective stroke in tennis. Currently, he is ranked number 7 in the world by the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals.)

Rafael Nadal, a Spanish tennis player, currently ranked number three, had an abdominal tear while playing at Wimbledon. Nadal was not able to continue to the finals, giving Kyrgios a chance to either play Djokovic or Cam Norrie.

During the first set of Djokovic against Kyrgios, Djokovic was not able to win against Kyrgios’ unique style of playing. However, in the fourth game of the second set, Djokovic was able to win two games against Kyrgios. In the third set, both Djokovic and Kyrgios were pretty even.

Suddenly, a distraction in the crowd broke the tie, throwing Kyrgios’ performance off. Kyrgios said that he heard a woman sitting in the front talk to him in the middle of the game. “She’s the one who looks like she’s had 700 drinks,” he says. The umpire said that he did not notice or hear the woman shout, not accepting Kyrgios’ excessive commentary throughout the game.

At the peak of the match, both players went back and forth leading the point, eventually getting to the tiebreaker. Djokovic got an extraordinary lead on Kyrgios and won the match.

After winning, Djokovic knelt down on the grass and ate it to celebrate. He says, “I love tasting the Wimbledon grass. Because that means that I’m in the finals and I won. That’s kind of like a little tradition…”

Kyrgios was also “full of praise” for Djokovic. He says that he is very happy with the result at Wimbledon, and that maybe one day he’ll be competing there again.

Sources:

(1) https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1657470654874x352254056723529000/Novak%20Djokovic%20wins%20Wimbledon%2C%20defeating%20volatile%20Nick%20Kyrgios%20-%20The%20Washington%20Post.pdf

(2) https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/10/tennis/wimbledon-2022-mens-final-djokovic-kyrgios-spt-intl/index.html

(3) https://www.sportsmanor.com/tennis-news-why-did-novak-djokovic-eats-grass-after-winning-his-7th-wimbledon-open/