‘Bad boy’ Nick Kyrios praises after final
I gave away 1 set and won 3 sets in a row
It’s the fourth straight loss in 16 years since Federer.
‘The flawless man’ Novak Djokovic (35, Serbia, world ranking 3rd, photo) did not allow any surprises. In the men’s singles final of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament held at the Center Court of the All England Club in Wimbledon, England on the 10th (Korean time), he defeated Nick Kyrios (27, Australia, 40th) 3-1. The prize money for the championship is 2 million pounds (about 3.12 billion won).
Wimbledon is Djokovic’s ‘promised land’. In this competition alone, he has lifted the trophy seven times. It is the same record as ‘legendary’ Pete Sampras (51, USA). After his first win in 2011, Djokovic won consecutively in 2014 and 2015, and achieved four consecutive victories from 2018 to this year. It is the first time in 16 years since Roger Federer (41, Switzerland) who won the men’s singles title at Wimbledon for five consecutive years from 2003 to 2007.
“When I was four or five years old, I saw Sampras winning Wimbledon and I asked my parents to buy me tennis racquets,” Djokovic said. I am grateful that my childhood dream of receiving a trophy here came true,” he said.
In this competition, the interest was whether the ‘confrontation of the century’ between Djokovic and Rafael Nadal (Spain, 36, 4th in the world) would unfold. However, the match between the two rivals was canceled as Nadal withdrew ahead of the semi-final due to an abs injury. Instead, Kyrios entered the final. Kyrios, who had beaten Djokovic twice in 2017, took the first set with a strong serve that went over 210 km/h.
However, from the second set, Djokovic’s unique flawless play was revived, and he won the third set. After the match, Kyrios said of Djokovic, “He’s a bit of a god.
It’s sincere,” he praised.
Correspondent Jo Soo-young [email protected]