For the six-time Wimbledon champion, it will be the 32nd Grand Slam final in the men’s game, one ahead of Roger Federer and two ahead of Rafael Nadal.
Record-breaking In the Wimbledon final, Novak Djokovic will meet Nick Kyrgios, who beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie in straight sets on Friday. Novak Djokovic came from behind to beat world number one Marin Cilic in four sets after losing the first set in straight sets.
For the six-time Wimbledon champion, it will be the 32nd Grand Slam final in the men’s game, one ahead of Roger Federer and two ahead of Rafael Nadal.
After Nadal withdrew from his semi-final match against Kyrgios on Thursday due to an abdominal injury, Djokovic already knows who he’ll be facing in the final.
The Serbian, who is 0-2 versus Kyrgios in Grand Slam singles matches, vowed “fireworks” ahead of Sunday’s match, which he hopes will bring him one step closer to Federer and one step farther behind Nadal in the battle to be dubbed the greatest of all time.
It’s not over, the 35-year-old claimed. “One thing is for sure—emotional pyrotechnics will erupt from both sides.”
It’s like he’s not trying at all,” he continued. “He serves the ball with one of the most power in the game. It’s been a while since we’ve played together.
“He’s the only person I’ve ever lost a set to. I’m crossing my fingers that things will go differently this time. My second Wimbledon final is coming up therefore I’m hoping that my previous expertise will help me out this time around.”
To the pleasure of a partisan audience, Djokovic was broken three times by Norrie in the first set before turning the tables on the ninth-seeded Brit.
At the start of the second set, the No. 1 seed appeared more composed, finding more rhythm on his serve and reducing the number of errors he made.
In the eighth game, a single break gave him a 5-3 lead, which transformed the course of the match.
When Djokovic grabbed the second set, he went on a run of eight games out of nine, and Norrie had a mountain to climb in the third set.
With a break in the first game of the fourth set, Djokovic cruised to win. The Serb faced just one break point the rest of the way.
Having won 27 straight matches at Wimbledon, the Serb hopes to tie Pete Sampras’ record of seven crowns at the All England Club, which he shares with Federer.
Despite his disappointment at the lapse in concentration that allowed the former world number one to re-enter the match, British number one Norrie expressed pride in his journey to the semi-finals.
The man answered, “I think there’s a lot to be proud of.” “I walked into this place with a lot of aspirations, both for myself and for the rest of the country.
Coming in here and coming through the draw in the manner that I did, handling the instances of playing Centre Court, Court One, playing opponents who are actually favorites to win.”
When Kyrgios was denied the opportunity to avenge his 2014 Wimbledon victory over Rafael Nadal, he was kicking his heels on Friday.
This will be the Australian’s first Grand Slam final, and he expressed his disappointment on Friday, saying that “everyone did want to see us go to war out there” against Rafael Nadal.
There is no doubt that he did not want to see a player of such significance to the sport go down with an injury of this nature. On the other hand, “I know I’ll get to play him again on a major platform.”
There was a lot of drama in Kyrgios’s tournament, including a call for third-round opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas to be kicked out of the tournament for hitting a ball into the crowd.
In addition to the $14,000 fine he received for his antics, which included spitting on supporters, he faces an upcoming court appearance in Australia on assault charges.
“I never imagined I’d be here at all, to be brutally honest with you,” said the 40th-ranked player, who is 27 years old.
“However, I’m overjoyed and eager to get started. If I put my best effort into it, I will see what occurs.”
With a matchup against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina on Saturday, world number two Ons Jabeur will try to become the first African woman to win a Grand Slam.
