By James Beck
Nick Kyrgios may never have a better opportunity to win a Grand Slam title than he had Sunday at Wimbledon.
Tennis’ most coveted crown appeared to be his for the taking.
Instead, the big Australian practically placed the crown on Novak Djokovic’s head.
As if Djokovic needed any help after crowning himself 20 times before this Wimbledon final.
NOVAK ALMOST FLAWLESS AFTER FIRST SET
After stumbling through the first set while Kyrgios served, hit and moved spectacularly, Djokovic played almost flawlessly the rest of the way as he finished the match with 46 winners to just 17 errors for the match.
Other than dusting off the lines seemingly endlessly with his own serves and ground strokes, Djokovic performed brilliantly the last three sets. The Serbian wonder took advantage of Kyrgios’ generosity in clutch games.
But Kyrgios still had his chances. One game in each of the last three sets proved fatal for the 6-5 powerhouse in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) loss to Djokovic.
TALKING TO HIMSELF STARTED DOWNFALL
The bad luck all started for Kyrgios when he began talking to himself and the fans. He went from studious and thoughtful to outrageous.
Three situations where Kyrgios was either too casual or overly aggressive in his hitting were fatal traps for the amazing Kyrgios.
KYRGIOS HAD HIS CHANCES EVEN LOOKING AT DEFEAT
The first one came when Kyrgios held triple break point against Djokovic in an effort to get back on serve at 5-4. Kyrgios committed three consecutive errors to put Novak in position to even the match at one set apiece.
Situation No. 2 came in the third set when Krygios served at 40-0 and appeared ready to take a 5-4 lead. Before you could bat an eye at the ESPN telecast, Kyrgios had erred himself into a 5-4 hole.
ERROR-FILLED TIEBREAKER TOLD THE STORY
Situation No. 3 proved to be the culmination of a really bad day for Krygios, even though it still was the highlight of his tennis career.
Yes, it was the tiebreaker that sent the likable but sometimes unthinkable Australian back to the basketball court. Five errors, one double fault by Kyrgios and one winning forehand volley by Djokovic accounted for the seven points that Novak needed to win the tiebreaker and close out the match.
When it was all over, Kyrgios appeared to be relieved, but happy. Who would have thought two weeks ago that the sometimes unpredictable Australian would be carrying a runner-up trophy back home.
WHERE IS THE WOMEN’S GAME?
While the men’s final was full of excitement and disappointment, it was leaps and bounds ahead of Saturday’s women’s final. Other than fans of “double 23” (years old and ranked) Moscow native and darkhorse Elena Rybakina, there probably weren’t many viewers that were excited about Rybakina’s 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 upset of fan-popular No. 2-ranked Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
It just wasn’t exciting after watching the miraculous play of the men all week.
But where has the women’s game gone? Until she stepped onto the grass at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek appeared ready to take over the women’s game. Of course, the grass of Wimbledon tripped up the world’s No. 1 player.
SUPERSTARS OF 2000S THIN OUT
The likes of Ashleigh Barty, Venus and Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Garbine Muguruza, Angelique Kerber, Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and other stars of the 2000s had made women’s tennis almost equal in popularity to the Nadal-Djokovic-Federer tour known as the ATP Tour.
But no more. Most of the women’s superstars have turned in their active rackets, while Nadal and Djokovic keep charging to history.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
