MY ACCOUNT
Nick Kyrgios hailed Novak Djokovic as “a bit of a god” after losing to the Serbian in four sets in Sunday’s Wimbledon men’s singles final.
Djokovic lost the opening set, as he did against Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals and Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals, but recovered to claim a fourth successive crown at SW19.
The top seed, who is now back to within one Grand Slam title of Rafael Nadal’s Open Era record of 22, prevailed 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 in a little over three hours.
And Kyrgios, handed a walkover win in his semi-final against Nadal after the Spaniard pulled out injured, led the tributes to Djokovic after his latest major triumph.
He said: “He’s a bit of a god, I’m not going to lie. I thought I played well, so I want to congratulate Novak and his team.”
Kyrgios was the first unseeded player to contest a Grand Slam final since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the 2008 Australian Open, having previously never made it beyond the final eight.
However, asked if he is hungry for more after his deepest run at a major, Kyrgios joked: “Absolutely not! I’m so tired. Me and my team are exhausted. We’ve played so much tennis.
“I’m really happy with this result and maybe one day I’ll be here again but I don’t know about that.”
Kyrgios was his usual self on Centre Court, producing some remarkable shots – including an underarm serve – and regularly berating the umpires in equal measure.
However, the world No40 – the lowest-ranked grand slam male finalist since Marcos Baghdatis (54) at the Australian Open in 2006 – extended a word of thanks to the officials.
He added: “To all the ball kids and also the umpires – I know you and I have a tough relationship at times – but thank you.”
