Tennis
Ice-cool Djokovic tames fiery Kyrgios to continue Wimbledon love story
Novak Djokovic stayed serene amid a frenzied atmosphere to tame fiery Australian Nick Kyrgios in an engrossing final on Sunday, lifting a seventh Wimbledon trophy and taking his Grand Slam title count to 21.
Rallying from a set down, Djokovic exhibited ice-cool nerves in sweltering conditions to win 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) for his fourth consecutive trophy at the grasscourt major to close in on Rafa Nadal’s record 22 Grand Slam titles.
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By lifting the Challenge Cup once again, Djokovic drew level with his childhood idol Pete Sampras in the all-time winners list and is now just one shy of Swiss Roger Federer’s record eight Wimbledon titles.
After finishing 2021 one win short of a rare calendar-year Grand Slam, Djokovic’s season has not panned out exactly as he would have envisaged after being deported from Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open and losing to Nadal in the French Open quarter-finals.
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“Certainly this year has not been the same like last years,” he said. “It has started the way it has started and it has affected me definitely in the first several months of the year.
“I was not feeling great generally. I mean, mentally, emotionally, I was not in a good place.”
The Serbian’s refusal to be vaccinated against COVID-19 could prevent him from entering the United States to compete at the year’s final Grand Slam in New York, but the air of uncertainty had no bearing on his love affair with the lawns at the All England Club.
Djokovic said he had no plans to get vaccinated and only hoped the entry restrictions will be eased for him to play at Flushing Meadows next month.
After completing victory in just over three hours, Djokovic raised his arms to the sky and after shaking hands with Kyrgios, he bent down to pluck some grass from the famous old court and tasted it before running up to his player’s box to kickstart the celebrations.
“It always has been and always will be the most special tournament in my heart, the one that motivated me, inspired me to start playing tennis in a small mountain resort in Serbia where my parents used to run a restaurant,” said an emotional Djokovic, who was also celebrating his eighth wedding anniversary with wife Jelena on Sunday.
“Every single time it gets more meaningful and more special, so I’m very blessed and very thankful to be standing here with the trophy.”
UNSEEDED OPPONENT
Competing in a men’s record 32nd major final on a sun-bathed Centre Court, the 35-year-old was facing an unseeded opponent who had never previously been beyond the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam.
In their only two meetings — both in 2017 — Djokovic did not win a set, failed to break the Kyrgios serve and had only a single break point opportunity.
Five years later, it was another sublime serving performance from the Australian during the early stages.
A couple of well-disguised drop shots from Kyrgios helped him set up two break points in the fifth game and a double fault from Djokovic brought up the first break of serve, which was enough for Kyrgios to take the set.
A focused Kyrgios, however, did not forget to entertain when he could. There was an underarm serve and he hit a return on the half volley between his legs to delight the crowd.
No-one, however, expected it to be an easy straight-sets match with Djokovic having not lost at the All England Club since retiring injured from his 2017 quarter-final against Czech Tomas Berdych.
Djokovic’s delivery went up a gear in the second set and the Serb slowly but surely started demonstrating why he is considered the best returner in the sport.
Once the level of the Kyrgios serve dropped in the second set, Djokovic was ready to pounce.
AUSTRALIAN FUMING
With Djokovic serving to level the match at one set apiece, however, Kyrgios raised his game to set up four break points, only for the top seed to save them all and convert his first set point to leave the Australian fuming.
Kyrgios poured out his frustrations in a lengthy rant aimed at his box and the Australian maverick was his usual hot-headed self during the third set as Djokovic started playing pristine tennis.
He was broken from 40-love up in the ninth game and continued swearing and screaming, earning himself a code violation for obscene language.
The drama across the net, however, did not have any impact on Djokovic’s focus.
After holding serve to win the third set he calmly collected his bag and left the court, leaving his opponent sitting on his chair and shaking his head in frustration.
After both players failed to create a break point in the fourth set, Djokovic dominated the tiebreaker and sealed the Championship on his third match point for his 28th straight Wimbledon win when Kyrgios found the net on a return.
“He’s a bit of God, I’m not gonna lie,” Kyrgios said. “He’s just really composed. It’s weird, I felt like he didn’t do anything amazing today.”
-Reuters
The Professional Tennis Players’ Association (PTPA) has filed a lawsuit against the sport’s governing bodies, accusing them of anti-competitive practices and a disregard for player welfare.
The PTPA, an independent players’ union co-founded by Novak Djokovic in 2019, said on March 18 that after years of good-faith efforts to reform professional tennis, it had been forced to take legal action to end “monopolistic control” of the sport.
In a statement, it said that along with more than a dozen players, the PTPA had filed papers in a New York court against the ATP Tour, the WTA Tour, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA).
“Tennis is broken,” said Ahmad Nassar, executive director of the PTPA.
“Behind the glamorous veneer that the defendants promote, players are trapped in an unfair system that exploits their talent, suppresses their earnings, and jeopardises their health and safety.
“We have exhausted all options for reform through dialogue, and the governing bodies have left us no choice but to seek accountability through the courts. Fixing these systemic failures isn’t about disrupting tennis, it’s about saving it for the generations of players and fans to come.”
In response, the ATP accused the PTPA of choosing “division and distraction” and having no meaningful role in the sport.
“We strongly reject the premise of the PTPA’s claims, believe the case to be entirely without merit, and will vigorously defend our position,” it said in a statement.
“ATP remains committed to working in the best interests of the game – towards continued growth, financial stability, and the best possible future for players, tournaments, and fans.”
The WTA defended its record of growing women’s tennis, describing the lawsuit as “baseless”.
“Every decision taken at the WTA Board level includes the input of players via their elected Board representatives, and athletes receive substantial financial rewards and other benefits from participation in the WTA,” the organisation said.
The ITF, meanwhile, stressed its goal is to ensure the growth of tennis as a global sport.
“As a not-for-profit organisation and global guardian of the game… we reinvest 90 per cent of our income into the global development of the game, via our 213 member National Associations,” an ITF spokesperson said.
Describing the various governing bodies as a “cartel”, the PTPA, which has also begun legal action in Britain and the EU, accuses them of paying “artificially low compensation to professional tennis players” and imposing a “draconian” ranking system that forces them to compete in certain tournaments.
The lawsuit also calls the schedule unsustainable, says players are made to play in extreme heat and often in the early hours of the morning, that tennis balls chosen by the tournaments are a factor in chronic injuries and that players’ privacy rights are being abused by random drug tests.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, the PTPA said it met with more than 250 players across the tours, including the majority of the men’s and women’s top 20.
“The overwhelmingly positive player feedback was a resounding confirmation – change is needed now, and players are united in their fight for reform,” the statement added.
Serbia’s 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic has been a fierce advocate for change to the organisation of tennis, insisting that the revenues generated by the sport are not fairly shared out to players.
“Women and men who are around 200 and lower ranked in the world, they are struggling a lot,” he said in a CBS 60 Minutes interview in 2023.
“They can’t afford a coach, they can’t afford travels, they skip tournaments, many of them leave tennis who are super talented and maybe capable of reaching great heights.”
The ITIA, which manages the sport’s anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, responded to the lawsuit by saying: “Any credible international sport requires robust anti-doping and anti-corruption programmes, and we are proud of our role in contributing to a clean and fair sport.”
-Reuters
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Jannik Sinner has accepted a three-month ban from tennis after the world No. 1 admitted team mistakes led to him twice testing positive for traces of banned substance clostebol in March 2024.
The February 9 to May 4 suspension means Sinner will be free to play in the French Open, the second grand slam of the season, which begins on May 25 at Roland Garros.
In a statement, Sinner said that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted that he “had no intent and did not derive any competitive advantage from the two positive tests”.
Australian Open champion Sinner has always said that clostebol entered his system when his physiotherapist used a spray containing it to treat a cut, then provided massage and sports therapy.
“This case had been hanging over me now for nearly a year and the process still had a long time to run with a decision maybe only at the end of the year,” Sinner said.
“I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realise Wada’s strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis I have accepted Wada’s offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction.”
Wada said separately that “Sinner did not intend to cheat” but that he would serve his suspension as he is responsible for the actions of his entourage.
The agreement between Sinner and Wada means that Sinner will be able to play in front of his home fans at the Rome Open which kicks off just after the end of his suspension and is the last big clay court tournament before Roland Garros.
-AFP
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Naomi Osaka has parted ways with coach Wim Fissette after four years together across two stints, the 26-year-old announced late on Friday.
The former world number one won two of her four Grand Slam titles under the guidance of the Belgian, but is currently 75th in the rankings having returned to the tour nine months ago after a lengthy maternity break.
“Four years, two slams and a whole lot of memories,” Osaka wrote in an Instagram post.
“Thanks Wim for being a great coach and an even greater person. Wishing you all the best.”
Of the 16 tournaments Osaka has played this season, she has made the quarter-finals in only two – Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch – and the Japanese player has also failed to go past the second round in each of the four Grand Slams
-Reuters
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