Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon

Nick Kyrgios believes he has the game to challenge for the biggest titles in the future as he looks to take confidence from his run to his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon.

The Australian won the first set against Novak Djokovic Sunday, before the Serbian turned the tables to clinch his seventh crown at The Championships on Centre Court.

“My level is right there. I feel like you look at what Novak has done to some other opponents, it's not a good feeling. But I'm right there,” Kyrgios said in his post-match press conference. “I'm not behind the eight ball at all. I played a Slam final against one of the greatest of all time, and I was right there.

“[I will take] confidence. It was a hell of an occasion… I came out in the first set and I looked like I was the one who had played in a lot of finals. I thought I dealt with the pressure pretty well.”

The Australian, who felt he ‘belonged’ on the biggest stage during his defeat against the Serbian, leaves London holding a 12-3 record on grass in 2022.

Kyrgios, who won the Australian Open men’s doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis in January, believes his performances on the lawns in London have further signified the belief that he is moving in the right direction.

“[I] feel like my fire's been lit this whole year. I've obviously met a lot of amazing people this year who have just given me extra motivation,” Kyrgios said. “To find people that have my back, that I just love being around, and they just want to push me to be a better person and to be a better tennis player. They realise that I'm immensely talented and feel [I have] a lot more to do in this sport.”

The 27-year-old had taken a 2-0 ATP Head2Head series lead into his match against Djokovic, having not dropped a set across their previous meetings.

However, Sunday’s encounter was their first at a major, a stage Djokovic has tasted so much success at. The top seed was competing in a record 32nd Grand Slam final, while Kyrgios was making his maiden major championship match appearance.

The World No. 40 feels that Djokovic’s experience showed in the key moments, with the Serbian capturing his 21st Grand Slam title.

“I felt like he just has so much experience to draw to. He's won the tournament four times in a row. When you win an event that much, when you've been in those situations, it's unbelievable,” Kyrgios said. “You can tell yourself you've been here before. The confidence and the belief in yourself, that only comes with achievement or something that he's achieved like that many times. I can only imagine how confident he feels every day, especially at Wimbledon, walking around.”

Novak Djokovic used his steady brilliance to beat the ace-delivering, trick-shot-hitting Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3) on Sunday for a fourth consecutive Wimbledon championship and seventh overall.

"It's weird. I felt like he didn't do anything amazing today,'' said the unseeded Kyrgios, offering an assessment with which some might not concur, given that Djokovic accumulated 31 winners and merely eight unforced errors over the last two sets, while facing zero break points in that span.

"But he was just so composed. That's what I was just thinking to myself. In big moments, it just felt like he was never rattled. I feel like that's his greatest strength: He just never looks rattled," said Kyrgios, about whom those words likely have not been uttered. "He just looks completely within himself the whole time. Didn't look like he was playing over-aggressive, even though it felt like he was playing big.''

Novak Djokovic won his seventh Wimbledon title on Sunday, one shy of Roger Federer's record eight championships at the All England Club. Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Among men, only Roger Federer, with eight, has won more titles at Wimbledon than Djokovic, and only Rafael Nadal owns more major trophies, with 22.

"The more you win, it's logical the more confident, the more comfortable you feel out there every next time you step out on the court,'' said the top-seeded Djokovic, who was pleased to hear some spectators at Centre Court chanting his nickname, "No-le! No-le!'' as he served out the final point of a tremendously well-played tiebreaker.

As of now, Djokovic will not be able to try to pull even with Nadal by winning the US Open, which begins in late August: The 35-year-old Serbian can't enter the United States because he decided not to get any shots against COVID-19, the same reason Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January.

"I'm not vaccinated,'' Djokovic said Sunday, "and I'm not planning to get vaccinated.''