With Wimbledon’s shocking ban of Russian and Belarussian tennis players, which included world number one Daniil Medvedev, an exciting, unpredictable tournament was to be expected by tennis fans around the globe. In addition, withdrawals from last year’s Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, Roland Garros semi-finalist Marin Cilic, and 2019 Wimbledon semi-finalist Roberto Bautista Agut due to contracting COVID-19 weakened the draw even further. Many eyes were on Nick Kyrgios, an incredibly talented but ill-tempered Australian who had recently had successful grass-court results and is known for playing well on fast courts.

When the draw first came out, all eyes were on a likely clash between world number four Stefanos Tsitsipas and the fiery Nick Kyrgios in the third round. The two of them have a very complicated relationship that stems all the way back to 2019. They were good friends back then and played doubles together at the 2019 Citi Open in Washington, D.C., but in 2021, they had an argument on Twitter about whether or not coaching should be allowed in tennis, taking some unfriendly swipes at each other in the process.

Both Kyrgios and Tsitsipas won their first two matches, and the third round matchup had been booked. And it didn’t disappoint. Code violations were given to both players for a variety of actions, such as smacking balls out of the stadium and loud swearing, eventually resulting in hefty fines for both. At one point in the match, Kyrgios argued with the umpire that Tsitsipas should have been defaulted because he allegedly hit a spectator when hitting a ball out of anger. Also, on multiple occasions, Tsitsipas tried to hit Kyrgios when given an easy ball during the point, even costing the Greek the point once since he missed the shot. Kyrgios won the match 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), prompting a sort of no-look handshake from Tsitsipas.

When Kyrgios made it to the semi-finals, he would meet 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. However, Nadal suffered an injury in his quarter-final match against American Taylor Fritz and was nowhere near his best, barely squeaking out the win in a fifth set tiebreak. In addition, it was later revealed that Nadal had a 7 mm tear in his abdominal, further decreasing the chances of him playing the match against Kyrgios. And finally, the day before the match was due to be played, Nadal pulled out, giving the Australian a walkover into his first Grand Slam final. His opponent would be none other than the one and only Novak Djokovic.

Kyrgios had never lost to Djokovic before. In fact, he hadn’t even lost a set. Having played twice in March 2017, in Acapulco and Indian Wells, Kyrgios got the better of the Serb in straight sets both times. Like the Kyrgios-Tsitsipas relationship, the Kyrgios-Djokovic relationship is extremely complicated. In an interview, Kyrgios called Djokovic’s celebration “cringeworthy” and said that Djokovic “wants to be liked so much.” In addition, he added, “Djokovic will never be the GOAT for me because if you can’t beat me, you’re not the GOAT.” This Wimbledon final felt like a chance for Djokovic to prove Kyrgios wrong. However, tensions between them have settled down since that interview, as when Djokovic was deported from Australia at the beginning of 2022, Kyrgios actually backed Djokovic and stated that the Australian government was wrong to deport the Serb. Kyrgios mentioned that they have sort of a “bromance” going and that they even text each other on Instagram now.

The highly hyped-up match between Kyrgios and Djokovic didn’t disappoint. Kyrgios pulled out some trickshots, such as tweeners and underhand serves, and Djokovic displayed some unbelievable offensive and defensive skills as well. Kyrgios showed a bit of his temper during the match, picking up a code violation for audible obscenity and often yelling at his player’s box for not cheering enough. Djokovic ended up winning the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), getting him his 21st Grand Slam and inching him ahead of Federer in the slam race. Nevertheless, Kyrgios’s tournament was still amazing, as his best result at a Grand Slam previously was a quarterfinal.

It is questionable whether or not Djokovic will be able to play the next two slams, the US Open this year and the Australian Open next year, due to the Serb not being vaccinated. So it was especially crucial for him to clinch the Wimbledon trophy this year.