Kyrgios to play maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon after Nadal's withdrawal
ATP
Nick Kyrgios will play in his first-ever Grand Slam singles final after Rafael Nadal withdrew from their semi-final match at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.
After defeating Paul Jubb, Filip Krajinovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Brandon Nakashima, and Cristian Garin, the 27-year-old Australian was supposed to face Rafael Nadal in the semi-final match at the Centre Court.
However, the Spaniard withdrew from the tournament, so Kyrgios became the first Wimbledon finalist in 2022 without having to step onto the court in his semi-final match.
That now also gives him a slight advantage over his final opponent, as the Australian player will have more time to recover after challenging two weeks of play in London.
Earlier this year, at the 2022 Australian Open, Kyrgios won his first doubles Grand Slam title alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis. Now, he'll face the winner of the match between the first-seeded Novak Djokovic and home-crowd favorite Cameron Norrie in the final.
It's no secret that the Australian player was looking forward to meeting Nadal, who he beat in 2014 at the All England Club, to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
But now, he has to focus on the final match, in which he might potentially face Djokovic. The Serbian would be an even greater obstacle on Kyrgios' journey than Nadal, as he will be trying to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, which would also be his 21st Grand Slam title.
If he faces the Serbian in the final match, Kyrgios can be confident as he never lost a set to Djokovic. He faced him twice in 2017, winning 7-6(9), 7-5 and 6-4, 7-6(3).
Yet, it's worth noting that 2017 has been the only season since 2010 when Djokovic hasn't won a Grand Slam title and also struggled with an injury. Despite that, Kyrgios is definitely capable of causing an upset if he faces the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
