It was a pretty good Ladies Final and Elena Rybakina could go from strength to strength on the WTA Tour after winning a maiden Grand Slam.
There is no doubting the quality of her tennis at her best, but Rybakina has the same issues as many on the WTA Tour in lacking the consistency to challenge for major prizes. Maybe the win at Wimbledon will give her a new sense of confidence, although she will unfortunately remain outside the top 10 of the World Rankings after all points were removed from the tournament.
Iga Swiatek will be the player to beat in New York City ahead of the final Grand Slam of the 2022 season, but I am hoping Elena Rybakina can kick her own career forward as the women's game continues to search for players to form real rivalries at the top of their sport.
On Sunday the attention turns to the Men's Final as the 2022 Wimbledon Championships come to a conclusion and there is every hope that this could be another fine way to end the tournament.
Novak Djokovic - 4.5 games v Nick Kyrgios: A few months ago, the tabloids and tennis fans would have been salivating for a match up between two players who have never really seen eye to eye at that stage of their lives. Nick Kyrgios had been particularly vocal with his criticism of the exhibition tournaments that Novak Djokovic and a number of others had arranged during the height of the Covid pandemic when all of the Tennis Tours had been postponed and he saved his most fiery comments for the then World Number 1.
So it came as a real surprise during the drama of the 2022 Australian Open that Novak Djokovic's biggest supporter on the Tour around his Visa issues was the same Nick Kyrgios.
The relationship seems to be much improved these days, but that should not take away any drama from the Wimbledon Final between two competitors that can get hot under the collar.
Novak Djokovic will go into the Final as the favourite despite losing the two previous Tour matches with Nick Kyrgios, although the last of those was played back in 2017. Both were top 20 Ranked players back then, while there will still be a huge amount of respect between the competitors with that mental edge likely going to give Nick Kyrgios confidence in trying to win his first ever Slam Final.
The serve has been a huge weapon for both players in those previous meetings, both on the hard courts, and it is Nick Kyrgios who has yet to be broken by Novak Djokovic. In fact, Novak Djokovic has only won 23% of return points in those matches compared with Nick Kyrgios' mark of 30% and this may be another match dominated by the serve.
Another factor is considering how much the time spent off the court has affected Nick Kyrgios- he did not have to play his Semi Final against Rafael Nadal and that means he has not played since Wednesday when beating Cristian Garin in the Quarter Final. It should mean he is fresh, but has the rhythm been lost a little bit?
Novak Djokovic has needed nine sets in his last two Rounds to earn his place in the Wimbledon Final yet again, but there may be some fatigue catching up with him which has to be a concern.
However, he is a player that knows exactly what it takes to win a Grand Slam and the six time Champion in SW19 is still capable of producing a grass court level that the likes of Nick Kyrgios are not able to reach consistently.
As good as the run has been to reach the Final, Nick Kyrgios has had things break his way with Matteo Berrettini and Rafael Nadal avoided. In the last three Rounds he continues to win the tight margins, but Novak Djokovic is playing at a different level and I think the way that Cristian Garin was able to get into the service games of Kyrgios is a potential problem for the Australian.
I expect Nick Kyrgios to serve well enough to have his chances and I do think he is capable of winning a set and maybe even two, but Novak Djokovic's return will build pressure. He might not have faced this serve for five years, but I expect Djokovic to make the adjustments needed during the course of this match as he did in the Quarter Final and Semi Final and I think the Serb will win a seventh title at Wimbledon and match his inspiration Pete Sampras.
MY PICK: Novak Djokovic - 4.5 Games @ 1.80 Bet Fred (2 Units)
Wimbledon 2022: 54-46, + 7.72 Units (200 Units Staked, + 3.86% Yield)
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