Ivanisevic Praises Djokovic’s Wimbledon Win, Calls Kyrgios ‘Tennis Genius’

Novak Djokovic clawed closer to Rafael Nadal’s men’s singles record of 21 Grand Slam titles on Sunday when he defeated Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final. The Serbian’s coach, 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, was ecstatic for his charge.

“For me he was a favourite here. Before the tournament he really played some unbelievable tennis. But you still need to win the tournament, so it was not easy,” Ivanisevic said. “But [a] Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. He [has] 21. He really deserves it. He really deserves it.”

At the same time, Ivanisevic was highly complimentary of first-time major finalist Kyrgios, who pushed Djokovic to a fourth-set tie-break. The Croatian explained what makes facing the Australian so difficult.

“You cannot prepare [for a] match against Nick Kyrgios. Nick Kyrgios is a genius, tennis genius. He doesn’t know what he’s going to play next in the point,” Ivanisevic said. “We just concentrate [on] what Novak has to do, the things he has to do, the things he has to be careful [of]. When somebody [is] serving like Nick Kyrgios — for me [he] is the best server in the game by far. Unbelievable tennis player. [He] is very unpredictable.”

Kyrgios hit 30 aces and 62 total winners in the three-hour, one-minute final. Much of that time for Djokovic was spent fending off his opponent’s variety.

“It’s impossible to make tactics. [There are] no tactics,” Ivanisevic said. “Fifteen minutes, best returner in the world, he does not touch his serve. You get the chance, then he breaks him.”

Djokovic did not break Kyrgios’ serve in their first two ATP Head2Head meetings, but he converted two of his four opportunities on Sunday. That opportunistic play proved critical in the Serbian earning his seventh title at The Championships.

“The key point was to concentrate on what Novak has to do, and just to stick to those little things to be ready for the big serves, for the big second-serve winners,” Ivanisevic added.