Novak Djokovic storms into Wimbledon final, beats Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to set up clash with Nick Kyrgios

Just six games and about halfway into the 32-minute opening set of their Wimbledon semi-final on Friday, Cameron Norrie had statistically already done better than in his entire previous meeting with Novak Djokovic: a 6-2, 6-1 thrashing at the 2021 ATP Finals.

Leading by four games to two and then a set to love, the current British No. 1—with a packed Centre Court crowd rooting for one of their own—couldn’t have possibly asked for a more out-of-tune Djokovic to get locked in for a dogged fight. Instead, he disintegrated. And Djokovic, for a second match running in this tournament, woke up from his starting slumber to a cantered finish.

A 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory takes Djokovic to his 32nd Grand Slam final, the most by any male player, and one victory away from sitting alongside Pete Sampras’s seven Wimbledon titles while breaking away from the Grand Slam tally of 20 that he presently shares with Roger Federer. The mercurial Australian Nick Kyrgios, a first-time Grand Slam finalist with tricks and tantrums aplenty, awaits on Sunday after a three-day break and a semi-final walkover by the injured Rafael Nadal.

“One thing is for sure, there’s going to be a lot of fireworks,” Djokovic chuckled in an on-court interview.

Fireworks were what the lone men’s singles semi-final of the 2022 Wimbledon lacked. The sluggish start belied the occasion and Djokovic, the three-time defending champion, put it down to nerves.

“I didn’t start off well. I’ve had in the past many semi-finals, but it’s never easy walking out on the court. There’s a lot of pressure, expectations from yourself and others. Cameron had nothing to lose,” he said.

Djokovic was tight while the 12th-ranked Norrie was error-prone as the two traded breaks to begin with. A drop volley winner after a tweener lob from Djokovic was one of the sporadic glimpses of quality in a set in which the first five games saw three breaks of serve.

The southpaw Norrie was targeting the Serb’s forehand with his flat backhands. As flat as Djokovic looked out there. A wild forehand to a mistimed return that sat up to be put away encapsulated Djokovic’s opening act, as he was broken for the third time in the seventh game. It wasn't as if Norrie—who before this Wimbledon had never made it past the third round of a Slam—was playing breathtaking tennis himself. He managed only 45% first serves in and five winners to his opponent’s seven. And yet, with a slight jump and a solid fist bump, Norrie returned to his chair with a 6-2 scoreline.

From thereon, however, all the Serb had to do was tidy up his serve—the first serve percentage shot up from 55 to 78 in the second—and put the ball back into play—the unforced error number crashed from 12 to 5—and let Norrie’s plummeting levels take over. A straightforward forehand putaway missed here, a backhand meeting the net there.

To make matters worse for the Brit, a slight slip in the seventh game appeared to have bothered him, especially mentally even if not too much physically. Norrie surrendered four straight games after that, including one that followed to gift-wrap Djokovic the break for 5-3 and the second set, and the opening game of the third to hand the Serb the early edge.

Djokovic, meanwhile, was increasingly feeling comfortable; him coming at the net to finish off points was a sign of the six-time champion being more at ease and in command. And when Norrie struck a backhand long in the fifth game, Djokovic was up a double break and away with a roar towards the spectators.

Any chances of Norrie’s fading hopes rekindling were blacked out when he failed to hold serve to kick-start the fourth set as a typically solid return by Djokovic induced a forehand error from Norrie. And even though Norrie dug deep to hold a lengthy game for 2-3, Djokovic took care of business from his end. The Serb finished with an unreturned serve and unreturned kisses to the crowd. He will, however, return to Centre Court on Sunday for a crack at No. 7.

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