Novak Djokovic beats feisty Nick Kyrgios to become 2022 Wimbledon champion

Novak Djokovic overcame feisty Australian Nick Kyrgios to win the 2022 Wimbledon men's singles title in a sweltering hot Centre Court on Sunday (10 July).

The Serb raised his arms aloft after sealing a 4-6- 6-3 6-4 7-6 win - his fourth-consecutive on the grass of SW19 and his 21st tennis Grand Slam crown overall.

The 35-year-old now matches American Pete Sampras in claiming seven Wimbledon men's singles titles, while only Swiss Roger Federer on eight has won more in the Open era.

The win also puts the Belgrade-born player just one behind Spaniard Rafael Nadal on the men's Grand Slam leaderboard.

Kyrgios put on a serving masterclass in the first set, which he took 6-4.

In the second set, a wonderful shot from the Aussie saw him go 30-0 up on Djokovic's serve and initiate a roar from the 15,000-strong crowd.

An increasingly agitated Kyrgios created three break points, but Djokovic managed a fantastic hold of serve before taking the set 6-3 and the match level at one set all.

The Serbian then stamped his authority on the match, winning the third set 6-4, before holding his nerve in a fourth-set tie-break to win his first major of the season.

In celebration of the player who keeps breaking tennis records, we look at the numbers that not only make up Djokovic’s career but also those in his personal life.

Novak Djokovic's two children

Novak and his wife Elena have two children – Stefan, 8, and Tara, 4. In super-cute scenes, Stefan was regularly seen on the practice courts in the past two weeks helping his father prepare for the tournament.

Djokovic loves that his son is interested in tennis but is very keen that his children try all sorts of sports before specialising in one, like he did.

"It's important for me that we have a relationship as a father and son, first of all, primary, before anything else, and that he's enjoying life, that he's having fun,” Djokovic said per Tennis Tonic. “He's trying different sports. Super important. I was growing up with skiing, football, tennis, martial arts, different things.

"I feel like it's very important to have, particularly at this young age, a lot of stimulus to the children from different perspectives and different sports and different movement, different activities."

Fourth-consecutive Wimbledon title

It is a fourth-consecutive title on the grass of SW19 for the 35-year-old, making that seven in total.

The most Wimbledon titles won in the Open era is by Cezch-American Martina Navratilova with nine, followed by Federer on eight. Djokovic now joins Steffi Graf (Germany) and Americans Serena Williams and Pete Sampras on seven.

However, it’s at the Australian Open where Djokovic has had the most success, claiming nine singles titles spanning 2008-21.

32 major finals

Djokovic set a men's record with today’s victory by playing in his 32nd major final.

He has not lost a match at the Championships since 2017, when he retired with an arm injury in the second set of the quarter-final against Czech Republic's Tomas Berdych.

1,000 ATP matches

Last month, Djokovic became just the fifth man to win 1,000 ATP Tour-level matches after beating Norway's Casper Ruud in the semi-final of the Italian Open in Rome.

He joins Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafael Nadal in passing the landmark.

"I am blessed and privileged to have that many victories," Djokovic said.

"Seeing Roger and Rafa celebrate these milestones in the last couple years, I was looking forward to getting to that milestone myself.

After the match against Djokovic, Kyrgios described his opponent as 'a bit of a god', before thanking the umpire – acknowledging their tricky relationship - and then thanking the crowd for their support in an incredible two weeks. When asked if he wants more now, Kyrgios said: "Absolutely not! I'm so tired."

Djokovic, meanwhile, only had kind words for his opponent, which he admitted surprised him due to their previously fractious relationship.

"Nick, you’ll be back, not just in Wimbledon but in the final. It’s tough to find consolation words but you showed why you deserve to be one of the best players in the world and I wish you all the best.

"I never thought I’d say so many nice things about you considering the relationship we had – okay, it’s officially a bromance."