Wimbledon 2022: 3 Factors that might determine the fate of Novak Djokovic's clash with Nick Kyrgios in the final

Top seed and six-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia will take on Nick Kyrgios of Australia in the final of the Wimbledon Championships on Sunday. Djokovic will start as the odds-on favorite to win his seventh title at the All England club and 21st Grand Slam title overall. The Serb has not lost a match at Wimbledon since 2017 and will take some beating on Sunday.

Kyrgios, though, will fancy his chances as he is yet to lose to the Serb and has beaten Djokovic in each of their two previous encounters. However, none of them were best-of-five matches. It is extremely difficult for any player to wear Novak Djokovic down and win three sets against him, as both Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie found out despite making good starts against the Serb.

On that note, let's take a look at three factors that might determine the outcome of the match:

#1 Kyrgios’ mighty serve coming up against Djokovic’s outstanding returning ability

Nick Kyrgios' serve is a very potent weapon

Nick Kyrgios is known to have a very powerful serve and will definitely look to win a few easy points off it on Sunday. He fired 17 aces in the quarterfinals against Cristian Garin and will expect a similar kind of return in the final as well.

However, he is yet to come up against a returner of Djokovic’s caliber in the tournament. The 35-year-old Serb will look to punish Kyrgios’ second serve and will certainly have a few opportunities to do so. Kyrgios will look to win points through his powerful one-two punch, but will have to maintain a healthy first-serve ratio to pose a serious challenge to the Serb.

#2 Djokovic targeting Kyrgios’ backhand with his crosscourt backhand

Kyrgios has a powerful forehand and has hit a lot of winners off it in the tournament so far. Djokovic will be aware of that and hence, might target the Australian’s backhand more frequently. The Serb is likely to play a lot of crosscourt backhand shots to Kyrgios’ backhand side and thereby not allow the Australian to play too many shots off his forehand.

Djokovic might also play a lot of slices to Kyrgios’ backhand, which might compel the Australian to play the subsequent shot higher. This might provide Novak Djokovic with the opportunity to hit the next shot for an outright winner with his forehand. It will be interesting to see as to how well Kyrgios’ backhand rises to the challenge.

#3 Djokovic’s superior net skills testing Kyrgios

Novak Djokovic demonstrated his net skills extensively against Norrie by repeatedly playing quality approach shots and then coming up with volley winners. He also frequently played drop shots to drag the Brit into the net before winning points.

The Serb might employ the same tactic against Kyrgios and the Australian could find it difficult to deal with. The 27-year-old Kyrgios’ court coverage could be put to a stern test by the above tactic and it remains to be seen whether he can match the Serb’s net skills on Sunday.