Nick Kyrgios has been an inspired addition to BBC’s Wimbledon coverage this year, offering an affluent and insightful opinion in the punditry team from as close to someone currently on the tour as possible.
Nursing his various injury woes back to health, 2024 has been a year of trying out new things for the Australian, who has waded into the media in various forms.
He was once again on form today, as he took a leading role in the coverage of Carlos Alcaraz’s emphatic Wimbledon triumph over Novak Djokovic.
However, whilst he sought to avoid bias towards his good friend, elements of it did creep in, but he did leave fans with one question for them to ponder regarding his future that was not so positive…
Nick Kyrgios poses a Novak Djokovic question after Carlos Alcaraz defeat
Speaking live on BBC Sport after Alcaraz’s emphatic win, Nick Kyrgios posed a question to tennis fans the world over.
After all, it was a match that brought up far more questions than answers, as Djokovic was inexplicably eradicated by his young counterpart.
Few expected such a dominant final, but that was exactly what we got, with only the third set looking even remotely competitive.
The Serbian just didn’t show up, and Kyrgios was left particularly stunned by one thing Djokovic did mid-match.
So, it left Kyrgios wondering whether this finally marked the arrival of a new era in tennis.
He questioned: ‘The next conversation for all tennis fans to have is whether there will be one more slam left on the calendar for Novak Djokovic with Carlos Alcaraz beating him two times in a row in a final. Does Djokovic have enough to get one more slam?’
Is this Wimbledon final the changing of the guards?
Whilst last year’s Wimbledon final did little to separate the two, the gulf in class today was apparent.
After all, the 2023 clash was an instant classic, with Djokovic racing into a one-set lead, Alcaraz fighting back to then lead by two sets to one before being pegged back at 2-2, then winning the third and the title.
At 36 years old, despite his defeat, people were far more focused on just how mesmeric a performance it had been, going toe-to-toe with an adversary that was 16 years his youth.
There was still life in the old dog yet, and he proved that magnificently by winning the following US Open. The guards were yet to be changed. Not whilst he had anything to say about it.
But 2024 could not have gone more differently for Djokovic, who is yet to win a title and we are mid-way through July. The last time he went into August without a title was in 2005.
Today’s match was merely a microcosm for his entire season, and surely has represented the official changing of the guards.
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