Nick Kyrgios will be well rested entering his first career Grand Slam semifinal and bettors believe he stands a chance of upsetting heavily favored Novak Djokovic in the men’s final at Wimbledon on Sunday.
Kyrgios battled his way to his first career Grand Slam semifinal appearance and then received a break when Rafael Nadal withdrew due to an abdominal injury. The tempestuous Australian watched as Djokovic rallied from a set down to dispatch of Cameron Norrie in four sets in Friday’s other semifinal.
Djokovic was installed as the -375 favorite by BetMGM and the -425 favorite by DraftKings ahead of Sunday’s final, when the Serbian will attempt to win his fourth consecutive title at the All England Club.
However, the early action was heavily sided toward Kyrgios, who was drawing 67 percent of the bets and 91 percent of the handle at DraftKings to upset Djokovic.
A six-time Wimbledon champion, Djokovic will compete in his 32nd career Grand Slam final on Sunday against the 27-year-old Kyrgios.
“One thing for sure, there is going to be a lot of fireworks emotionally from both of us,” Djokovic said of Sunday’s match. “It is going to be his first Grand Slam final. He is very excited and he doesn’t have much to lose and he is always playing like that. He is playing so freely, one of the biggest serves in the game.
“Just a big game overall, a lot of power in his shots. We haven’t played for some time. I have never won a set off him. Hopefully it can be different this time.”
Djokovic, 35, has dropped both of his career encounters against Kyrgios — both in 2017.
Kyrgios, however, admitted Friday that he had trouble sleeping while thinking of his upcoming championship match.
“I was just restless, so many thoughts in my head about a Wimbledon final. That’s all I was thinking about,” Kyrgios said. “I was thinking just playing, obviously imagining myself winning, imagining myself losing, everything.”
–Field Level Media