Novak Djokovic advances to eighth Wimbledon final, will face Nick Kyrgios

Novak Djokovic is headed to his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final after defeating Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. It'll be his eighth final appearance at Wimbledon and fourth since 2018 after the 2020 tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Djokovic also broke Roger Federer's record for most Grand Slam men's singles final appearances with his 32nd on Friday.

Djokovic, 35, will face Australian Nick Kyrgios, 27 in the final after Rafael Nadal withdrew because of an abdominal injury. The two haven't faced off since 2017 when Kyrgios beat Djokovic twice — at Indian Wells and Acapulco. Oddly enough, Kyrgios won in straight sets both times.

“There’s going to be a lot of fireworks," Djokovic said after Friday's match. "We haven’t played for some time. Never won a set off him.”

Both are very different players now, though. Djokovic has reached 11th Grand Slam finals since then and won seven of them — including Wimbledon every year since 2018. He's going for his 88th career title in the Open Era. Kyrgios, meanwhile, has never reached a Grand Slam final before advancing to this year's because of Nadal's injury.

Djokovic's path back to another Wimbledon wasn't easy. Norrie shocked the Serbian with a surprising 6-3 opening set win. Djokovic found his groove and delivered his signature shots throughout his second- and third-set wins and looked poised to cruise in the fourth set after taking an early 3-1 lead. But Norrie refused to go quietly and battled back to within one game of Djokovic before Djokovic grabbed the set to win the match.

"I didn't start out well," Djokovic said. "[Norrie] was the better player in the first set. Cameron didn't have much to lose. He played the tournament of his life."

This win set extends Djokovic's match-winning streak to 27 on grass.