Novak Djokovic is promising fireworks after confirming his place in a blockbuster Wimbledon final with Nick Kyrgios.
Djokovic recovered from a shaky start to keep alive his hopes of a fourth straight Wimbledon crown - and seventh in total - with a 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4 semi-final triumph over great British hope Cam Norrie on Friday.
The comeback victory set the stage for an enthralling championship showdown on Sunday with Kyrgios,who's hoping to become Australia's first men's champion at the All England Club since Lleyton Hewitt reigned 20 years ago.
While Djokovic will be contesting his record-breaking 32nd grand slam final, Kyrgios will be playing in his long-awaited first following a drama-charged, controversy-laden march through the championships.
Kyrgios is striving to become the first unseeded player to win Wimbledon since Goran Ivanisevic - now Djokovic's coach - in 2001.
The Canberran has won both previous meetings with Djokovic, both on hard courts back in 2017 in Acapulco and Indian Wells.
"Well, one thing is for sure - there's going to be a lot of fireworks for sure emotionally from both of us," Djokovic said on court.
"Going to be his first grand slam final; he doesn't have much to lose and he's always playing like that.
"He's playing so freely, has one of the biggest serves in the game. Just a big game overall, a lot of power in his shots."
Nick Kyrgios' message to Rafael Nadal
Kyrgios expressed his hope to rekindle his rivalry with Rafael Nadal on another big stage after expressing disappointment at the great Spaniard's scratching from the pair's much-anticipated Wimbledon semi-final.
Kyrgios received a walkover through to the first grand slam final of his rollercoaster career when Nadal pulled out with an abdominal strain on Thursday night.
"It's not the way I wanted to get to the final. As a competitor, I really did want that match," Kyrgios said on Friday.
"It was obviously something that as soon as I beat (Cristian) Garin (in the quarter-finals), Rafa was a high possibility, someone I've had so many good battles with before.
"We've both taken a win against each other at this tournament. I really did want to see how the third chapter was going to go.
"Obviously you never want to see someone like that, so important to the sport, go down with an injury like that. He's just played so much tennis. He's had a gruelling season.
"I just hope he recovers. I'm sure I'll play him again on a big stage."
Despite his saloon passage through, Kyrgios said there was no hiding his excitement at getting an opportunity that he never dreamed of to play in a grand slam final.
"After everything, it's pretty cool," said the 27-year-old, a decade after winning the Wimbledon junior boys' doubles title with fellow Australian Andrew Harris.
"I never thought I'd be here at all, to be brutally honest with you.
"Obviously when I was No. 1 junior in the world and I was playing here as a junior, I can't give enough credit to juniors, what it did for my confidence.
"Being around the grand slams at that young age, being around some of the top players, the facility, I don't think I would have had the breakthrough in the men's so quickly. But I never thought that I'd be playing.
"I saw some of the professionals walking around and I'd be a junior here, and I never thought I'd be playing for the actual men's title.
"I feel like it's the pinnacle of tennis. Once you are able to raise a grand slam trophy, that's like, I mean, kind of what else is there to achieve?
"So I never thought I'd be here. I'm just super proud and I'm just ready to go. I'm going to give it my all and we'll see what happens."
Kyrgios said he only learned of Nadal's withdrawal while having dinner on Thursday night.
"Honestly, my first feeling was a bit of disappointment," he said ahead of his blockbuster championship decider on Sunday against top-seeded six-time champion Novak Djokovic.
"My energy was so focused on playing him and tactically how I'm going to go out there and play, the emotions of walking out there, all that type of stuff.
"But it wouldn't have been easy for him to do that. I'm sure that a lot of his team members and himself, there would be a part of him that wanted to play, for sure.
"He barely lost a match this year. He wanted to probably go for all four (slams). So it wouldn't be easy.
"Look, we've had a lot of run-ins, a lot of battles. I'm sure at the end of the day everyone did want to see us go to war out there.
"I hope he just gets better."
