Good morning from Wimbledon folks. It is that time again as the year’s best tournament rolls around.
The grass is looking pristine, the weather forecast is promising and most importantly the action should be as thrilling as ever. In the men’s draw, seven-time Wimbledon champion and 23-time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic begins his defence of the title in the traditional first match on Centre Court slot.
He is the man to beat as he looks to continue his bid for a calendar grand slam. The greatest threat to Djokovic? For the sake of the event, it’s hoped world No 1 and recent Queen’s Club champ Carlos Alcaraz can go deep.
“I ended the week playing at a high level so right now I feel one of the favourites to win Wimbledon, but I have to get more experience on grass,” Alcaraz said.
“Novak is the main favourite to win Wimbledon. But I’ll try to play at this level to have chances to beat him or make the final. I saw a stat that said Novak has won more matches at Wimbledon than the other top 20 players (combined). What can you say about that?”
On the women’s side, it is very hard to pick a winner. No 1 Iga Swiatek leads a clear ‘Big Three’ comprising of Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and Kazakhstan’s Moscow-born reigning champion Elena Rybakina.
The trio have dominated the last five Grand Slams with Swiatek winning three and Rybakina and Sabalenka one apiece.
“I think she can’t really at this point feel super confident on the grass. I think she feels confident,” three-time Wimbledon champion Chris Evert said.
She’s number one in the world, the best player in the world, but this surface may take away a little bit of her strength.”
American teenager Coco Gauff, seeded seven, will be seeking to better her previous runs to the last 16 at Wimbledon in 2019 and 2021, while Jabeur’s mercurial game should give her another tilt at the title.
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko and 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova are all amongst the top 20 seeds.
