Wimbledon men’s singles preview, prediction: Hunt for king slayer continues as Djokovic stand undisputed favourite

“Would I take Novak Djokovic compared to taking the other 127 players? That is very close. And I say that’s 50-50 between Novak or the field winning.” No statement, so far in the build-up to the Wimbledon 2023, has better put men’s singles draw in a nutshell than by the legendary Mats Wilander. The man has practically been unbeatable at the SW19 since 2017, winning all editions of the grass court Slam from 2018 onwards, hasn’t lost against a top-10 player since 2013 and has an insane Centre Court record of 39 straight wins that goes back to 2014. Hence the only question that the men’s draw poses is: Can anyone stop end the Serb’s reign at the All England Club?

FIRST QUARTER:

There are two names that the section of the draws throws – Carlos Alcaraz, who became the no.1 seed at the Wimbledon by virtue of his first-ever grass court title at The Queen’s Club last week, and the other is Holger Rune, seeded no.6, who made the semis in that event.

Despite his exploits on hardcourt, epitomised by his US Open win, and on clay, with back-to-back Masters 1000 titles in Madrid to show, the Spaniard hasn’t had a pleasant experience at Wimbledon so far, having failed to go past the fourth round in both his appearances. But 2023 will see a more confident Alcaraz heading to the All England Club as evident from his title run at The Queen’s, where he proved his champion qualities yet again.

With new-found rhythm on grass, Rune too will be optimistic of his chances at the Slam this year and put behind his shock first-round loss at Wimbledon last year. He did reach the semis at The Queen’s without dropping a set, before being halted by Alex de Minaur, who is also part of this draw and could pose a threat to Rune, given the Aussie cracks the Alcaraz code in a possible fourth-round meeting after failing to do so the Cinch Championship final.

In a bid to hope for a battle of the Next Gen stars in what could be a blockbuster quarterfinal, Alcaraz will have go through Arthur Rinderknech, who almost threatened him two weeks back, in a potential second-round clash while one between Alexander Zverev, 2021 finalist Matteo Berrettini and De Minaur awaits in the fourth round; while Rune will have to watch out for one between Stuttgart Open winner Frances Tiafoe and former Wimbledon semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov in the pre-quarters.

SEMIFINALIST: Alcaraz beat Tiafoe

SECOND QUARTER:

The first thing that catches the eye is the popcorn first-round tie between Doiminic Thiem and Stefanos Tsistsipas, the winner of which could get to face two-time Wimbledon winner Andy Murray, who heads to the tournament with a 10-1 record which includes back-to-back challenger titles and first-round loss to De Minaur at The Queen’s. Well, at the look of it, the Greek has been handed a tough draw with his next big threat being in the fourth round where he could 2022 semifinalist Cameron Norrie, although the local favourite faces his own set of challenges in Mallorca Open winner Christopher Eubanks, possibly in the second round, and Sebastian Korda, who made the semis at The Queen’s and beating the Brit in the quarters.

The other top-seeded player in this section of the draw is Daniil Medvedev, who like Tsitsipas, heads into the major on the back of a poor run. His earliest threat will be in the fourth round against one between Francisco Cerundolo and Tommy Paul, who is likely to set themselves up for a repeat of the Eastbourne final, which the former won.

SEMIFINALIST: Korda beat Medvedev

THIRD QUARTER:

It has Casper Ruud, who has reached three finals in his last five Grand Slam events, however, the run does include a record-round exit in 2022 Wimbledon. His style does not suit grass and to top it all, he has not been part of any event since the loss to Djokovic in the French Open final a month back. His earliest threat could be 2021 semifinalist Denis Shapovalov, in the third round, and 2019 semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut, who also made the penultimate round in Halle Open last week, in the fourth round.

That leaves Jannik Sinner the favourite? Well, the run in 2022, where he beat Alcaraz and then took two sets off Djokovic in the quarterfinal, certainly does make him a threatening player in this quarter. Not to forget, he did make the last eight in Halle Open before limping off the court with an injury. His only obstacle could be Taylor Fritz, who gave Rafael Nadal a run for his money in 2022 quarterfinal. However, his recent run of form does pose a question. The American will have a tough job at hand as he kicks off his campaign against an in-form Yannick Hanfmann.

SEMIFINALIST: Sinner beat Bautista Agut

FOURTH QUARTER:

SEMIFINALIST – Djokovic. That is where it ends.

The world no.2 face an early obstacle in familiar rival Stan Wawrinka before possibly setting up a repeat of 2022 final against Nick Kyrgios. Guess the Australian wouldn’t mind that. But it will be tough ask for the No.30 seed, who has played only one match in 2023 owing to his knee injury and had lost that. Besides, he has been handed a tough draw, staring his campaign against David Goffin, with Halle Open finalist Andrey Rublev waiting in the third round and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fourth.

SEMIFINALS: Alcaraz beat Korda; Djokovic beat Sinner

FINAL: Djokovic beat Alcaraz