Get your tennis tips for the men’s section of the 2023 Wimbledon draw. Grand slam dominator Novak Djokovic is a red-hot favourite to salute at the All England Club for the fifth time – is Carlos Alcaraz or anyone else capable of stopping the Serbian legend?
Top Contenders
Novak Djokovic
At 36 years of age and with a much-reduced tour schedule, Novak Djokovic still appears to be at the peak of his powers on the grand slam stage. The modern legend has responded to a controversy-ravaged 2022 stymied by vaccination status bans to win the first two majors of 2023 – a 10th Australian Open and a third French Open – in emphatic style. Djokovic has won the last four Wimbledon’s and is aiming to join Roger Federer on a record eight titles at the All England Club, as well as match Federer and Bjorn Borg’s mark of five in a row and extend his all-time record for slams, which now stands at 23. The second seed phenomenally short in the market but it’s hard to see anyone rolling him.
Carlos Alcaraz
World No.1 and reigning US Open champion Alcaraz again came up short at the French Open – this time as a hot favourite for the trophy – as cramps thwarted his bid to beat Djokovic in the semis. Inexperienced on grass, Alcaraz enjoyed a breakthrough last week by taking out the Queen’s Club Championships with wins over the likes of Grigor Dimitrov, Sebastian Korda and Alex de Minaur. An explosive, brilliant talent, the 20-year-old seems certain to go deeper than his Round of 16 appearance last year.
Jannik Sinner
A quarter-finalist in three of the four majors in 2022, Sinner took a two-set lead against Djokovic in the Wimbledon quarters but was agonisingly run down. Reaching the Rotterdam Open and Miami Masters finals have been the highlights of the world No.8’s season so far. Sinner was building some momentum early in the grass swing but an abductor muscle injury forced his retirement during the Halle Open quarter-finals.
Daniil Medvedev
Denied the opportunity to compete last year due to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian players, Medvedev will have a point to prove – but he hasn’t been beyond the fourth round at the All England Club. He does have three ATP finals on grass (all in 2021-22) to his credit, though, while the 2021 US Open champ has collected five titles on tour this year, including Miami and Rome Masters. Recent form, beginning with a shock first-round French Open exit to Thaigo Seyboth Wild, hasn’t been a bit underwhelming from the world No.3.
Taylor Fritz
World No.9 Fritz doesn’t arrive in the best shape form-wise, dipping out in the third round of the French Open and making a string of early exits on the grass swing to date. But the big-serving American made an impressive charge to the quarters here in 2022 – losing an epic five-setter to Rafael Nadal – his best at grand slam level. Fritz has also underlined his grass-court chops in the past by twice taking out the Eastbourne International.
Best Roughie
Alex De Minaur
The 2021 Eastbourne International champion has continued to improve on grass, reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time last year and reaching the Queen’s Club Championships last week. Sydney’s de Minaur upset big gun Holger Rune in the semis before falling to Alcaraz. Realistically, the world No.18 is a longshot – but a spot in the quarters or even a maiden slam semi are not beyond him.