The Wimbledon men’s tournament is one in which Rafael Nadal won’t play due to injury, and it’s one in which Roger Federer will not be one of the top two favorites due to a lot of rust and uncertainty, flowing from injuries earlier in the season. Which players are in fact entering this tournament with a full head of steam?
Novak Djokovic
There is Djokovic, and then there’s everyone else. Djokovic stands in a class by himself, and no one can deny it. The World No. 1 has won the last four Grand Slam tournaments. He has made the final in each of his last six Grand Slam tournaments. He has won five of those finals. He has made almost 30 straight quarterfinals in Grand Slam tournaments. He has passed Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver for major titles and has tied Roy Emerson with 12. He is rapidly climbing up the leaderboard in men’s tennis history. He is destroying everyone who tries to get in his way. He has won the last two Wimbledon tournaments. He has made the final at Wimbledon every year since 2013, and he’s missed the Wimbledon final only once in the past five years. He is a complete player at the top of his game. He shows no real weakness, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear choice who can successfully defeat him.
Andy Murray
The man who might come the closest to beating Djokovic is also the man who will probably face him in the men’s final. Murray has played Djokovic in the Australian and French Open finals this year, losing both times without even being able to force a fifth set. Djokovic is clearly better in head-to-head play, but this doesn’t mean Murray will lack momentum. Murray is a strong No. 2 player in the world. He has increased his lead over Roger Federer for that place in the rankings. He made his first-ever French Open final a few weeks ago and played one of the best matches of his life when he whipped Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals. He is getting stronger and more balanced on all surfaces. He’s been consistent this year and does not seem to be the kind of player who will suffer a letdown at Wimbledon.
Djokovic definitely dominates this series but remember that these two once squared off in a matchup in the Wimbledon final and Murray got the win. Overall, Djokovic is 24-10 lifetime against Murray but they’ve only squared off on grass one time. That was in the aforementioned final when Murray triumphed. It’s possible that happens again.
Dominic Thiem
The two leaders in match wins for the ATP this season are Djokovic and Thiem. It’s true that Thiem has played a lot of ATP 250 tournaments. He has not collected a ton of points relative to his number of wins, but he has still moved up the rankings. Thiem beat Roger Federer in Stuttgart, and he reached the semifinals of the French Open with a strong performance against David Goffin. He has responded to all sorts of difficult situations and is learning how to take every opponent seriously.
There is no denying that he lacks the pedigree here. It would be hard to bet him to win Wimbledon outright as he just hasn’t proven himself worthy as of yet. However, he has a lot of momentum right now and he’s someone you’ll want to be backing to get to the second week of action/quarterfinals.
Florian Mayer
His recent years lost to injury, Mayer was wondering when or where his career would ever find a kick-start, something which would give the veteran new reason to believe that he could become a threat on tour.
That kick-start came a week ago in Halle, Germany. Mayer, a German, beat Thiem in the semifinals and then outlasted Alexander Zverev in the final to win the 500-point tournament and make a jump of almost 100 spots in the rankings. Mayer has rediscovered himself, and he now has reason to think he can make some noise at the All-England Club.
