It’s hard to look beyond the defending champion, Andy Murray, and Roger Federer, as favourites to win the silver salver in Wimbledon. That said, it might just be the short-sightedness of us experts since it’s always hard to discount the likes of Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, both of whom have won Wimbledon multiple times.
For Murray, Wimbledon is always special and now that he has won twice, he seems to have learnt to live with the pressure and expectations from the adoring home crowd. He had a very forgettable first half of the season but did find some rhythm at the French Open. It helps that he has a settled set-up with Jamie Murray and Ivan Lendl forming the core of a very stable support team. I just am not convinced that he is in peak fitness and perhaps that’s all that can keep him away from the top spot here.
Federer has paced his run-up to Wimbledon rather well. He forsook the clay season to ensure that his body and mind were fresh for the grass circuit. He then opted to play two warm-up tournaments, was ousted in one and won at Halle. The latter win must be particularly heartening since it was against Alexander Zverev, one of the big stars of the future. Federer is looking fresh, fit and motivated which in itself is a remarkable feat for a 35-year-old. The Australian Open win must also have made him believe what I personally have believed always — that he is one of the favourites in any Grand Slam.
The other two players who can never be too far away from a discussion on Grand Slam favourites are Nadal and Djokovic. Nadal has been looking as fit as he ever has been and has a serious and real chance in this tournament. He is set to meet Murray in the semi-finals but I doubt he is thinking that far at the moment. The challenge for Nadal at Wimbledon has always been the fact that he starts slow and often gets ousted in the first week itself! If the champion can last out the first week, he will build enough momentum to go the distance. On grass, Nadal just gets better and more comfortable with every passing round. For Djokovic, too, it’s the first round that might be challenging. He has a new team and coach so it will be interesting to see what impact that has on the former champion.
Among the young players, I feel Nicholas Kyrgios has the game that’s most suited to grass. However, I am not sure where he is mentally and that might be a problem. Zverev, too, plays well on grass and is a clever player so he would fancy his chances. Dominic Thiem, who was so impressive in the clay season, might just be a little less comfortable and I would be surprised, and impressed, if he goes far.
The guys below the radar are the eternal underdog Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic. The latter is an excellent player on grass and really could challenge the whole lot of favourites if his first serve lasts the two weeks. (Gameplan)
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