Wimbledon, as always, an oasis of calm and a homecoming for me. Even in these interesting times that London and indeed Britain are going through.
For Novak Djokovic, it’s a special venue where he has had incredible success and I don’t see that change this time as well. Novak is now the holder of all four Grand Slams and is really in the best phase of his career. He is defending champion here and while that does not guarantee a repeat, one has to acknowledge the areas of his game that have been strengthened with each passing year.
At present, he is returning really well. Traditionally, grass is seen as a surface where the big servers prosper. That is not entirely accurate, as several champions have actually won this tournament on the back of their returns. Novak and Andy Murray possess the best returns in the game today and perhaps that is why they tend to do well in Grand Slams in general and Wimbledon, more specifically. Novak has also worked really hard on his serves over the years, and his slice serve has been a valuable weapon on grass.
He reached Wimbledon 10 days ago and is working away quietly on the grass courts. Novak never plays in the warm-up grasscourt tournaments that serve as a preparation to Wimbledon. He has played the final at Paris for the last few years and for him, the best way to prepare for Wimbledon is to unwind and spend time away from the game for a few days before hitting the practice courts.
It’s really a case of different strokes for different folks. For instance, local boy Murray plays at Queen’s and normally heads for Wimbledon on the back of a good show there — he has won at Queen’s five times. I expect him to be a strong contender at Wimbledon, with his rivalry against Novak really becoming a special one.
The French Open, with the withdrawal of Roger Federer and the injury to Rafael Nadal, silently but firmly suggests that the heady era of the Big Four is over. I do feel that Federer might just have one more Grand Slam, particularly Wimbledon, in him but the Novak-Murray duo is the one to watch out for.
Add to that a group of youngsters who are knocking very loudly at the door! The likes of Nicholas Kyrgios, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem have had very good results recently, results which suggest that we could see one or all of them deep into the second week at Wimbledon.
However, the man to beat is Novak and he is working at his defence campaign one game at a time. There is no talk of a Grand Slam at all — that can only come into the reckoning if he makes it to the second week at the US Open. Only a naive player will think about it so far ahead.
SW19 is abuzz with champions and future champions, but there are a few of us old-timers out there as well. It’s absolutely wonderful to have my contemporaries like Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe in the change rooms.
McEnroe is coaching Milos Raonic while Lendl is back with Murray after the latter parted ways with Amelie Mauresmo a couple of months ago. I particularly look forward to seeing how McEnroe goes about it in the player’s box.
Interesting times lie ahead.
(Gameplan)
