TENNIS
Can Murray threaten Djokovic’s reign and Alcaraz’s stardom at Wimbledon?
The Brit is getting ready for Wimbledon and his recent victories on grass made him a dangerous opponent for the favorites.
Two weeks. That’s the time the players have to prepare for Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam tournament of the season.
After winning the French Open and lifting the 23rd major of his career, Novak Djokovic took a well-deserved break from the courts to spend some time with his family and come back fresh for the grass challenge at the All-England Club.
Nole now tops the ATP rankings again after his victory in Paris and will be the main favorite to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. He recently announced he won’t compete again until the tournament begins, so he’s expected to make the clay-grass transition with his team in training sessions.
Meanwhile, the spotlight will also be on Carlos Alcaraz. The 20-year-old Spanish prodigy has recovered from the cramps that didn’t allow him to play at his best level against Djokovic at the beginning of the third set of the Roland Garros semifinals.
Carlitos admitted he recovered completely two days later but will be aiming to make a huge statement in London when he starts the quest for the second major of his young career.
Although the Murcia native is an all-around player and has the tools to win any of the big four tournaments in the calendar, the grass is probably the most challenging surface for him, as he hasn’t played many tournaments in these conditions.
Moreover, he will need to adapt his power and speed to a very different surface, where he will need to make more efforts to return the same balls he used to in clay when he could slide to get to them.
Murray’s last chance to shock the world?
While all eyes are on Djokovic and Alcaraz, there’s a third name that probably should be taken into consideration when speaking about winning the next major.
Right after Djokovic’s win in Paris, Andy Murray said with some irony that he hoped the Serb wouldn’t take part in any of the grass competitions before Wimbledon, meaning he would have little chance of lifting any trophy before Wimbledon.
At the same time, though, the two-time Wimbledon champion stated that he saw himself as a top-10 grass player, sending a warning at the start of the grass campaign.
The truth is that he has backed his words up so far. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner has emerged victorious in the last 10 games he has played, nine of them in straight sets, lifting the title at the Surbiton and the Nottingham challengers.
Although he hasn’t made it to the second week at Wimbledon since losing to Sam Querrey in the quarterfinals in 2017, he seems fully recovered from the multiple injuries he has had over the last few years.
Besides that, at 36, he probably doesn’t have the pressure he used to and seems to be enjoying tennis on his favorite surface. And the fact that the crowd will be supporting him in every match he plays could be an extra factor for the Scottish player to try to make history in this year’s edition of Wimbledon.