TENNIS
Who are the favorites in the men’s and women’s brackets at Wimbledon 2023?
The third Grand Slam tournament of the calendar starts on Monday and we take a look at the favorites to lift the trophy.
All is set at the All England Club to host Wimbledon’s 136th edition, the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament.
Players will compete in London after featuring in some ATP 250 and 500 grass events, but the grass season is the shortest one, as there’s only a three-week difference between the end of the French Open and the start of Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic will hope to win his fifth title in London after lifting the title in Roland Garros, while Iga Swiatek will try to go all the way in a tournament she has never won.
Who are the Wimbledon favorites?
When it comes to the men’s singles category, there are a few names with real options of winning, but there’s one that comes up in people’s minds automatically: Novak Djokovic.
The Serb has been the most dominant player in Wimbledon in recent times alongside Roger Federer and seems more than ready to win his third major of the year.
The Serb, who won his 23rd Grand Slam tournament in Paris, overtaking Rafa Nadal with the most majors won ever, will be looking to keep making history to keep distancing himself from the other two ‘Big Three’ members.
If Nole is the favorite to emerge victorious, the player with the most chances of upsetting the world No. 2 is Carlos Alcaraz.
The young Spanish superstar is a menace on all surfaces, and even if he hasn’t played much on grass throughout his young career, he has already won his first title on this surface at 20, winning the title in Queen’s.
Carlitos, already with 11 ATP titles, admitted Djokovic is the man to beat in London, but despite his young age he’s ambitious and an all-around player, and will put on a fight to win his second major after succeeding in the US Open last year.
Although other names such as Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Alexander Zverev, or Jannik Sinner will be dangerous opponents, the US players might have a good shot this time around.
Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Sebastian Korda are seen as candidates to get far in the competition this season. Their powerful game adapts very well on grass and Fritz, who was defeated by Rafa Nadal last year will want to redeem himself and try to go further this year, while Tiafoe already played the US Open final in 2022, something that gave him a boost of confidence in his game.
In the case of women, many players have real chances of becoming champions.
It’s known that in the WTA Tour there are more upsets than in the men’s circuit, which makes it even more difficult to predict who will reign supreme in London.
Swiatek is the world’s No. 1, and even showing her impressive display of skills at Roland Garros, she might struggle to win the title at Wimbledon.
Her favorite court is grass and it’s unclear if she will be able to adapt to the new conditions and doing in such a high level to win the trophy.
Aryna Sabalenka and current champion Elena Rybakina are two players to keep an eye on. Sabalenka is a former semifinalist in London in 2021, but this year she’s in red-hot form, winning in Melbourne and reaching the semis of the French Open.
The two Czech players Petra Kvitova and Karolina Muchova will also be a threat to the main favorites, as Kvitova is a grass specialist and a former two-time Wimbledon winner, while Muchova is probably in the best shape of her life, reaching the Roland Garros final this year.