Gidget Alikpala

WIMBLEDON

Tipped to win

Wimbledon’s ban on Russian players has made World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev unable to compete at the All England Club.

With this development, Novak Djokovic emerges as the top seed and heavy favorite to win the world’s oldest tournament.

The six-time Wimbledon champion will seek to defend his title and win his first Grand Slam event of the year.

Rafa Nadal is on a campaign to achieve a calendar Grand Slam, after winning in Australia and France earlier this year.

Grass is not Nadal’s best surface, although he has won at Wimbledon twice -albeit some time ago- in 2008 and in 2010.

This year’s third seed is young Casper Ruud. Currently ranked No. 5, he’s the highest-ranked player in Norway’s history.

The 23-year-old is the first Norwegian man to reach the finals at a major tournament- this year’s French Open.

21-year-old Iga Świątek is currently ranked No. 1. She’s favored to win at All England despite never having won there yet.

She is coming from a 35-win streak, but she has not yet shown dominance on the grass with two Wimbledon appearances.

The second and third seeds in the women’s division are also in their 20s- Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit and Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.

The most talked-about player at the Championships this year is undoubtedly Serena Williams, who returns to the majors.

Although she’s unseeded and ranked 1,204th in the world, all eyes are on the 40-year-old who has seven Wimbledon titles.