There’s Novak Djokovic, there’s Andy Murray, and then there’s everyone else. The two French Open finalists are even bigger favorites at Wimbledon, and it’s not hard to figure out why. The world No. 1 already has a “Djokovic slam” in his grasp, Murray is generally at his best on grass and at home in Great Britain, and the list of challengers is without Rafael Nadal. Roger Federer, however, is back in action after missing the French Open. But the seven-time Wimbledon champion was not at his physical best in recent semifinal losses on grass, in Stuttgart and then Halle.
Top 5 favorites:
Novak Djokovic (2 to 3)
Djokovic already holds all four major titles after winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year and the Australian Open and French Open earlier this season. Now he’s going for the calendar-year slam and there is no reason to dislike his chances of bagging leg three of the four. The top-seeded Serb is 44-3 in 2016 and one of his three losses has come by retirement. Basically, Djokovic has been unbeatable. Although grass is not necessarily his best surface, Djokovic is the two-time defending Wimbledon champion and he owns three titles from this tournament overall (also in 2011).
Andy Murray (7 to 2)
Murray reached the French Open final and took the first set off Djokovic before settling for a runner-up plate. Can he go one step father at the All-England Club? He’s done it before, of course. In fact, not only did the second-ranked Scot triumph at Wimbledon in 2013, but he also captured Olympic gold on the same court during the 2014 London games. Additional good news for Murray is that he is guaranteed to be on the opposite side of the draw from Djokovic as the No. 2 seed. With coach Ivan Lendl back in the box, the two-time major champion kicked off his grass-court preparation by beating Milos Raonic in a three-set final at Queen’s Club.
Roger Federer (12 to 1)
The bad news for Federer is that he has not won a slam since 2012. The good news is his 2012 success did come at Wimbledon, where has lifted the trophy on seven occasions. He also came within one victory of titles in both 2014 and 2015, only to be denied by Djokovic each time. Federer has been plagued by physical problems at 34 years old, so he cannot be heading to London with a ton of confidence (lost in the Stuttgart semifinals to Dominic Thiem and in the Halle semis to Alexander Zverev). But the third-ranked Swiss cannot face Djokovic or Murray until at least the semifinals and he may have heated up by then with a handful of matches under his belt.
Milos Raonic (14 to 1)
For several years now, Raonic has been looked upon as a potential slam winner in the future. Now 25 years old, the world No. 7 should be ready to answer the hype–and no place gives him the chance to do so like grass. He wields a massive serve, hits extremely flat, and despises extended baseline rallies, so Wimbledon in all likelihood will always be his best Grand Slam. A less-than-100 percent Raonic lost to Kyrgios in the third round last season, but he made a semifinal run in 2014. When healthy, Raonic has been outstanding this year and more of the same continued at Queen’s Club–until he led Murray by a set and 3-0 in the second.
Nick Kyrgios (22 to 1)
Relatively speaking, Kyrgios has stayed controversy-free at Wimbledon (for the most part) while letting his daunting grass-court game do the talking. The fiery Australian stunned Rafael Nadal en route to the 2014 quarterfinals (lost to Raonic) and advanced to the fourth round last season (fell to Richard Gasquet in a four-set thriller). In his only warmup match of this grass-court swing, Kyrgios had to face Raonic in round one at Queen’s Club and the Canadian prevailed in a tight three-setter. As such, the world No. 18 may be flying just a bit under the radar–but it would not be wise to discount him.
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Federer will not win Wimbledon again unless something untoward happens to both Djokovic and Murray. With Lendl back, Murray is my favorite to win though I must admit that his grass court form this year at Queens wasn’t awe inspiring!
I am liking Murray’s chances at Wimbledon. He’s playing some of his best tennis right now. He made a match out of it at RG.
With Lendl back in his camp, that can only help Murray. Even though he did not look great at Queens, he still won. Players don’t have to be at their best in warm up tournaments.
Murray will not have to face Novak until the final as the #2 seed. That’s always a good thing.
I don’t see Fed doing it this year at Wimbledon. I think his best shot was last year. He’s been slowed by injury and hasn’t been at his best. Maybe he can hit his stride at Wimbledon, but I still don’t think he’s going to get to the final.
It will be interesting to see if any dark horse can go deep.
Depends on Novak’s mindset, if he is hungry enough. If he is, I would say he can go all the way, with a win in 4 over Andy in the finals.
He’s going to do it. That’s my feeling.
I Think Novak will do it, although been a Brit im hoping for Murray ….
And i think the safe bet is Serena on the womens side, if she has her head screwed on, although i think her dominance is over now, as other girls seem to be getting the measure of her now, shes not as intimidating to play against like she once was, same with Federer ….
Muzz has been lent a great help from the draw.
Doesn’t have to face Roger.
That might get him a title this fortnight.
Both Federer and Serena are about 35! In Serena’s case, it is not other girls but Father time who has her measure. In Federer’s, it is only Rafa and Father time.
Federer is old and seems to be recovering from injury. I do not think he would be a threat on either side of the draw. He may not even get to meet Djokovic. My gut feeling: Djokovic is not going to win Wimbledon. He will not be sufficiently motivated after RG. Andy, if he can play better than he did at Queens, can win. Maybe even somebody new can win. There is a changing of the guard in the offing.
I agree Djokovic may have a slight drop in motivation after RG because he finally completed the grand slam but I still think he will be ready to go here and make a deep run if not win it.
Murray has Kygrios and Djoko has Raonic, lets see the big servers vs the great returners.
Murray vs Kygrios will be more interesting than Djokovic vs Raonic. I just don’t see Raonic beating Novak
Agree with Hensley.
Yeah Kyrgios has a better shot at Murray than Raonic does at Novak. Still Murray has the edge with the crowd behind him especially.
Also Raonic has to get to QF to play Nole. He could have some tests like Sock Anderson and Goffin. Kyrgios also has tough path to round four but should be able to make it through.
Nole for the win, 5th slam in a row for 13 total, which will make him standalone GOAT at this point in time IMO.
I also think Djokovic won’t win
.Feels like Murrays year .If he can get past Kyrgios
It is certainly possible that Novak will win Wimbledon. He got the monkey off his back by winning RG. It’s all gravy from here on out. He won four slams in a row, something that neither Fed or Rafa were able to do, he’s healthy and in his prime.
I do think Andy has a good shot here. He’s very comfortable on the grass and is now in much better form. He will want to win another Wimbledon. Lendl will add focus and discipline. Also mental toughness.
I just don’t see Fed getting past the semis. If he gets there at all. I think she has finally caught up with him.
It will be interesting to see if any of the young guns can break through and maybe get to the semis,
I meant to say Father Time has caught up with Fed, not “she”!
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Raonic will beat Novak.
Not necessarily impossible but extremely unlikely.
Raonic is not beating Novak in a best of five set match.
Becker has finally been able to improve Djokovic’s backhand slice significantly… he is using it more on grass, it is not looking ugly and the effect is good too.
I think the change was apparent at the AO but then he was switching his focus to clay, so we didn’t see much of it
yeah agree with you…. I also praised his slice at that time…it is looking better than ever now. I think this would help him further if he can sustain the quality because on grass some players have thrown him off his rhythm ….an e.g is the Qtr final vs Tomic in 2011
Quite ugly actually, I was about to comment on that. However, it doesnt matter how it looks as long as it serves its purpose. Not everyone can play beautifully like Fed.
used to be A LOT uglier… it is not that bad now…
Rafa’s slice has been stagnant for years
Rafa doesnt have a good slice. In fact Rafa doesnt have great serve or returns, but good enough to serve their purposes. Rafa is amazing in that he does have weaknesses in his game but he still achieves so much because he has a good tennis brain. Its no wonder Fed still view Rafa as his greatest rival but feels that he himself is still able to beat Djoko.
Some pressure for Novak…15-30 second serve
This is good tennis… second BP for Ward
Not everyone can play good grass court tennis; most players these days just stay at the baseline all day even when playing on grass. It takes a Stepanek, or a Stakhovsky, to make the game on grass a lot more interesting than these baseline duels.
That Willis dude is perfect example of extremely entertaining grass court tennis. He’s got a huge lefty serve along with fantastic volleys and touch around the net.
Novak is relaxed, no tension, no injuries, no fears…he is a happy fellow out there and IMO stand alone favorite to win Wimby…
Murray tends to disappoint when it matters the most…I am afraid we’ll see yet another boring final with Novak wining in 3 or 4 sets should Murray be on the other side of the net…I would like Nick to get that far but his head is just not ready for BIG titles…will it ever be, I wonder…
Raonic stands no chance against Nole anyway…he goes through a serious meltdown when facing Nole…so I have little fun watching this Wimby…the outcome is so obvious…Brexit and it’s immediate consequences seem more interesting to follow than Wimby atm…
If Murray is beaten by Djoko in the final, that will be three beaten slam finals in a row, something like Rafa in 2011/2012. Rafa prevented the four in a row by beating Djoko in the FO2012 final.
Of course its too early to talk about the final; they have to get there first. If Murray cant beat Djoko on grass, I dont think he can beat Djoko at any other slam.
I do think that we are getting ahead of ourselves in talking about Novak and Murray in the final. They do have to get there. But I do think that Novak must be more relaxed now, having finally won RG and made history in the process. It’s all gravy from here on out.
I think we will have some great matches to watch. There can be surprises and excitement. I look forward to it and may the two best players get to the final and give us a match worthy of it!
This Pella guy certainly plays better than that James Ward. He makes the match with Fed more interesting, he’s more willing to move forward and takes it to Fed. Nice.
Fed not having an easy time of it with Pella.
Yeah. Roger has been serving pretty well but overall playing kinda sloppy. Pella is playing well though. What’s puzzled me most is how Roger has missed all of his break points and he’s had like 8 or something like that. If he can get through in straights that would be good. It’s been a good workout but I hope he can get a break here in the third and close it out fairly comfortably to conserve some energy. I think the best part of his play today is how he has stepped it up a lot in the breakers. Hopefully he can play better as the tourney progresses though. Don’t want him wasting a lot of energy first week. Although I do hope Willis makes it interesting against Roger next round cuz his story has been epic and I want him to end on a good note. He could do some damage with his serve against Fed. Of course the same goes for Roger lol. Allez Fed!!
Well he finally got the break. Probably the best return game he’s played all match. That’s more like it Roger. Let’s go!!