Novak Djokovic locked in as Wimbledon favourite and charging towards calendar Grand Slam
Few pundits are looking beyond Novak Djokovic as the winner of Wimbledon this season and it appears they will be proven correct.
Djokovic looks unstoppable ahead of a bid to secure a 24th Grand Slam singles title.
Former WTA Tour pro Barbara Schett feels nobody stacks up to Djokovic on grass.
“I have to say, looking at the way Novak has been playing this year, looking at the way Novak has been playing in Wimbledon in the past, he’s going in as the heavy favourite, even though he’s not going to be top seed,” Schett told Eurosport.
“He’s just such a complete player on that surface, he moves the best on grass. I think he’s the most solid player in terms of consistency and there’s no weaknesses at all, even more so than any other surfaces.
“I think it’s only him who could be in his own way like stopping himself from winning.
“And I mean, we’ve seen it in a few years ago when he was going for the Calendar Slam at the US Open against Daniil Medvedev. He fell apart mentally because it was just all too much for him. The expectations.
“Now he has grown so much, a lot has happened. We had the whole Covid years where he had and faced several issues. I think he’s stronger than ever not just tennis wise, but also mentally.
“So, I think he is very keen to win the 24th Grand Slam title and I think he will do it because he’s overall just the best player playing at the moment.
“On every surface he’s playing his best tennis. He’s got no real weaknesses. His mindset is phenomenal. So that’s why I think he’s going to do it.”
Having been one match away from a historic calendar slam in 2021, Djokovic appears to be steeling himself for another bid at completing the set in 2023.
“That’s on his agenda,” Schett said of Djokovic chasing a slam.
“He wants to win the battle this time.
“All he wants is to break every single record that there is out there. And he should, you know, and he looks for his age extremely fresh and keen.
“And I think the last couple of years where sometimes he was restricted to play and couldn’t play, that was actually a positive thing for him because now he’s so fresh and he’s so keen and so eager.
“I think he’s extremely close. I mean, he’s halfway through already. To be honest, I can’t see anybody beating him in Wimbledon unless he would get injured or something like that. But we don’t want that to happen, obviously.
“But tennis wise, I don’t see it. And then it’ll be interesting to see how he will handle the pressure at the US Open once again because he will definitely look back and what happened a few years ago when he reached the final against Daniil. I remember there were tears in the middle of the match where he just realised himself, ‘this is all too much for me’.
“But I think we see a different Novak now.”
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