‘It’s 50-50 between Novak Djokovic or the field winning Wimbledon’, believes legend
Tennis great Mats Wilander believes it is “50-50” between Novak Djokovic or one of the other 127 players winning the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.
The seven-time major winner also suggested there will be pressure on the Serb as he looks to make more history by adding to his Grand Slam tally.
With victory at the French Open earlier this month, Djokovic secured a men’s record 23rd major title to overtake his great rival Rafael Nadal.
If the world No 2 wins Wimbledon next month, he will tie Margaret Court – the overall Grand Slam singles title record holder with 24.
Djokovic is also seeking to equal Roger Federer’s record of eight Wimbledon men’s singles crowns and keep his bid for a Calendar Grand Slam alive.
Wilander assessed why he feels the 36-year-old, who has not lost at Wimbledon for six years, is still the man to beat at the grass court major.
“To me, Novak Djokovic goes in as the big favourite. And the reason that I think he’s the big favourite is that I still haven’t seen anyone who is as solid as Novak from the baseline that serves as well as Novak,” the Swede told Eurosport.
“So over the years, his serve has been improving every time. At the French Open against Carlos Alcaraz, we saw how big the serve is, how important it is to get free points on your first serve, especially when the score is close in your own service games.
“And I don’t see that with Carlos Alcaraz or Holger Rune or Alex de Minaur or any of the young guys. No one serves as precise as Novak. And I think in the end, in Wimbledon, I think serving becomes really important.
“So would I take Novak compared to taking the other 127 players? That is very close. And I say that’s 50-50 between Novak or the field winning.”
The former world No 1 also discussed whether Djokovic’s quest to equal and break more records could be significant.
“I mean, the pressure is on for Novak big time because obviously, if he wins, he ties Margaret Court at 24 Grand Slams. If he wins, he’s now one Slam away from doing the calendar Grand Slam again,” added Wilander.
“And if he wins, you would think that he’s put himself far enough away in the distance from Rafael Nadal to come after him and actually threaten his record. So I think the weight of expectations is there, but I don’t think that it’s quite there yet.
“I would think that he’s learned a tremendous amount from losing in that final at the US Open against Daniil Medvedev when literally history was on the line and winning the calendar Grand Slam. Of course it has been done before, but Novak would separate himself from the other big two, Roger and Rafa.”
Wimbledon will be held from Monday July 3 to Sunday July 16.
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