Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer will not be at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London for this year’s major, but reigning champion Novak Djokovic will look to add another Grand Slam title to his resume in a couple weeks. Djokovic is the defending champion, and he has won Wimbledon six times over the last 11 years. It will be tough to knock off Djokovic, but age is starting to have an impact on the 20-time Grand Slam winner.
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships will run from June 27 to July 10 at the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London. There will be 128 competitors vying to win the singles’ titles, but only four men have been able to claim glory at Wimbledon since 2003. Eight-time winner Roger Federer will not be in the field, but six-time winner Novak Djokovic, two-time winner Andy Murray, and two-time winner Rafael Nadal are all in the mix.
Wimbledon’s Men’s Singles Competitors
The Favorite
Novak Djokovic has been the best player in men’s tennis for the last four years. Djokovic has won eight Grand Slam titles in that stretch, and he has won the last three Wimbledon Championships. His last major win came on these grounds last year, as he has surpassed Federer as the best player on grass today. Djokovic has one of the greatest backhands of all-time, and he can still go baseline to baseline extremely well.
The Contenders
Matteo Berrettini has yet to win a Grand Slam, but he made the finals of Wimbledon last year before losing to Djokovic in four sets. Berrettini claimed the first set off the defending champion, yet he lost the next three sets 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to miss out on the title. He has been great on grass this year winning the Stuttgart Open and Queen’s Club Championships, and his serve is hard to catch up with on this surface.
The greatest clay court player of all-time is still a threat to win Wimbledon despite being 36. Rafael Nadal has put together a run that will never be matched at the French Open, and he has won Wimbledon twice. However, Nadal has not won this Grand Slam since 2010. Nadal’s weakest surface is grass, but he is 6-4 against Djokovic on all surfaces since 2017.
Hubert Hurkacz has a serve that will be hard to catch up with on the fast grass at Wimbledon. Hurkacz’s serve can reach 151 MPH, reminding many observers of big hitters like John Isner and Ivo Karlovic. Hurkacz made it to the semifinals of Wimbledon last year on the strength of that serve, and he knocked off Daniil Medvedev and Roger Federer before losing to Berrettini.
The young and talented Carlos Alcaraz is another player you have to consider a threat at any major now. It’s only a matter of time before Alcaraz becomes one of the best players in men’s tennis, as he made the quarterfinals of last year’s US Open at 18 years old and made it to the quarterfinals of this year’s French Open. Alcaraz won the Rio Open, Miami Open, Barcelona Open, and Madrid Open earlier this year, stunning both Nadal and Djokovic in the last one.