BREAKING NEWS: Novak Djokovic has announce his wedding with a new pretty L..
Ahead of the draw, which will be released on Friday, Sinner and Djokovic rubbed shoulders one more time on the pristine grass. The Serbian has defeated Sinner in the last two Wimbledon editions in the quarterfinal and semifinal stages.
The world’s top-ranked players have been acclimating to the courts in SW19 since arriving from Roland Garros, although a few others have gotten some much-needed mileage in warm-up tournaments like Queen’s and Halle.
Sinner, for instance, was in action this past week in Halle, where he won his first career title on grass. Djokovic, however, has not played a competitive match since defeating Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of Roland Garros.
After that match, he withdrew from the tournament because of a knee injury and underwent surgery. His participation at this year’s Wimbledon was in severe jeopardy, but he is upbeat about playing in the tournament starting Monday, July 1st, having recovered from the setback.
Djokovic has already played some practice sets with a knee brace, and his most recent practice match was against World No. 1 Sinner. The reported score was that the Italian led 6-3, but Djokovic was 2-1 up in the second set with a break of serve when they left the court.
Tennis journalist David Law, who watched the practice set, told The Tennis Podcast that he was impressed by Djokovic’s level and reckons the seven-time champion will play in the tournament next week.
Will he have recovered from meniscus surgery in such a short time? Will he be fully mentally recovered after a season full of disappointments? If at Wimbledon Djokovic (where he triumphed 7 times) will come back the real Djokovic we all know well, I believe that the chances for his opponents are ZERO, it is worth underlining this. Not even the best Sinner or the best Carlos Alcaraz could worry him. Roger Federer’s 8 titles (record) are a great stimulus for the Serbian champion, who is, on the eve of the tournament, the biggest unknown.
At the moment the favorite is Alcaraz. Carlitos, defending champion, comes from the triumph at Roland Garros. His tennis finds a perfect habitat on grass court and his possible semi-final with Sinner could only be an appetizer of what could be his tournament, which would go towards a natural second consecutive title at Church Road. But in tennis nothing is ever linear or obvious, so my analysis is only valid until Monday, then the Championships lawns will give us the answers.
Sinner’s journey, as mentioned, will be decidedly tough and full of pitfalls. After his debut with the German Yannick Hanfmann, the 22 year old could immediately meet Matteo Berrettini in a truly fascinating second round. Berrettini will first have to overcome the Hungarian Fucsovics to ensure an unprecedented battle on the Wimbledon grass against his countryman. The potential eighth would be with Ben Shelton, while in the quarterfinals there are Daniil Medvedev or Grigor Dimitrov.
