Wimbledon Championships is the main event of the grass season and also the oldest tennis tournament in history. Its roots go back to the end of the 19th century which gives it a special feature. It's the place where true sportsmanship has been having a permanent residence, a place where the game of tennis wrote some of his glorious pages. As the current season is making the transition from the grueling clay toward the faster grass court, the debate revolving around who's gonna win this year's Wimbledon is gathering fire within the furnace. A few months ago, to pick Roger Federer as the main favorite seemed a sure bet, but in tennis, there is no such thing as certainty.
The Big Four is the usual suspect
As at every Grand Slam over the past decade or so, the four greats of men's tennis are on top of the list. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are those who can make it through. The Swiss tennis star has won 7 titles at Wimbledon although his last success occurred back in 2012. After a blistering first few months on the hardcourt, he stepped aside during the clay season only to resume his schedule during the grass season. As it happened, he lost in Stuttgart earlier this week casting a shadow of doubt about his status as the main favorite of the upcoming Grand Slam.
Rafael Nadal is having another storm under his belt being unstoppable on the red clay.
Winning his 10th French Open last week puts him on the short of favorites even though he'll enter Wimbledon without any preparation. The other day, he withdrew from Queen's in order to give his body a rest.
Andy Murray is the defending champion and the current world no. 1 but his season has been quite poor in terms of achievements.
He might wanna reset his year by having a prodigious run in front of his home crowd. Moreover, the very first spot in the ranking is at stake as Nadal might surpass him after Wimbledon.
Novak Djokovic is perhaps the last on the list of four. The Serb is nowhere near to his peak of form. Struggling to find that inner balance and motivation, he has dropped consistently in the ranking filling up the fourth slot at the moment.
Stan Wawrinka and the new ATP rising stars
Outside The Big Four formula, Wawrinka is still a candidate able to succeed at Wimbledon. The runner-up of the recently ended French Open might want to take the momentum as the action shifted to grass. Last year, he was unlucky with the draw who handed him Juan del Potro in the early stages. Over the past 3 seasons, Stan had one Grand Slam title won each season with Wimbledon being the only one missing from his showcase.
The new wave of ATP stars includes Dominic Thiem who is already a confirmation after having another solid clay season, Alexander Zverev who won his first Masters 1000 event by beating Djokovic in Rome's final. There is also Nick Kyrgios who is expected to resume that good form from the hardcourt. David Goffin will miss Wimbledon due to an ankle injury. Last year's runner-up Milos Raonic could make another bold move on a surface he likes the most.
