Already recovered from an operation on his right medial meniscus, undergone three weeks ago in Paris following his withdrawal before the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, Novak Djokovic will attempt to win an eighth Wimbledon (July 1-14).
Impossible is definitely never Novak Djokovic. Operated on the medial meniscus of his right knee three weeks ago in Paris, following his withdrawal before the quarter-finals, the seven-time winner at Church Road will be present, once again in London. “ I am confident about the state of my knee, so far it is responding very well. If my knee had swollen, I would have slowed down and my participation would have been questioned. I have spoken to athletes like Stan Wawrinka or Lindsey Vonn, who have all shared their experiences. This has really given me faith and optimism that if the rehabilitation is done well, and if of course the knee responds well – which is something very unpredictable – there would be a good chance that I will be at Wimbledon. “On one of his favorite playgrounds, despite the goal of the Paris games at the end of July.” Just thinking that I might miss Wimbledon didn’t sit well with me. I didn’t want to have to deal with that“, he explains. “He is superhuman », declared Carlos Alcaraz, admiring his elder brother. “ No, it’s Taylor Fritz who is. », replied the Serbian with a smile. The American, victim of the same injury three years ago at Roland Garros, had, it is true, played Wimbledon three weeks later…
Good foot, good eye, impossible not to put Djokovic in the list of favorites in his English garden. “As I said a few days ago, I didn’t come here to play a few rounds. I really want to go for the title. I really want to go for the title», assures the 37-year-old Serbian who is aiming for an eighth Wimbledon title to equal Roger Federer’s record, and bring his own record of Grand Slam titles to 25. The Belgrade native faces Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva on Tuesday. A warm-up lap, a priori. To glean benchmarks and confidence.
“Nole” has not played a single final since that of the Masters in November 2023, won against Jannik Sinner. An unusual shortage for the insatiable. And if the road is still long, the Serbian could find Carlos Alcaraz in the final for a revenge of last year’s sublime final won in five sets by the Spanish prodigy.
If the kid from Murcia had a little difficulty digesting this unexpected coronation last season, he reminded us what a champion he was, winning his first Roland-Garros a month ago. And even if he was beaten from the 2e tour of Queen’s where he was the defending champion, the world number 3 had proven that he had a green foot last season. “After my defeat at Queen’s, I started the next day to work on my movements, my shots, to feel more comfortable on the grass. And I had some very good training sessions with great players. I can say I’m ready“. As tradition dictates, Alcaraz as the title holder opens the ball Monday on Center Court against the modest Mark Lajal (262nd).
The Italian Jannik Sinner, who is participating in his first Major as world No. 1 and who could meet Alcaraz in the semi-final, seems armed to prevent a repeat of the 2023 final. For the 22-year-old phenomenon all the sights are green. Opposed this Monday to the German Yannick Hanfmann, the Transalpine arrives in London with his first title on grass won in Halle last week. “Confidence is a very important thing, especially on grass… I did a half last year (defeat against Novak Djokovic). So I had in mind that I could play well on this surface. Last week was very important for me (with this title in Halle, editor’s note). So in my head I know I’m capable of playing good tennis on this surface.“. The competition is warned.
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