Will Novak Make It 24?

Novak Djokovic hasn't lost a match at Wimbledon in six years.  And, in that match, the 2017 quarterfinals, he retired in the second set.  The last time he actually lost a match was to Sam Querrey in the 2016 third round.  He's won four straight, with the 2020 cancellation mixed in.  Should he make that five in a row, it'll be historic for a few reasons.  Djokovic would tie Roger Federer's record for both consecutive (5) and career (8) Wimbledon victories.  Most significantly, the newly-crowned men's all-time leader in Grand Slam titles would tie Margaret Court for the overall record with his 24th.

It goes without saying that Djokovic is the overwhelming favorite.  If he's on his game, I don't see anybody beating him, and he'll head to New York with a chance at the calendar year Grand Slam for the second time in three years.  Most importantly, he'll have his zero points from last year wiped out, which won't just put him back at No. 1, it'll do so by a healthy margin.

Last year, of course, Wimbledon was clouded by the ban on Russian and Belarusian players, which is what led to the ATP and WTA deciding to strip the tournament of ranking points.  (Djokovic didn't play the Australian or US Opens last year, so he got zero ranking points at three of the four Grand Slams in 2022, yet is still No. 2 in the world and just 20 points behind No. 1.)  Fortunately, that was only a one-year thing.  The Russians and Belarusians are back, and so are the ranking points.

On the men's side, that means two significant names return after missing out last year.  Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev.  No. 3 Medvedev won the 2021 US Open and is a two-time Australian Open finalist, but has never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon.  Rublev's best Wimbledon result was also the fourth round in 2021, but he's been to the quarterfinals at least twice in each of the other three Grand Slams.

I'm actually surprised that neither Russian has made even a quarterfinal at Wimbledon before.  Because they both have the game that would seem to translate well to grass.  Medvedev especially.  Maybe this year will be his Wimbledon breakthrough.

Also looking for a Wimbledon breakthrough is world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.  He won his first career grass court title at the Queen's Club warmup tournament, so you know that's got to give him confidence.  Alcaraz got crushed by Djokovic in the French Open semifinals, though, and he's the better clay court player.  On grass, I'm not sure even Alcaraz thinks he can beat Djokovic.  Still, the Alcaraz-Medvedev semi for the right to lose to Djokovic in the final could be a good one.

There isn't really anybody else I can even see challenging Djokovic for the title.  Nick Kyrgios is the man he beat in the final last year, but Kyrgios just withdrew from this year's tournament due to injury.  Casper Ruud?  He's only won a single Wimbledon match in his career.  Stefanos Tsitsipas?  Never been past the fourth round.  Alexander Zverev?  Also never been past the fourth round.

So, yeah, all signs point towards Djokovic being handed that golden trophy by the Princess of Wales for the fifth consecutive time.  I'll say Medvedev beats Alcaraz in the other semi and earns the right to watch Novak's coronation from the other side of the net.  Wimbledon number 8, Grand Slam number 24 for the Djoker.

Before getting into the women's tournament, there's something Monica Seles said about Wimbledon the other day that stuck with me.  She was actually talking about British tennis more broadly.  Her argument was, essentially, that there are no top British players because they only care about tennis during Wimbledon.  Well, I'm sure Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu would disagree, but I do get the point she was trying to make.  At least I think I do.  Wimbledon is the most important event in tennis and one of the most important sporting events in Great Britain.  That might be why British people care about Wimbledon, though.  Not because of their love for the sport.

Anyway, that's just how I interpret her comments, which I don't think are necessarily wrong (I don't necessarily think she's right, either, by the way).  Outside of Andy Murray, the number of British players at the top of the rankings has been few and far between.  And Virgina Wade's 1977 title will remain the most recent Wimbledon win for a British woman.  In fact, there wouldn't even be a British woman in this year's field if not for the host nation wild cards!

In 2022, we saw Elena Rybakina and Ons Jabeur in the final.  Rybakina won (in just her second Wimbledon appearance) and has only gone up from there.  She reached the final at the Australian Open and has made her way all the way up to No. 3 in the world (despite the zero points from last year's Wimbledon).  Rybakina has a great chance of going back-to-back, too...except she and Jabeur are in the same quarter and could very well have a rematch in the quarterfinals.

You want to know a crazy stat, too?  Rybakina, Petra Kvitova and Venus Williams are the only former Wimbledon champions in this year's field.  Kvitova's last Wimbledon win was nearly a decade ago (2014), while Venus won the last of her five Wimbledon titles in 2008.  Meanwhile, six different women have won Wimbledon since Serena went back-to-back in 2015-16, and that could easily become seven in seven tournaments this year.

Jabeur, the first Arab woman ever to reach a Grand Slam final, also made the US Open final last year, and she's coming off a French Open quarterfinal appearance.  She's made it clear that Wimbledon is the one she wants to win, though, and I think Jabeur has a very good chance of doing just that.  That'll be a sensational quarterfinal, and the winner will likely be the favorite for the title.

Then there's Aryna Sabalenka.  She made the semifinals in 2021, which, thanks to her being excluded last year as a Belarusian, is the last time she played Wimbledon.  In the three Grand Slam tournaments since then, she's gone semi (US Open), champion (Australian), semi (French).  So, it's not hard to envision Sabalenka going deep into the tournament again.

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek had her ridiculous 37-match winning streak snapped in last year's third round, and she faces some stiff competition on the top half of this year's draw.  That includes Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.  I have a feeling about fifth-ranked Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, though.  Even though she's only ever been to the quarterfinals twice in 44 career Grand Slam tournaments, she's somehow No. 5 in the world.  And I have a good feeling about her.  Mainly because she's won three career grass-court titles, which would make you think she should have better results at Wimbledon than she does.

My feeling about Garcia is so strong that I've got her reaching the final, where she'll lose to Jabeur.  And, just as Djokovic's title would be historic for all the records it would equal, hers would be just as historic.  Already the first Arab woman to make a Grand Slam title, she'll do one better, becoming the first African woman and first person, man or woman, from an Arab country ever to become a Grand Slam champion.