Wimbledon will miss the star presence of Rafael Nadal this year but several other high-profile names will be raring to go for the third major of 2023.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will aim to extend his 28-match winning streak in SW19 and 2022 winner Elena Rybakina returns as one of the most prominent figures in the women’s game.
Here, the PA news agency looks at 10 players who will hope to light up the championships at the All England Club this summer.
Iga Swiatek
There is a degree of deja vu for the former Wimbledon junior champion who again arrives as world number one and fresh from winning at Roland Garros. The four-time grand-slam champion has been top of the WTA rankings since last April, but has made no secret of how “uncomfortable” she finds grass. After exiting in the third round in 2022, Swiatek will hope she can adjust to the lawn this time.
Elena Rybakina
View this post on Instagram
The unassuming Rybakina was the surprise package last year, keeping a calm head to win her first major at the age of 23. Victory occurred amid controversy given that while she represents Kazakhstan, she is Moscow-born and Russian state media celebrated her triumph. It has not affected Rybakina, who backed up her grass exploits by reaching the Australian Open final before winning Masters tournaments in Indian Wells and Rome to prove her credentials as part of a new big three in women’s tennis.
Aryna Sabalenka
Australian Open champion Sabalenka is the third member of the trio and will be out to make up for lost time following her enforced absence last year due to the ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes. It was a run to the semi-finals at the All England Club in 2021 that showed Sabalenka had the game to win a grand slam and the Belarusian ended her wait for major success in Melbourne back in January. She will be a formidable force in SW19.
Ons Jabeur
Jabeur’s love for the lawn is matched by her results on it. Last year’s finalist will be a fierce competitor in the battle to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish. The Tunisian’s style of play, with drop shots and deft touches aplenty, has earned grass-court titles in Birmingham and Berlin while in 2021 she made the last eight of the Championships, beating Garbine Muguruza and Swiatek.
Venus Williams
View this post on Instagram
A wild card for the 43-year-old veteran will continue the long tradition of a Williams sister featuring in the main draw at Wimbledon. You have to go back to 1996 for the last time neither Venus nor Serena were involved in the ladies’ singles. And Venus, a finalist at the All England Club in 2017, showed last week in Birmingham with two gutsy displays against top-50 players that she can still push the best and will be a star attraction in SW19.
Novak Djokovic
After titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, the calendar slam is on for defending champion Djokovic and who would bet against him? Djokovic has won the last four tournaments in SW19, is a seven-time Wimbledon winner and crucially will have no Rafael Nadal in his way this time. Djokovic dropped only one set in Melbourne, two at the French Open and the only thing left for him to achieve is winning each major in the same year, having achieved the non-calendar year slam across 2015 and 2016.
Carlos Alcaraz
One of the main rivals to Djokovic will be US Open champion Alcaraz. The all-action Spaniard won at Flushing Meadows in Djokovic’s absence before he lost to the Serbian while suffering with cramps at Roland Garros in May. Alcaraz has limited experience on grass and exited Wimbledon in the last 16 in 2022, but his impressive victory at Queen’s showed his potential and took him back to world number one. If he is to deny Djokovic, he will have to find a new level.
Holger Rune
With Jannik Sinner a potential injury doubt, Rune will hope to further push his cause as the star of the next generation. An impressive run to the Queen’s semi-finals showed his capability on grass after exiting in round one on his Wimbledon debut last year. Better known for his clay-court displays, having made the last eight at Roland Garros twice in the past 12 months, Rune will aim to keep his emotions in check and show his class in London.
Daniil Medvedev
View this post on Instagram
The Russian will be involved after last year’s ban on his compatriots and Belarusians. Despite being unable to compete in 2022, he still made two finals on grass and triumphed in Halle. Medvedev has never made it beyond the fourth round at the All England Club, but his 6ft 6in height and big serve make him a candidate for the title. He also stopped Djokovic achieving the calendar slam by beating him to win the US Open two years ago.
Cameron Norrie
Norrie’s big breakthrough at a major occurred at his home grand slam during a memorable run to the semi-finals in 2022. Djokovic stopped the British number one but the 27-year-old will have gained a huge amount of belief. The world number 13 should receive a favourable draw and continues to look more at ease on this surface, having made the Queen’s final two years ago. Backed again by the Wimbledon crowd, he will eye another unforgettable summer.
Madrid Open: Nadal roars to victory against De Minaur
Rafael Nadal delighted his home fans at the Madrid Open as he roared to an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur on Saturday.
The Spaniard battled to a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 victory to earn his first win over a top-20 player in the world rankings since the ATP Finals back in 2022.
De Minaur had beaten Nadal last week in Barcelona, but the five-time Madrid champion was not to be denied this time in front of a crowd which included King Felipe VI along with football stars Zinedine Zidane and Vinicius Jr.
Emerging triumphant from an epic 77-minute opening set proved decisive, with Nadal more comfortable in the second as De Minaur missed an opportunity to become the first player to beat him in consecutive weeks since Novak Djokovic achieved the feat way back in 2011.
Nadal will take on Pedro Cachin in the third round after the Argentine dumped out Fances Tiafoe in three sets.
"I'm super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex and play over two hours," Nadal said, per the ATP Tour website.
"It means a lot to me and the atmosphere here is just a joke, so I can't thank enough everybody here.
"It still needs time [until I am back to my best]. I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.
"But I really believe that tennis hasn't been an issue for the last two years. More the physical issues.
"If I am able to play weeks in a row and if I am able to play tennis, then I'm going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. But that's not the case yet, just step by step and let's see how I recover."
Elsewhere at the tournament, Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner, playing as the top seed at a Masters 1000 event for the first time, cruised to victory over fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to start his campaign in style.
It took Sinner just 69 minutes to win 6-0 6-3 and improve to 26-2 in a remarkable 2024 season so far.
“I know Lorenzo quite well and we have a good friendship off the court, we play Davis Cup together, we practise a lot together,” Sinner said.
“The mental side was a little bit different than it used to be, so I'm just happy how I handled the situation. He didn't play at his best. I think we saw this. I wish him all the best for the rest of the season.”
Progress was harder to come by for Daniil Medvedev as he lost the opening set to Matteo Arnaldi, though the third seed eventually battled through 2-6 6-4 6-4 to book a third-round clash with American Sebastian Korda.
There was a surprise result, though, with Brazilian qualifier Thiago Monteiro ending the fine recent form of Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-4 6-4 victory.
Tsitsipas was 10-1 on clay this year going into the match, but the sixth seed crashed to a shock defeat just a week after Monteiro had lost in the first round of a Challenger Tour event in Portugal, marking a rapid reversal of his fortunes.
“Every week you have a new opportunity," said Monteiro. “These past few weeks I wasn’t feeling really good on the court. I was trying to do well at Challengers but it didn’t work.
“I just kept up the hard work, day by day. Even when I was not feeling good and not winning matches, I kept believing in myself, and this week it has paid off.
"For sure one of the biggest wins of my career. I knew it was a really tough match and I tried to just believe in myself all the time."
Sunday’s matches will see Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz continue his campaign with a third-round clash against Thiago Seyboth Wild.
Swiatek soars into Madrid Open last 16 after dropping just two games against Cirstea
Iga Swiatek stormed through to the Madrid Open last 16 following a dominant straight-sets victory over Sorana Cirstea.
The world number one dropped just two games as she inflicted a comprehensive 6-1 6-1 rout on her Romanian opponent in the Spanish capital.
Swiatek, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in last year's event, will play Sara Sorribes Tormo in the round of 16 after the Spaniard defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.
The Pole is now 26-4 for the season, in which she has already triumphed at the Qatar Open and Indian Wells Open, as she eyes the ninth WTA 1000 singles title of her career.
Data debrief
Swiatek is through to her sixth round of 16 from seven main-draw appearances in WTA 1000 events on clay (85.7 per cent) - the highest percentage rate among players with at least five such appearances since the format's introduction in 2009.
The three-time French Open champion also boasts the best WTA match win rate of any player since 2000 on clay (87 per cent). Overall, only Chris Evert (94.5 per cent), Margaret Court (89.5 per cent) and Steffi Graf (89.2 per cent) boast a higher percentage in the Open Era.
Alcaraz begins Madrid Open campaign with emphatic win
Carlos Alcaraz continued his fine record at the Madrid Open with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 victory over Alexander Shevchenko on Friday.
The two-time defending champion made it 12 straight wins at his home tournament to ensure he will face Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild in the last 32.
Alcaraz was playing his first match on the ATP Tour since March 28 after being unable to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open due to an arm injury.
But he was still able to make a fine start to his clay-court season, breaking serve in the first game and racing to victory in only one hour and eight minutes.
Data Debrief
Sometimes the scoreline can be harsh on a beaten player, but on this occasion Alcaraz was clearly dominant, breaking the Kazakh seven times in the match and forcing 11 break-point opportunities while conceding only three for his opponent.
That allowed the Spaniard to claim a dominant victory despite being broken once in each set. He will now turn his attention to a clash with Seyboth Wild, who battled past Lorenzo Musetti with a 6-4 6-4 win.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
