Honor and right of champion. Carlos Alcaraz will open the Wimbledon headquarters this Monday (2:00 p.m., Movistar) as the last winner of the tournament and willing to return to that same stage on July 14 to defend the title won last year against Novak Djokovic (1-6, 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4). His challenge at the All England Tennis Club in London is not only to retain his title, but also to achieve a double as champion of Roland Garros, where he won for the first time three weeks ago, and Wimbledon the same year. Only four players have achieved this in the Open era since 1968: Bjorn Borg (1978, 1979, 1980), Rafael Nadal (2008, 2010) y Roger Federer (2009) y Novak Djokovic (2021).
Mark Lajal, a 21-year-old Estonian tennis player and 262 in the world, will be the first rival of the current world number 3 in that mission over the next 14 days. It does not seem that Alcaraz Lajal is unlikely to have any problems beating a player of his own generation (Tallinn, 2003) but at the opposite pole in terms of achievements. Lajal has earned his place in the first Grand Slam of his career by getting through the qualifying phase, but in his career he has only played three matches on the ATP circuit and has only one victory in the first round of the Antwerp tournament last year, where he beat James Munar. Few references to worry Alcaraz for even a second.
The 70,790 euros that will be taken He barked As the loser of the match, plus playing on Wimbledon’s centre court, this is already enough of a prize for a tennis player who has earned only 138,490 euros in his career. Nothing compared to the 29.5 million euros he has already accumulated in prize money alone at the same age. Alcaraz.
placid path
The champion’s debut at Wimbledon looks placid, as did the draw held this Friday, with a second round against the Australian Alexandar Vukic (89 world) or the Austrian Sebastian Ofner (54) and a third round where the American would possibly await him Frances Tiafoe (30). The road will get steeper in the second week, where Alcaraz could meet the Frenchman in the round of 16 Ugo Humbert (16), in the quarterfinals with one of his black beasts, the American Tommy Paul (12), recent champion at Queen’s, or the Norwegian Casper Ruud (8), who has not played since the Roland Garros semifinals and has not stepped foot in a grass tournament this year.
Yes indeed, the moment of truth for Alcarazas happened a few weeks ago in Roland Garros, will arrive in the semi-finals, where he should meet Jannik Sinnerworld number 1.
Sinner, the favourite in the bets
The Italian tennis player appears at Wimbledon after having won his first grass tournament a week ago in Halle. In the betting houses Sinner is the favorite for the title (2.88 euros) ahead of him Alcaraz (3.50 euros) and Novak Djokovic (4.33 euros). The only time they have met at Wimbledon, in 2022, Sinner beat the Spaniard in the round of 16 (6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (8), 6-3).
But Sinner’s path to reaching the penultimate round against the Murcian tennis player is going to be complicated almost from his debut. The German Yannick Hanfmann (95) will be his first rival, but later his compatriot could wait for him in second place. Matteo Berrettini (60 world champion), finalist at Wimbledon in 2021, could meet the Dutchman in the third round Tallon Greek track (28), in the eighth the American Brian Shelton (14) or the Chilean Nicholas Jarry (19) and in the quarterfinals the Russian Daniil Medvedev (5) or Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (10).
In the lower part of the painting there is Djokovic, that the Danish would have as its most notable rivals Holger Rune (15) in the round of 16, the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (7), in quarterfinals and the German Alexander Zverev or Russian Andrei Rublev (6), in the semi-finals.
The Djokovic mystery
The former number 1’s options in a tournament that he has won seven times are unknown after the quick recovery after his meniscus injury at the last Roland Garros. Until the last moment, Djokovic He did not decide to play the tournament after having undergone arthroscopy surgery 23 days ago (June 5) in Paris, where he withdrew from Roland Garros with an injury to his right knee, without playing in the quarterfinals against Ruud.
“I will only play if I feel like I can go far and fight for the title”Djokovic had said upon his arrival in London last Sunday. The Serbian tennis player, who has been training with a knee brace these days, is feeling good as he enters the ring in search of that eighth title that Alcaraz snatched from his hands last year.
Swiatek cedes power
In the women’s tournament, the dominance of the Polish Iga Swiatek on the circuit does not make her such a favorite on the grass at Wimbledon, where she has not yet won the title. In the same period that she has conquered Roland Garros four times, the number 1’s best result at the All England Tennis Club was last year’s quarterfinals. Neither Aryna Sabalenkathe world number 2, has achieved victory in London.
During this time the champions have been the Romanian Simona Halep (2019), in 2020 it was not played, the Australian Ashleigh Barty (2021), kazaja la Elena Rybakina (2022) and the Czech Marketa Vondrousova (2023).
Paula Badosa She returns to Wimbledon, where last year she retired and began a journey of the cross due to her back injury that caused her to fall in the rankings, although now she seems to have recovered. The Catalan tennis player (113th in the world) will debut against the Czech Karolina Muchovafinalist at Roland Garros 2023, but who has been out for nine months due to a wrist injury.
2024-06-29 06:44:45
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