After a near-perfect 2021, Novak Djokovic looked ready for yet another dream season. But this 2022 is more like a nightmare for the Serbian. He has been expelled from Australia and has not had a chance to play a couple of important dates due to his refusal to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. He was eliminated from Roland Garros by a Rafael Nadal who played almost on one foot. Unable to defend much of his collected points, he gave up the world number one in the hands of Daniil Medvedev. And he knows that he will almost certainly miss the US Open as well because, not being vaccinated, he will not be able to enter the United States for the cement tour. Therefore, Wimbledon is presented as the best – and possibly the only – chance to save the year. Although a victory on the grass of the All of England It won’t taste the same as always.

freight -who, as reigning champion, will open the action of the tournament this Monday on the central court against the South Koreans Soon woo Kwon– will seek his seventh title in “big” London and fourth in a row since he was crowned champion in 2018, 2019 and 2021 (in 2020 he was canceled due to the pandemic). If he succeeds, he will lift his 21st trophy in a major and move closer to the record for best winner in that category, which Nadal holds today, after adding his 22nd a few weeks ago in Paris.

Even if, whatever happens in the match, he will not be able to defend the two thousand points he took last edition, due to the decision of the ATP to strip the tournament of the units it puts into play in response to the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players for the invasion of Ukraine. For this reason the Serbian, even if crowned in the English capital, will give more ground in the standings. But he assured that this is not something that worries him too much.

“It probably affects other players more than me. I don’t want to say that the points aren’t important, of course they are, but not as they were until recently. Now I’m not chasing the leaderboard as much as before I broke the record for most weeks at number 1, “he said he spent a total of 373 weeks at the top of the leaderboard. 2,000 points in Australia and another 2,000 here. it affects my ranking, but my priorities are different. “

Djokovic, now number three in the world, will start as the first seed in the absence the Russian Medvedev, leader of the standings, and the German Alexander Zverev, second and down through injury. And he will try to extend the unbeaten record in the British competition, in which he does not lose a match from the 2017 quarter-finals, when he fell to Czech Thomas Berdych. Since then he has had 21 straight wins and only 10 sets on loan. And only twice has he played five sets: in the 2018 semifinal against Nadal and in the 2019 final against Roger Federer.

Your recent story in All of England confirms his position as a favorite. Also his ability to play on a surface to which not all his colleagues adapt easily and his flexibility that will allow him to make it without too many problems on a field usually slippery in the first rounds. And although he made it to the tournament with no official matches on those types of pitches, only an exhibition duel at Hurlingham with the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime-, that the lack of preparation should not concern him.

“There are players who like to play as many official matches as possible because they see it as a means of training. There are others who don’t need to play as much and prefer to find a balance between competition and rest. I belong to that second category. Over the years, I’ve been able to adapt quickly to the surface, so there’s no reason to think I can’t do it again, “said Djokovic.

Likewise, there is one more factor that will need to be taken into consideration this season: the psychological one. The extraordinary situations he experienced in the first months of his turbulent year – in Melbourne he had to spend several days in a detention center before being expelled from Australia and the lack of Indian Wells and Miami for not being vaccinated, for example – seemed to affect his head early in the clay court season, in which he began playing more regularly.

Unrecognizable in Monte Carlo, he retired in the first round. They lost in the final in Belgrade Andrea Rublev and in the semifinals in Madrid with Carlos Alcaraz. And he was able to get the best version of him only in Rome, where he won without giving up the sets. Although he was subsequently unable to defend the title at Roland Garros, where a physically limited Nadal beat him in four sets. However, in view of his debut, the Serbian appeared very close.

“I am very happy and happy to return to the tournament that was always my childhood dream, the one I always wanted to win,” he said.

And after confirming that he does not intend to get vaccinated against Covid, he added: “As of today, I am not allowed to enter the United States, I am aware of it. And this is one more reason to do well here. The memories are wonderful. of the last three editions of Wimbledon. I hope to continue that streak. ” Will you make it?

Old acquaintances and the new generation, their threats

Beyond the confidence he has in his game, Djokovic knows that Wimbledon is never an easy tournament and that it will have many more than complicated obstacles on the way to the title, from old acquaintances to representatives of that new generation that is taking more and more. prominence.

One of the players he will have to “take care of” will be Nadal, who will make his debut against Argentina’s Francisco Cerúndolo. The Spaniard, second favorite and with whom he would only meet in a hypothetical final, had put many doubts on his presence in All England after having confessed to having won his 14th Roland Garros with his “insensitive” foot and to having played a good part of that infiltrated match, due to the pain generated by the chronic injury to his left foot. But after leaving Paris, he underwent a new treatment in the area and arrived in London refreshed.

“If I’m here it’s because things are getting better. I can walk normally most days. When I wake up, I don’t have that pain I’ve had in the last year and a half. And in training, these last two weeks I haven’t had a single day of those terrible days when I can’t move at all. The overall feeling and sensations are positive “, commented Rafachampion in London in 2008 and 2010.

Matteo Berrettini, eighth seeded, played his first Grand Slam final twelve months ago at All England, which he lost to Djokovic. And this year the Italian is one of the players to keep an eye on. Not just for that 2021 result. After a hiatus of almost three months due to an operation on his right hand, he is back with everything and has won the two tournaments he has played since his return, Stuttgart and Queen’s, both on the grass.

Also in excellent form the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (4th), who has just conquered his first crown on the grass in Mallorca, and the Pole Hubert Hurkacz (7th), who a week ago shouted champion in Halle by winning against Medvedev. And also Andy Murray, former number one and now 51st, finalist two weeks ago in Stuttgart and this year with a 7-2 record on grass. Although the Scotsman, winner of Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, could not prepare as he would have liked for the “big” in which he will be local due to an abdominal injury.

The great unknown is Alcaraz (5th). The Spaniard, “the player” this season after winning four titles (including Miami and Madrid Masters) and breaking into the top 10 at just 18, has very little experience on grass: he only played one tournament, Wimbledon 2021, with a win and a defeat. And in his preparation for the English Grand Slam, he lost both games he played against in the Hurlingham exhibition. Francesca Tiafè Y Casper Ruud.

“I think I am able to play well on grass and that my game will adapt well to that surface. But I’m not a favorite at all,” acknowledged Murcian.

Swiatek and the possibility of extending its domain

The Wimbledon women’s tournament will kick off with a very clear-cut candidate, Iga Swiatek from Poland, who just won Roland Garros for the second time and came to London with an impressive streak of 35 consecutive victories, one of the ten best in history. Even if she prefers to be cautious.

It is the number one in the world (position reached, in part, thanks to the premature retirement of Ashley Barty) and this year champion also in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart and Rome, she has already shown her power on hard and clay courts. But she hasn’t yet achieved great results on grass, where she has only amassed seven wins. At Wimbledon, her best result is the round of 16 in 2021.

“Honestly, on this surface I need to pick up a rhythm. You have to go game after game. This year I only played ten days on grass. It’s not much. I just try to keep an open mind and think about positive things. many successes this season, but we all have ups and downs. We’ll see what the tournament has in store for me “, commented the player who will debut against the French. jana fettcoming from the quay.

One of her great rivals in the English competition will be the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, his escort in the standings. The African has just won the title in Berlin, she has more shots than Swiatek on the grass and knows what it’s like to beat the Pole in All England, as she stopped her last year.

Another player Swiatek will have to “watch out for” is a living tennis legend: Serena Williams. The American, now 411th in the standings, will play a singles tournament on the circuit for the first time in a year since she retired on her Wimbledon debut with an injury to her right leg.

While far from his best, the former number one (who reached the doubles semi-finals at Eastbourne last week with Jabeur) has received a wild card in the tournament and is always a threat. Seven-time London champion, she wants to add her 24th Grand Slam to equal the Australian’s all-time record Margherita Corte.