There’s little doubt that the changing of the guard in men’s tennis is underway, if not already near completion as the biggest tournament of the year begins Monday on the grass at Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal isn’t there, choosing instead to prepare for the Paris Olympics in what seems almost certain to be his last year on the tour. Andy Murray’s body is seemingly being held together by glue and duct tape, and it’s unclear whether he’ll even be healthy enough to say goodbye to the tournament where he broke a 77-year drought for British men.
Novak Djokovic has entered and is the No. 2 seed, but his 2024 thus far has been characterized by uninspired play and a meniscus injury that took him out of the French Open. How healthy he is or how well he is capable of playing currently is a total mystery.
But it’s inaccurate to say that this is a wide open Wimbledon, at least for now.
Jannik Sinner, the newly-minted World No. 1, won the Australian Open to begin the year and has been the best player overall this season. Carlos Alcaraz, just 21, already has three Grand Slam titles in his bag and is the defending champion here.
Until proven otherwise, those two are a good distance ahead of the pack − especially on grass, where many of the other usual suspects on the men’s side do not have strong track records.
But as Friday’s draw shook out, Sinner and Alcaraz ended up in the same half of the bracket, meaning they’d face each other in the semifinals instead of the finals. That’s the only negative this weekend as tennis fans get ready for one of the most exciting weeks of the year at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club.
