Daniil Medvedev enters Wimbledon with a fresh burst of confidence following his run at the tournament 12 months ago. 

Having previously never gone beyond the fourth round, he battled through to the semi-finals before getting stopped in his tracks by Carlos Alcaraz, who went on to win the title. A formidable hardcourt player on the Tour, his success on other surfaces is smaller. Just one out of his 20 ATP titles was won on the grass.  

Medvedev began his latest campaign at The All England Club with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, win over America’s Aleksandar Kovacevic. He has won 230 matches since the start of 2020 which is more than any other player on the ATP Tour. The Russian appears to be in solid form but what did he learn about his from the tournament last year?

“I always felt kind of not bad, but sometimes you get Hurkacz or someone else, and it’s a big serve, and you can lose some tiebreaks,” Medvedev commented on his grasscourt game.
“Last year I managed to go step-by-step till the semifinals. Against Carlos, I had to do much better. I lost easy, to be honest.
“I think this for sure gives me confidence for this year knowing that I can take this step by step, then against the best players I need to be better. I’m ready to do it.”

One area Medvedev has been working on concerns his consistency during matches. During his pre-Wimbledon preparation, he only played two Tour-level matches in Halle, losing in the second round to China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

“When I come on grass the first week, my forehand, especially with my big swing, I would hit it too late. Not a good rhythm.” He explained.
“I was working a lot on everything, movement. Different muscle work, a lot of physical work. 
“A lot of serving for sure and a lot of repetition of just hitting the ball and trying to find the rhythm.”

The work seems to be paying off for the world No.5 judging by his latest match statistics. In his first round match, he won 79% of his first service points and hit nearly two times more winners than unforced errors (33 against 17).

Medvedev’s next challenge will be against Alexandre Müller, who is currently ranked 102nd in the world and is yet to win back-to-back matches at a major event.

Carlos Alcaraz kicked off his quest for a second consecutive Wimbledon title with a tricky opening win over Mark Lajal.

The 21-year-old withstood some stern resistance from the Estonian world No.269 before fighting his way to a 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-2, victory in what is only his 12th main draw win at the All England Club. He has extended his perfect record over qualifiers to 7-0. In his latest match, he hit 44 winners against 28 unforced errors.

“Stepping on this court, Centre Court of Wimbledon … I still get nerves when I’m playing here,” Alcaraz said during his on-court interview. “I practiced 45 minutes on Thursday, and it’s the first time that I was nervous on a practice, just because I’m playing here. I’m glad, and I’m privileged, to play here on this court.
“I tried not to think about it. This is a new year, a totally different tournament … to play at the same level as last year if I want to repeat the same result.”

Taking to Center Court, the Spaniard was made to work by Lajal, who is exactly one week younger than him and was making his Grand Slam debut after coming through the qualifying rounds. Lajal was hoping to become only the second man from his country to reach the second round at Wimbledon and the first since 1967.

On paper, the showdown should have been a one-way encounter for Alcaraz given that his rival had never faced a top 30 player on the Tour until today. However, Lajal relished the challenge and caught the world No.2 off guard by breaking him in the fifth game. The underdog’s threat didn’t last long as Alcaraz hit back immediately with a 10-point winning streak to nudge back into the lead in what was a closer-than-expected opening set. Eventually, Alcaraz weathered the storm to clinch a 7-6 lead after 54 minutes.

The cat-and-mouse chase continued in the second frame with Alcaraz yet again going down a break before battling back to draw level. Then towards the business end, he snatched another break for a 6-5 lead before sealing the second set with a love service game.

Storming towards the finish line, the former world No.1 sealed the match by winning six out of the last eight games played. Claiming victory with a forehand winner.

“He played a really good match,” Alcaraz said in tribute to his rival. “He surprised me a little bit because I didn’t see him too much playing, practicing, but I think he has the level to go up a lot.
“He’s really young, he’s my age, so I’m sure I’m going to see him really soon in the tour and play against him more often.”

It is the fourth year in a row that Alcaraz has won his opening match at The All-England Club. He is bidding to become the first man outside the Big Three to defend his Wimbledon title since Pete Sampras in 2000.

A lot has changed for Andy Murray since he first caught the attention of the British public by reaching the third round of Wimbledon at the age of 18. 

Over the coming years, he has gone on to become the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon in 2013 before claiming the title for a second time three years later. In total, he has won 46 ATP titles, spent 41 weeks as world No.1 and earned more than $64M in prize money. He also played an instrumental role in his country winning the Davis Cup in 2015.

However, the second half of Murray’s career has been dodged by injury setbacks with the most notable problem being his hip, which almost made him retire from the sport. Instead, he defied the odds by undergoing resurfacing surgery that involved inserting a metal rod into his hip joint. Since the procedure, his performance on the Tour has been full of mixed emotions amid other physical issues also arising. 

It is perhaps fitting that Murray’s 2024 farewell sees him fighting against the odds once again as he bids to end his career on his terms. Heading into his final Wimbledon appearance, he has undergone surgery on his back due to a cyst in the region. 

“I might get the exact terminology wrong, but I had a decompression of spinal stenosis in my back, which is not just an issue with the cyst as such, but the cyst is what was causing the issues with my leg, pressing on the nerve,” Murray told reporters on Sunday.
“The cyst got removed. I still have stitches in my back now. Yeah, the actual area where I had the operation is not sore. It’s the leg and the function of my leg that will determine whether or not I’m able to play.”

If he is fit, Murray’s final singles campaign at The All England Club will begin with a showdown against Tomas Machac. A talented 23-year-old Czech who he narrowly lost to in Miami earlier this season. It was during that clash that the Brit suffered an ankle injury that sidelined him from action for almost two months.

“It’s getting better every single day. I want to give it every single chance that I can to get there.” He said of his latest physical woe.
“I’m going to play another set again tomorrow. I’m doing some physical testing in the morning to see sort of how far off I am from a physical perspective. Then I will probably make a decision tomorrow evening after that.”

If the worst case were to occur for Murray, he still has the chance of playing at Wimbledon in the doubles draw. He has been granted a wild card and for the first time in his career he will be playing alongside his brother Jamie. 

As for what the 37-year-old hopes to get out of this year’s draw, it is the chance to play at SW19 for the final time.

“This is a place that’s been really good to me over the years,” Murray reflected.
“Everyone has their idea of how they want to finish their career, how they would want it to go. My idea of that would see that happening at Wimbledon. Obviously I have the Olympics coming up. But I would love the opportunity to play here one more time.”
“That’s what I’m looking to get out of it. Whether afterwards I feel like that’s the right thing to do, it was the right thing to do or not, I don’t know. But right now I feel like I want that opportunity.”

Murray has played 74 matches at Wimbledon, winning 61 of them.