Wimbledon has not been a place of fond memories for Alexander Zverev but this year he enters the event with a fresh burst of confidence.

Only twice has the German managed to reach the fourth round stage at The All England Club which was in 2017 and 2021. Overall he has won just 13 matches at Wimbledon which is less than any other Grand Slam. The numbers don’t look great for Zverev but he believes that this year’s draw could be the most open it has been for two decades.

Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic recently underwent knee surgery and only time will tell how his body will hold up after multiple best-of-five matches. Carlos Alcaraz’s pre-match preparation saw him lose in the second at Queen’s to an in-form Jack Draper. On a more positive note, world No.1 Jannik Sinner recently won his first grass title in Halle but only one out of the five players he faced was in the top 40.

“It’s the first time I feel like I’m here to be a competitor, to maybe win the title,” Zverev told reporters on Saturday. 
“I think this is the most open Wimbledon Championship that we maybe had in 20 years in terms of favourites, in terms of potential winners.
“I think there’s multiple guys who have a very decent chance of going deep and very decent chance of winning the tournament.
“I don’t think it has been like that for maybe 20 years since before Roger started playing, right? After Roger came Rafa, Novak, Andy. I really feel it’s different this year.”

Last year Alcaraz broke the stronghold of the Big Four when he ousted Djokovic in a five-set battle to become the first player out of the quarter to win Wimbledon since 2002. More recently he won the French Open which made him the youngest man to win major titles in all three surfaces. 

“I want to put my name on that short list to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. I know that there’s going to be a really difficult and big challenge for me, but I think I’m ready to do it.” Alcaraz declares.
“I’m doing great work these last weeks just to get ready and just to feel comfortable to play Wimbledon at my 100%.”

Winning back-to-back Wimbledon’s is a tough task. Only Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic have managed to achieve this over the past 30 years. 

As for Djokovic, the recent injury setback has had little impact on his high expectations and belief that he can triumph yet again. Should he do so he would draw level with Federer for the most Wimbledon men’s titles won at eight. Alcaraz describes his rival as ‘superhuman’ because of his swift recovery. However, Djokovic believes he only was able to do so after taking inspiration from other athletes.

“When that happened in the fourth round of Roland Garros, I made a very quick decision to have surgery and I was very much in doubt to make Wimbledon,” he explained.
“Then, after extensive conversations with certain athletes that have been through very similar situations – for example, Taylor Fritz, who has been through something pretty much the same like I have three years ago. He said 21 days after he played his first round in Wimbledon.
“(Stan) Wawrinka, Lindsey Vonn, they all shared their experiences and really, that gave me faith and optimism that if rehab is done right and correct, and if of course the knee responds well – which is something that is very unpredictable – then there is a pretty good chance I’ll make Wimbledon.
“I arrived here on Sunday. It’s been a week of training. A very good week of training.”

Out of the 128 players in this year’s men’s draw, only four have previously reached a Wimbledon final – Alcaraz, Djokovic, Andy Murray and Matteo Berrettini. 

Jannik Sinner has been given a tough draw at Wimbledon as he is set to play defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

The world number one enters Wimbledon having won the ATP 500 event in Halle, defeating Hubert Hurkacz in the final.

However Sinner’s chances of winning a maiden Wimbledon crown have a few obstacles as the Italian will likely have to play Matteo Berrettini, Tallon Griekspoor, and Grigor Dimitrov on his way to the quarter-finals.

Should Sinner get through that tough draw, the world number one will then play defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

However, Novak Djokovic has a much easier draw as he continues to get stronger after his meniscus surgery in Paris.

The Serb’s most dangerous opponent on his way to the final is Halle finalist Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.

A match which Djokovic edged to victory in four sets at last year’s Wimbledon.

Ubitennis founder Ubaldo Scanagatta looks back on the men’s draw and compares Sinner and Djokovic’s potential routes to the final.

Britain’s Paul Jubb amazing week ended in the semi finals after a 4-6, 5-7 loss to Sebastian Ofner – but he leaves with his head held high after seeing his ranking rocket up 88 places to provisionally #201, just a few spots shy of his career high achieved two years ago.

Austrian Ofner put in a solid match winning an astonishing 90% behind first serves, as well as an impressive 15 aces. But the headline statistic of 33 winners told the story as he consistently came out on top in baseline rallies with some fabulously constructed points mixing depth with short angles. He converted two of his three breakpoints and served out with an ace to reach his first ATP Final.

“I have always played well on grass, so for my first final to come on grass is something special,” Ofner said on court after his victory. “It’s also the surface on which I qualified for my first Grand Slam at Wimbledon. I just wanted to go with power on my first serve [at the end] because that’s the best chance to have no rally. But I played great the last games and happy that I got the win.”

Jubb should take heart from a great week where he came through qualifying to win three rounds of main draw as well as taking out top seed Ben Shelton yesterday in an epic encounter lasting two hours and 45 minutes, while Ofner contemplates a first tour title at the age of 28.

In the final, the Austrain faces Alejandro Tabilo who defeated Gael Monfils 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). The French veteran had recaptured his grass court form this week having not played on the surface for three years, but ran into a red-hot Tabilo who is having a career-best season by reaching his third final of the year.

Monfils closed the first set in just 28 minutes with an ace and looked convincing but Tabilo struck back by breaking twice in the second to square things up. Both men upped their game in the decider with no breaks of serve and the tie-break began with a superb 27-shot rally where Monfils – who had looked passive throughout the point – attempting a drop shot which Tabilo chased down for a backhand winner. He clenched his fist to the crowd and rode the momentum to take the match when Monfils double faulted on the last point.

“I think I started a little nervous, not really intense. I couldn’t find the court,” said Tabilo afterwards. “As the first set went on, I started getting a little looser, started hitting the ball [better]. Second set, I knew it was a new match and I had to start all over.”

Monfils now heads to Wimbledon where he will face countryman Adrian Mannarino in the first round before a possible encounter with Stan Wawrinka, while Tabilo will look to sleep well and recover for tomorrow’s title match – after which he will also contest the doubles final with partner Diego Hidalgo against Robert Galloway and Britain’s Julian Cash.