With Roger Federer retired and Rafael Nadal practicing on clay in advance of the Olympics, Novak Djokovic is the only “Big Three” member who is on the Wimbledon entry list this summer. However, even Djokovic might not play. The 37-year-old Serb suffered a torn medial meniscus in his right knee at the French Open just a few weeks ago and his status for the tennis season’s third Grand Slam is uncertain.
Given Djokovic’s struggles, world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz are the top two favorites on the men’s singles side. However, plenty of other contenders are in the mix. They include Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Hubert Hurkacz and Daniil Medvedev. Let's take a look at the best bets to be made on the men’s side at Wimbledon before play gets underway on Monday.
- JANNIK SINNER
- ALEXANDER ZVEREV
- HUBERT HURKACZ
- DANIIL MEDVEDEV
- GRIGOR DIMITROV
Sinner Cementing No 1 Status
Sinner has won four titles this season – including the Australian Open – and became No. 1 in the world for the first time in his career after reaching the French Open semifinals. The 22-year-old Italian has been by far the best player on tour dating back to last fall and grass is a good surface for him, so there are a lot of reasons to like his chances at Wimbledon.
Sinner has advanced to the quarterfinals and semifinals the last two seasons at the All-England Club, losing to Djokovic on both occasions. In his first event as the world No. 1 last week, Sinner lifted the trophy on the grass courts of Halle. Of the clear-cut top three favorites (Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic), Sinner looks like the most reliable choice.
There is a chance Djokovic does not play, while Alcaraz underwhelmed in his lone grass-court warmup tournament. The third-ranked Spaniard lost to Jack Draper in the Queen’s Club second round. It’s also worth noting that Sinner won his only previous grass-court matchup with Alcaraz in four sets at Wimbledon in 2022.
JANNIK SINNER TO WIN WIMBLEDON
Can Zverev Finally Get Over Slam Line?
Zverev is without question the best player to have never won a major title. The fourth-ranked German has twice finished runner-up, both times in five sets (to Dominic Thiem at the 2020 U.S. Open and to Alcaraz at the 2024 French Open).
It may be true that grass has been his least successful surface and Wimbledon has been his worst of the four slams, but Zverev has twice reached the final of the prestigious grass-court tournament in Halle. He advanced to the Halle semis last week before falling to Hurkacz.
As the No. 4 seed at the All-England Club, Zverev is guaranteed to avoid Sinner, Alcaraz and Djokovic in his quarter of the draw. At most, he will have to beat just two of those three players en route to the title. If Zverev serves as well as he did at Roland Garros, he will be very tough to beat out on the lawns of London.
ALEXANDER ZVEREV TO WIN WIMBLEDON
Hurkacz Serve A Threat On Grass
Especially now that Djokovic is no longer completely dominating the sport, the best player doesn’t always win. You can argue that at no Grand Slam is such a statement truer than it is at Wimbledon. The best server may be even more likely to win than the best all-around player. There is no doubt that Hurkacz is currently the best server on tour based on all of the metrics – namely speed, first-serve percentage and number of aces.
The seventh-ranked Pole is averaging 14.2 aces per match in 2024; nobody else on tour is averaging more than 11.5. He is second this season in both percentage of first-serve points won and percentage of service games held. Unsurprisingly, Hurkacz’s grass-court accomplishments are impressive.
He reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2021, upsetting Federer in the Swiss legend’s last-ever official match. He advanced to the fourth round last summer before succumbing to Djokovic in four extremely tight sets. Hurkacz is also a two-time finalist in Halle, where he lifted the trophy in 2022 and was runner-up to Sinner a week ago.
HUBERT HURKACZ TO WIN WIMBLEDON
Medvedev An Outside Threat
Although Medvedev is a self-proclaimed hard-court specialist, he can never be discounted on any surface. After all, on clay he is a former French Open quarterfinalist and Rome champion; on grass he reached the Wimbledon semis last summer and triumphed at the Mallorca event in 2021.
The fifth-ranked Russian is one of the biggest servers on tour and his flat groundstrokes also work very well on grass. You also have to like Medvedev’s Grand Slam experience. He is a U.S. Open champion (2021) and has reached slam finals on five other occasions. Medvedev is more than capable of going all the way at the All-England Club.
DANIIL MEDVEDEV TO WIN WIMBLEDON
Dimitrov Another Longshot
It is true one of the top favorites (Alcaraz) won the French Open and the current world No. 1 (Sinner) won the Australian Open, but the bottom line is that there is no completely dominant force on the ATP Tour right now. These aren’t like the days of old when basically every Grand Slam trophy was almost guaranteed to be lifted by either Djokovic, Nadal, or Federer. Titles are much more up for grabs in the current era of men’s tennis.
This Wimbledon title could very well be won by a proverbial outsider, and a good one to look at is Dimitrov. The 33-year-old Bulgarian has advanced to the semifinals at three of the four slams, including at Wimbledon (2014). He is also a former Queen’s Club champion, so his grass-court acumen is obvious.
At No. 10 in the rankings, Dimitrov is playing some of the best tennis of his life this season and a long-await first Grand Slam title would not be the most surprising development in the world.
GRIGOR DIMITROV TO WIN WIMBLEDON
