Lounge
Wimbledon 2024: A tournament that is brimming with possibilities
Summary
After more than a decade of dominance, Wimbledon legends are making way for a new generation of players. Lounge analyses the men's and women's draws
As Wimbledon opens its doors for the 2024 Championships on 1 July, there will be a whiff of fresh cut grass, mowed to a perfect height of 8mm, and anticipation of anarchy in the men’s field.
Last year had already saw a changing of the guard as Carlos Alcaraz dethroned four-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in a thrilling five-set final.
It was the first time that someone outside of the Big 4—Roger Federer (8 titles), Rafael Nadal (2 titles), Novak Djokovic (7 titles) and Andy Murray (2 titles)—had won the men’s championships since 2003. But with Federer retired, Nadal and Murray withdrawing, and Djokovic recovering from injury, it feels like the age of those greats has passed. For the first time in over two decades, Wimbledon is truly an open tournament.
Also Read Why Carlos Alcaraz is the top contender for Wimbledon 2024
A wide open field
The aura of exclusivity shattered, there will be a fair few who will believe they could make a run for the title. But the front-runners, and the only two players who have stepped up to fill in the void so far, have been top seed Jannik Sinner and defending champion Alcaraz. Their credentials are further backed up by the fact they have both gone through Djokovic for Grand Slam glory. While Alcaraz trumped the Serb, a master of managing the deciding fifth set, at the 2023 Wimbledon final, Sinner defeated Djokovic in the semi-final of 2024 Australian Open to win his first major.
The Italian, who took over as the World No. 1 after Djokovic withdrew from French Open due to injury, has always owned extraordinary power off both wings. But since 2022 he has worked on shoring up his defence and tennis smarts. Guided by elite tennis coach Darren Cahill, he has adjusted his serve, made it faster, more precise and improved his second serve winning percentage. Though Sinner won his first grass court title at Halle on Sunday, 23 June, he is by no means a lightweight on the surface. The Italian has beaten Alcaraz at Wimbledon 2022, and the last two times it took a champion of Djokovic’s stature to stop him at the hallowed grounds.
His big serve and flat groundstrokes are a definite weapon on grass. And his dedicated fan group, the orange-clad ‘Carota Boys’—named partially because of Sinner’s mop of curly red hair and because the Italian eats carrots instead of a traditional banana during game breaks—are bound to add a dash of colour to Wimbledon’s genteel surroundings.
Also Read Wimbledon 2024: Jannik Sinner's lively rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz
Alcaraz’s game, meanwhile, is vivid and colourful enough to draw crowds. During the 2023 final, Alcaraz audaciously employed drop shots and lobs against the most solid player the game has ever seen to get over the line.
Recklessness of youth or genius in the making? So far, the Spaniard has backed the conviction in his game with flawless execution. The 21-year-old Alcaraz won the 2024 French Open to become the youngest male player to win majors on all three surfaces—grass, clay and hard (2022 US Open). His preparation on grass notwithstanding—Alcaraz lost in straight sets to Britain’s Jack Draper in the second round of the Queen’s Club tournament last week—Alcaraz will be one of the favourites for Wimbledon.
“Grass matches Alcaraz’s skill set perfectly," Paul Annacone, who has coached Federer as well as Pete Sampras, said on the Tennis Channel recently. “He’s one of the most talented and complete players I have ever seen. He can do everything from anywhere on court; on grass it requires a little more nuanced creativity and he’s got that. He can hurt you from anywhere on court. It makes him more dangerous on grass."
The one glitch in Alcaraz’s young and successful career is that he has not won consecutive Grand Slams. If the Spaniard does achieve the feat at Wimbledon, he will become the youngest, and only the sixth male player—after Rod Laver (1969), Bjorn Borg (1978, 1979, 1980), Nadal (2008, 2010), Federer (2009) and Djokovic (2021)—to complete the ‘Channel Slam’ (winning French Open and Wimbledon in the same year). It is one of the toughest feats in tennis as the game travels from the slow, high-bouncing red clay courts of Roland Garros to the quick, wickedly low bounce of Wimbledon’s green grass within a matter of three weeks.
Players don’t have a lot of time, or tournaments, to adjust to the stark contrast in surfaces. Six grass court tournaments are squeezed into the interim period to give players a chance at making the transition. They are bound to throw a few surprises. The roster of champions of the four grass court tournaments that have taken places so far reads thus: Alex de Minaur at ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, Draper at Stuttgart, Germany, Sinner at Halle, Germany, and Tommy Paul at Queen’s, London. Apart from De Minaur, none of them has won titles on grass before. Is this another sign of the impending chaos at Wimbledon?
Apart from the aforementioned names, whose confidence would have gone up a notch, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz could also go deep into the tournament. Alexander Zverev is playing the best tennis of his life and if he can take his clay form, which culminated in a finals finish at the French Open, to Wimbledon, the big-serving German could pose a threat.
What has truly thrown the gates open at Wimbledon is the uncertainty over Djokovic’s participation and fitness. After withdrawing from the French Open, the Serb underwent surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his right knee and is still recovering. At 37 years of age, injuries like these seem more ominous. He has still travelled to London in search of the record-breaking 25th major, which will help him break the tie with Margaret Court for most number of singles Grand Slams in history. Whether Djokovic—who is yet to win a title this season —can still contend as an equal against a wave of youngsters with a battered knee and bruised confidence remains to be seen.
Injury has also cast a doubt over former champion Murray’s farewell. In 2013, Murray had ended the 77-year wait for a homegrown men’s champion at Wimbledon, but the Brit has been struggling after undergoing multiple surgeries since 2017. Though his comeback was gritty, it fell short of the lofty expectations Murray had conjured. The 37-year-old had announced that 2024 Wimbledon would be his last, but had to undergo a back surgery last week and may not get to say goodbye on court.
Nadal, who lost in the opening round of the French Open to Zverev, will give Wimbledon a miss. The 22-time major champion instead is focusing his energies on the 2024 Paris Olympics, starting on 26 July, where the tennis event will be held at Roland Garros. At the Olympics, he will be competing in men’s doubles with Alcaraz.
Wildcards and wounded warriors
While men’s tennis is going through a definite transition phase, the women’s field, especially at Wimbledon, routinely jumps from one unlikely champion to the other. Serena Williams was the last player to defend the ladies’ championship in 2016. Since then, there have been six different champions. Last year, left-handed Markéta Vondroušová, ranked 42 in the world at the time, became the first unseeded and the lowest ranked women’s champion at Wimbledon in the Open Era (post 1968).
In recent times, World No. 1 Iga Świątek has dominated clay and Aryna Sabalenka has prospered on hard courts. But there are no clear leaders, no definite favourites, on grass at Wimbledon. Ons Jabeur showed the best aptitude for the surface as she made two finals on the trot—in 2022 and 2023—but her nerves failed her both times. Since losing the Wimbledon final to Vondroušová last July, the trailblazing Tunisian has been on a downward spiral.
This year’s women’s field is largely a mix of returning Grand Slam champions and wounded warriors.
In an attempt to increase star power, Wimbledon has handed wild cards to four-time Majors champion Naomi Osaka, Britain’s very own Emma Raducanu, Caroline Wozniacki and Angelique Kerber. 2018 Wimbledon champion Kerber is charting a comeback after childbirth while Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is returning from a torrid injury spell, including wrist and ankle surgery in 2023. 2018 Australian Open champion Wozniacki, who had taken a break from tennis to focus on starting a family, returned to the tour in August 2023.
There is a slew of players who suffered injury setbacks during the Wimbledon warm-up events. Vondroušová slipped and picked up a hip injury in Berlin while Jabeur retired from her match against Coco Gauff at the same tournament due to illness. Two players who could make a mark at Wimbledon, Sabalenka and 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, also carry fitness concerns going into the major.
As a World No. 1 and someone who has dominated the field unflappably for the past two years, it is difficult to look past Świątek. But the Pole, a four-time French Open champion, has struggled to adjust to grass. Her best performance at Wimbledon was a quarter-final finish last year. After a demanding clay season, Świątek also decided to take a break and will come into Wimbledon without any grass prep.
A week before Wimbledon, two Americans have ensured a look-in. Jessica Pegula, who frequently flies under the radar, saved five match points to clinch her first grass court title in Berlin. Her doubles partner Coco Gauff has also taken massive strides in the past 12 months. Having first stepped into the Wimbledon spotlight in 2019 as a 15-year-old, the youngest to qualify for the main draw, Gauff has always looked like a worthy contender. But now, with more experience and a major (2024 US Open) in the bag, she might deliver on the promise.
As in the women’s, so in the men’s field, Wimbledon is brimming with possibilities again.
Deepti Patwardhan is a Mumbai-based sportswriter.
