Carlos Alcaraz is bidding to retain his Wimbledon title and triumph in SW19 for the third year in a row.
Alcaraz would join an elite group of players to have achieved a ‘three-peat’ at Wimbledon should he defend his title.
The 22-year-old could hardly be in better form, having won his second French Open title earlier this month – his fifth Grand Slam in total – and winning Queen’s on the eve of Wimbledon.
The two most likely candidates to challenge Alcaraz for his Wimbledon men’s singles title are world number one Jannik Sinner and seven-time champion Djokovic.
Sinner has claimed three major titles since 2024 and failed to convert three Championship points in the recent French Open final against Alcaraz.
Djokovic, meanwhile, has already confirmed his status as one of the greats of the game with a record 24 major men’s singles titles.
But at 38 his powers are waning and it has been almost two years since his last Grand Slam win, a relatively long drought for arguably the best player in history.
Metro’s Wimbledon predictions
Ahead of Wimbledon, Metro Deputy Sports Editor Louis Sealey and Sports Reporter Liam Grace picked out their dark horses, breakthrough stars and predicted how many Brits would reach week two.
Dark horse
LS: Picking a former US Open champion as a ‘dark horse’ to win Wimbledon feels a stretch but the consensus in the build-up to the tournament appears to be that anyone lifting the men’s trophy bar Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner would justify that tag.
Daniil Medvedev, a two-time semi-finalist here, was handed a favourable draw and his first real test should come in the fourth round against Eastbourne champion Taylor Fritz. More than decent on grass, Medvedev beat Sinner in the quarter-finals last year before losing to eventual champion Alcaraz.
In the women’s draw, Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng could enjoy a productive run and beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in a likely second-round clash.
LG: Alexander Bublik stunned Jack Draper at the French Open less than a month ago in a result no one saw coming to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time.
He’s carried his fine form into the grass season too, recently landing the Halle Open title in Germany. He’s able to hit plenty of aces with his serve and is a true force.
Breakthrough star
LS: Joao Fonseca is rated as one of the hottest prospects in the game and could well be the next tennis superstar. Already the top-ranked player from Brazil, the 18-year-old reached the third round of last month’s French Open and will be hoping for a similar run at SW19.
His first-round match with British hopeful Jacob Fearnley should be box office. Big-serving Fearnley, incidentally, could also fall into this category if he gets past the Brazilian.
Wimbledon may come too soon for Fonseca but he will make waves in a Grand Slam sooner rather than later. Also keep an eye on Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic, two 16-year-old Brits who were handed wildcards on the women’s side of the draw.
LG:
Sonay Kartal, the British No.3, could be set for a huge breakthrough at Wimbledon 2025.
She has just reached a career-high ranking of world No.49 in singles with her powerful physique making her a dangerous opponent on grass.
At last year’s Championships, she was No.298 in the world and reached the third round as a qualifier.
‘Originally, [my aim] for 2025 was to break into the top 50,’she told the Evening Standard this week. ‘I will push to be top 30 by December. That would be great.’
How many Brits will make it to week two?
LS: Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu’s Wimbledon hopes have not been helped by tricky draws.
Draper is likely to face former finalist Marin Cilic in the second round and the dangerous Alexander Bublik in the third. Novak Djokovic will then likely be waiting in week two.
Raducanu, meanwhile, is due to face Wimbledon favourite Aryna Sabalenka in round three. I’m backing Draper but fear for Raducanu.
Dan Evans could face Djokovic in round two so that would be another Brit out, while Jacob Fearnley and Katie Boulter will do very well to even win two games.
LG: I would be stunned if Jack Draper didn’t reach the second week of Wimbledon. He may be joined by Emma Raducanu, who progressed to the last 16 last year.
If Sonay Kartal is given a favourable draw, she could make it as well. I’d love to see the likes of Jacob Fearnley and Katie Boulter there too, but I think they’ll just about miss out.
Rating Draper’s chances at Wimbledon, seven-time Grand Slam champion Mats Wilander told TNT Sports: ‘I don’t think that I’m necessarily expecting him to reach the semi-finals.
‘I think he has a chance. I think he has a chance to get to the finals. But I don’t know if he can win the title with Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic in the draw.’
Pat Cash (Wimbledon champion)
‘You can’t really expect better form for Carlos Alcaraz to come into Wimbledon, he’s obviously the player to beat,’ the 1987 champion told BBC Radio 5 Live.
‘I wouldn’t bet against him winning the title at Wimbledon. Alcaraz is the red-hot favourite, that’s for sure.’
Andy Roddick (US Open champion)
‘I wouldn’t bet against it,’ the 2003 US Open champion said on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast.
‘I mean, listen, anything can happen. Sinner is going to re-enter the conversation; let’s not forget about him, he’s still really good.
‘He’s number one in the world. He’s been the best player in the world for the last… however long, especially on hard-court.
‘Let’s not get carried away with these results, but Carlos was the favourite at Wimbledon before Queen’s, and he’s the favourite after Queen’s as well.
‘I don’t think anyone would argue against that.’
Nick Kyrgios (Wimbledon finalist)
‘I would say Alcaraz is the favourite to win Wimbledon,’ Kyrgios, who lost to Novak Djokovic in the 2022 final, told talkSPORT.
‘He’s won four tournaments on grass and only lost three matches on the surface. He would be the favourite. Alcaraz has the flair and X-factor of Federer, Nadal and Novak.’
Mats Wilander (seven-time Grand Slam champion)
‘I expect Novak Djokovic to play as well or maybe better at Wimbledon than he did at the French Open,’ he told TNT Sports.
‘Let’s be honest, when he has had to play great, he has played great in all three majors this year. And suddenly, he goes to his favourite surface, most probably his favourite tournament.
‘He’s nearly taken a set or two from Jannik Sinner at the French Open. Jannik Sinner should have won the tournament three sets to one.
‘So, if I’m Novak Djokovic, I’m looking at, ‘Man, I could have been in the finals. I could have nearly beaten these guys [at the] French Open. Give me Wimbledon and the grass.’
‘Maybe he needs one of them to lose before he plays them. It’s a tough deal to play Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals and Carlos Alcaraz in the finals, that’s for sure, because it becomes so physical towards the end of the tournament when the court doesn’t necessarily slow down, but the bounce is higher and it becomes more like a hard court.
‘That’s the only issue I see for him. But he’s so good when the grass is green, Novak, because the balance in his feet is incredible. And he just plays so smart… so I’m expecting huge things from Novak Djokovic.’
Wally Masur (Tennis coach and former Wimbledon quarter-finalist)
‘I just cannot discount Novak Djokovic on grass. I thought he played well at the French; he played well against Jannik Sinner,’ Masur said.
‘On grass he’s a little better against the field, in my opinion, just given his experience and the way he sort of understands the nature of the surface. I don’t think he’s too far off the level required to win].’
Liam Broady (British tennis star)
‘I think at Wimbledon, Carlos Alcaraz is the man to stop,’ Broady told talkSPORT.
‘Jannik [Sinner] on the hard courts looks like he’s going to be the man to beat at the Australian Open and the US Open. I was surprised how close he got and how well he was playing on the clay at Roland Garros.
‘I think at Wimbledon, Jannik doesn’t move quite as well on the grass. The ball stays a bit lower so it’s harder for the taller, bigger hitters to play on the courts.
‘Carlos has so much variety to his game. He’s a little bit [Roger] Federer-esque at times. He’s a shot-maker and I think the grass suits him really well.’
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