Novak Djokovic charged with resurrecting tennis at Wimbledon as the Grand Slam looks for future contenders

With the 2023 Wimbledon just around the corner, all hopes rest on Novak Djokovic's shoulder to charm the crowd as fans look for future grass court specialists.

Novak Djokovic charged with resurrecting tennis at Wimbledon as the Grand Slam looks for future contenders

Novak Djokovic (Credits: IOL)

It’s that time of the year when pouring over the draw sheets of Wimbledon leads to pulse racing and arguments amongst fans as to who will go the full distance. The Wimbledon fortnight, beginning Monday, is indeed special, for many reasons. It is the mother of all Grand Slams, despite all the three other Majors working hard to improve. Well, tradition and history, laced with aura and energy give Wimbledon the old-world charm.

Several things are changing, from the texture of grass on the well-manicured lawns of SW 19 to the bounce, as well as the weight/heaviness of the fuzzy, tennis ball. What has also changed is the rare breed of grass court specialists vanishing, like the Dinosaur. Names of Boris Becker, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf come readily to mind when one talks of grass court experts.

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Today, there is no grasscourt expert player and Wimbledon itself can take credit/blame for destroying that breed. TV dictates how play should be, and the demand is for more play, not short points, which used to be the case in Wimbledon in a different generation. To be sure, Wimbledon embraced a change over two decades ago, when the ball became heavier, the courts slower, with more predictable bounce. Higher rather than lower bounce killed its novelty.

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Keeping all these factors in mind, pondering over the draws, in both sections, men and women becomes an exercise in futility. There is hype over top seed Carlos Alcaraz, something which must be making the Spaniard nervous. His pedigree is certainly not on grass, so how deep he goes into the draw is suspense. For all those who think Seed 1 versus Seed 2 would be the ideal final, forget it. To think Alcaraz would get that far is a mirage.

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Rest of the Tour lines up against Novak Djokovic to deny him a fifth straight title

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic (Credits: The South African)

If you ask the Britons, they will still romance Andy Murray. Just as they did many years ago when Tim Henman was the contender every year and Pete Sampras the winner! One cannot blame the Britons, really. They are good tennis hosts, but not capable of producing good players. Murray plays with hope and hype, he will have crowds cheering for sure. Given the kind of tennis which one sees on grass these days, any kid swinging the racket freely can knock out Murray, early.

Old man Novak Djokovic is still the favorite, as he guns for his eighth Wimbledon title. He is keeping quiet, like always. Perhaps, once the action begins on Monday, the defending champion from 2022 will again show his wares. That is what he has done in two Majors this year in Melbourne and Paris, which puts him on Mount Himalayas of tennis, with 23 Grand Slam titles.

On the distaff side, Iga Swiatek is the top seed. She has no great experience on grass. What happened in the 2022 final is still fresh in memory, Elena Rybakina versus Ons Jabeur. All these girls are dangerous, from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the USA, plus all others. Iga knows her path will be loaded like a minefield. The good part, her form in 2023 has been sublime. She has learned to handle success well and play on all surfaces.

The girl from Poland knows she should be careful with media hype as well since Wimbledon has a nasty tradition where favorites lose their way in the first week itself. This is a litmus test for Iga Swiatek. Though she is far better prepared than men’s Seed 1, Carlos Alcaraz. One thing is to make predictions and what happens on the court altogether a different prospect. Wimbledon and predictability are like sunshine and rain.

They can tease and torment each other, though the good part is two courts now at Wimbledon have retractable roofs. After all, the demands of prime-time television are such, stoppage of play due to the elements cannot be afforded.

Still talking about the draws? Well, Wimbledon, itself is a big draw. This time, grass’s premier event also has ranking points from the ATP and WTA, unlike 2022. Hopefully, history will be made. Bookmakers and Novak Djokovic will be watched in the first fortnight of July with great interest!

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