It’s been a dominant year for Sinner so far, highlighted by his maiden Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, and his ascension to world No 1 after Roland Garros.
His four titles pull him clear of the rest of the ATP field and, having won the ATP 500 event in Halle against a strong field, he is probably the Wimbledon favourite as things stand.
The Italian did not always play fluid tennis in Halle, dropping a set in his first three matches, but he improved as the tournament went on – and served superbly well in his final versus Hubert Hurkacz.
Sinner is clearly a talented grass-courter, having progressed to the last eight at SW19 in 2022 and the last four a year ago – losing to Djokovic on both occasions.
The world No 1 has improved dramatically since that semi-final showing in 2023 and, with a strong grass-court game, will be incredibly tough to beat at the All England Club.
Ranking : 2 2024 Titles : 0 Grand Slam results : Australian Open SF, French Open QF* Wimbledon best : Champion x7
Djokovic’s ‘will he, won’t he?’ has dominated the build-up to the third Grand Slam of the season.
For the world No 2 and 24-time Grand Slam champion to even be in with a chance of playing is near miraculous, considering the usual layoff time after surgery on a meniscus injury.
The Serb is on-site at the All England Club and confirmed he would only play if he felt like he could win the tournament, with any withdrawal likely to come before the men’s singles draw on Friday.
Before the injury at Roland Garros, which led to his withdrawal from his quarter-final, 2024 had not been a happy year for Djokovic on the court.
However, if he is fit and can play, he must be considered one of the leading contenders.
His haul of seven Wimbledon titles is only beaten by Roger Federer from an ATP perspective, and he has reached the final in the last five editions of the tournament.
An all-time great at SW19 and on grass, the rest of the field will need to watch out if he does decide to play.
Ranking : 3 2024 Titles : 2 Grand Slam results : Australian Open QF, French Open champion Wimbledon best : Champion 2023
It has been a bumpy season for the Spaniard so far, though he will not be complaining too much after winning his third Grand Slam title at the French Open.
That run came after a disrupted clay-court season in which he only played four matches due to an arm injury, highlighting that he does not need many matches to find his groove.
That will certainly be of huge comfort to him ahead of his Wimbledon title defence, after an early loss to Jack Draper at the Queen’s Club this week.
Alcaraz’s performances have dipped throughout this year and he looked rather flat in his loss to Draper, unable to read his opponent’s serve and not able to dictate play.
However, he has proven he can win at the All England Club – by doing so twelve months ago.
The world No 3 has a natural ability on the grass and the best-of-five format works to his advantage, giving him time to bounce back from dips in his performance level.
He silenced many doubters on his way to the Roland Garros title – coming from two sets to one down against Sinner in the last four – and is rightfully a leading contender for his fourth major.
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