Yes, another tennis thread....... In case there are any other tennis fans out there, Wimbledon starts in a few days--my favorite tournament. Wrote this to post elsewhere, but figured I'd throw it up here too. Few thoughts/storylines on the men's side that came to mind.
1. Five time champ Novak Djokovic is the heavy favorite. If he wins, he will have 20 Grand Slam titles, and that would equal Federer and Nadal. He has an amazing all court game, so he isn't afraid of the shorter rallies that the slick, fast grass courts produce. Although the grass now plays much slower than in the 1970s through early 2000s, it is still MUCH faster than the clay swing of the tour that just ended, and faster than hard courts. It rewards big serves and ending points at the net. (The shorter points, and emphasis on serve and volley is why you occasionally had some unexpected champs before the era of Federer and Novak.)
2. Is Federer still a top, top player? If Federer is going to win another slam, it will be at Wimbledon. Grass is his best surface and he has owned this tournament during his career. He will likely have to go through Novak before the finals though, and playing the best of 5 sets will be tough for 2 weeks for the 39 year old with a surgically repaired knee. (Nadal is not playing, but this is by far his least favored surface anyway.). Sadly, I think Federer's elite days are behind him, but hope I'm wrong.
3. I expect the biggest threats to Djokovic taking number 20 would be Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas and German Alexander Zverev. That isn't news though. These two have been knocking/banging down the door on the big three for the last couple years. Both of their games translate to grass, but Tsitsipas is by far the better at net of the two, and Zverev's second serve can still go completely missing. Unfortunately, 2020 US Open champ Dominic Thiem is still not back to form and is struggling with motivation.
4. If you are looking for less expected players to go deep in the tournament with a chance of taking it, I'd say watch Italian Matteo Berrettini -- one of the hardest hitters out there with a huge serve that is rarely broken. He is also playing well right now. I'd favor him over second seed Medvedev, because Medvedev doesn't like grass.
5. If you catch a match featuring Italians Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, , Norwegian Casper Ruud -- all under 22 -- it is definitely worth watching. Some of these guys will likely win this tournament in the next few years and could easily go deep this year. Those guys, along with Russian Rublev and Canadian Shapovalov are also the future of men's tennis.
6. As for the Americans, although he will be seeded near number 25 or so, Reilly Opelka could make a deep run with his 7 foot frame, and unbelievable serve. I also think his groundstrokes are much better than John Isner--who has been the consistent standard bearer for American tennis for way too long-- at this young age.
7. For a fun watch, look for Aussie Nick Kygrios, who is making an ultra rare appearance on a tennis court these days. Huge serve, amazing touch, unpredictable (in a good and bad way), but insanely volatile. But the fun factor is there -- he might ask a fan where he should serve the ball, or just decide in the middle of a match he doesn't feel like playing anymore. Also, his service games are the quickest you will see. Expect games that last 30 seconds. He doesn't have the conditioning for going 5 sets at most tournaments that require players to grind out long rallies, but Wimbledon doesn't require that.
