Jannik Sinner was on the receiving end of one of the most shocking Grand Slam upsets of all time at the French Open, losing to Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round.
The tournament was his to win, but Sinner’s body broke down in the first week of Roland Garros, as he failed to complete the Career Grand Slam.
Where does Jannik Sinner’s defeat to Juan Manuel Cerundolo rank among the most shocking results in tennis history?
Now fit again to begin training, the world number one will have his sights set on defending his Wimbledon title.
Despite his disappointing French Open campaign, Mats Wilander still believes Sinner is the favourite to win Wimbledon.
Mats Wilander says Jannik Sinner is the Wimbledon favourite ahead of Novak Djokovic
During an interview with ‘La Gazzetta dello Sport‘, Wilander was asked if Sinner is still the Wimbledon favourite.
“Certainly, especially since [Carlos] Alcaraz will still be missing,” he said.
“But at Roland Garros, I think he had a better chance; grass can always be tricky.”
Sinner’s biggest rival, Carlos Alcaraz, will miss Wimbledon due to injury.
That’s obviously good news for Sinner’s title chances, but he won’t want to get ahead of himself.
Although he won the title a year ago, he very nearly exited the competition in the last 16.
Sinner trailed Grigor Dimitrov by two sets to love when the Bulgarian suffered an injury that forced him to retire from the match.
Grass courts often throw up surprise results, and Sinner will know that winning Wimbledon is far from a foregone conclusion.
Especially with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the draw…
The Serb lost to Sinner in the semi-finals a year ago, but got his revenge in Melbourne earlier this year.
Wilander thinks Wimbledon is the Grand Slam Djokovic is most likely to win.
“In Paris, he lost to a great [Joao] Fonseca, but Wimbledon is the Slam where he has the best chance of winning and finally reaching the record of 25 Slams, which has almost become an obsession,” he said.
“On grass, I think the gap with Sinner is narrowing a bit.
“And then it’s also a question of statistics: on clay, there are 10 or 20 opponents who can beat him, on the grass of London, it’s reduced to five.”
The Swede isn’t sure many players can challenge Djokovic or Sinner at the All England Club, but who are their biggest challengers?
The top 5 favourites to win Wimbledon this year
After Sinner and Djokovic, the first name that comes to mind is Taylor Fritz.
The American is always dangerous on grass and already has five titles to his name.
He enjoyed his best-ever run at Wimbledon 12 months ago, eventually losing to the two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in a hard-fought semi-final match.
If he can find that form again in 2026, there is no reason why he can’t be a threat to Sinner or Djokovic in the second week.
Fritz’s fellow American, Ben Shelton, is another player worth keeping an eye on.
Shelton is less experienced than his countryman, but has won 73% of his matches at Wimbledon, and made a strong run to the quarter-finals last year.
His big serve and athletic skill set is well-suited to the grass, and no player will want to see the 23-year-old on their side of the draw later this month.
Finally, the recently crowned French Open champion, Alexander Zverev, deserves a mention.
Grass is, by far, Zverev’s weakest surface, but we haven’t seen him play since he became a Grand Slam champion.
Perhaps the German will start playing with more freedom, which could aid his grass-court game.
Comparing Wimbledon favourites
| Player | Wimbledon titles | Wimbledon record | Grass-court titles |
| Novak Djokovic | 7 | 102-13 (89%) | 8 |
| Jannik Sinner | 1 | 20-4 (83%) | 2 |
| Taylor Fritz | 0 | 18-9 (67%) | 5 |
| Ben Shelton | 0 | 8-3 (73%) | 0 |
| Alexander Zverev | 0 | 16-9 (64%) | 0 |
Several younger players could also be in with a chance of making the second week.
Rafael Jodar, Joao Fonseca, and Jakub Mensik all reached the quarter-finals of Roland Garros and will be keen to go even further at SW19.
Veteran former finalists, Marin Cilic, Nick Kyrgios, and Matteo Berrettini, shouldn’t be discounted either, provided they are fit for the event.
There is a lot to look forward to, and while Sinner is the favourite to win Wimbledon, that doesn’t necessarily mean he will be the man to lift the trophy on Sunday, July 12.
