Novak Djokovic ‘definitely the favourite’ for Wimbledon claims Olympic silver medallist
Novak Djokovic has been labelled the heavy favourite to win an eighth Wimbledon title, and equal Roger Federer’s record, by former British No.1 Laura Robson.
Djokovic has already made history at both the Australian Open and Roland Garros this year, after becoming the first man to win 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
And Robson believes that the Serb will continue that when he returns to SW19, “He’s definitely the favourite in my eyes, especially after Paris.”
“The amount of confidence that he has at the moment and then to come here to a tournament that he’s won an incredible amount of times and just seems so at ease on this surface, so comfortable on Centre Court, that it’s hard to bet against him.”
Djokovic has not lost a match at The Championships since 2017, when he retired in his quarter-final match against Tomas Berdych with an elbow injury that he later had surgery on.
The 36-year-old has not played any warm up tournaments for the grass major once again, but Robson believes the transition from clay to grass is seamless for Djokovic at this stage in his career.
“The way he moves on this surface is unlike anyone else because he’s able to take a few things that he uses on the different surfaces, like the sliding that he would do on the clay and the hard courts,” explained Robson.
The London 2012 Olympic silver medallist continued, “And he still manages to stay so balanced, which is always the difficult thing on grass, to still find enough in the legs to get underneath every ball, make sure that it’s not coming onto you so quickly. But he just doesn’t even seem to think about it.”
“A couple of weeks ago I remember speaking to him and he was saying that clay is the surface that he finds toughest to adjust to, where it takes him a few weeks to feel like he’s stable. And it just doesn’t seem like he has that at all on the grass. So, yeah, it’s an easy transition for him at this point in his career.”
Swinging my way into the grass season 😉🌱 pic.twitter.com/61LKv0eqcD
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) June 26, 2023
While Djokovic has not partook in any ATP grass court events in the build-up to Wimbledon, he will be playing an exhibition match against Frances Tiafoe tomorrow in Hurlingham.
Novak Djokovic and his dominance at Wimbledon
Djokovic is bidding to make more history at Wimbledon this year and equal Federer, so we at Tennishead wanted to look back on his dominance at SW19 over the years:
Novak Djokovic win-loss record at Wimbledon: 86-10 (90%)
The Serb’s seven final victories:
- Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal, 6-4 6-1 1-6 6-3 (2011)
- Djokovic beat Roger Federer, 6(7)-7 6-4 7-6(4) 5-7 6-4 (2014)
- Djokovic beat Roger Federer, 7-6(1) 6(10)-7 6-4 6-3 (2015)
- Djokovic beat Kevin Anderson, 6-2 6-2 7-6(3) (2018)
- Djokovic beat Roger Federer, 7-6(5) 1-6 7-6(4) 4-6 13-12(3) (2019)
- Djokovic beat Matteo Berrettini, 6(4)-7 6-4 6-4 6-3 (2021)
- Djokovic beat Nick Kyrgios, 4-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(3) (2022)
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