Wimbledon don begin today, with defending champion Jannik Sinner dey chase im fifth Grand Slam title, while women top seed Aryna Sabalenka dey look for her first major of the year.
Without rival and two-time Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner be the clear favourite this year. But the Italian go maybe need to contend with hot weather and im own lack of preparation as he dey defend im title.
After im second-round defeat at French Open from a near-winning position when he cramped up for sizzling conditions, the 24-year-old skip the warm-up tournaments before grass court slam. He say this fit work to im benefit, ahead of im opening clash with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic. “If you play a tournament before here, maybe e no go the way you go like, you come here with some doubts,” he tell reporters. “If you no play any tournament, you no get these doubts, you just go and play.”
Sabalenka don dey top WTA rankings since late 2024, but the Belarusian don only win one Grand Slam title for the past 18 months, even though she reach four finals. She also suffer collapse against Diana Shnaider for French Open quarter-finals last month, lose the last 10 games for a row. She say after that she want “quit tennis” but don since work with a psychologist and say she no dey affected as much by losing to Jessica Pegula for this month Berlin Open semi-finals. “I felt really good throughout the tournament there. I struggled a little bit here and there, (but) overall I feel like things dey click back together,” she tell reporters ahead of her opening match against Teodora Kostovic.
The four-times major champion never win Wimbledon, but she don reach semi-finals for her last three appearances.
Novak Djokovic don spend the last 2-1/2 years dey try to capture a 25th major crown wey go see am overtake Margaret Court. Wimbledon fit be im best bet for achieving that. Since he win im seventh Wimbledon title for 2022, the Serb don reach two finals and a semi-final at All England Club. The 39-year-old, wey last play for a five-set loss to Brazilian Joao Fonseca at French Open, tell reporters he better prepare for Wimbledon than he be for Roland Garros. “Playing on grass, comparing to clay, you no need to exert as much physical effort. So that better for me,” he add. “I always love playing on grass. I get very good score here, history, for Wimbledon. That give me a higher dose of confidence coming into the tournament.”
