Top-5 male tennis players from the 2022 grasscourt season, ft. Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios

In an annual tennis calendar that sees action on multiple surfaces, the grasscourt season, which culminates at the iconic Wimbledon Championships, is the shortest of them all. However, the grasscourt season has always produced some of the most exciting tennis and the 2022 season was no exception.

While 21-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic took home the Wimbledon Championships for a seventh time - there were a few other players who were quite impressive over the last month on grass.

Let's take a look at five tennis players who made strong statements on the court and established themselves as forces to reckon with during the 2022 grass season.

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic at the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament

Novak Djokovic once again reigned supreme at Wimbledon, winning his fourth consecutive title and seventh overall at SW19. The Serb has now won his last 28 matches on grass and is just the fourth male player in the Open Era to win Wimbledon four times in a row.

Just as Djokovic has done over the last few seasons, he did not play any of the build-up tournaments on grasscourts ahead of Wimbledon, arriving at the Grand Slam fresh and fit. Despite making a drastic shift from claycourts at the French Open to grasscourts at Wimbledon without match practice heading into the tournament, the Serb used his experience and confidence in recent results at Wimbledon to great effect.

He had a few hiccups along the way, winning just two of his seven matches in straight sets, but Djokovic eventually proved to be the strongest player on grass yet again. The 35-year-old defeated Nick Kyrgios in the Wimbledon final after beating Jannik Sinner and Cameron Norrie in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Djokovic is now just one title shy of Roger Federer's record of eight Wimbledon titles.

Nick Kyrgios

Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios at the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament

The Australian player produced a breakthrough performance by reaching his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. Nick Kyrgios finally lived up to the expectations from him at the biggest tournaments, but fell short at the final hurdle. It's no surprise that his best run at a Major came on grass, which best suits his powerful style of play, the most prominent feature of which is his booming serve.

Kyrgios' performance at Wimbledon was set up by a very strong run of results in the grasscourt events leading up to SW19. He reached the semifinals of both the Stuttgart Open and the Halle Open. At Wimbledon, he defeated the likes of Filip Krajinovic and fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the semifinals, where he received a walkover into the final from Rafael Nadal.

Kyrgios' grass season was overshadowed at times by his regular on-court outbursts and arguments with tournament officials and even his team, at times. However, he ended the grass season with great momentum on the tennis front.

Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz at the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament

Taylor Fritz improved on an already career-best year with a strong run throughout the grass season. The American started off slowly, losing his first-round matches at S-Hertogenbosch and Queen's Club. However, he bounced back at the perfect time, winning the Eastbourne International title in the week before Wimbledon.

Fritz then won his first four matches at Wimbledon, all in straight sets, to set up a quarterfinal clash against Rafael Nadal. Earlier this year, Fritz defeated Nadal to win the 2022 Indian Wells Masters - his maiden Masters 1000 title.

He once again proved to be a handful for the 22-time Grand Slam champion as he stretched the Spaniard to five sets at Wimbledon. However, the American eventually fell short in the deciding set tiebreaker.

The 11th seed held a two-sets-to-one lead in the match.

Matteo Berrettini

Matteo Berrettini ahead of the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament

In a highly unfortunate turn of events, Matteo Berrettini missed out on playing at Wimbledon due to a positive coronavirus result. Berrettini was a serious contender to win the title, given his results leading up to the grasscourt Major, where he also made the final in 2021.

Berrettini won nine consecutive matches on grass before Wimbledon, winning back-to-back titles at the Stuttgart Open and the Queen's Club Championships. The Italian defeated in-form player Lorenzo Sonego and even beat two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the final in Stuttgart. He then defeated the likes of Dan Evans, Tommy Paul, Botic van de Zandschulp, and Filip Krajinovic to win his second title at Queen's Club.

Berrettini ended his grasscourt season unbeaten. His winning run came after a three-month absence from the tour owing to a hand injury which required surgery, making his run even more impressive.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Wimbledon 2022 tennis tournament

Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was stunned in the third round at Wimbledon by eventual finalist Kyrgios, but the Greek had a decent grass season overall. Tsitsipas had struggled on grass in previous seasons and made sure to get as much match time as possible on the surface this season.

Tsitsipas made the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open and the Round of 16 at the Halle Open to kickstart his grass season. He then won his first title on grass by clinching the Mallorca Open title in the week before Wimbledon.

He lost to Kyrgios in a tense clash at Wimbledon. However, Tsitisipas was a much improved player overall on grass this year and could come back to SW19 next year and post a deep run at the event.