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The 133rd edition of one of the most prestigious tournaments, Wimbledon 2019, has kicked off and we can almost feel the excitement amongst both players and fans.
As it is with every Wimbledon tournament, we have our usual suspects who are expected to win the grand slam, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Amongst the active players, Federer and Djokovic are the most successful at the All England Club with eight and four titles respectively. They are the top two seeds and are expected to go deep in the draw.
Djokovic comes into the championships as both the top seed and defending champion. The Serb has had an average season so far, winning 29 matches and losing six. However, we all know what a motivated Djokovic can do as Rafa Nadal found out the hard way at the Australian Open 2019 where the Serbian won his seventh title.
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Federer, on the other hand, comes to Wimbledon with a better win-loss record of 32-4 having won the Miami open and an unprecedented ninth title at Halle. For the first time in three years, the Swiss played the French Open where he had a decent showing before going down to the greatest clay courter of all time - Rafael Nadal.
Unless something drastic happens, Djokovic and Federer would be playing the Final at the center court on the 14th of July. However, there are a few players who could cause them trouble.
Here’s a list of 3 players who could beat Djokovic and Federer at Wimbledon.
#3 Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic is one of the most underrated grass courters on tour. He has a potent serve, strong forehand and has very few unreturned serves which is so important on grass. Cilic is currently in a slump, having gone through many knee issues and he hasn't featured in a final in over a year.
The Czech would be eager to put those stats to bed in the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. The first few matches are going to be extremely important. Cilic has a potential third-round meeting with Basilasvili, which he should get through to set up a mouth-watering encounter with Rafael Nadal. Cilic recently defeated the French Open champion in straight sets at Hurlingham.
If Cilic can get through the Nadal match unscathed, then it would give the self-confidence that he needs and I expect him to trouble Roger Federer in a potential semi-final. With his aggressive baseline game, he could take the fight to Roger and he would be seeking revenge after being beaten by the same opponent in the 2017 final.
Marin Cilic is one of the only two other active players apart from the big 4 who knows what it takes to win a grand slam.
The 2017 runner-up could be flying under the radar for now, but if he could make it into the second week, he could be deadly dangerous for the Top two seeds.
#2 Daniil Medvedev
One player who has come leaps and bounds in 2019 is the young Russian – Daniil Medvedev. He has reached a career-high ranking of 13 this year and made his first Masters 1000 semi-final this year at Monte Carlo.
Even though I feel Medvedev’s best chance of winning a grand slam this year will be on the slower hard courts at the US Open, he could still be very dangerous on grass for a variety of reasons.
For starters, Medvedev comes into Wimbledon with some confidence. He won the biggestmatch of his career when he beat World No.1, Novak Djokovic, in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo masters.
He knows what it takes to compete against the big boys at the grandest of stages. Also, he possesses a potent serve and the fast grass courts should leverage his baseline strokes perfectly.
Medvedev should reach the quarter final stage and that could be defining match for him - against the defending champion Novak Djokovic. Apart from his win against the Serb at Monte Carlo, Medvedev also won a set against Djokovic in Melbourne and will come into the match with a lot of confidence.
If the Russian can serve well and not let Djokovic dictate points, he could have a shot at beating the Serb.
Another great plus point for Medvedev is his strong mental strength which could take him deep into the Wimbledon championships.
#1 Rafael Nadal
This choice will definitely raise a few eyebrows. The World No.2 as a dark horse will surprise many people, but grass has never been Nadal’s favorite surface. The low bounce and fast-paced nature of the surface has been difficult for the Spaniard, which has led to a few early exits.
However, this Nadal has evolved as a player. The Spaniard has adapted his game to grass very well as he showed with his last two Wimbledon runs.
Rafa comes in to Wimbledon after having won an unbelievable 12th French Open title in Paris and just to put things in perspective, that is the sum you will get if you add the Wimbledon titles won by Federer and Djokovic together!
Grass though has given a lot of trouble to Nadal. He has come up short against many lower ranked players but I feel he could be a genuine threat this year. The biggest reason for this will be his changed serve motion. The serve is much more consistent for Nadal, allowing him to put in a high percentage of first serves and shortening the points which was clearly visible at the 2019 Australian open.
Another weapon up Nadal’s sleeve will be the much improved double-handed backhand. Nadal caused havoc with that shot at the French Open semi-final and Federer had no answer to the flat and fast backhand crosscourt.
The problem for Nadal is a horror draw. The Spaniard will have to go through Nick Kyrgios, Denis Shapavolov, Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem just to reach that potential semi-final against Roger Federer.
If Nadal can stay healthy and somehow get through the first week, he could be deadly dangerous for Roger Federer. The Spaniard will need to return well against Federer and make the swiss play a lot of points from the baseline - something he did so well in the famous 2008 final, then he could be very hard to beat for the Fed express.
The King Of Clay will also be backing himself in the potential final against Novak Djokovic having lost a very close five-setter to him last year.
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