When it comes to Wimbledon, Novak Djokovik Seems to be using a unique plan – to go to the third Grand Slam of the year without playing a single match on the grass court in the season. He did the same in his last two trophy runs and the Serbian is set to do the same at the 2022 Wimbledon starting here on Monday.
100 years of history. Ready for new chapters.
The stage awaits.#wimbledon #centrecourt100 pic.twitter.com/KO4raqm5ab— Wimbledon (@wimbledon) 6 June 2022
In his last two Wimbledon Trophy runs, Novak Djokovic’s opening match on the London lawn was his first grass-court match of the season. There has been no change in the Serbian’s preparations for a fourth consecutive title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.
His last competitive match was an epic quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. By the time top seed Djokovic takes on center court against Soonwoo Kwon on Monday, he will have spent almost a month between appearances.
“I didn’t have a lead-up tournament for Wimbledon, but I’ve had success at Wimbledon without any official matches and tournaments,” Djokovic said.
“Over the years, I’ve had success getting to the surface quickly, so there’s no reason not to believe I can do it again.”
Djokovic discussed the delicate balance between rest and playing grass-court matches leading up to Wimbledon, describing how later in his career, his priorities shifted to the east.
“Over the years I learned how to play more efficiently on the surface”, he continued. “Early in my career, I still struggled a bit with movement and sliding.
“I think the movement is really the biggest, the biggest adaptation that needs to be done on the grass coming from the soil, where players like me slide a lot. It’s not always possible on the grass. It’s possible to slide, But you can’t do it as often or as often or maybe for free as you do it on clay.
“You have to be more careful with movement, strategy, et cetera, different training regimens. Different positions on the court. You have to be low; all kinds of skids through the court. It’s too fast and there’s less bounce, In contrast, clay, which bounces high.”
Djokovic, a title contender at this year’s Wimbledon, is unique in many ways. There will be no players representing Russia and Belarus in the event as they have been banned from participation due to their country’s aggressive stance against Ukraine and have been stripped of ranking points by both the ATP and WTA.
This year Wimbledon will also end the centuries-old tradition of no matches on Sundays in the middle of a fortnight-long competition. This year all matches will be played on 14 days.
Djokovic will begin his campaign on Monday against South Korea’s Sunwoo Kwon, ranked 75th in the world, in the first match at center court, which is completing 100 years of its existence.
In the event he called his “childhood dream tournament”, Djokovic has the opportunity to win his seventh Wimbledon title and compete with Pete Sampras. That would put him just shy of Roger Federer’s record eight.
“I would like to be in [final] To finally make history,” Djokovic said. “Pete Sampras winning his first Wimbledon was the first tennis match I’ve ever seen on TV. So there is definitely a lot of association with this tournament. Pete has won it seven times… hopefully I can do the same this year.”
Top seed Djokovic could face country’s Miomir Kekmanovic in the third round, while Carlos Alcaraz is a potential quarter-final opponent.
Their main threat to the men’s singles title will be former champion Rafael Nadal, who has a unique year of his own.
After winning the first two Grand Slam events of the year, Nadal has never entered Wimbledon before. But a trophy at his 15th Wimbledon, along with the 2022 Australian Open and the Roland Garros title, put him on the verge of winning all four Major Grand Slams in a single year. A feat not achieved in men’s singles since Rod Laver in 1969.
Second seed Nadal is set to open his campaign against Francisco Cerundolo on Tuesday at Wimbledon. It will be his first competitive action since lifting the Roland Garros Trophy on 5 June.
Nadal last took the court for a competitive match three weeks ago, when he won his record 22nd Grand Slam singles title and 14th Roland Garros crown. Now set to play Wimbledon for the first time in three years, the 36-year-old entered a calendar-year Grand Slam in London for the first time in his career.
But in typical Nadal fashion, the Spaniard is focusing on the present. Fortunately, the current situation with respect to his chronic leg injury, the second seed, is positive. After playing Roland Garros with his foot “asleep” as a result of repeated injections, Nadal underwent a new treatment to numb the problematic nerves in his leg, which he hopes is a more permanent solution.
“(I’m) very pleased with how it has developed,” he told the press on Saturday ahead of his opening round match against Francisco Cerundolo. “At first, I can walk normally almost every day. This is the main issue for me. When I wake up, I don’t feel the pain which I was having for the past year and a half, very happy about it .
“And secondly, exercising. I’ve been, honestly, better overall. For the past two weeks, I haven’t had a single day of these horrible days that I can’t walk at all… feeling and overall feelings positive Because I’m in a positive way in terms of pain, and that’s the main thing.”
Despite an ongoing leg injury and a rib fracture after his run in the Indian Wells final, Nadal held a 30-3 record in the season for more than a month – a record of success that surprised even him.
“I would never say drama because drama is other things in life,” he explained. “Of course, we’re just playing tennis. But in terms of daily suffering, it’s been tough going on the court every day without knowing if I’m going to be able to appropriately end or end practice. Match it appropriately. It’s hard to accept.
Nadal’s path to a third Wimbledon title could go through sixth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime – whom he won in the fourth round of a five-set Roland Garros or fourth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas with Eastbourne champion Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals and 2021 Fought with Wimbledon finalists. Matteo Berrettini potential semifinal opponent.
Matteo Berrettini and Stefanos Tsitsipas could clash in the bottom half of the second quarter-final. Last year’s finalist Berrettini, who won on grass in Stuttgart and London this month, opens against Christian Garin, while fourth-seeded Greek Tsitsipas plays Swiss qualifier Alexander Ritschard.
In the top half, fifth seed Alcarz is making his second appearance at Wimbledon and starts against Germany’s Jan-Lenard Struff, with third seed Casper Ruud playing Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Other intriguing first round matches include Nick Kyrgios against British wild card Paul Jubb, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknecht against last year’s semifinalist Denis Shapovalov and #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti against Indian Wells champion Taylor Fritz.