Novak Djokovic Is An Overwhelming Favorite To An 8th Wimbledon Title

Novak Djokovic has won 28 straight matches at Wimbledon and is an overwhelming favorite to win his record-tying eighth title at the All-England Club when the tournament begins on Monday.

The 36-year-old Serb and No. 2 seed is approximately a 2/1 favorite to win the title and enters the tournament at -173, per bookmaker.eu

He is seeking the third leg of the calendar Slam after winning the Australian Open and Roland Garros, where he solidified his GOAT
GOAT
status by capturing a mens record 23rd major title. If he wins Wimbledon, his 24th major title would tie him with Margaret Court for the most all-time.

“The fact that I won the last four Wimbledons gives me a lot of confidence,” Djokovic told Tennis Channel after his triumph in Paris.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, who suffered cramps and lost to Djokovic in the French Open semifinals, is the second favorite at +335. He is followed by Daniil Medvedev (+2125), Jannik Sinner (+2300), Alexander Zverev (+3000) and Holger Rune (+3500).

Other notable odds included last year’s runner-up to Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios (+4200) and two-time former Wimbledon champ Andy Murray (+6500).

“Yes, absolutely Novak [is] a big favorite. No question about that,” seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe said Thursday on an ESPN conference call ahead of the tournament.

Djokovic is in London, where he hit at the All England Club with Stan Wawrinka. He also nibbled on a blade of grass, an homage to his traditional title-winning celebration that began in 2011.

Apart from an appearance at the exhibition event in Hurlingham, Djokovic will not play any competitive matches on grass before Wimbledon.

Still, Patrick McEnroe, like his big brother, says Djokovic is the man to beat at Wimbledon.

“I think he’s the biggest favorite of all at Wimbledon than any other tournament because obviously he’s great on grass,” Patrick McEnroe, who is the President of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and will be broadcasting Wimbledon for ESPN, said in a phone interview.

“The issue is there’s not that many other guys that can play on grass. That’s the biggest thing that’s different than, say, Australia or the U.S. Open and obviously the French…He’d be the favorite if the U.S. Open started next week.

“But there’s more guys that hardcourt is their best surface if you look at Medvedev and [Andrey] Rublev who could maybe pick him off, whereas I only see a handful of guys — and that’s a lot — that have even a chance to beat him on grass….The only guy really is Kyrgios but he’s not healthy. Kyrgios is a major question mark where he’s at.

An Alcaraz-Djokovic rematch in the Wimbledon final would be Must-See TV, especially if Alcaraz can remain healthy and go toe-to-toe with Djokovic in a best-of-five.

“Well, that would be phenomenal,” Patrick McEnroe said. “That’s the ideal matchup. It looked like we were going to have an unbelievable match at the French at a set-all, and you’re thinking game on and here we go. And the guy pulls up cramps which to me were 98% caused by nerves, nothing physical. Just the idea of such a big match. This is really the first time where the guy went in to a tournament having to handle that kind of pressure.

“It’s a different situation for him, and I think that caught up to him mentally, which is why he cramped up.”

Said John McEnroe of a potential Alcaraz-Djokovic final: “It would be obviously good for the sport that our best players played.”