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Novak remains the man to beat
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Can Carlos win back-to-back Tour titles on grass?
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Not many grass court experts in men's tennis
Novak in search of 24th Slam
• Not content with overtaking Rafa Nadal's collection of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, to become the most decorated male player of all time, Novak Djokovic has now set his sights on overtaking Margaret Court's record of 24 Slam successes;
• And another victory at SW19 in July would make it five Wimbledon victories in a row, and eight in all;
• He's won six of the last eight Slams he's taken part in, and during this same period had to sit out two events because of his well-publicised stance against the Covid vaccine;
• His prospects of winning again at Wimbledon appear far greater than they did before he began his Roland Garros campaign in May;
• Many felt the clay court slam in France could be Novak's toughest assignment all year, yet he breezed through the tournament losing just two sets in all;
• Not even Spaniard Carlos Alcarez could extend the Serbian beyond four sets in their semi-final, with Casper Ruud unable to win any in the final.
Latest betting for the men's singles at Wimbledon
• Finding serious, genuine challengers to Novak's SW19 crown is extremely difficult indeed, and the 36-year-old is likely to head to this year's third Grand Slam a massive favourite for the title
Grass-courters could be a big danger
• Maybe the biggest danger for Djokovic would be to face a grass court specialist - and there's not too many of these around - during the first week of the 15-day tournament. Once into week two, this juggernaut will become a lot more difficult to knock off course;
• Nick Kyrigos and Matteo Berrettini are two genuine grass court protagonists. They have each lost Wimbledon finals to Djokovic, and both took him to four sets. However, both have hardly played much competitive tennis recently;
• Berrettini is a winner of four ATP Tour titles on grass, including back-to-back wins at Queen's. But, after winning in London last year, the Italian was forced out of Wimbledon because of injury. He's only played one Tour event in 10 weeks. Kyrigos, meanwhile, played his first competitive match for eight months in mid-June;
• Most of today's leading players in world tennis have hardly mustered a Wimbledon quarter-final appearance between them. One exception is American Taylor Fritz, while Russian Andrey Rublev appears to be more consistent in Slams than many of those ranked above him.
• Carlos Alcarez impressed by winning at Queen's last week, but he is still a more experienced and accomplished clay courter than exponent of grass court tennis.
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