Wimbledon Men's Singles Tips: 9/1 and 10/1 duo tipped to go far in open draw

• Djokovic has separated the big two

• Big serving Hurkacz can go well

• Under the radar Rublev has chance in 3rd quarter

Novak Djokovic declared himself fit to have a crack at winning an eighth Wimbledon crown. The Serbian enters the draw as the 2nd seed, and he has landed kindly with his strongest opposition - Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - paired together in the top half of the bracket.

It is only three weeks since Djokovic had knee surgery and he said on arriving in London that he would only enter the main draw if he felt there was a serious chance of him competing for the title.

Well, he couldn't have handpicked a better draw.

Weak seeds

The early seeds that Novak is forecast to play are Tomas Etcheverry who is a fish out of water on this surface, Holger Rune who is in a career dip, or the unconvincing Karen Khachanov.

It is not until the quarterfinals when Djokovic can expect to encounter a player of substance, with one of Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur or Hubert Hurkacz scheduled to be his opposition.

Of that trio it is the latter two that provide the best opportunity to take on Djokovic. After all he was under the knife only a few weeks ago, and even before that he hasn't been able to produce the tennis that has long dominated the tour. Logic dictates we must oppose Djokovic as a favourite.

Serve is key on grass

Australia's de Minaur triumphed at the warm-up event in s'Hertogenbosch. His game is based on solidity and nimble movement, which is very similar - albeit performed at a lower level - to how Djokovic goes about his business on grass.

However, it is Hubert Hurkacz that I believe has the most upside. In my pre-draw preview I listed the names of Wimbledon finalists from past editions. The likes of Nick Kyrgios, Matteo Berrettini, Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic and Kevin Anderson all have one key commonality - their booming serve.

Across all competitive matches in the past three seasons the Polish player has held serve in an incredible 92.3% of his service games on games. That serving advantage gives him greater security than a player like de Minaur who has to be sharp mentally and physically for his brand of tennis to be effective.

Hurkacz has won on grass before winning Halle in 2022. This season he made the final there again, losing in two tiebreak sets to the winning machine that is Jannik Sinner. The Pole was also a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 2021.

On paper Hurkacz has a really good shot at having a run this Wimbledon. 9/110.00 to make the final is appealing.

Weak third quarter

Another advantage for the player that emerges from the Hurkacz/Djokovic/de Minaur quarter is that they will be favourite to triumph in their semi-final against whoever emerges from an open third quarter.

French Open runner-up Alexander Zverev is the top seed here but he is far less effective on the grass than he is on other surfaces. The German wants to dictate baseline rallies and on grass it is rare that you are allowed to do that.

When you think of great Wimbledon champions you imagine them volleying regularly at the net, but as he showed constantly in Paris his skill and confidence in the forecourt leaves a lot to be desired.

It is Britain's Jack Draper that is second favourite to win Q3 16/54.20. That is in large part to his successful grass campaign that saw him win a first career title in Stuttgart, which he followed up bettering Carlos Alcaraz at Queens.

However, I don't see Draper as a Wimbledon champion. As is the case in the Euros, the English get a little deluded with the slightest sniff of success. Their outright favouritism for that tournament - despite unconvincing performances against Slovenia (lol) and Denmark - has much in common with their compatriot Draper's market position.

There is a player under the radar that I feel has plenty of upside and is capable of a semi-final run. That is Andrey Rublev.

The Russian is a two time Halle finalist and made the quarter-final last year, in a losing effort to Djokovic.

In a quarter in which the top options are Zverev or Draper and the other seeds include the yellow bellied Seb Korda and Taylor Fritz, I think Rublev has a kind draw to finally reach a Grand Slam semi having reached 10 QFs so far in his career. Back Andrey Rublev 10/111.00 to win 3rd quarter.

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