While Roger Federer is still going strong despite approaching his 39th birthday, the landscape in men’s tennis is likely to change long before Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic – already well into their thirties – reach that milestone. We’ve run the rule over the game’s leading players who are still under 30 and looked at when they might shine on the ATP Tour.
Tennis is defined by moments of brilliance and excitement, and if you’re one of those fans who doesn’t want to miss a single ace or break point, then you should definitely expand your Grand Slam knowledge. The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, also known as the majors, are the four tennis tournaments that all players wish to conquer; they’re also the ones awarding the most points for the ATP rankings.
When international sport is finally allowed to resume there will be an enormous amount of world titles waiting to be decided. Even without the rescheduled Olympic games, the sporting calendar will be packed, keeping us glued to our screens as all the unfinished business is resolved.
Novak Djokovic is hard to oppose as he bids for an eighth Australian Open title but Dominic Thiem can hopefully give him a decent test. The Austrian can take heart from having won four of their last five head-to-head encounters, including a come-from-behind victory at the ATP Finals in November.
Few would have forecast an Australian Open final between Garbine Muguruza and Sofia Kenin at the start of the tournament Down Under, but the refreshingly unpredictable nature of women’s tennis means we could have a first-time grand slam champion in Melbourne on Saturday.
Serena Williams has lost three straight grand slam finals since becoming a mother but is fancied to buck that trend when facing Bianca Andreescu at the US Open. The 37-year-old is a six-time champion at Flushing Meadows and has looked somewhere near back to her incredible best in New York.
Rafael Nadal has been relentless in his pursuit of a fourth US Open title and we can’t see Daniil Medvedev standing in his way at Flushing Meadows. The Russian has been ultra-consistent over the past couple of months but was demolished 6-3 6-0 by Nadal in a recent Montreal decider.
Novak Djokovic was our pre-tournament pick for Wimbledon glory and he is still fancied to win the final at the expense of Roger Federer. The 32-year-old Serbian superstar beat the Swiss ace in the 2014 and 2015 deciders at SW19 and has also won their three most recent head-to-head encounters.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will face each other in a mouth-watering Wimbledon semi-final. The last-four clash will be the 40th meeting between the two over a 15-year period, with Spaniard Nadal currently leading 24-15 over his Swiss counterpart.
Wimbledon 2019 is set to be Andy Murray’s last while Roger Federer and the Williams sisters are approaching retirement age, meaning the tournament could witness a changing of the guard where the next generation of tennis stars emerge. We’ve broken down the extent to which the game’s recent giants have dominated the game and who might step up to replace them over the coming years.
Novak Djokovic has been outstanding in London, but we’re backing Alexander Zverez to give him a decent work-out. Zverev was beaten 6-4 6-1 by the world number one during the group stage, but he did have a slight chance to upset the Serbian superstar at 4-4 in the opening set.
For the 10th year in a row, the ATP Finals are taking place at London’s O2 Arena. We have looked at results over the past 10 years to see which players should be feared by their competitors, and how the culmination of the men’s tennis season tends to pan out.
If you are heading to Wimbledon this summer you’ll have plenty of choices to make: there are plenty of courts available but you can only be in one at a time. To make your decisions easier we’ve analysed every match from the 2017 tournament – singles and doubles – to identify which Wimbledon courts are likely to provide what you’re looking for.
Tennis punters are always on the look-out for value bets, so we’re highlighting three Wimbledon 2018 dark horses fancied to fare better than their odds suggest. We’ve picked out lively longshots for the men’s and women’s singles events, as well as a rising star to follow in the early rounds.