"If he is fit, he is clearly the favorite" - Jannik Sinner backs a healthy Novak Djokovic to triumph at Wimbledon

Despite recently undergoing meniscus surgery, Novak Djokovic has been declared the favorite to win the upcoming Wimbledon Championships by rival Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic suffered a knee injury at the 2024 French Open, prompting him to withdraw from the event. The Serbian underwent surgery soon after, and has already been spotted training as he hopes to compete at the summer Olympic Games in Paris. However, his participation at this year's Wimbledon is yet to be confirmed.

Although the 24-time Grand Slam champion's participation at Wimbledon next week is still in doubt, that hasn't deterred Sinner from picking Djokovic as the man to beat at the grass court event. Djokovic has lifted the Wimbledon trophy on seven occasions, and is widely considered as one of the greatest grass court players of all time.

"We are all excellent players and there can always be some surprises in a tournament like Wimbledon," said Sinner when asked to pick the tournament champion. "So I won’t say whether I’m the favourite or not.
“Djokovic certainly is: if he comes back, if he is fit, he is clearly the favourite. Alcaraz won last year, [Alexander] Zverev is playing very well. We see. It will be a very interesting tournament.”

Furthermore, new World No.1 was asked for his opinion on playing in his first tournament as the top-ranked player in the world.

"It was different, yes, you can feel the extra pressure,” Sinner said. “Everyone wants to beat you in every game you play because you are No 1, but then when you step onto the pitch you don’t think about it, you only think about playing and winning.
“It was difficult here against Hurkacz, it’s a surface where there are few decisive points and it’s important to win those. But in my opinion, I played an excellent match."