The men's draw for
Wimbledon 2023 has been confirmed this Thursday, and it can be said that
Carlos Alcaraz has not exactly had much luck with his draw for the third Grand Slam of the season.
Alcaraz starts as the main contender to dethrone the big favourite, a Novak Djokovic who comes from winning both the Australian Open and Roland Garros and who, in addition, has won the last four editions of Wimbledon. However, it will be really difficult for him. Below, we analyse the path of the No. 1 in the ATP ranking to a hypothetical final.
In the first round, Carlos Alcaraz will face 36-year-old French veteran Jérémy Chardy. His best ATP ranking was achieved in 2013, reaching the 25th position in the ranking, and the furthest he has reached in Wimbledon was the 4th round in the 2014 edition.
In the second round, the potential opponent is Arthur Rinderknech. There would be a repeat of the 1st round match at the Queen's tournament that Alcaraz himself won. In that match, the Spaniard had to come back from a set down against a great version of the Frenchman, who came close to springing a surprise and who was the one who made things more difficult for him in the whole tournament.
In the third round it will be Chile's Nicolas Jarry or Frenchman Ugo Humbert (potentially) who will meet Carlos Alcaraz. Up to this point, the world No. 1's opening matches should not pose much of a challenge if he is serious about winning Wimbledon.
In the fourth round, round of 16, is where it gets really complicated for Alcaraz. The opponents he could face are Alex De Miñaur, whom he already faced in the final at Queen's and who is a great player on grass, or Alexander Zverev, depending on what happens in the matches between the two players, who are currently among the best on the circuit.
The quarter-finals are already at semi-final level and even a hypothetical final, as the draw of Carlos Alcaraz leaves him a possible clash with one of these players: Holger Rune, Frances Tiafoe, Grigor Dimitrov or his compatriot Alexander Davidovich Fokina. The highest-ranked opponent would be Rune, who has a great 2023.
If Alcaraz manages to reach the semi-finals, it is true that the Spaniard would still be avoiding the crossing with Djokovic, but he would have to face Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas or Cameron Norrie, the latter being the most dangerous of the three as he is the local and plays at a very high level on grass. Norrie was a semi-finalist last year, and only Novak Djokovic was able to beat him, even having to come back from a first set down.
A successful outcome of these hypothetical crossings would leave Carlos Alcaraz in the first Wimbledon final of his career with hardly any experience on the surface. There, if all goes according to plan and there are no historic surprises, the Spaniard will face Novak Djokovic.
It could easily be the toughest match of Alcaraz's career. It is very difficult to think that the No. 1 in the ranking is going to have a more difficult scenario for the rest of his professional career, although it is a very daring opinion. Djokovic has won the last four Wimbledon titles and is just one short of tying Roger Federer for the most Grand Slam wins. But Carlos Alcaraz is hungry for revenge for the defeat he suffered against Novak in the Roland Garros semi-finals due to leg cramps. Nothing is impossible for the talented player from Murcia.