Former doubles world number one Todd Woodbridge believes
that Serbia’s
Novak Djokovic is the ‘heaviest favourite’ coming into
Wimbledon
2023.
The third Grand Slam of the year will be played from 03-16
of July in London where the 36-year-old will be defending his title which he
won after beating Australia’s Nick Kyrgios in the final with a score of 4–6,
6–3, 6–4, 7–6.
Woodbridge, who won Wimbledon’s doubles title nine times,
was quoted by
ausopen.com where he suggested that number one seed
Carlos Alcaraz
is the only one who can challenge the 23-time Grand Slam winner.
"Djokovic is probably the heaviest favourite coming
into Wimbledon that I've seen for a very long time,” he said. “I didn't see the
contender (to challenge him) this year until Queen's Club. I still don't think
Alcaraz, over five sets, has the consistency of concentration on grass to get
Novak.
“We know he has the game to beat him. The result at Queen's,
though; I didn't expect Alcaraz would win that tournament. Winning Queen's had
been a big precursor to going on and doing well at Wimbledon, if not winning
it, for 40 to 50 years.
“Automatically, those extra matches Alcaraz got throughout
that week, and that confidence, are really the thing that make him that one
contender who can really worry Novak."
Djokovic has an exceptional record while playing at the grass
court where he has lifted the Grand Slam seven times, only second to Roger
Federer who has won it eight times.
The Belgrade-born, who has now won the most men’s singles
titles in the Open era, has lifted four consecutive Wimbledon titles since 2018.
His last defeat in the competition was way back in 2017 when
he lost to Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal after being
forced to retire because of an injury to his right arm.