Tennis: Wimbledon top contenders, Old warriors and new pretenders for men's title

However, the new generation of upcoming tennis stars also has their aim set on the prestigious Grand Slam title.

The top two players on the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings will be missing from the Wimbledon this year. World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev due to a ban on Russian and Belarusian players and World No. 2 Alexander Zverev due to an injury. Roger Federer will be missing the Wimbledon for the first time since making his maiden appearance at the prestigious event in 1992, but three-time grand-slam champion Andy Murray will be there.

Let's take a look at the top contenders for the men's singles title at the 2022 Wimbledon:

Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic has not had a perfect run this season as he had to miss most of the events due to his reluctance to get vaccinated for Covid-19. However, he is the defending champion at Wimbledon, having won the last three seasons and is looking to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

Novak Djokovic recently lost the World No. 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev, but he is still the top seed at the grass-court event. The 35-year-old Serb lost to long-term rival Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinal at Roland Garros and was disqualified from the Australian Open. His participation at the US Open is still not confirmed. Wimbledon is likely his only chance to win a Grand Slam trophy this year.

Novak Djokovic will kickstart his Wimbledon campaign against Kwon Soon-woo in the first round on June 27.

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal has won the highest number of Grand Slam titles, with 23 trophies under his belt. He is at the top of his form, having already won the Australian Open and Roland Garros. The Spaniard can potentially create history by becoming the first person to win three different Grand Slams on three other surfaces if he emerges victorious at Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal has previously won Wimbledon twice, but winning his third trophy this year at 36 will be one of his most impressive achievements.

Carlos Alcaraz

Teenage tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz has taken the tennis world by storm. He defeated Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in back-to-back matches at the 2022 Madrid Open. He later went on to defeat World No. 2 Alexander Zverev to clinch the trophy in Madrid, making him the youngest male to win the men's singles title in Madrid.

He also became the youngest player to win the men's singles trophy at Barcelona Open earlier this season. He also clinched the titles at Miami and Rio De Janerio to take his title count for the season to four. The win-loss ratio of the 19-year-old Spaniard for the season stands at an excellent 32-4.

Casper Ruud

Casper Rudd became the highest-ranked tennis player from Norway after reaching the World No. 5 spot on the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He is the first player from Norway to win a tour-level ATP title and reached the second spot in a Grand Slam. 

Casper Rudd lifted his maiden ATP trophy at the Argentina Open this year. He advanced to the semifinals at the Italian Open and the finals at Roland Garros and Geneva Open. He is also the first Norwegian to reach the finals at an ATP 1000 event. The win-loss record of Stefanos Tsitsipas for the ongoing season currently stands at 30–11.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas can easily trouble the top tennis talent with his aggressive playstyle and power-hitting capability. World No. is seeded fourth at Wimbledon and has enjoyed a successful season, reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open and the fourth round of the French Open.

The win-loss record of Stefanos Tsitsipas for the ongoing season currently stands at 36-13. The Greek has been competing in both men's singles and men's doubles regularly. He recently won his first grass-court title at Mallorca. Therefore, he is one of the top contenders to lift the trophy at this year's Wimbledon.

Cameron Norrie

Cameron Norrie recently became the British No. 1 and is going into Wimbledon as an underdog. Cameron Norries will be on the forefront of the home side as he has been seeded ninth at the Grand Slam event.