Wimbledon 2016: Five players to watch

When Wimbledon, the world’s most prestigious tennis tournament, starts Monday, who are the players to watch? Here are five of them, starting with tennis’ hottest player.

Novak Djokovic

Djokovic just completed his grand slam collection, finally winning the trophy he craved at the French Open. Paris will indeed live long in the heart of the Serb, since never before had he received such love at grand slams. Not encountering the near saintly figure of Roger Federer, who wasn’t at Roland Garros as he recovered from a back injury, certainly helped in that respect.

Now that he is a French Open champion and became only the third man to win four consecutive grand slams, the inevitable question is: Will Djokovic stutter, more mentally than anything else, this fortnight?

READ: Djokovic completes grand slam set

Djokovic didn’t contest a grass-court warmup this year, although the 29-year-old has previously triumphed at Wimbledon without formal grass-court matches under his belt.

From being gluten free to now meat free and using hyperbaric chambers – to boost the amount of oxygen in the blood stream – Djokovic has taken steps to do what he feels necessary to give himself the best possible chance of racking up grand slams.

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Catching Federer on 17 majors – or even exceeding the total – is a key goal for Djokovic.

He is aware that in the next six grand slams, particularly, opportunity knocks given his form and the dips of fellow “Big Four” members Federer and Rafael Nadal. Murray, the other member of the elite quartet, can’t seem to get the better of Djokovic at grand slams, as evidenced by the Australian and French Open finals this season.

If he does pull off a calendar-year grand slam, Djokovic would tie Nadal and Pete Sampras on 14 majors. Only Federer would be ahead of him.

Andy Murray

Murray is arguably playing the finest tennis of his career, having reached a fifth Australian Open final and appearing in the French Open final for the first time on what was previously considered his least productive surface by some distance.

But the numbers dictate that the Scot has a mental block in grand slam finals. When Djokovic beat him on the French clay – or rather, crushed him – Murray dropped to 2-8.

Sure, Djokovic is the better player, but their non-grand slam encounters indicate that their matches at the majors should at least be closer.

Murray knew he needed coaching help – and fast – after parting company with Amelie Mauresmo and got the man he never wanted to leave his camp in the first place, Ivan Lendl.

It was under the guidance of the eight-time grand slam winner that Murray won his two majors, including Wimbledon in 2013 to end Britain’s 77-year men’s drought at the All England Club.

READ: Murray wins fifth Queen’s title

Lendl’s vast experience, plus his confidence, rubbed off on Murray in their first stint – they also share the same sense of dry humor – with the world No. 2 looking much less grumpy on court than before and after their partnership.

Murray won a record fifth title on grass at the Queen’s Club in London this month with Lendl in tow and no one would be that surprised if he walks away from Wimbledon with a second title.

Serena Williams

Williams, in tennis terms, is no ordinary mortal. She is, if not the greatest women’s player of all time, close to it with 21 majors.

Given her pedigree, what has transpired at the last three majors can be considered, then, a slump. Williams, understandably, felt the weight of expectation at the U.S. Open, when she came within two matches of achieving the calendar-year grand slam.

At the Australian Open, Angelique Kerber stunned Williams in the final and then Garbine Muguruza beat Williams in the French Open final.

As she did when trying to tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on 18 majors, Williams is now finding it difficult to match Steffi Graf’s record 22 majors in the Open Era. The aura has lessened.

The grass, though, should aid Williams.

Her serve, the most effective the women’s game has ever seen, will see Williams win free points. Fewer rallies mean, too, that Williams won’t have to strike as many balls and thus likely won’t make as many unforced errors.

The 34-year-old also won’t have to contend with one of her top rivals in recent years, Victoria Azarenka, who is missing because of a knee injury.

Garbine Muguruza

Muguruza’s first grand slam title was coming. The Spaniard is an all-surface threat who had shown that on the sport’s biggest stages – the grand slams – she elevates her game.

Prior to winning the French Open to open her grand slam account, the 22-year-old made the 2015 Wimbledon final and quarterfinals at the French Open in both 2014 and 2015.

Now, however, comes a considerable test for Muguruza – attempting to back up her performance. History tells us that could be difficult in the short term.

In the last five years on the women’s tour, there have been seven first-time grand slam winners. Of the five that contested the next major – Flavia Pennetta and Marion Bartoli didn’t, as they retired from the game – only one got past the second round.

Muguruza lost her first match post Roland Garros at home in Spain and has a tricky opponent in the first round at Wimbledon, Camila Giorgi. As inconsistent as the Italian can be, Giorgi is one of tennis’ biggest hitters and her lone title came on grass last year.

Nick Kyrgios

Kyrgios did wrong last year at Wimbledon and when he insulted Stan Wawrinka and his girlfriend during a match in Canada a month later. He was fined $10,000 by the ATP for the latter and threatened with a four-week playing suspension if he committed another serious infraction within six months. He didn’t.

The Australian has matured, both on and off the court, this season, so some will argue that not making himself available for the Olympics – after being criticized by the country’s chef de mission, Kitty Chiller – deprives the event of one of tennis’ most exciting players. Chiller lumped Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic together, which was unfair since the latter has exhibited questionable behavior for a lot longer than Kyrgios.

Kyrgios sat in the top 15 in the calendar year standings on the eve of Wimbledon and his two previous appearances have been eventful in terms of results. He saved nine match points to defeat Richard Gasquet in 2014, going on to upset Nadal in the fourth round; last year he eliminated then eighth-ranked Milos Raonic.

Kyrgios and his pal, Murray, will meet in the fourth round if the seedings hold.

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