Sinner begins Wimbledon defence

Sabalenka is seeking her first Wimbledon title

LONDON:

Wimbledon begins on Monday, with defending champion JannikSinner chasing a fifth Grand Slam title and women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka chasing her first major of the year.

In the absence of rival and ​two-time Wimbledon winner Carlos Alcaraz, Sinner is the clear favourite this year, but the Italian may have to ‌contend with the hot weather and his own lack of preparation as he seeks to defend his title.

After his second-round defeat at the French Open from a near-winning position when he cramped up in sizzling conditions, the 24-year-old skipped the warm-up tournaments ahead of the grasscourt slam.

He said this could ​work to his benefit, however, ahead of his opening clash with Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic on Monday.

"If you play a ​tournament before here, maybe it's not going the way you would like to, you come here with ⁠some doubts," he told reporters on Saturday.

"If you don't play any tournament, you don't have these doubts, you just go and ​play."

Sabalenka has been at the top of the WTA rankings since late 2024, but ​the Belarusian has only won one Grand Slam title in the past 18 months, despite reaching four finals.

She also suffered a collapse against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarter-finals last month, losing the last 10 games in a row.

She said after that she wanted to "quit tennis" but has since worked with ​a psychologist and said she was not affected as much by losing to Jessica Pegula in this month's Berlin Open semi-finals.

"I felt ​really good throughout the tournament there. I struggled a little bit here and there, (but) overall I feel like things are clicking back together," she ‌told ⁠reporters ahead of her opening match against Teodora Kostovic.

The four-times major champion has never won Wimbledon, but she has reached the semi-finals in her last three appearances.

Novak Djokovic has spent the last 2-1/2 years trying to capture a 25th major crown that would see him overtake Margaret Court. Wimbledon could be his best bet for achieving that.

Novak Djokovic has spent the last 2-1/2 years trying to capture a 25th major crown that would see him overtake Margaret Court. Wimbledon could be his best bet for achieving that.