Wimbledon 2019: 3 Dark Horses who could pip Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to the title
The 133rd edition of one of the most prestigious tournaments, Wimbledon 2019, has kicked off and we can almost feel the excitement amongst both players and fans.
As it is with every Wimbledon tournament, we have our usual suspects who are expected to win the grand slam, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Amongst the active players, Federer and Djokovic are the most successful at the All England Club with eight and four titles respectively. They are the top two seeds and are expected to go deep in the draw.
Djokovic comes into the championships as both the top seed and defending champion. The Serb has had an average season so far, winning 29 matches and losing six. However, we all know what a motivated Djokovic can do as Rafa Nadal found out the hard way at the Australian Open 2019 where the Serbian won his seventh title.
Federer, on the other hand, comes to Wimbledon with a better win-loss record of 32-4 having won the Miami open and an unprecedented ninth title at Halle. For the first time in three years, the Swiss played the French Open where he had a decent showing before going down to the greatest clay courter of all time - Rafael Nadal.
Unless something drastic happens, Djokovic and Federer would be playing the Final at the center court on the 14th of July. However, there are a few players who could cause them trouble.
Here’s a list of 3 players who could beat Djokovic and Federer at Wimbledon.
#3 Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic is one of the most underrated grass courters on tour. He has a potent serve, strong forehand and has very few unreturned serves which is so important on grass. Cilic is currently in a slump, having gone through many knee issues and he hasn't featured in a final in over a year.
The Czech would be eager to put those stats to bed in the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. The first few matches are going to be extremely important. Cilic has a potential third-round meeting with Basilasvili, which he should get through to set up a mouth-watering encounter with Rafael Nadal. Cilic recently defeated the French Open champion in straight sets at Hurlingham.
If Cilic can get through the Nadal match unscathed, then it would give the self-confidence that he needs and I expect him to trouble Roger Federer in a potential semi-final. With his aggressive baseline game, he could take the fight to Roger and he would be seeking revenge after being beaten by the same opponent in the 2017 final.
Marin Cilic is one of the only two other active players apart from the big 4 who knows what it takes to win a grand slam.
The 2017 runner-up could be flying under the radar for now, but if he could make it into the second week, he could be deadly dangerous for the Top two seeds.