Wimbledon is rapidly approaching, and the men’s singles entry list is all but complete after the confirmation of the wildcards.
One Wimbledon women’s singles wildcard remains, but all eight of the men’s positions have now been filled for the imminent Grand Slam.
And unsurprisingly home favorites dominate the selections, with Grigor Dimitrov and Stan Wawrinka the only non-British players awarded the honor.
Their inclusions should help produce a top-quality event, although there is already a huge blow with the absence of Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
That leaves Jannik Sinner as the strong favorite to lift the trophy, but there are arguably five ATP dark horses who could cause a real threat at Wimbledon this year.
Which player has the most to gain from Carlos Alcaraz’s Wimbledon withdrawal?
Taylor Fritz
Taylor Fritz is perhaps leading the way among the dark horses to challenge world number one Sinner, who will be hoping his struggles at the French Open do not return in London.
Shining brightly on grass of late, the American now boasts a superb 10-5 record against fellow challenger Alexander Zverev, although his biggest concern may just involve his nightmare 0-11 record with Novak Djokovic.
Alex de Minaur
Also impressing at times on grass so far this season, Libema Open finalist Alex de Minaur may just be confident of finally making it beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.
De Minaur has constantly fallen at that hurdle in all four of the major tournaments, but Sinner’s French Open struggles and Alexander Zverev’s shortcomings on grass could now be taken advantage of by the Australian.
Jiri Lehecka
Another high-quality grass-court player, Jiri Lehecka is more than capable of causing an upset on the surface.
Whether or not he can step up to the mark at Wimbledon remains to be seen, but the current situation in men’s tennis should do him and many others a big favor in London.
Matteo Berrettini
As he just proved at the French Open, Matteo Berrettini can never be ruled out of contention on the big stage, even with his unfortunate injury struggles.
The Italian made it to the quarterfinals in Paris, although that fell short of his stunning run at Wimbledon in 2021, when he was beaten in the final by Djokovic.
Jack Draper
Very much the forgotten man on the ATP Tour because of his seemingly endless injuries, Jack Draper could still be a threat at Wimbledon, where he’ll have the full backing of the crowd.
He’s been working hard behind the scenes to get back to full fitness, significantly with the help of two-time SW19 champion Andy Murray.
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