dark horse Archives - World Tennis Magazine

As far as the pundits are concerned, Novak Djokovic will win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon 2023 – nobody else in the draw is in the form, or has the pedigree on grass, to challenge the Serbian.

Maybe that’s what will transpire, but there are plenty of dangerous opponents lurking on the quick surfaces at SW19 – particularly some underdogs who will take some beating by Djokovic or anybody else.

The women’s draw appears to be wide open, with the bookmakers pricing three players as joint favourites – that’s a sure sign that even they are unsure of how things will pan out.

In that spirit, here are five dark horses who can upset the odds at Wimbledon in July.

Hubert Hurkacz

At 60/1, those betting on tennis are likely to overlook Hubert Hurkacz in favour of any of the 14 players who are considered to have a better chance of winning Wimbledon – Djokovic, for example, is 4/6 and Daniil Medvedev 13/2.

But well-informed tennis tips will reveal that Hurkacz has one serious weapon that can carry him through the early rounds of the tournament: a serve considered to be one of the best on the ATP Tour. The Pole sits second in the Tour’s Serve Ranking metric, with an average of 15.7 aces per match in the past year – only Nick Kyrgios, last year’s beaten Wimbledon finalist, has served better.

The 26-year-old will need to improve his volleying if he is to become a formidable serve-and-volley star on the grass, but a run to the semi-final of the Stuttgart Open in June on the surface is a strong start.

Frances Tiafoe

The American reached the fourth round of Wimbledon last year, finding himself 2-1 in front of David Goffin before succumbing to a 2-3 defeat.

Tiafoe followed that with a run to the semi-finals at the US Open to frank his Grand Slam credentials, and he’s starting to deliver on the ATP Tour as well: two titles in 2023, including victory at the Stuttgart Open on grass, reveal the player’s growing confidence.>

Cameron Norrie

There’s no doubt that the home crowd can elevate the performance of British players at Wimbledon.

Take Cameron Norrie, who found himself a set to the good against Djokovic in the semi-finals last year before the world number one was able to grind down his opponent in his time-served fashion.

Although he hasn’t had the best of seasons by his own standards, Norrie has still taken some big scalps in 2023 and will surely bring his A-game to SW19.

Caroline Garcia

A solid serve can heap the pressure on an opponent, and they don’t come much better than Carolina Garcia’s on the WTA Tour.

Of players who have completed 30 matches or more this season, the French woman has won 83.1% of her service games – the best ratio on the Tour.

She has, at times, flattered to deceive at the highest level, but her 2022 run to the semi-finals of the US Open – and victory at the season-ending WTA Finals – reveals Garcia’s increasing self-belief on the big stage.

Ekaterina Alexandrova

The Russian successfully defended her Rosmalen Open trophy on the grass of Hertogenbosch in June, defeating top seed Veronika Kudermetova in the final.

It’s a welcome return to form for the big-serving Alexandrova, who made her breakthrough in 2022 with two WTA titles and a first semi-final appearance in a WTA 1000 event.

As high as 16 in the world rankings back in February, Alexandrova will be hoping to reach the latter stages of Wimbledon – who knows, maybe that reliable serving action can take her even deeper into the tournament.

The 28-year-old, like the other four players on the list, will quietly fancy her chances of a shock win at Wimbledon 2023.

By WTM staff and wire reports

Ernests Gulbis became the first high-profile casualty of the French Open, pulling out of the tournament lame against Julien Benneteau of France in the first round.

Gulbis, who beat Roger Federer en route to the semifinals of Rome earlier this month, was many critics’ pre-tournament tip as a dark horse at Roland Garros.

However, the Latvian No. 23 seed was outplayed early on before a hamstring injury forced him to retire at 6-4, 6-2, 1-0, ret.

Gulbis revealed he would undergo a scan on his leg, but refused to be too downbeat, saying: “I stretched my hamstring in my right leg and I heard two cracks. I will go for a scan and hope that nothing is broken.

“It’s very disappointing. I prepared really well for the tournament. But I have another eight or nine years in front of me, maybe 20 Grand Slams.

“If I concentrate on just this one, I’d go nuts. It’s happened and I will learn from it,” added the 21-year-old.

Gulbis is featured in this interview:

With Harry Cicma of the New England Sports Network Show “World Tennis with Harry Cicma.”

Elsewhere, Swedish fifth seed Robin Soderling, a finalist at Roland Garros last year, cruised into round two.

Meanwhile, No. 8 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France overcame German upstart Daniel Brands in five sets, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5.

He produced a completely dominant display to dispatch wild card Laurent Recouderc and cruise through in a complete mismatch.

Soderling hit a string of winners – 46 in total – to which world No. 179 Recouderc simply had no answer.

And the 25-year-old, last year’s runner-up at Roland Garros, ultimately won through 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and a half.

“It’s always nice to have a quick match in the early rounds. It was a good to have a few rallies,” said Soderling.

Referring to his run in the tournament last year, during which he beat four-time champion Rafael Nadal before losing out to Roger Federer in the final, he added: “That was all last year. I have to start over again. But of course it’s always nice to come back to a place where you did well last year. It gives you good feelings.”

Also, 10th seed Marin Cilic overcame a second-set wobble to beat Ricardo Mello 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1. Russian No. 11 seed Mikhail Youzhny was barely troubled as he saw off Poland’s Michal Przysiezny 6-1, 6-0, 6-4, making just 11 unforced errors and breaking his opponent seven times.

Colombian Alejandro Falla, who U.S. Davis Cup fans are likely to see later this year when his country takes on the United States in September’s Davis Cup Play-off Round in Colombia, wasted equal little time in beating Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 6-2, 6-3. He will next face top seed Roger Federer. Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker overcame Frenchman Olivier Patience 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Chilean two-time Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu fell at the first hurdle in a five-set epic against Italian Fabio Fognini, going down 6-1, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

But there were no such problems for Spanish seeds Albert Montanes and Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Montanes, seeded 29th, beat Italian Stefano Galvani 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, while 32nd seed Garcia-Lopez downed German Rainer Schuettler 7-5, 6-4, 6-2.