Novak Djokovic is still hopeful of making it to the Wimbledon Championships in one week’s time and make amends for his loss last year against Carlos Alcaraz. Djokovic was pictured and filmed training near SW19 and more recently, he crossed paths with Elena Rybakina. Interestingly, the Serb and Rybakina were the men’s and women’s singles champions from the 2022 edition of the grass court Grand Slam.
The duo was seen sharing a high-five with each other as they were practicing on adjacent courts. The development is interesting for three reasons. One being that Novak Djokovic’s injury has intrigued fans and such things posted on social media can only mean that the now former World No.1 is defeating time to aim for a record 8th title in London. The other being that Elena Rybakina could be preparing to gear up for Wimbledon by playing in the Eastbourne International tournament as she seems fit and ready to do so.
Elena Rybakina & Novak Djokovic sharing a high five on the grass. ️ pic.twitter.com/6Gqi2bjkm7
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 24, 2024
The third reason being that the man who trumped Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon 2023 final, Carlos Alcaraz also had a similar experience recently. Alcaraz was seen training alongside Iga Swiatek. Both the players also happened to win a Grand Slam in the same season and that is recently at the French Open 2024.
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The Wimbledon 2024 organisers have arranged the scheduling of practice in a very interesting manner this year. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek seemed to have entered the courts 2 hours before Novak Djokovic and Elena Rybakina did, going by the difference in timings of the social media posts.
This is the reason why Carlos Alcaraz, on his exit, got to embrace Novak Djokovic, who was entering. Wimbledon was able to get that rare shot as well on camera and had the perfect description for the same.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz Could Clash in Wimbledon 2024 Semifinals
In the post, the Wimbledon 2024 reminded fans about the last time these two met at the Grand Slam. It was the iconic moment which saw Carlos Alcaraz win his first ever grass court Grand Slam title.
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Should Novak Djokovic be fit enough to play the whole tournament and manage to come up with a winning streak, the 7-time champion could mostly play Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals in a potential rematch from last year. This is because as per the current ATP rankings, the Wimbledon seedings will have Djokovic as the second seed and Alcaraz as the third seed. As Jannik Sinner is set to be the No.1 seed, it is likely that either of Alcaraz or Djokovic would play him in the final this year.
Both the players are unlikely to play another tournament before Wimbledon. While Djokovic’s reasons are known, Alcaraz would benefit from training more, despite an underwhelming performance at Queen’s recently, where he lost to British No.1 Jack Draper.
