Novak Djokovic is aiming for his 24th Grand Slam title at the Wimbledon 2023 Championships and is already one of the favourites to win the tournament again. The Serbian has won 7 titles at the All England Club so far, making him the second most successful player at the venue after Roger Federer.
However, it is Carlos Alcaraz who recently overtook him as the World No.1 as the young Spanish star won his first ATP Tour grass-court title at Queen’s on Sunday. And it seems that the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), the organisers of the tournament, have been most impressed by this achievement. So much so that on Wednesday, Alcaraz was declared as the No.1 seed in the men’s singles category, while Djokovic will enter the tournament as the No.2 seed.
Wimbledon 2023: Novak Djokovic’s seeding shocks tennis enthusiasts
The seedings play a massive impact in creating the draws of the competition and usually the No.1 seed has a fairly easier run to make it to the Final. The tennis community in general across the globe does not seem to be too pleased with Wimbledon, as they have been accused of being biased against Djokovic. It is worth mentioning here that Novak Djokovic was also denied the 2000 points that he won last year for bagging the Wimbledon title, which would have perhaps made him retain the No.1 spot in the ATP rankings and subsequently, the No.1 seed at this year’s competition in London.
Introducing your Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s singles top 10 seeds at #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/rwt9EIl1Y2
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) June 28, 2023
However, enthusiasts of the game seem to have crowned their No.1 player and here are some of the social media reactions explaining the same –
What’s happened to the grass dependent algorithm? Has that gone out the window. There’s just no way on Earth Djokovic shouldn’t be the number one seed.
— Adam Caldow (@adamcaldow8) June 28, 2023
Djokovic has won the Aus Open and French Open 2023, plus he has won last 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles from 2019 to 2022, So he should be the top seed in Wimbledon 2023, He is clearly the best player in the world, what more do you expect Djokovic to do?
— Notewrap: Writers Notebook (@betylapps) June 28, 2023
Djokovic is the real number 1. Period.
— Naalain Muhammad (@CivilEngr5607) June 28, 2023
Seeds #2 will win
— Vanessa Bahia🐊🇧🇷 (@NessabaVan) June 28, 2023
I dont know how Alcaraz who never won Wimbledon could be top seed ahead of Novak (because Novak didnt receive 2000 points for last year’s win and who would have been #1 if things were normal) who is defending champion, and has 4 titles in a row, but ok. Its your tournament.
— Trololino (@Trololin0) June 28, 2023
Artificial chart as you stole points from Djokovic.
— Kalimero (@KalimeroKalo) June 28, 2023
I absolutely love it … these are the things that hype up the GOAT
— Joel.William (@joelTHEMOOR) June 28, 2023
Seeded Second makes Novak Djokovic a Wimbledon favorite?
Remarkably, Novak Djokovic was not the No.1 seed even at the Australian Open 2023, despite winning the most number of titles as a men’s singles player in Melbourne. Despite being seeded 4th, he won the title without hardly being challenged. While at the French Open 2023, Djokovic was the 3rd seed but managed to beat the top seed, Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final to eventually win the title.
As a result, it is unlikely that the No.2 seeding will affect Novak Djokovic’s mindset going into the Wimbledon Championships and instead, could be a lucky omen for him to win his 3rd Grand Slam of the year. However, it remains a mystery whether the move was orchestrated by the organisers to intentionally target Djokovic perhaps for some disagreements he has had with the ATP Tour management over the years. This is because usually the Wimbledon seedings take strongly into account each player’s performances at the tournament in the past and grass surfaces, besides their current ATP rankings. It is why a player of Roger Federer’s calibre managed to get favourable draws at the competition over the years.
More than the seedings and the draw which will come up soon, Novak Djokovic is likely to focus on getting himself 100 percent fit for the tournament. To begin the mind games, he has already warned his rivals on social media recently by eating a piece of grass, which is his famous title victory celebration.
