Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal to lead title chase at all-new Wimbledon

• Djokovic and Nadal will race for the title at  Wimbledon.
• Two of them are expected to meet for the 60th time in the Finals.
• Medvedev and Rublev will be missing after banning Russian and Belarusian players.

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lead the title chase at Wimbledon, where Roger Federer, the top two players in the world, and valuable ranking points will all be absent.

Djokovic is aiming to win his seventh title at the All England Club in order to tie US tennis legend, Pete Sampras.

Nadal, who recently won his 14th French Open title and 22nd major, is halfway to the first men’s calendar Grand Slam in over fifty years.

Read more: Nadal plans to play Wimbledon as foot injury gets to the next level

Even before Monday’s opening serve, the third Grand Slam tournament of the year has already generated political ripples.

Following the invasion of Ukraine, the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players leaves no room for world number one Daniil Medvedev or eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev.

The men’s and women’s tours’ governing bodies, the ATP and WTA, responded by removing ranking points from the tournament.

Federer will be absent for the first time since his debut in 1999, excluding the Covid-cancelled 2020 edition, as the 40-year-old recovers from knee surgery.

Alexander Zverev, the number two player in the world, is also absent after suffering a terrible ankle ligament injury in the French Open semifinals against Nadal.

Read more: Djokovic completes 1000 ATP Tour-level wins

However, neither Medvedev nor Zverev have ever excelled at Wimbledon, failing to go past the fourth round.

If Novak Djokovic and Nadal are to meet for the 60th time, it can only be in the final because they are the third and fourth seeds, respectively.