Novak Djokovic‘s season has derailed ever since his defeat to Carlos Alcaraz in the 2026 Australian Open final. He has only played three tournaments since then and has won a total of four matches, mainly due to a right shoulder injury that he sustained in March. However, former ATP pro, Mats Wilander, is optimistic about Djokovic’s chances at Wimbledon despite his form.

“In Paris he lost to a great Fonseca, but Wimbledon is the Slam where he has the best chance of winning and finally reaching the record of 25 Slams, which has almost become an obsession,” he said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport. “On grass, the distances from Sinner in my opinion are a bit reduced. And then it is also a statistical question: on clay the opponents who can beat him are 10 or 20, on the lawns of London they are reduced to five.”

It won’t be wrong to say that, despite his physical condition, Djokovic can never be ruled out of contention for Wimbledon. The Serb has won the Grand Slam seven times in his career and holds an incredible win-loss record of 101-11, winning approximately 90.18% of the time.

The 39-year-old is also just the second player, after Roger Federer, to have 100 or more wins at SW19 in the Open Era. He has made 10 appearances in the final, with his last one coming in the 2024 edition, where he was defeated in straight sets by Carlos Alcaraz.

But, unlike the previous years, there are no big expectations around Djokovic this time around. There are major doubts surrounding him as he has struggled physically for most of the year. He had decided to take a break after the Australian Open due to fatigue and didn’t play any tournaments in February.

He returned to the tour with the Indian Wells Masters, but disaster struck when he suffered an injury on his right shoulder during his R16 clash against Jack Draper, which he lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).

This ruled him out for two months, during which Djokovic had to withdraw from the remainder of the hard-court season and delay his clay swing. The 39-year-old made his much-awaited return at the Italian Open in May. However, he was faced with a second-round defeat to Dino Prizmic, which sent him packing.

Djokovic arrived at the French Open with no real hope. While he did look in good touch in his first two matches but Joao Fonseca brought his campaign to an end with a dramatic 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 victory in the third round. This defeat resulted in him falling to No. 7 on the rankings.

With Novak Djokovic not scheduled to play any grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon, many consider him not to be among the top contenders to win the title this year. However, Wilander has backed another player to clinch the title instead.

Mats Wilander picks Jannik Sinner instead of Novak Djokovic

“Certainly, especially since Alcaraz will still be missing. But at Roland Garros, I think he (Sinner) had a better chance; grass can always be tricky,” Wilander said.

With Alcaraz not being in the picture, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev can be considered as the top contenders for the Wimbledon title. Like Djokovic, Sinner has also decided not to play any grass-court tournaments before Wimbledon. On the other hand, Zverev has signed up for the Terra Wortmann Open and will be in action next week.

Not to mention that the German will be brimming with confidence following his triumph at the Roland Garros. The pressure will be on Sinner as not only did he suffer an early exit in Paris, but he also won’t have any match practice on grass courts before the SW19.