At long last, the most anticipated Grand Slam of the year, Wimbledon, will begin this Monday. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is back to defend his men’s singles crown. This will be a perfect opportunity for the Serb to get over the ghost of his loss in the 2015 French Open. Will Djokovic defend his title? Or will another player reign supreme this time around?
Let’s look at which players in the men’s draw experts at ESPN, Tennis.com, and Sports Illustrated are picking to win the 149th edition of Wimbledon.
For more about the 2015 tournament, you can click here for the experts’ picks for the women’s side.
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Experts Picks for Wimbledon 2015 Men’s Singles Tournament
ESPN
Expert
Pick
Darren Cahill
Djokovic
Cliff Drysdale
Djokovic
Chris Evert
Djokovic
Mary Joe Fernandez
Djokovic
Brad Gilbert
Murray
Patrick McEnroe
Murray
Pam Shriver
Djokovic
Carl Bialik
Djokovic
Peter Bodo
Djokovic
Melissa Isaacson
Djokovic
Greg Garber
Djokovic
Kamakshi Tandon
Murray
Matt Wilansky
Murray
[sc:Other240banner ]The racquet-heads over at Bristol only have two names on their lips when asked about their respective picks to win the 2015 Wimbledon Men’s draw: Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. Of the 13 experts polled, nine see Djokovic successfully defending his title this year, while four trust Murray to cop The Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy again. Among the experts surveyed were tennis legend Chris Evert and a former pro in Patrick McEnroe.
For Evert, a three-time Wimbledon champ, she believes that Djokovic will win his second Grand Slam of the year in London. Djokovic is smarting from a bitter loss in the final of the recent French Open against Stan Wawrinka, and Evert is expecting the Serb to use that setback as a motivation to dominate the field in Wimbledon. As for McEnroe and the three others that picked Murray to win, they are counting on the Brit’s strong grass game. Since 2013, the year he snapped Great Britain’s 77-year drought in the Wimbledon, Murray is 22-2 in grass court matches.
Tennis.com
Expert
Pick
Ed McGrogan
Murray
Nina Pantic
Djokovic
Steve Tignor
Djokovic
The self-proclaimed No. 1 destination site for tennis fans, Tennis.com, meanwhile, has also released its own picks and predictions ahead of the 2015 edition of the Wimbledon. Senior editor Ed McGrogan thinks that Murray will bring pride and glory to Great Britain once again because the World No. 3 just looks unstoppable right now.
To put Murray’s hot streak into perspective, consider that he enters the 2015 Wimbledon carrying a 41-6 match record on the season. In addition, dating back to 2011, Murray has at least reached the quarterfinals in the last 17 Grand Slam tournaments he played in.
Panti and Tignor, on the other hand, don’t share the same prediction of their senior editor. Instead, the two feel that Djokovic will emerge as Wimbledon’s newest king. Both Panti and Tignor are obviously excited to see what kind of fury the World No. 1 will unleash in London after a disappointing loss to Wawrinka at Roland Garros. The pair sees a vastly motivated Djokovic, with Tignor saying “if he [Djokovic] reaches the final, he should be more determined to come away with a win than ever.”
Sports Illustrated
Expert
Pick
Courtney Nguyen
Murray
Jon Wertheim
Djokovic
Richard Deitsch
Murray
Andrew Lawrence
Djokovic
Stanley Kay
Murray
Jamie Lisanti
Murray
Unlike ESPN and Tennis.com, the folks at Sports Illustrated are predominantly pro-Murray. Out of the six experts surveyed, four went for Murray, while the other two chose Djokovic. Tennis writer Courtney Nguyen is among those who predict a Murray win in the tournament. For Nguyen, Murray will be propelled to victory by the immense form he’s been showing for quite some time now—and that’s despite the loss to Djokovic at Roland Garros.
Furthermore, Nguyen points to Murray’s desire to prove his critics wrong after he decided to hire Amelie Mauresmo as his coach. Many pundits believe that Murray should have gone for another coach or even stuck by Ivan Lendl, but the 2013 Wimbledon champ can silence them once and for all if he wins the title again.
Andrew Lawrence, meanwhile, is backing Djokovic to cop his second Wimbledon title in a row. Lawrence reasons that while Roger Federer remains a huge threat on grass, Djokovic, hell-bent on redemption, is going to be too much to handle for anyone. Lawrence simply echoes the reason of other experts who views Djokovic as the tournament’s eventual winner: that the Serb will use his loss to Wawrinka in the French Open to fuel a championship run.
