With Nigerian wonderkid Seun Ogunsakin, nicknamed the “Young Nadal”, qualifying for Wimbledon Junior Championships as a wild card, it marks the first time in 37 years that a Nigerian has featured at any grand slam since Tony Mmoh in 1987.
After dominating the Africa Under 14 Championships, the teen is now ranked number one in Africa and has been invited to the ITF high performance centre in Tunisia. He didn’t even consider a wild card call up to Wimbledon, saying “All I was doing was just to focus on my game and follow my coach’s instructions. I’m very happy for this news and I cannot wait to play at the biggest junior event in the world.”
Carlos Alcaraz Making History
At just 20 years old, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz has become the first player not named Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal to enter Wimbledon as top seed since 2003- the year that he was born.
After winning Queens the world number one, who burst onto the scene in 2022 after winning the US Open, declared that he was the man to beat this year- even ahead of the legendary Novak Djokovic who remains a heavy favourite going into the tournament.
Alcaraz represents the new era of tennis- the “Big four” of Djokovic, Murray, Nadal and Federer are all either retired or in the latter stages of their career, and he is looking to take his place at the top of the sport for the next decade.
Swiatek Number One
Another young star who enters Wimbledon as the number one seed is women’s French Open champion Iga Swiatek. The 22 year old Pole recently broke the record held by former Wimbledon Champion Simona Halep for the most weeks as WTA number one, having spent 65 weeks as the top-ranked women’s tennis player.
Despite having won both the Australian Open and French Open in the last couple of years, she has never made it past the fourth round of Wimbledon- something she will be looking to improve on this time round.
Djokovic still hungry for success
Despite Alcaraz being the top seed coming into this year’s tournament, Novak Djokovic is still a massive favourite to retain his Wimbledon title. At 36 years old, the Serb has shown no signs of slowing down and will be looking to add to his record 23 Grand Slams.
A potential clash with Britain’s Andy Murray could be on the cards, as the Scot enters the tournament unseeded, meaning that he could face any of the top players in the opening round. Murray is the last player to beat Djokovic on centre court, way back in the 2013 final.
Who do you think will win Wimbledon this year?
