Tennis Predictions: 2023
Who is going to win what. Here are my GS predictions for tennis season 2023
Australian Open is about to start. The draws are out. The player I most follow on the ATP Tour, Novak Djokovic, has got a good draw. By a good draw, I do not simply refer to easy opponents during the initial rounds of the tournament. By a good draw, I also mean heavy chances of top-ranked players facing each other in the semi-finals and finals.
By the looks of it, Djokovic and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal can potentially meet in the AO Final. The thought of it makes me cheer on the draw. Nadal hasn't been in his best form after the 2022 off-season. But like many fans around the world, I have learned a crucial lesson about Nadal. And I have learned it the hard way. Never count the Spaniards out. I did not fancy his chances of winning AO last year, he won it. I did not fancy his chances of winning the Roland Garros last year (a very dangerous thing to do), but he won it.
I am not going to succumb to those same mistakes again this year. I think Rafael Nadal will be fine during AO. It’s his game. Best of 3 is not the same as Best of 5. ATP Tour matches are not the same as Grand Slam matches. But getting a tough draw is not going to help his cause. He will face Jack Draper from Britain in the first round. That's a tough, tough draw for R1. He may also potentially face Brandon Nakashima (Next Gen ATP Finals 2022 champion) in R2. But yeah. He will be fine. He knows how to navigate through GS draws like this. He has won 22 GS titles. He knows more than me.
Coming back to Djokovic. He isn't going to face any of the big boys until the quarterfinals at least. He might potentially face Andrey Rublev from Russia in QFs, but first Rublev himself has to deal with a tough draw. He will face former AO finalist, Dominic Theim in R1. Theim has secured a wild card for the main draw. This faceoff is probably going to be the most interesting one out of all R1 matches. I look forward to it.
Nick Kyrgios, hometown hero is also another one to closely follow during AO 2023. He has finally cracked the code to go deeper into GS draws. He played his first GS final against Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon in 2022. He lost. Yeah, obviously because it was Djokovic, and it won on grass. But Nick Kyrgios has since then maintained a good singles record. It will be interesting to see how he uses the energy from the crowd during his matches. That will be the key.
Some other players I am looking forward to at the AO 2023 are Tsitsipas and Matteo Berrettini. The latter become the first Italian player to play in the AO semi-finals last year. He ultimately lost to Rafael Nadal, but he will be a player to watch out for. I say Tsitsipas because of one reason only: He will win a GS anytime now. Yes. He played the most singles matches on tour last year and won the most matches. He plays a lot. A LOT. So it's not a surprise if he simply goes to a Grand Slam and wins it. It’s not a question of if he is ready. It’s the question of if he has got it in his head. For which I don't have a clue. Tsitsipas has himself previously spoken that he will not know when he will win a GS until it happens. Simple it is.
My last year's GS winners prediction was awful. I predicted that Novak Djokovic is going to race ahead of everyone and become the GOAT. Did not happen. I predicted Tsitsipas is going to win Roland Garros. He played a 5-setter match in R1. That should give an idea of how my prediction went about. I predicted that one of Sinner or Berrettini will win a GS title. Jannik Sinner rose last year, but he did not win much. As for Berrettini, he was plagued with frequent injuries. Barring his exceptionally good grass season, which itself did not last long, he did not win much.
So here are my predictions for GS winners in 2023.
Once again I am going with the usual one. Novak Djokovic will race ahead in the GS race, and will statistically become the greatest ever to play the sport. I predict Novak to win AO and Wimbledon in 2023.
Casper Ruud will win Roland Garros. Yeah, I know it’s a wild prediction. Which I think is the case with most predictions featuring Ruud. Let’s see.
One of Tsitsipas and Rune will win a GS title. Mostly Rune. Not many on the tour have mastered tennis techniques better than Rune at the moment. But I hope Tsitipass cracks through. For fucks sake. It’s 2023. Win something.
So here are my predictions. Do I think it will fall apart like last year? Absolutely. Novak Djokovic is 35 and youngsters are everywhere. Picking Casper Ruud to win Roland Garros when Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal are still there is also risky. But they are my predictions. Let’s take some risks.
A crucial place where I think my prediction is most prone to fall apart? Wimbledon. Yes. Novak Djokovic is still the best player in the world on grass. But Berrettini, unfortunately, did not get the chance to showcase what he has got during Wimbledon 2022. Jannik Sinner took 2 sets off Djokovic on grass. Grass season is the most open surface on the ATP Tour. Players don't get to play on grass much during the season. And for the time they play, they are prone to upsets.
Novak Djokovic has not lost a Wimbledon match since 2017. Not impressed? Novak Djokovic has not lost a match on Wimbledon's Center Court since 2013. Good enough now? The last man to beat the Serbian on the famous court was Andy Murray back in 2013 in Wimbledon final. Nobody has defeated Novak on CC since then. Yeah. It’s scary. But that’s why I think Wimbledon is where my prediction can fall apart. I hope not. But it is the hope that kills.
Another wonderful tennis season awaits fans in 2023. I hope we all enjoy our favorites on the court and help spread the word about how wonderful tennis is. Let’s go.