Wimbledon 2023: Alcaraz gets top seed; Djokovic seeks 8th title at All England Club

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Here are some of the men to watch at Wimbledon, which began at the All-England Club this week.

CARLOS ALCARAZ

• Seeded: 1
• Career-Best Ranking: 1
• Country: Spain
• Age: 20
• 2023 Record: 40-4
• 2023 Titles: 5
• Career Titles: 11
• Grand Slam Titles: 1 — U.S. Open (2022)
• Aces: Recent return to No. 1 in the rankings allowed him to be seeded No. 1. … U.S. Open title last September helped Alcaraz become first teenager to finish a season atop the ATP. … Won the Queen’s Club tournament in London in June for his first career title on grass courts. … Full-body cramps dashed any chance he might have had of beating Novak Djokovic in the French Open semifinals in June; they only could meet in the final at the All England Club.
• Odds: +380

NOVAK DJOKOVIC

• Seeded: 2
• Career-Best Ranking: 1
• Country: Serbia
• Age: 36
• 2023 Record: 27-4
• 2023 Titles: 3
• Career Titles: 94
• Grand Slam Titles: 23 — Wimbledon (7: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022), Australian Open (10: 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023), French Open (3: 2016, 2021, 2023), U.S. Open (3: 2011, 2015, 2018)
• Aces: Broke a tie with Rafael Nadal for the most Grand Slam singles titles won by a man by earning No. 23 at the French Open. … Adding No. 24 at Wimbledon would give him the most in the Open era by a man or woman. … Has won 11 of the past 20 major tournaments. … Seeks a fifth consecutive trophy at the All England Club and eighth overall, which would tie Roger Federer’s men’s mark. … Has spent more weeks at No. 1 in the half-century of computerized singles rankings than any other man or woman.
• Odds: -165

DANIIL MEDVEDEV

• Seeded: 3
• Career-Best Ranking: 1
• Country: Russia
• Age: 27
• 2023 Record: 41-8
• 2023 Titles: 5
• Career Titles: 20
• Grand Slam Titles: 1 — U.S. Open (2021)
• Aces: Like other players from Russia and Belarus, was not allowed to compete at Wimbledon in 2022 because of the invasion of Ukraine. That ban was lifted by the All England Club this year. … Results have been improving on grass, but Wimbledon remains the only major where he has yet to reach at least the quarterfinals. … A force on hard courts, Medvedev has made it to four Grand Slam finals on the surface, winning one; the defeats came against Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
• Odds: +2000

CASPER RUUD

• Seeded: 4
• Career-Best Ranking: 2
• Country: Norway
• Age: 24
• 2023 Record: 22-12
• 2023 Titles: 1
• Career Titles: 10
• Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2022, 2023), U.S. Open (2022)
• Aces: Entered 2022 with a 14-13 career record in Grand Slam main-draw matches and not one quarterfinal appearance at a major. He has gone 20-5 at those events since, including two runner-up finishes at the French Open (to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic) and one at the U.S. Open (to Carlos Alcaraz). … Wimbledon is the only major where he hasn’t been at least to the fourth round. Career mark at the All England Club is 1-3.
• Odds: +8000

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS

• Seeded: 5
• Career-Best Ranking: 3
• Country: Greece
• Age: 24
• 2023 Record: 32-11
• 2023 Titles: Zero
• Career Titles: 9
• Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Runner-Up, French Open (2021), Australian Open (2023)
• Aces: At Roland Garros in 2021, became the youngest man to make it to the final of a Grand Slam tournament in more than a decade. Took a two-set lead against Novak Djokovic before losing in five. … Lost to Novak Djokovic in a major final again at the Australian Open this January. … Has reached six Slam semifinals, but best showing at Wimbledon was making it to the fourth round five years ago.
• Odds: +6500

HOLGER RUNE

• Seeded: 6
• Career-Best Ranking: 6
• Country: Denmark
• Age: 20
• 2023 Record: 33-12
• 2023 Titles: 1
• Career Titles: 4
• Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: Quarterfinals, French Open (2022)
• Aces: Has won twice in a row against Novak Djokovic, showing the sort of potential Rune has. … Finished 2022 strongly, going 19-2 and claiming two titles down the stretch. There were dips earlier in the season: He went 1-6 from January to February, then 0-7 from June to July.
• Odds: +3000

FRANCES TIAFOE

• Seeded: 10
• Career-Best Ranking: 10
• Country: United States
• Age: 25
• 2023 Record: 28-10
• 2023 Titles: 2
• Career Titles: 3
• Grand Slam Titles: None — Best: SF, U.S. Open (2022)
• Aces: First career grass-court title — at Stuttgart Open in June — moved Tiafoe into the ATP Top 10 for the first time. … That made Tiafoe, who is from Maryland, and Taylor Fritz, who is from California, the first pair of American men simultaneously in the Top 10 since 2012. … Tiafoe is the first African-American man to be in the Top 10 since James Blake in 2009. … Tiafoe’s breakthrough performance came at the U.S. Open last year, when he beat Rafael Nadal en route to becoming the first American man in the semifinals in New York since Andy Roddick in 2006.
• Odds: +6500

Odds courtesy of DraftKings. For more, click here.