Wimbledon Storylines: Sinner, Alcaraz Djokovic In 3-Way Tussle; Murray Seeks Fond Farewell

Murray, who has also received a wildcard to play alongside his brother Jamie in the men's doubles, is pushing to compete in the singles at the All England Club, though the 37-year-old has acknowledged that is an unlikely scenario as he recovers from a back issue.

While Murray faces an anxious race against time, reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz is out to build on his French Open title win and claim his second major triumph of the campaign.

Jannik Sinner heads into Wimbledon as world number one, then there is Novak Djokovic, last year's runner-up who is hunting his eighth title at the British grand slam.

Using Opta data, we assess the key storylines ahead of Wimbledon.

Federer records in Djokovic's sights

Roger Federer has won the most men's singles titles at Wimbledon in the Open Era (eight), but with the Swiss great long-since retired, Djokovic is out to take that record for himself.

Djokovic will surely feel he has at least two more years in the top left in him, though if he is going to make himself the outright leader in Wimbledon titles, then he could really do with winning this year.

He was defeated by Alcaraz in last year's final, the ninth showpiece match he has played in at the All England Club. That trails only Federer, who reached 12 finals at the grand slam.

After Feliciano Lopez and Federer (81 each), Djokovic is also set to become only the third player in the Open Era to appear in 75+ main draws at grand slams.

At 37, Djokovic is out to become the oldest Wimbledon champion in the men's singles, surpassing Federer (35 years, 342 days). These two icons of the game are the only players to have won the title when aged over 35.

Djokovic heads into the tournament as world number two, but with Rafael Nadal absent, he is the only one of the 'big three' left to keep up a quite remarkable statistic - that only once in the past 20 years has a Wimbledon final not involved at least one of Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. That final was in 2016, when Murray claimed his second Wimbledon crown by beating Milos Raonic.

In fact, there have not been three consecutive finals at grand slams in a calendar year not to feature one of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic since 2002, but the Serbian is yet to reach a major final in 2024, so the pressure is on.

Make way for the golden boys

Sinner won his maiden grand slam title at the Australian Open in January, and comes into Wimbledon as the ATP's top-ranked player, having won a further three Tour-level titles this year.

With Sinner following on from Alcaraz last year, this is the first time a player aged under 23?has held the top seed in consecutive editions of the men's singles?at Wimbledon since Lleyton Hewitt (2003) and Federer (2004).?

Alcaraz, meanwhile, could become the youngest player in the Open Era to win?at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in a calendar year.

The reigning champion is one of only three under-21 players in the Open Era to win the men's singles at Wimbledon, along with Boris Becker (1985-86) and Bjorn Borg (1976).?

Alcaraz has a fantastic record on grass.?Among players with 10+ matches on the surface since 2020, only three hold a winning percentage above 80% – Djokovic (95.2%), Alcaraz (85%) and 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini (84.8%).

Since Alcaraz is the third seed, we could be in for a monumental match-up between the next generation's standout talents in the semi-finals.

With Djokovic the last of the big three left competing regularly at majors, the new era is here.

Murray's last hurrah?

Poor old Andy. This is set to be his final appearance at Wimbledon, but a back issue is threatening to derail it.

Murray has been drawn against Tomas Machac in the first round, and he did head out to practice on Saturday, but it remains up in the air whether he will be fit enough to feature and say farewell properly.

Winning the event in 2013 and 2016, Murray (2012-13, 2016) is the only British player to reach the final at Wimbledon in the Open Era.

The Scot has played 74 matches at Wimbledon; it is the fifth-most matches played in the men's singles draw at this tournament during the Open Era. His 61 wins, meanwhile,?are the sixth-most of any man?after Federer, Djokovic, Jimmy Connors, Becker and Pete Sampras.

But as Murray bows out, is there a new British hope coming over the horizon?

At 18 years and?94 days, reigning boy's singles champion Henry Searle will be the youngest British main draw entrant at?Wimbledon since Murray himself, who was aged 18 years and 36 days in 2005.?