Men to watch at Wimbledon, which begins Monday:
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
Ranked: 1
Age: 29
Country: Serbia
2016 Match Record: 44-3
2016 Singles Titles: 6
Career Singles Titles: 65
Major Titles: 12 - Wimbledon ('11, 14,
15), U.S. Open ('11, 15), Australian Open ('08,
11, 12,
13, 15,
16), French Open ('16)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-Won Championship,
14-W, 13-Lost in Final, 12-SF,
11-W
Topspin: Has 28-match Grand Slam winning streak, covering four consecutive major championships. Now tries to complete first true Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969. ... Has reached at least the semifinals at Wimbledon each of the past six years, including titles in 2011, 2014 and 2015. ... Leads ATP in match wins, titles this season. ... Fifth consecutive year he is seeded No. 1 at All England Club.
ANDY MURRAY
Ranked: 2
Age: 29
Country: Britain
2016 Match Record: 33-6
2016 Singles Titles: 2
Career Singles Titles: 37
Major Titles: 2 - Wimbledon ('13), U.S. Open ('12)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-SF,
14-QF, 13-W,
12-F, `11-SF
Topspin: Recently reunited with coach Ivan Lendl; their partnership resulted in Murray's two Grand Slam titles. ... Will always be remembered as the first British man in 77 years to win Wimbledon, beating Novak Djokovic in the 2013 final. ... Has lost eight major finals, including to Djokovic at the Australian Open in January and at the French Open this month. ... Prepared for Wimbledon by winning record fifth title on grass courts at Queen's Club.
ROGER FEDERER
Ranked: 3
Age: 34
Country: Switzerland
2016 Match Record: 16-6
2016 Singles Titles: 0
Career Singles Titles: 88
Major Titles: 17 - Wimbledon ('03, 04,
05, 06,
07, 09,
12), U.S. Open ('04, 05,
06, 07,
08), Australian Open ('04, 06,
07, `10), French Open ('09)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-F,
14-F, 13-2nd,
12-W, `11-QF
Topspin: Starts a new streak of Grand Slam appearances after his record 65-major run ended when he pulled out of the French Open because of a bad back. ... Enters Wimbledon without a title, his longest drought to start a season since 2000. ... Last Grand Slam title came at Wimbledon in 2012, equaling Pete Sampras and Willie Renshaw with seven championships at the grass-court major. ... Lost to Novak Djokovic in the past two Wimbledon finals. Could face him again in this year's semifinals.
STAN WAWRINKA
Ranked: 5
Age: 31
Country: Switzerland
2016 Match Record: 27-9
2016 Singles Titles: 3
Career Singles Titles: 14
Major Titles: 2 - French Open ('15), Australian Open ('14)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-QF,
14-QF, 13-1st,
12-1st, `11-2nd
Topspin: Working with 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek to get help with playing on grass. ... Has won major titles on hard courts and red clay, but least amount of Grand Slam success has come at Wimbledon, where he has yet to make it past the quarterfinals and has three first-round exits in the past six years. ... If his big forehand and beautiful-as-can-be one-handed backhand are on target, can present problems for any opponent.
MILOS RAONIC
Ranked: 7
Age: 25
Country: Canada
2016 Match Record: 31-8
2016 Singles Titles: 1
Career Singles Titles: 8
Major Titles: 0 - Best: SF, at Wimbledon ('14), Australian Open ('16)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-3rd,
14-SF, 13-2nd,
12-2nd, `11-2nd
Topspin: Brought aboard three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe as a coaching consultant for the grass season. McEnroe calls Raonic ''one of the contenders'' at the All England Club. ... Has the type of game - big serve, especially - to succeed on grass, and made an impressive run to final on the surface at Queen's Club this month before losing in three sets to Andy Murray.
DOMINIC THIEM
Ranked: 8
Age: 22
Country: Austria
2016 Match Record: 47-12
2016 Singles Titles: 4
Career Singles Titles: 7
Major Titles: 0 - Best: SF, at French Open ('16)
Last 5 Wimbledons: 15-2nd,
14-1st, 13-Did Not Play,
12-DNP, `11-DNP
Topspin: Breakthrough season includes top-10 debut, run to first major semifinal, victories over Roger Federer on grass and Rafael Nadal on clay, and titles on grass, clay and hard courts.
Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich
This story has been corrected to show that Djokovic won the French Open in 2016, not 2015.