Djokovic Looks To Challenge Established Forces

Novak Djokovic will be looking forward to the start of Wimbledon for many reasons. Despite grass not being the towering Serbian's favourite surface to play on, he will be chomping at the bit to get back to winning ways after his elimination at the hands of at Roger Federer the French Open – and to prove that the neither his latest conqueror nor the current world No. 1 have a stranglehold on the sport.

Such is his quality – and such is the standard of his opponents – in another era Djokovic might have already established himself as a one-off and true great. But having Nadal, Federer, and more recently Andy Murray for company, means that now it's harder than ever to truly dominate the game. Those looking to place a Wimbledon tennis bet will find it hard to pick between the four.

He has just come off the back of a six-month and 41 match winning streak following his defeat at the hands of Federer in Paris, and now Djokovic will be heading into Wimbledon as both third seed and third-favourite for the
title.

Had Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in their recent clay-court semi-final at Roland Garros, the Serbian would have equalled John McEnroe's long-standing record of 42 straight wins for the start of a season, and he would have gone into next week's tournament as world No. 1. Those who bet on Wimbledon tennis 2011 will be wondering if his season has peaked already.

To date, Djokovic has only won two Grand Slams, both at the Australian Open, and he knows that it would be more had he not been eliminated by the ruthlessly efficient Nadal and Federer on so many occasions but he remains philosophical.

"If you want to call it a rivalry – whatever you want to call it – I don't know. I just try to focus on what I do. Of course Roger and Rafa are the two biggest rivals that I have," he said.

Djokovic will be keen to get onto another winning run as soon as possible, and despite his strengths lying in his powerful ground strokes and extraordinary reach – attributes normally better attributed as being suited to hard-courts and clay – he is determined to put in a good show next week.