Novak Djokovic looks good for fourth Wimbledon title, but can anybody else rise to the challenge?

The Novak Djokovic train has rumbled into SW19 with the Career and Novak Slams in tow, and a calendar Grand Slam — plus a potential golden Grand Slam — the next stops marked out on his remarkable ride. These days, Djokovic is playing a game of tennis that is so superior to his rivals that he seemingly makes history in every tournament he plays. Back in January I’d predicted that Djokovic had a realistic chance of completing the calendar Grand Slam in 2016, something no one has done since Rod Laver in 1969 and only two men have ever accomplished in the history of men’s tennis. That prediction is very much on course to come true, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a desperate group of racket-wielding men trying to put a spoke in the wheels of the Djokovic machine at tennis’ Garden of Eden. Here’s a look at the contenders who would love to stop Djokovic’s relentless march towards history: Andy Murray [caption id=“attachment_2857770” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to win Wimbledon in 2013. AP[/caption] At the head of the group is Andy Murray, World No 2, who has been unbeatable in Grand Slams this year except when facing the one man ranked above him. Murray has lost in the Australian Open and French Open finals this year and it is conceivable that he could also make four Grand Slam finals this year (Wimbledon and the US Open are the two slams he has won) and yet come away without a single winner’s trophy. Murray does have a few things going for him. He has won Wimbledon, so he knows what it takes. He’s re-teamed up with Ivan Lendl, who was his coach when he won the tournament back in 2013, so the good vibes ought to be flowing freely. He’s also in rather good form himself, having reached his last four finals, winning two of them, including a record fifth title at Queen’s Club last weekend. He’s also made no secret of his desire to beat Djokovic, firing off a warning shot after he won at Queen’s that he was going to keep the champagne on ice . “I’ll take it home, I guess, and hopefully maybe have something to celebrate in a few weeks. Yeah, keep it for after Wimbledon,” Murray said. However, the scope of the task facing Murray is evident from his record: He has also lost to Djokovic in 13 of their last 15 meetings, including their last three Grand Slam finals. In Paris, he dominated Djokovic in the first set but then, seemingly out of nowhere, lost all control and Djokovic won in four sets. Murray’s better angles on the court tend to lose to the devil whispering in the other ear. If he is to have any chance of stopping Djokovic, he will need to stay in control of his emotions and keep a flinty-eyed focus on the prize. Having Lendl in his box again is a big boost, especially since Murray has not reached the final at Wimbledon since 2013. If he does get there again this year and actually topples the champion, it will be his greatest triumph. And it will have come against the longest odds. Roger Federer [caption id=“attachment_2857772” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Roger Federer has appeared in 10 Wimbledon finals, including the last two. Reuters[/caption] The former king and standard bearer of men’s tennis is still the third best player on the planet, but comes into this tournament a relative shell of his immortal himself. Federer has reached an unimaginable 10 Wimbledon finals in his career, including the last two, but this year things are not looking good. At 34, Federer is experiencing a tough season. He’s been beset by injuries and had to pull out of the French Open because of a bad back. Whether he will be fully operational at Wimbledon is uncertain. He also hasn’t won a tournament this year and lost to a teenager for the first time since 2006 in the semi-finals of the Gerry Weber Open in Halle last week. These are ominous portents for arguably the greatest tennis player ever. Wimbledon has treated Federer the best of all the Grand Slams, but eventually decline and defeat claim even the very best. Federer has made the final the last two years, losing lost both to Djokovic. This year, Federer has been drawn to meet Djokovic in the semi-final, so there will be no three-peat in the finals, but the law of diminishing returns is already on display. The odds that he will keep the appointment are not as firmly in his favour as they used to be and the odds that he will triumph are not good. Milos Raonic [caption id=“attachment_2857776” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Milos Raonic is slated to face Roger Federer in the quarter-final should they both make it. Getty Images[/caption] The big Canadian has all the tools a player needs to do well at SW19. His serve is one of the best in the game today (and possibly ever). Back in 2014, after a match at the Rome Masters against Raonic, Djokovic said, “I can’t recall the last time I was feeling so helpless returning. Even his second serve.” And this was coming from the best returner in tennis. Over the course of his career, Raonic has won 91 per cent of his service games, ranking him third all-time. At Queen’s, his serve was so dominating it went unbroken until the third set of the final against Andy Murray. It was also his first grass court final, suggesting he is finally coming to grips with the surface under the wily eye of three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, who is the latest legend to lend a helping hand to one of today’s top players. “He’s bringing a lot,” Raonic said of McEnroe before the Queen’s final. “How to approach the things, how to be more efficient, how to be a little quicker finally up towards the net and where to be and where to place myself so I can cut off angles and find some success up there.” Raonic backs up that big serve with a big forehand with his wingspan can cover the net like an eagle swooping to grab its prey. He also reached the semi-final at Wimbledon in 2014, so he has a sense of playing on the big stage in this tournament. He has been drawn in the same half as Federer and Djokovic though and is slated to meet Federer in the quarter-final. Should he get past the Swiss master, a potentially mouth-watering semi-final against Djokovic awaits. At 25, Raonic seems to have shed some of the hot-headedness that was part of his oeuvre when he was younger and he appears happy with his game. “I am doing things well. I am happy with the way I am playing,” he said last week. If he can tie all his skills together and keep his wits about him, this Wimbledon could well be his big breakthrough. Beating Djokovic is still a long shot, of course, but on his day, and with the wily Johnny Mac working the angles, Raonic can’t be counted out. The best of the rest [caption id=“attachment_2857778” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stan Wawrinka won the French Open title in 2015. Reuters[/caption] Apart from these three, there are a number of players with an outside chance of making a stir at the 2016 championships. They include Australian hot-head Nick Kyrgios, the rising Austrian Dominic Thiem, Japanese star Kei Nishikori and, for a real long-shot, 19-year old Russian Alexander Zverev, who beat Federer at Halle. Nishikori is the oldest of the bunch at 26, the highest ranked at World No 6, and also the most successful, with 11 tour titles. He has also shown that he can go shot-for-shot with Djokovic and famously beat the World No 1 in the 2014 US Open semi-final. But grass is Nishikori’s least favourite surface and he has never gone past the fourth round at Wimbledon, so his status as fifth seed is a bit generous. Kyrgios is probably the most intriguing of this group. He beat then World No 1 Rafael Nadal here two years ago, when he got to the quarter-finals, his best ever showing in a Grand Slam. He’s in the same quarter of the draw as Murray though and could potentially face the home favourite in the quarter-final. He has the talent and the tools to do well on grass, but his head remains the big question, as his history of controversy and sometimes ridiculous behaviour shows. It is more likely that he can pull himself together for one big match as he did against Nadal in 2014 rather than show consistent excellence over the course of the fortnight. One big match could be enough to send shockwaves through the tournament though. Fresh off his first Grand Slam semi-final at Roland Garros, 22-year-old Dominic Thiem is one of the tour’s rising stars, having crashed the top-10 this year. He is seeded eighth for the tournament and presumably high on confidence after reaching the semi-final in Halle. He is 6-1 on grass this year, having never before had a winning record on the green stuff. The big-serving Zverev has zoomed up the ATP tour rankings this year and his win over Federer was a big statement, even if Federer wasn’t 100 per cent. Zverev has a rocket of a serve and that has always been an advantage at Wimbledon, even if the courts are much slower than they were 20 years ago. He’s got nothing to lose coming off his final appearance in Halle and teenagers with big serves have done well at Wimbledon in the past. Another upset victory over a higher seeded player isn’t out of the question. Though Stan Wawrinka is seeded fourth in this tournament, he has never been past the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and his overall record on grass is 26–23, a winning percentage of 53.1, which is his worst record on any surface of his career (excluding indoor carpet, a surface that has not been used on tour since 2009). It’s therefore hard to see Wawrinka stringing together the kind of run he had in Melbourne in 2014 or Paris in 2015.