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Former US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe believes that a number of young Americans pose a serious threat to Novak Djokovic’s incredible Wimbledon run.
Another run to the title at SW19 would see Djokovic hold the third-longest winning streak at Wimbledon moving past Pete Sampras who won 31 matches in a row between 1997 and 2001.
Tennis365However, any Wimbledon run will likely include seven matches against seven opponents highly motivated to be the one who ends the streak.
It would be some honour for the player who could bring an end to the Djokovic streak.
McEnroe feels that a group of young Americans could be strong contenders for the Wimbledon crown and a Djokovic scalp.
American No 1 Taylor Fritz reached the last eight before going down to an injured Rafael Nadal who would later withdraw from the semi-finals.
It was a case of what might have been for Fritz, but McEnroe has backed him to pick himself up and make a serious push to be the man to the long wait for an American male Grand Slam champion.
McEnroe also believes that Australian Open semi-finalist Tommy Paul and quarter-finalist Ben Shelton could be dangers in the Wimbledon draw.
“Wimbledon, you gotta think Fritz, he was there last year,” he said on the Holding Court podcast.
“You gotta think Shelton to be dangerous if he gets used to the bounce when you’re playing on grass for the first time. Paul, I mean he’s got a solid… he takes the ball early, could be good,” he added.
There were three American men in the last eight of Grand Slam for the first time in nearly two decades at the Australian Open with McEnroe most excited by the prospective player that Sebastian Korda could become.
McEnroe opined that Korda could do with putting a bit more meat on his bones to make him an unstoppable force.
“But, I think Korda… I mean, to me, Korda is a guy like ‘wow.’” he said.
“If he could put it together, we’ll see how the wrist is, haven’t heard any updates on the wrist injury that he suffered against Khachanov,” he said.
“But, if he can add a little more meat to the bones, get a little more pop on the serve, I know we have talked about that. I mean, he looks to me like a guy that’s a legit threat at Wimbledon.”
Sebastian has the chance to emulate his father Petr in winning a Grand Slam and better his best effort at Wimbledon which saw the Czech reach the last eight in 1998 only to lose to Tim Henman.