Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (Photo : Getty Images)
With Wimbledon fast approaching, there will be plenty of storylines for tennis' "Big Four" heading into the third Grand Slam event of the year.
One of the potential headlines in this year's Wimbledon is Federer's return to the grass courts of Church Road, where the Swiss has won seven of his 17 Grand Slam titles.
Federer has never been in full health this season, which greatly contributed to the Basel native's losing slump. His final round match against Milos Raonic at the Brisbane International earlier this year was marred by a flu-like virus before ill-fatedly sustaining a knee injury a day after his Australian Open loss in the hands of Novak Djokovic.
Federer successfully recovered from a knee surgery that repaired a torn left meniscus, although he barely displays his lethal form, suffering consecutive losses in Monte Carlo and Rome. While he was seemingly getting back his mojo, a back problem forced him to miss the French Open in Paris.
But it did not take long for Federer to get back into the tennis scene as he quickly tested his body and rhythm in Stuttgart and Halle. And despite showing rustiness as he gets defeated by next generation stars in Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem, the world No. 3 feels confident heading into familiar territory.
"I know the danger of the early rounds in Wimbledon or at any Slam, in particular on the grass, you've seen my two losses now on the grass against Thiem and Zverev," Federer said, reports Tennis World USA.
"So, clearly I got some work to do. The other guys are doing their job well. So, I just have to take the right decisions from now to the start of Wimbledon and once the tournament gets going that I play the way that I want to play, you know, positive, aggressive, mind-set, play the points my way and just be super consistent, make the opponent feel uncomfortable."
Winning Wimbledon for Federer means more than just another historical feat, but a testament to his greatness in playing the sport. However, a major block awaits the Swiss as Djokovic attempts his own mark in the history books of tennis.
Djokovic is the presumptive winner of Wimbledon, simply considering what he has accomplished in the past seasons. After winning four of the last five Grand Slam events, most recently his first ever French Open title, the Serb is now face-to-face to completing a calendar sweep and a Golden Slam, something only Steffi Graf has only achieved.
However, like Federer, Djokovic has a stumbling block of his own. Andy Murray, who has already met Djokovic four times this year, is slowly forming a rivalry with the 12-time Grand Slam winner and the Scot seems very serious in getting into it after reuniting with Czech coach Ivan Lendl.
"In tennis there is the career grand slam, there is four in a row, there is the calendar year grand slam and the golden slam. He [Djokovic] has a chance to do that this year," Lendl said, reports The Guardian.
"Obviously Andy and I would like to ruin those plans if we can."
While it would be intriguing to see Murray dethrone Djokovic, it is something many do not expect to happen very soon, especially at Wimbledon. In their last 11 outings, Murray only defeated Djokovic twice and none of those victories came from a Grand Slam tournament. Thrice in the last two years Murray has faced Djokovic in a final round of a major event, and Nole has always prevailed at the most clutch moments of their game.
This is not to say that Murray cannot overturn the odds, especially after a boost at the Queen's Club, but Djokovic's undisputed ability to stay at the top could be too much for anyone.
Meanwhile, there will be no Rafael Nadal for fans to see at Wimbledon, with the King of Clay skipping the tournament because of a left wrist injury that forced him to pull out of the French Open.
It was an impressive run for the Spaniard reaching the third round of Roland Garros without dropping a set. Unfortunately, Nadal had to withdraw or, according to his doctor, it would have been a more serious injury had he continue playing at that time.
Nadal's focus has now shifted to playing at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but his uncle and long-time coach Toni has confirmed he could be ready to return next month at the Rogers Cup in Toronto, where goes back to square one in his quest to find vintage Rafa.
It is undetermined whether Nadal could impact others' odds at Wimbledon, but his absence would surely be an advantage to some. Nevertheless, it would have been epic to see the "Big Four" in complete attendance at a major event like Wimbledon.
