Exclusive: Barbara Schett ‘can’t see anybody beating stronger than ever’ Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon

Eurosport tennis expert Barbara Schett “can’t see anybody beating” Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, as the Serbian chases a record-equalling eighth title at the grass-court event.

In his current form, Schett believes Djokovic will prove too strong for the rest of his rivals, which includes 20-year-old sensation Carlos Alcaraz, who – Schett believes – “still isn’t mature enough” to beat him on grass.

“I have to say, looking at the way Novak has been playing this year, looking at the way Novak has been playing in Wimbledon in the past, he’s going in as the heavy favourite, even though he’s not going to be top seed,” Schett began.

“He’s just such a complete player on that surface, he moves the best on grass. I think he’s the most solid player in terms of consistency and there’s no weaknesses at all, even more so than any other surfaces.

“I think it’s only him who could be in his own way like stopping himself from winning.

“And I mean, we’ve seen it in a few years ago when he was going for the Calendar Slam at the US Open against Daniil Medvedev. He fell apart mentally because it was just all too much for him. The expectations.

“Now he has grown so much, a lot has happened. We had the whole Covid years where he had and faced several issues. I think he’s stronger than ever not just tennis wise, but also mentally.

“So, I think he is very keen to win the 24th Grand Slam title and I think he will do it because he’s overall just the best player playing at the moment.

“On every surface he’s playing his best tennis. He’s got no real weaknesses. His mindset is phenomenal. So that’s why I think he’s going to do it.”

Elaborating further on the potential for Djokovic to win the Calendar Slam, Schett insists Djokovic is “very close”.

She said: “That’s on his agenda. He wants to win the battle this time.

“All he wants is to break every single record that there is out there. And he should, you know, and he looks for his age extremely fresh and keen.

“And I think the last couple of years where sometimes he was restricted to play and couldn’t play, that was actually a positive thing for him because now he’s so fresh and he’s so keen and so eager.

“I think he’s extremely close. I mean, he’s halfway through already. To be honest, I can’t see anybody beating him in Wimbledon unless he would get injured or something like that. But we don’t want that to happen, obviously.

“But tennis wise, I don’t see it. And then it’ll be interesting to see how he will handle the pressure at the US Open once again because he will definitely look back and what happened a few years ago when he reached the final against Daniil. I remember there were tears in the middle of the match where he just realised himself, ‘this is all too much for me’.

“But I think we see a different Novak now.”

Discussing the other potential challengers at Wimbledon, Schett has doubts.

Schett said: “Yes, Carlos won the tournament in Queen’s, but we saw what happened with him at the French Open when he started cramping because he was overexcited to play against Novak.

“So, I still think maybe not tennis wise but mentally, the approach to play against Novak, he still doesn’t have the maturity to play against him because of the preparation, the mindset and everything he’s got over Carlos.

“You can see in tennis how much that the emotional part, the mental part comes into play, and we saw that at the French Open.”

She continued: “I think he will go deep. I mean, the win in the tournament in Queen’s, that’s certainly helped.

“And he tried to improve and learn how to play in grass. It’s very tricky when you have barely played. Carlos has played 11 matches on grass all together in his career and he won the title.

“He played five matches or six matches in Queen’s. But he’s watched videos of Roger [Federer] playing in Wimbledon just to learn how to play on that surface. So, I think there’s still a lot of work to do.

“I think he can beat everyone else, that’s for sure. But you have to be very disciplined on a grass court. You have to be very patient on a grass court because things are different. They’re not like on any other surface.

“And playing in Wimbledon itself it’s very different with all the tradition, with all the atmosphere, is very different. He will not get back anything from the crowd. The crowds are very calm compared to the other Grand Slams.

“I don’t think he’s ready to win the Wimbledon title because of Novak Djokovic.”

According to Schett, last year’s runner-up Nick Kyrgios isn’t “fit enough” after his recent injuries, Stefanos Tsitsipas “doesn’t have the consistency” and Alexander Bublik has “too many ups and downs”.

Schett also downplayed the chances of Casper Ruud, this year’s Roland-Garros runner-up, saying: “He has never liked to play on a grass court. It would be surprising to me if he goes really deep this year.”

Wimbledon starts on July 3.