Nick Kyrgios has given his verdict on who the favorite for the men’s singles title at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships is, picking World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz. However, the Aussie doesn’t think Alcaraz is unbeatable, only that any opponent who wants to beat him should have three things go in their favor on the day.
Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion, is into the third round at Wimbledon, having beaten Fabio Fognini and Oliver Tarvet. The Spaniard is well and truly the favorite for the title again, followed by the likes of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic.
It is Djokovic whom Alcaraz beat in the final to win SW19 the last two years, with 2024 being a straight-sets demolition job. Analyzing that performance in particular on talkSPORT, Kyrgios pointed out that first key part to beating the World No. 2 on the grass is simply to have a very good day.
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“What I love about Alcaraz, he’s got a bit of [Rafael] Nadal, [Roger] Federer and Novak [Djokovic], he’s all blended into one. He entertains the crowd, he’s got the physicality, he’s got the smile, he enjoys it. So I think Alcaraz would be the favourite," Kyrgios said.
“He is just so confident on the surface. If I was to play him on grass, I would have to have an amazing serving day. I think anyone that beats him has to have a big serve. That’s why I think Novak really struggled against him last year in the final because he couldn’t get any free points," he added.
After that, Kyrgios emphasized, one has to hope for two things to happen in parallel: One, for Alcaraz to have an off day himself, while at the same time for his opponent to have an exceptionally good day.
“Serving is essential against Alcaraz, but sometimes he has too many options. I like to say he’s almost too talented and he’s almost too good. There’s only really so much you can do. You probably hope for him you have an off day and then you have an incredible day,” Kyrgios said.
There is a lot of truth to Kyrgios' observation here, seeing as Carlos Alcaraz almost risked losing in the first round this year. Facing 38-year-old Fabio Fognini, he needed five sets to dispose off the Italian in a 4.5 hour marathon, and showed signs of rust throughout the match.
"Locking in early against Carlos Alcaraz would be essential" - Nick Kyrgios
Nick Kyrgios further added in the interview that it is also important to "lock in" early against Carlos Alcaraz, hoping that you can get one or two sets off him before he gets into rhythm.
Regardless, the Aussie was of the firm opinion that Alcaraz was a generational talent who will go on to win more than 10 Grand Slams in his career, if not more.
“Early on, in the first set or second set, he can drop early sets against other players. So locking in early against him would be essential too. But this guy’s a generational talent and I think when it’s all said and done he’s probably gonna have double-digit grand slams at least," Kyrgios said.
Up next, Alcaraz is set to take on Jan-Lennard Struff in the third round at Wimbledon.
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