Wilander expects Nadal vs Djokovic Wimbledon final, picks winner: ‘Longer it goes more the surface starts to favour…’

Wimbledon 2022 has reached its middle Saturday with third-round matches underway at the All England Club. Might still be early days, but tennis legend Mats Wilander already made a massive prediction for the tournament final which will be played next Sunday at the Centre Court and also picked the winner of the elusive trophy.

Heading into the tournament, Wimbledon had three favourites. Besides Rafael Nadal, who made his return to the All England Club for the first time in three years and is chasing a Calendar Slam for the first time in his career, and Novak Djokovic, who has won the title three times in a row, experts also placed Matteo Berrettini among the favourites.

But while the Italian withdrew from the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19, Djokovic and Nadal marched on. The Serb reached the last 16 while dropping a set once in his three matches so far. Nadal, on the other hand, will play his third-round match on Saturday, having dropped a set each in his first two ties.

ALSO READ: Wimbledon – ‘Lower-ranked players believe they can beat greatest of all time Nadal on grass’: Tennis legend’s big claim

Despite a long way to go for both the greats, Eurosport tennis expert Wilander has backed Nadal and Djokovic to reach the final and admitted that the Centre Court surface will favour the Spaniard more.

“It’s completely irrelevant what you look like and what you feel like after two matches because they are only going to play in the finals,” he said. “They are both going to get four more matches to get there.

“The court here at Wimbledon is going to be completely different if they play in the final. It’s going to be drier, worn out. It’s going to play out more like a clay court so if they were to play today or Friday first week then yes so far Djokovic has maybe looked a little bit better.

“But the longer the tournament goes the more the surface starts to favour Rafa Nadal.

“It doesn’t mean I think Nadal is going to beat Djokovic in the final necessarily but like I said before they are just winning matches and peak at the right time. So far they haven’t had to peak.”