Andy Roddick backs Wimbledon contender to become ‘one of the best players of all time’

Andy Roddick has predicted the line-up of the Wimbledon final and backed Jannik Sinner to become ‘one of the best players of all time’.

World number one Sinner was two sets down in his fourth-round match with Grigor Dimitrov when the Bulgarian was forced to retire through injury.

Sinner, 23, was widely praised for the way he reacted to Dimitrov’s heartbreaking injury blow, immediately checking on his opponent and then helping him pack his tennis back and leave the court.

The three-time Grand Slam champion looked on course for a disappointing defeat as he failed to produce his best form on Centre Court while also struggling with an elbow injury.

But a fortuitous bye to the quarters means Sinner is just three wins away from his maiden Wimbledon title and the Italian faces American Ben Shelton next.

Sinner’s unconvincing performance against Dimitrov would have raised Shelton’s hopes of reaching a third Grand Slam semi-final but Roddick is still backing the world number one to progress.

‘Even with Dimitrov exposing Sinner a little bit in that match it’s still going to be tough for Shelton,’ he said on his podcast Served. ‘Two weeks ago I would have given Ben no chance, now he’s got a puncher’s chance.

‘I can’t say he’s going to beat Jannik in three out of five sets in a Grand Slam yet. There’s a lot of positives for Ben, I still think Sinner gets through but I’ve been so impressed the progress of Ben.

‘Hopefully that injury to Sinner is just a bruise, it’s clearly not a tear because he was still serving 130mph.

‘I’m going with Sinner, I’ve been super pumped with Ben but I’m not going to let two bad sets erase a guy who’s going to be one of the best of all time.

‘He hasn’t been serving great and is still missing some shots but he’s still Sinner, the number one player in the world.’

Elsewhere on the men’s side of the draw, three-time Wimbledon finalist Roddick expects two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz to end British star Cameron Norrie’s run.

Former US Open champion Roddick in fact expects Alcaraz to go all the way and beat Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

‘I’m going with Novak in that quarter-final,’ Roddick said ahead of the 38-year-old’s quarter-final against Flavio Cobolli. ‘I’ve still got Novak reaching the final.

‘Taylor Fritz has looked really professional too. The guy plays a lot of tennis and his thing of playing a week before a slam is strange for a top player.

‘I like him over Karen Khachanov. We often overlook Khachanov and he’s been playing well, but I’m still backing Fritz.

‘Props to Cam Norrie, he just knows how to get wins and knows the game. He’s got a really high tennis IQ but I’m going to take Carlos Alcaraz there. 

‘I’m predicting Carlos vs Fritz semi on that side and I like Carlos just because he’s Carlos, it’s nothing against Taylor.

‘The variety of Carlos can get Fritz moving and that’s not his expertise. The variety could cause him some stress and there’s no one on the planet right now that’s capable of more variety than Alcaraz.

‘I’m predicting a Carlos-Novak final – which I said at the start of the tournament actually – and I still have Alcaraz winning this tennis tournament.’

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