The three names at the top of the betting for the men’s singles at Wimbledon this year are so familiar that they can almost be taken for granted. Between them, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal have won 14 of the 16 slam titles in SW19 since Lleyton Hewitt lifted the trophy in 2002 and their odds imply a 75% chance that one of them will make it 15 from 17. Or, to put it another way, the other 125 players in the main draw have a 25% chance of winning between them, versus three men with a combined age of 102.
A fully fit and peak-form Andy Murray, who won in 2013 and 2016 and was born a week before Djokovic, would only underline the continuing domination of Wimbledon’s men’s singles by players who were born in the 80s. Many tens of millions of male babies have been delivered since Djokovic arrived in May 1987, and millions of those must have picked up a tennis racket at some point in their youth. But so far at least, not one has seriously threatened to break up the cosy clique that has monopolised Wimbledon for a generation.
Related: Jamie Murray: ‘You won’t get another Andy for God knows how long’
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