​Ho-hum, the Wimbledon final four rankings look remarkably predictable this year. With Carlos Alcaraz sidelined by injury, the usual suspects pop up: Jannik Sinner (still a bit of a reach), Alexander Zverev—back in the mix—but perhaps not the life of the party, and Novak Djokovic, still hanging around after collecting his 24th Grand Slam. The fourth contender is anyone’s guess, likely Alex de Minaur or Felix Auger-Aliassime, maybe even an American sneaks in, all fairly routine. The obvious wildcard candidate would have to be Arthur Fery. Who exactly is Arthur Fery? He’s a British wildcard who happened to be the 2023 Pac-12 Singles Player of the Year. Without giving away too much about our four-man finale rankings, Fery has grown up around Wimbledon and now stands one win away from his first Grand Slam Final. It’s an extraordinary storyline.
To add some flair, I’ve crafted a quirky fact and a fictional award for each contender, because, hey, why not? And with Zverev finally clinching a Grand Slam at the 2026 French Open, Fery remains our only potential first-time champion. His odds may be long, but that’s nothing new for him; in every match he’s played, the odds have been long. What’s two more?
1. Jannik Sinner
Fun fact: Sinner has only reached one Wimbledon Final, where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in 2025.
Made-up award: The Late-Blooming Kevin Durant Award for the player who appears to have nothing left to prove yet still feels the need to prove something.
Sinner endured a shocking French Open campaign, exiting in the second round after a brutal lapse in the Paris heat. He’s often battled cramps and hot weather, conditions that can derail even the best. This week in Wimbledon, the forecast calls for around 88 degrees and sunny—hardly ideal. For Sinner to reach his peak and become the all-time great he could be, he must show he can maintain elite performance regardless of conditions. The greats—Federer, Djokovic, Nadal—weren’t just better; they were consistently excellent under any circumstances. Think of LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record: it wasn’t merely about being the best scorer, but sustaining elite productivity far longer than anyone else. Sinner has the talent to get there; he’s proven he can beat Zverev and Djokovic, though we don’t yet know how a Sinner-Fery final would unfold. With Alcaraz out, there’s no legitimate reason for Sinner not to push through to the title.
2. Alexander Zverev
Fun fact: By winning the French Open, Zverev briefly moved into fourth place on the all-time men’s prize money list, trailing only the big three.
Made-up award: The “Germany Fails at the 2026 World Cup” Award for the German player most likely to be perceived as the sport’s best despite off-court misfires—an inside joke for better SEO and a wink at the ongoing national narratives.
Zverev’s resurfacing as a Grand Slam threat adds a familiar, if still imperfect, edge to the field. His form has been a roller coaster, but when he’s on, he can deliver high-level tennis with the best of them. Wimbledon remains a serious test, and if he’s locked in, he’s a dangerous opponent for anyone who steps on court with him. The question remains whether he can translate his Paris success into a sustained Wimbledon run, or whether the late-season momentum will stall in the face of deep, match-tested adversaries.
As the tournament unfolds, Fery’s presence injects an unexpected twist into a field that looked set in its predictability. He is the only genuine newcomer with a realistic shot at becoming a history-maker at this stage, and his journey from local prodigy to Wimbledon contender is exactly the kind of story that keeps the drama alive.