Wimbledon: Cameron Norrie tipped to reach final by IBM AI Draw Analysis
He made the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year but this year British No1 Cameron Norrie could go one better, according to AI analysis by IBM.
Andy Murray could reach the second week in south-west London but Katie Boulter faces a difficult route to the latter stages, the tech giant says.
Norrie begins his campaign at the All England Club on Tuesday against qualifier Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, who has only played eight times on grass in his career.
And the 12th seed is also likely to be the favourite in his second, third and fourth-round matches, if the men’s singles draw plays out as expected.
Norrie’s potential quarter-final and semi-final ties are rated “neutral” by the IBM AI Draw Analysis, a new tool launched for this year’s Championships.
The Johannesburg-born 27-year-old has a modest record at Grand Slams, only reaching the second week twice in 23 attempts.
His first came 12 months ago at Wimbledon, where he only lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, and he followed that up by reaching the last 16 of the US Open in September.
Norrie fell at the third round of both the Australian Open and French Open this year but has won one ATP Tour title, the Rio Open, and made two more finals.
He has looked solid on grass so far this season, winning twice at Queen’s Club before losing to Sebastian Korda, and beating Frances Tiafoe in an exhibition match at the Hurlingham Club last week.
Norrie could face Korda in the third round in SW19, with an all-British showdown against Murray possibly on the cards in the fourth round.
Machac, meanwhile, fought through three qualifying rounds to reach the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time.
The 22-year-old’s only previous action on grass came in 2021, when he lost twice in Nottingham before making the final round of Wimbledon qualifying.
Two-time champion Murray has favourable match-ups in the first and third round, boosting his chances of a first run to the last 16 since 2017, according to IBM.
The 36-year-old’s likely second-round clash with fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is perhaps generously rated as neutral, although the Scot has been in good form.
Murray won warm-up events in Surbiton and Nottingham after skipping the French Open to focus on preparing for a run at Wimbledon.
He faces fellow Briton Ryan Peniston, who followed up some eye-catching wins on grass over Casper Ruud and Holger Rune by making the second round of Wimbledon last year, in the first round on Tuesday.
British women’s No1 Boulter, meanwhile, begins her campaign against unseeded Daria Saville of Australia on Tuesday but soon runs into some high-calibre opponents.
American 28th seed Bernarda Pera lies in wait in the second round, followed by potential matches against defending champion Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko and Ons Jabeur.
IBM’s AI tool makes Djokovic to win the men’s title for an eighth time, while top seed Iga Swiatek has the best chance of winning the women’s crown.