My Way Too Early Predictions For 2022 Grand Slam Season

The 2021 grand slam season just ended and I already can't wait until the next one begins. Unfortunately, the gap between the importance of the grand slams and the ATP Tour has continued to increase. I don't think that's good for the sport in the long run, but that's the reality of where we are at right now. With three players simultaneously competing for the all-time grand slam titles record, everything else has significantly diminished importance in comparison. So with that, here are my top-5 favorites for each of the majors in 2022.

Australian Open
1. Daniil Medvedev
2. Novak Djokovic
3. Alexander Zverev
4. Matteo Berrettini
5. Andrey Rublev

It has been a long time since a tennis player won the very next major after having won their first career major title, but Medvedev has a chance to end that slump by first-time major champions. He's been the best player on hard courts for the last three years and was overdue for a major title. He's ready to be a multi-grand slam champion, and deserves to be the favorite for now after the performance he had yesterday.

Djokovic is the co-favorite with Medvedev, because he absolutely owns Melbourne Park. He'll be highly motivated to put the disappointment of the US Open final behind him and be the first tennis player to reach 21 grand slam titles. If anyone else wins, it would be a surprise, but Zverev is definitely a contender. He won the Olympics and pushed Djokovic to five sets at the US Open. His ability to win over five sets has been a serious question earlier in his career, but he has progressed in this area. Maybe 2022 will finally be his year.

Roland Garros
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Rafael Nadal
3. Dominic Thiem
4. Alexander Zverev
5. Jannik Sinner

This one really feels wide open. Nobody knows what Nadal's level will be at when he returns. If he's near his best, he's the favorite. Djokovic is able to win on any surface, but the same isn't true of his younger challengers. Tsitsipas and Zverev have had some success on clay, but Tsitsipas is inconsistent in the majors, and Zverev has never even reached the final in Paris. Sinner is still probably too young to win the title.

Ever since Thiem became a major champion, he has struggled to regain the form that saw him being competitive with Djokovic and Nadal. Now he has been away from the tour with a wrist injury. Like Nadal, if Thiem is healthy, he could definitely win the title.

Wimbledon
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Matteo Berrettini
3. Denis Shapovalov
4. Daniil Medvedev
5. Hubert Hurkacz

No, Roger Federer does not have a realistic chance to win Wimbledon in 2022. Djokovic will be a massive favorite at Wimbledon, but if he hasn't won his 21st major by then, the pressure will start to mount on him to break the record. Berrettini proved this summer that he is the best player in his age group on grass. Players from Poland and Canada have done well recently on grass, so perhaps Hurkacz, Auger-Aliassime or Shapovalov could make an improbable run. Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro or Stan Wawrinka are more likely to roll back the clocks at Wimbledon than anywhere else, but I wouldn't bet on it. 

US Open
1. Daniil Medvedev
2. Alexander Zverev
3. Novak Djokovic
4. Dominic Thiem
5. Andrey Rublev

Medvedev is the defending champion and the best player in North America for three years. I considered him the player to beat even at this year's US Open. Djokovic will be 35 at this point, so I'd give Zverev a slight edge over Djokovic. Thiem won his first major at the US Open in 2020 and Rublev has a game that is suited well by the conditions in New York. Both of them are legitimate contenders at the next US Open. Perhaps Rublev seeing his fellow Russian lift the trophy will motivate him for the 2022 season.

I'd probably put Tsitsipas as the sixth-most likely to win the title at all four of these majors. I wouldn't be surprised if he wins one title in 2022, but I don't know where. He has been inconsistent in majors and did not look good in Wimbledon or the US Open. He was one set away from winning his first major title at Roland Garros, but he might not be that close again for a while.

Caspar Ruud, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur and Jannik Sinner will all be contenders at the grand slams at some point, but I don't think any of them are ready for that in 2022. Sinner or Ruud on clay might be the one exception. Reaching multiple semifinals in 2022 would constitute a good year for any of these four up-and-comers.