Even before the Carlos Alcaraz vs Novak Djokovic match at the Wimbledon final was underway, it attracted some controversy. Pegged to be amongst the most anticipated sporting events in the world on Sunday, the match has naturally invited predictions from Alcaraz and Djokovic’s passionate supporters. But when Wimbledon revealed what IBM feels about the winner, it faced a lot of wrath in the tennis world.
Wimbledon and IBM are working together to bring forth statistics and insights that are AI-generated. One such stat suggested that at 61%, Alcaraz has a better chance of winning the final against Djokovic. While many agreed with it, others accused Wimbledon of favoritism towards the Spaniard.
Novak Djokovic’s ardent fans did not take Wimbledon’s IBM prediction (which was based on AI) too well for the final against Carlos Alcaraz! pic.twitter.com/IfGLL1QO7T
— Wide World of Tennis (@tennisfan_dkr) July 14, 2024
Interestingly, IBM’s study did not exactly reveal why Alcaraz is the favorite to win by 61%, which is too specific a number. However, there are other stats they made fans aware of.
Wimbledon 2023 Final Rematch Attracts More Stats in Favor of Alcaraz
Before even settling on that percentage, IBM dug up another rare stat that would be applicable if Carlos Alcaraz won. He would be the 3rd player in the Open Era besides Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg to win multiple Wimbledon titles at age 21.
The head-to-head is currently being led by Novak Djokovic at 3-2 between him and Alcaraz. But Alcaraz had the advantage of winning against him the last time they played at Wimbledon.
Also, Djokovic has lost his last two ATP Tour matches against a player inside the Top 5 ATP rankings. That is clearly something Alcaraz would look to capitalise on.
Seeing their runs to the final as well, Alcaraz started as the favorite for the epic clash. At the time of writing this report, the defending champion was leading 6-2, 2-0, being clearly ahead of the 7-time Wimbledon champion.