Never before has Rafael Nadal entered Wimbledon after winning the year’s first two Grand Slam events. But with the 2022 Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in tow, a trophy in his 15th Wimbledon would put him on the brink of the Grand Slam — winning all four majors in the same year. That feat that has not been achieved in men’s singles since Rod Laver in 1969.

Tennis fans and players alike have taken note of the 36-year-old’s historic season, including many of the WTA’s most popular players.

“He’s done a lot in 2022. He’s been busy,” Serena Williams said Saturday in her Wimbledon pre-tournament press conference. “I’ve always been a Rafa fan… so obviously I’m always rooting for Rafa. He’s been really inspiring in everything that he’s done this year. And he has a lot more to do.”

Williams named one of her dogs after the Spaniard — Christopher Chip Rafael Nadal, a Yorkshire Terrier. The 40-year-old Williams, who is preparing for her first competitive singles match since last year’s Wimbledon, is eager to join Nadal among this season’s Grand Slam champions.

WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who captured the Roland Garros singles title earlier this month, is similarly impressed by her fellow Paris champion. The Pole enters Wimbledon on a 35-match winning streak after scoring her second title in the French capital. She also reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open, where she was able to watch Nadal’s five-set comeback against Daniil Medvedev from inside Rod Laver Arena.

“I watched the Australian Open final live and I could see how much work he’s putting [in],” she said. “Sometimes when he’s not even playing his best tennis, how he’s coming back, finding solutions on court, it’s a great inspiration.

“For sure, the way he’s coping with [the] injury and the pain that he has, it’s just the example of how the best kind of athletes deal with that. It’s just really inspirational. Only Rafa could do it, you know?”

Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu also had her say on the Spaniard. Though the 19-year-old is firmly in the spotlight as she returns to her native Great Britain for her second Wimbledon, she has managed to find time to watch the likes of Nadal and Novak Djokovic on the practice courts.

“I’m 19…  just to be watching Rafa and Novak at such close range, to be able to take part and try to learn from them, walk amongst these great players, it’s still special,” she said. “I don’t think it really ever changes when you’re watching those greats. It’s amazing to have them around leading such a great example.

“It’s only my second Wimbledon, and I’m really new to this still. It’s a really special feeling.”

Nadal, the second seed at Wimbledon, is set to open his campaign on Tuesday against Francisco Cerundolo. It will be his first competitive action since he lifted the Roland Garros trophy on 5 June.

Despite his promising start to the grass season being cut short by an abdominal injury, Andy Murray is taking plenty of belief from his recent performances as he prepares to open his 2022 Wimbledon campaign against James Duckworth.

“I think I showed a couple weeks ago [in Stuttgart] that there was still good tennis left in me,” said Murray in his pre-tournament press conference in London on Saturday. “I beat a guy [Stefanos Tsitsipas] in the top five in the world. I was neck-and-neck with [Matteo] Berrettini, who is one of the best grass-court players in the world before his injury. I played well against [Nick] Kyrgios, as well.”

The former World No. 1 marched to the final at the ATP 250 event in south-west Germany without dropping a set. Despite a three-set loss to World No. 11 Berrettini in the championship match, Murray feels it is proof he still has the game to go toe-to-toe with anyone in the draw at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. His coach, eight-time Grand Slam champion Ivan Lendl, feels the same.

“I know the tennis is in there; I just need to bring it out during the event now,” said Murray. “Obviously having Ivan on my team helps. We’ve had a lot of success in the past. We know each other well. He still believes in me. There’s not loads of people out there that have done over this last period, and he has. That definitely helps me.”

Murray’s injury hampered him at times against Berrettini and forced his subsequent withdrawal from the Cinch Championships at The Queen’s Club in London. Despite fears that it would also threaten his place in the draw at Wimbledon, the Briton is happy with how preparations for his home major, where he lifted the trophy in 2013 and 2016, have gone.

“I’ve been able to gradually progress my training this week and got to play a few sets, a lot of points,” he said. “The last few days have been good.”

His first-round assignment in London is a third tour-level meeting with the World No. 77 Duckworth. Like Murray, the Australian has been frequently frustrated by injuries over the past few years. After reaching his career-high of No. 46 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on 31 January, the 30-year-old did not play again until May after undergoing hip surgery.

“He’s a guy that’s had quite a few operations,” said Murray. “He’s had quite a few injury issues over the years. He’s a proper hard worker. He finished last year extremely well, the second half of the year.

“Obviously I wish him well coming back from the surgery, and I’m sure we’ll have a good match on Monday.”

The 35-year-old also admitted he had to learn how to deal with the pressure of being a home favourite at Wimbledon early in his career. His fellow Brit and WTA star Emma Raducanu is preparing to play her home Grand Slam for the first time since her stunning US Open triumph in September, but Murray believes the personal nature of the experience makes it difficult for him to offer the 19-year-old advice on how to manage the hype.

“I haven’t given advice to Emma or any of the British players on how to deal with that side of things,” he said. “No one has asked me to. I’d be more than happy to, but I’m also not going to call up one of the players and just say, ‘Hey, this is how you should deal with it because that’s the right way to go.’

“Everyone is different. Everyone feels things in a different way, will handle it differently. I certainly didn’t handle things perfectly during the Wimbledon period, but I can also understand probably the different emotions and stresses that you can feel coming into this tournament. It is great and it is amazing, but there are challenges that come with it.”

In each of his past two Wimbledon trophy runs, Novak Djokovic’s opening match on the London lawns was his first grass-court match of the season. Now seeking a fourth straight title at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, the Serbian’s preparations have not changed.

His last competitive match was a quarter-final epic against Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. By the time the top-seeded Djokovic takes to Centre Court on Monday against Soonwoo Kwon, he will have spent nearly a month between appearances.

“I didn’t have any lead-up tournaments to Wimbledon, but I’ve had success in Wimbledon in the past without having any official matches and tournaments,” said Djokovic.

“Over the years, I had success with adapting quickly to the surface, so there is no reason not to believe I can do it again.”

Djokovic discussed the delicate balance between rest and grass-court match play leading up to Wimbledon, explaining how later in his career, his priorities have shifted to the former.

“Over the years I learned how to play more efficiently on the surface as well”, he continued. “At the beginning of my career, I was still struggling a bit with movement and sliding, et cetera.

“I think movement is the biggest one really, the biggest adaptation that needs to be done on the grass coming from the clay, where players like myself slide quite a lot. On grass that’s not always possible. It is possible to slide, but you can’t do it as frequently or as often or maybe as free as you do it on clay.

“You have to be more careful with the movement, tactics, et cetera, different training regimen. Different position on the court. You have to be lower; everything kind of skids through the court. It’s very quick and bounces low, contrary to the clay, which bounces high.”

At the event he called his “childhood dream tournament”, Djokovic has an opportunity to match Pete Sampras by winning his seventh Wimbledon title. That would put him one shy of Roger Federer’s record eight.

“I would like to be in the [final] to eventually make history,” Djokovic said. “Pete Sampras winning his first Wimbledon was the first tennis match I’ve ever seen on the TV. So of course there is a lot of connection to this tournament. Pete has won it seven times… Hopefully I can do the same this year.”

Leading the draw as the top seed, Djokovic could face countryman Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round, with Carlos Alcaraz a potential quarter-final opponent.