The peak of the professional tennis season climaxes at Wimbledon, which really needs no introduction. If Roland Garros could be called the dirty Slam, this is the Lawn Slam. Name all the old school stuff, Wimbledon has it: strawberries and cream, serve and volley tactics, whites, cathedral-like atmosphere, prestige, royalty (the Queen Lizzy is paying a visit), and even a poet. Then we get to see shots like this.
Tournament Site: here
Draws: gentlemen's singles and ladies' singles
Men
1st Quarter: Fed won his 15th Slam in an emotional victory over ARod last year, and is looking to tie Pistol Pete's record of winning seven titles at the All England Club. Other seeds in his quarter to watch out for: Play Station who is coming back from a wrist injury, Big Berd who may finally be living up to his talent this year (RG and Miami), Melzer who is coming off a solid clay season and Feli who beat Rafa in Queen's this year with a run to the final there. Out of these folks, Feli and Big Berd have the kind of games that translate well on grass with Big Berd carrying the confidence of a recent win against Fed in Miami. However, this is Wimbledon, and I expect Fed to be able to beat Big Berd in the quarters should he meet him.
Lurker: Feli
Semifinalist: Fed
2nd Quarter: The Djoker has never seemed comfortable on grass. This year, he's coming into the tournament with some serious questions about his game. Is he fit enough to go the distance of a five-setter? Can he close out matches where he's in control? Is his serve a reliable weapon? In the top half of his quarter, the most serious threat to him is Rusty who knows a thing or two about playing on grass with titles at Wimbledon, Queen's and Halle. If he gets past a potential meeting with Hewitt in the 4th round, he faces potential opponents in Cilic, Ljubs, Kohli and ARod, all of whom are dangerous. Cilic has obviously shown a lot of potential with his run at Oz, but he has not (yet) played consistently at a high level to prove he can make a deep run here. Ljubs is at the tail end of his career but as you would expect for any great server, he can never be counted out on the green stuff. Kohli was the only person other than ARod to take a set off of Fed last year. ARod is certainly hungry to win his first Wimbledon and is always in the conversation as a potential winner.
Lurker: Ljubs
Semifinalist: ARod
3rd Quarter: Muzz always has to carry the Brit hopes at Wimbly. He'll probably get to bow to the Royal Box on June 24 when the Her Royal Majesty plans to attend. Regardless, Muzz has to love his draw: Nando and Mosquito would be threats on clay but not on grass. Ali and Samurai have the kind of games that translate well to grass. Ali's chances seem questionable as he's recovering from a hip injury, and he is playing Wimbly for the third time in his career, having missed the tourney in the past due to injuries. Samurai is, of course, coming in with a lot of confidence from winning Queen's. Look for Muzz to repeat his semifinal appearance of last year.
Lurker: Samurai
Semifinalist: Muzz
4th Quarter: Rafa is coming off a phenomenal clay court season and is the pick of many pundits to win the whole thang. But Rafa would be the first to avoid premature speculation in a tourney. The tried and true way to beat Rafa on a fast surface is to take time away from him by hitting big. His potential path to the semis could traverse through a murderer's row of big hitters: Blah, Gulby, Tree/Misha or Sod. However, things might not be so bad for him as Blah and Gulby are dealing with injuries. This year Tree has shown lots of mental toughness with a game that goes beyond a big serve and is surely going to ascend the rankings this summer as he missed most of last year due to mono. Sod will look to show that his loss to Rafa at RG is not a return to the status quo.
Still, many of the reasons for Rafa's great clay court season do translate well to fast courts: he's flattening out his forehand more, looking to shorten points, trying to get to net, and defending his service games extremely well. And he's still the fiercest competitor on the tour today.
Lurker: Tree
Semifinalist: Rafa
I'm going out on a limb to predict that we'll see a repeat of Oz, because I want Fed to punch his teeth out in front of his home crowd.
Semifinals: Fed d. ARod, Muzz d. Rafa
Finals: Fed d. Muzz
Women
1st Quarter: ReeRee is the no-brainer pick of many to defend her title. That said, things aren't easy for her in her quarter as she faces bashers like Shrieka, Nails and Sveta. Aggie has been consistent but simply doesn't have the weapons to be much of a threat on grass. Sveta could be finding her form again after having a terrible spring, making it the quarters in Eastbourne. Nails is bringing in a lot of confidence from beating Shrieka in Birmingham in grass. But at the end of the day ReeRee is just a tougher player to beat at a Slam and especially Wimbledon.
Lurker: Sveta
Semifinalist: ReeRee
2nd Quarter: For a "pusher"/retriever, it's a bit of a surprise that this is Caro's favorite surfaces. She faces a tough opponents: a flat-hitting ball machine in JZ (and who has made the semis), Vika her brainless ball bashing BFF, the hardest hitter per bound in Glitter, and then Sam who hits the heaviest balls in the WTA. But forget tennis, Stella McCartney hasn't really improve the kit for their glamor gal on grass.
Lurker: JZ
Semifinalist: Sam
3rd Quarter: Lady JaJa was unceremoniously dumped last year by someone who supposedly had no weapons: Melanie Oudin who is in her quarter again. Even if she doesn't face the young American, her half of the quarter has potential 4th round opponents in Whoopie and Bepa. She then faces potential quarterfinal opponents in Mum Train who played great this week in Eastbourne, MaKiri who is always a tough fighter, Allez Bitch whom she has a poor record against and Nads who might get it together mentally to go deep in a Slam. Allez Bitch's coach considers her a dark horse to win Wimbly. And he's right. Her serve hasn't been consistent and her revamped game to be more aggressive is still a work in progress.
Lurker: Riske, Allez Bitch
Semifinalist: Mum Train
4th Quarter: It's no secret that Vee feels in her element on grass, having won SW19 five times. And surely she has to love her draw. While Franny is coming off the win of her career in Paris, her heavy use of topspin doesn't translate well from clay to grass. Shvedova is likewise coming off a great run in Paris but I would be surprised if she made a deep run again. Mono has made it to the finals, and has the kind of Seles-like game that can do well on grass, but her serve isn't the kind of weapon needed to win it all on grass. Klebs does hit hard but her herky jerky mechanics would be more of a liability on the slippery stuff. Baby Hippo isn't likely to repeat her semifinal appearance given that she's returning from an almost career-ending back injury. Peer is slated to meet Vee in the 4th round, but the moons would have to align for her to beat Vee (i.e. she has to play of this world and Vee has to play like crap).
Lurkers: None that I can see
Semifinalist: Vee
Well, I expect ReeRee to shout "Victory is mine" at SW19. Sam won't be able to run around her backhand as easily on grass in order to have a good chance of beating ReeRee. Vee has better grass court credentials than Mum Train. In an all-Williams final, it will be close but ReeRee's form is less likely to break down than Vee.
Semifinals: ReeRee d. Sam, Vee d. Mum Train
Finals: ReeRee d. Vee
No comments:
Post a Comment