Wimbledon Draws and Picks

The women:

Favorites:       1) S. Williams

2) Muguruza

3) Kerber

Despite the fact that she hasn’t played much leading up to the championships, Serena Williams still must be considered the favorite.  She is great on all surfaces, but on grass her power is particularly daunting.  She must maintain her concentration though, because none of her opponents are going to show up to lose.  Garbine Muguruza, a finalist last year, has a great game for grass.  She has a big serve and powerful groundies.  She is not quite as quick as some of her opponents and her net play is capable if not legendary.  Last year after doing so well at Wimbledon she had a bit of a let down, and this year she won the French.  Her grass court play has not been fabulous, so she has to make sure a post - French Open success let down isn’t kicking in.  She has a tough first round opponent in Camila Giorgi.  Angelique Kerber is one of the best defenders in the game and has played well enough this year to beat Serena Williams in the final of the Aussie Open.  Because she has a bit more power than Radwanska, I put her slightly ahead of Aggie.

They have a chance

1) Radwanska

2) Kvitova

3) Halep

4) Keys

Aggie Radwanska has made the final before and is one of the most intelligent tacticians ever to play the game.  Her second serve can be a liability, because as fast as she is, a pummeled second serve on grass will get by her.  Petra Kvitova, the enigmatic two-time champion, obviously has the goods.  She lost a 6-0 third set to Johanna Konta in a warmup tournament, which is not a good sign.  In the past she had been very successful in 3-set matches.  Simona Halep is a great player who can be inconsistent.  She is one of the best defenders in the game and is familiar with the big stage.  Winning Wimbledon would be a huge step for Madison Keys, but she seems to be putting things together of late, and has an awesome power game.  A very outside shot.

Potential spoilers

                        1) Karolina Pliskova

                        2) Coco Vandeweghe

                        3) Dominika Cibulkova

                        4) Svetlana Kuznetsova

            As the 15^th seed Karolina Pliskova isn’t exactly a dangerous floater.  She won one grass court warmup tournament and made the finals of another.  I just don’t see her winning it, though.  Coco Vandeweghe has had a great grass court swing.  She’s got plenty of power.  I think her game is still in something of a formative stage, but she is dangerous.  Seeded 27.  Cibulkova just won Eastbourne, and clearly has top 10 talent.   A feisty competitor who could beat anyone on a given day except perhaps Serena Williams.  Svetlana Kuznetsova is a very strong woman who has won two majors before.  She is seeded 13 so again, not really a dangerous floater.  Still, I see her as more likely to knock out a favorite than to win the thing.  Finally, there are many outstanding young players on the women’s tour who could pose serious problems for top players – Bencic, Kasatkina, Sloane Stephens, Johanna Konta, Ostapenko, Gavrilova, Bascinszky, Mladenovic, Garcia etc.  These and other young players will make the women’s tournament into a very exciting event. 

Interesting first round matches

1) Muguruza vs. Giorgi.  Giorgi is a very dangerous opponent who never holds back.  Garbine will have to be on her toes to win this one.

2) Kuznetsova vs. Wozniaki.  These two have had epic battles in majors before.  Wozniaki is one of the best defenders in the game.  This one could be fun to watch.

3) Konta vs. Puig.  Konta is now solidly in the top 20, while Monica Puig has had a great grass court swing so far.  Too bad this is a first rounder.