Wimbledon Predictions

Firstly my thoughts on the male contenders.

Andy Murray might have been my tip for the men’s title, but had a shocker at Queens and how is his hip ? Nick Krygios has the same ailment.

Raonic has the power, but does he have the subtlety? He also has an exceptionally tough draw, if he makes quarters he’s seeded to face three of the Big Four.

Grass is by some distance Wawrinka’s worst surface, & he faces a tough opener with the rising Russian, Daniil Medvedev.

Alexander Zverev has won three titles this season but lost in the 1^st round Roland Garros, and was smashed in the Halle final by Federer. They could meet again in the quarters if the German can get past Raonic.

Nadal looks to have a good draw, but has often suffered with his knees on the grass.

Djokovic has not been his best lately, until winning Eastbourne yesterday. The Serb has a tough draw however with Del Potro & Lopez in his section.

Which brings us to Federer. He faces a potentially tough opener with the mercurial Dolgopolov.  Raonic & the talented Dimitrov are also in the same section as the Swiss maestro. His 24-2 record for the season & his grass pedigree makes him the favourite.  

Moving on to the women, let’s start with the Eastbourne finalists.

Karolina Pliskova has the power game to profit on the grass & she has the silverware from the seaside to prove it.

Wozniacki by contrast is a retriever, who after 2 lean years is back in the top ten. They’re seeded to meet in the quarters.

Another counter-attacker, Halep, has been the form player on clay by some distance, but I can’t see her defensive game winning here.  

Muguruza has been in patchy form, won only one game at Eastbourne.

Jo Konta appears to suffer at SW19 with the pressure of home expectation, & can she can recover from her back injury in time?

Kerber is still clinging onto the no.1 ranking, but like Murray seems to be struggling with the burden of defending the no.1 position form the chasing pack. Her form is unimpressive-currently only at 15^th in the YTD rankings.

Petra Kvitova won in Birmingham despite a long lay-off, but she herself has doubted if she has the stamina for a two week tournament.

Ostapenko is similar to Kvitova in game style but takes even more risks in going for the lines. She went all in & took the title at Roland Garros, but I can’t see her taking the jackpot in SW19

Aga Radwanska has had her best results here, but has a tough opener v Jankovic. Possibly Bacsinsky will win that section.

The big-serving Pliskova is my tip to take her maiden Slam title.

The Streak

French Open

Considering Djokovic is on a 39 match win streak, I was surprised to see that Nadal is still favourite with the bookies for the French Open.
Prior to this year, he had never beaten Nadal on clay, now he has done it twice (Madrid & Rome finals). The question is whether he can do it over five sets.

In the past, some commentators have (harshly) has questioned his attitude due to several high profile retirements, eg Wimbledon 2007 semi v Nadal, with foot blisters (though his previous two rounds were five & four hour matches respectively v Baghdatis & Hewitt ) & 2009 Aus Open (v Roddick) with heat exhaustion. Clearly there’s nothing wrong with the mental side of his game now. Serbia’s Davis Cup victory in December has been the catalyst for this amazing run which has pushed Federer down to no. 3 in the rankings
I think the Djoker can stay unbeaten until the grasscout season, surpassing Vilas’ record (46 straight wins) in the process.

Sharapova has returned to her best form recently, achieving her best ever result on clay in winning Rome, & is back in the top ten. Wozniacki will again be trying to justify her no. 1 ranking by breaking her duck at the majors, but for me Clijsters is still favourite to win her first title at Roland Garros.

Champions League Final

This year sees a dream final, between the two teams who have been consistently the best two club sides in the world over the last four years or so. The Reds play their 3rd final in four years, Barca’s sequence since 2008 reads semi, final, semi, final. Man U are domestic champs for the 4th time in five years, & Barca completed a league threepeat this year. Hopefully Barcelona will not repeat the diving & histrionics which marred their semi with Madrid; & instead showcase their ability as the undisputed masters of the possession game. If Man U can cut off the supply to Leo Messi, they still have to cope with Villa, Iniesta, Xavi …
Barca to win 2-1.

Djoker Tops the Pack

Although not at his very best today, Murray was outclassed by Djokovic. Murray has not won a set in his three Slam final appearances, a big worry for his fans. His talent is unquestioned, but as I blogged in my July post, he seems to have no answer when he’s being outhit. Djokovic did play an incredible match (and tournament), his retrieving was in the same class as Rafa at his best, & he was able to hit winners while doing the splits from way behind the baseline.

In my September blog I worried that the Fed may not win another Slam. He has now lost two Slam SFs in a row to Djokovic. Notwithstanding his victory at the Tour Finals, last week's results just reinforce my view that another major will elude him. Arguably Djokovic was fortunate to win in five sets in the Flushing SF, but here he won in straight sets. Federer wasn’t hitting his spots on serve, which has often got him out of trouble in the past. Rog will still have a great chance at Wimbledon, where only a select few of the top players are comfortable.

Nadal lost in the QFs, as he did last year. If Rafa can stay largely injury-free, he will still be the man on clay , & I’m still tipping him to be the year-end no. 1.

The hoary old argument that women don’t deserve equal money was blown out of the water here. The second longest match of the tournament, 4 hr 44 min, was Kuznetsova-Schiavone (4th round, 16-14 in the 5th) a new record for a womens Slam match.
Is it the end of an era in the womens game? Venus Williams retired from a Slam with injury for the first time, & there’s still no sign of Serena making a comeback. Sadly Henin has taken doctors’ advice to retire due to her elbow injury, as I’ve said before, my favourite woman player with her volleying ability & sublime backhand. Like Murray, Wozniacki’s wait for a Major title continues, but this despite her being world no. 1. Before winning the final, Clijsters had announced this would her last full-time year on Tour, perhaps Wozniacki won’t be too pleased to hear she’ll be back to defend the title next year.