Welcome to our Wimbledon Round Table predictions from the LastWordOnSports crew. Obviously, we have different ideas as to what will happen at Wimbledon, though there is a surprising consensus on the men’s champion. Do you agree or disagree with our writers? What are your thoughts?
ATP Champion:
Luke Redmond: Andy Murray– It’s bold to call Murray as Wimbledon winner but after a sensational run of form and the struggles of the other main competitors recently Murray is my pick for champion.
Glenys Furness: Andy Murray– Murray is coming off his best season on the clay in the 10 years he has been on the tour, where he only lost one match of those he played. Even in that match, he played amazing tennis on the surface known to be his least favourite, pushing Novak Djokovic to five sets and coming back from two sets down in the process.
George Gibbs: Roger Federer– With another Halle title to add to the collection (he has a total of eight), Federer will have high hopes going into Wimbledon. His historical record at Wimbledon is outstanding with 73 wins and just nine losses. Federer has said that he backs himself for this Slam and that Wimbledon is a target of his. A determined and aggressive Federer will be a difficult proposition for anyone at Wimbledon and who can bet against him taking the title for the eighth time?
Steen Kirby: Andy Murray– Murray is playing some of the best tennis of his career, having just taken Djokovic to five sets at Roland Garros. Murray has already won Wimbledon and his toughest challenger (Djokovic) could be mentally beaten after failing to win the French Open, again.
Yesh Ginsburg: Andy Murray– Murray’s showing on clay this year was that impressive. Being drawn in Federer’s half is not ideal, though the pressure of playing Federer in a semifinal might be a lot less than playing the 7-time champion in a final.
WTA Champion:
Chris Nordenson: Serena Williams– Petra Kvitova, the defending Wimbledon champion, was quoted as saying Serena could win all four Slams this year. That shows you the type of respect players have for Serena and the way she is capable of playing. The only thing that could get in the way of Serena earning her sixth Wimbledon trophy is herself. Serena has long been her own worst enemy on the court. Serena has not gotten past the round of 16 since 2012 when she won her last Wimbledon–which means she is due for another deep run.
Scott Stevenett: Serena Williams– There is no player on tour capable of matching her level of play right now. Even when she’s not at her best, like we saw at the French Open, she still won the title. Williams will leave Wimbledon with a chance at the calendar slam.
Niall Clarke: Petra Kvitova– We all know how well Kvitova can play when she is 100 percent focused. The defending champion has one of the biggest games on tour and certainly knows her way around these courts, having won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014. As the second seed here, she will avoid Serena until the final at least and with Halep’s recent struggles, the draw looks fairly kind for Kvitova. Coming in as perhaps the second favourite behind Serena, it is not too bold to predict that Kvitova will reign supreme at SW19 once again.
GG: Serena Williams– Is there anyone on earth who can challenge Serena Williams? Earlier this month she battled through illness and multiple three-setters to lift her 20th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros. Now she’ll be aiming for number 21 and her sixth Wimbledon. She’s lost just one match this year and every player who could challenge her seems to be battling something else. For example, Victoria Azarenka, who is one of the only players who can really challenge Williams, is on the comeback trail after injury and whilst she is playing good tennis, she is not in a position to be challenging Williams. If Williams can keep her head through the first few rounds of Wimbledon then it will be no surprise to see her with the Venus Rosewater Dish above her head.
ATP Dark Horse:
LR: Milos Raonic– He may only be back from injury but with a grass court game to die for keep a close eye on the Canadian at Wimbledon.
GG: Kevin Anderson– The big-serving Kevin Anderson is sitting at a career-high ranking of 14 and is playing the tennis of his life. A final appearance at Queen’s last week and a fourth-round showing at last year’s Wimbledon make him a dangerous opponent. His big serve allows him to comfortably hold on the slick grass courts and his flat forehand works effectively in closing points. No one will relish the prospect of playing him and he has the ability to trouble the top players: keep an eye out of Anderson’s progress through the draw.
YG: Richard Gasquet– I know he’s been struggling recently, but Gasquet’s best form shows up on grass. He has a favorable draw, including a slumping Grigor Dimitrov in the third round, which should mean that Gasquet has a real chance to reach the second week– at worst.
SK: Viktor Troicki– If anyone in this tournament has an open draw, it’s Troicki. Ferrer is beatable on grass and if Nadal falters early, Troicki has a clear path at the quarterfinals.
WTA Dark Horse:
CN: Agnieszka Radwanska– Radwanska has been struggling since last year’s US Open but she had a solid run in Eastbourne and made it to the semifinals in Nottingham. She looks like she is starting to get her confidence at the right time. Radwanska has made the semifinals and finals once at Wimbledon.
GF: Agnieszka Radwanska– Aga seems to be doing very well on the grass at the moment, with a run to the semifinal in Nottingham and with a run to the final in Eastbourne. It seems that it is turning into her favourite surface and even though she dropped her coach earlier in the year and lost in a few matches that she would have been expected to win, I believe that she has found the form again that could lead her to the title.
Linda Celia Ellis: Caroline Wozniacki– Providing the injury that caused her to pull out of her Eastbourne semifinal match does not interfere, Wozniacki is my dark horse pick. Watching her matches in Eastbourne I felt Wozniacki is in good form with strong steady play. Many of the players on the WTA seem to play great for a set and then in the following set they fall apart with the match being a battle fought in the third set. Wozniacki usually does not fall into this pattern so if she can play a bit more aggressively than she tends to she could cause problems for players that are inconsistent from set to set.
NC: Sabine Lisicki– Most people (including myself) will say either Serena or Kvitova for title, but I believe it could be Lisicki’s year at last. The German always peaks for Wimbledon. It is her favourite and best tournament by a long shot and her game fits perfectly with grass. Kerber in round four will be a huge test given Lisicki’s record against her compatriot, but if she can get through that then she will definitely be hitting the deep waters. She is not my prediction, but she is certainly a dark horse.
ATP Early Exit:
CN: David Ferrer– Ferrer had a bad loss in the first round of Nottingham to Marcos Baghdatis. That was his sole grass match before Wimbledon. Ferrer always has done well on the clay but given his game style and his aging body it is unlikely that he will make it that far this year at the All-England Club.(EDITOR’S NOTE: Ferrer withdrew from the tournament with an elbow injury shortly after publication of this preview.)
SS: Rafael Nadal– Nadal could easily go far and I wouldn’t be surprised, but if history tells us anything it is Nadal will go out early. He has lost early the last three years and that won’t change this year. His body has let him down.
YG: Stan Wawrinka– Wawrinka’s game does not translate to grass well and with Dominic Thiem seeded to face him in Round 3, Wawrinka could be in a lot of trouble. (Parenthetically, I also want to give this slot for Novak Djokovic. Not because the top seed is in bad form, but because taking out the World #1 in the second round would be a perfect storybook ending for Lleyton Hewitt’s Wimbledon career; and it’s not so crazy to imagine the Aussie could do it on grass.)
SK: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga– Tsonga is hurt and has been in poor form recently. With Gilles Muller, Denis Istomin, and Alexandr Dolgopolov all in line to face the Frenchman early, this could lead to a very poor result for Tsonga.
WTA Early Exit:
GF: Genie Bouchard– Her form this year has been, frankly, awful. Knocked out of tournaments much earlier than her ranking has suggested she should be, her confidence will be low. In addition to the confidence her tennis has not been at its best this year, which has caused many of these early losses. Bouchard needs a good run somewhere but this will not be it.
SS: Simona Halep– Halep is too inconsistent at the Grand Slams. She has unexplainable dips in her play, like her loss to Dominika Cibulkova at the Australian Open and then her second round loss at the French Open. She is prone to the upset.
LCE: Eugenie Bouchard– Last year’s finalist seems to be a no -brainer for this one. Although she did finally win a match at Eastbourne she appears to still be struggling on the court and with a huge number of points to defend I think she will succumb to the pressure and not make it to the second week.
NC: Simona Halep– It is easy to say Eugenie Bouchard given her recent slump, but I am going to stray away from that and say Simona Halep. The third seed was a semifinalist last year, but this season the weight of expectation seems to be taking its toll. She failed to defend her French Open final points after being dumped out early by Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The Romanian could suffer a similar fate here if she is not careful.
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