With Wimbledon fast approaching, it’s time to make some predictions and see how each of the top seeds will get on at the All-England Club.
Top 32 Women’s Seeds at Wimbledon
1. Serena Williams: Still looking for her 22nd major title to tie Steffi Graf’s Open-era record, the top seed played no warmup events for The Championships, but is still the favorite, albeit not as heavily as before as evidenced by her loss in the French Open final to Garbine Muguruza. Second week matches with Svetlana Kuznetsova and Roberta Vinci and Agnieszka Radwanska potentially loom.
2. Garbine Muguruza: The French Open champion was handed a tough opener, facing Camila Giorgi in the first round. It’ll be interesting to see how the Spaniard adjusts to being a major champion after her breakthrough in Paris. She reached the final here last year and a repeat of that performance would shock no one. On the other half of the draw as Williams, she most likely will have to beat Samantha Stosur, Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber to reach the championship match again.
3. Agnieszka Radwanska: The sight of her lone major final appearance in 2012, the Pole lost to Coco Vandeweghe in Birmingham and Dominika Cibulkova in Eastbourne warming up for Wimbledon. She’ll have to possibly knock out big servers Johanna Konta and 2-time SW19 champ Petra Kvitova just to reach the semifinals, where she could meet Williams.
4. Angelique Kerber: The Australian Open champion is still getting used to being a Slam winner as evidenced by her first round loss to Kiki Bertens at the French Open. She won Stuttgart, but lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in Birmingham. A tricky draw has her paired with Nottingham champion Karolina Pliskova in the Round of 16 and Simona Halep or Birmingham winner Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
5. Simona Halep: No notable grass results to speak of, the 2014 French Open finalist has not made the semifinals of a major since last year’s U.S. Open. Titles in Shenzhen and Madrid have kept her in the top 5 and she has a difficult draw with Bertens, Keys and Pliskova or Kerber all lying in wait from the third round on. A major title will come her way, but not here.
6. Roberta Vinci: Not really fond of the grass, Ekaterina Makarova knocked her off in Eastbourne. The 2015 U.S. Open finalist has a rough draw with Alison Riske in the opening round and a third round encounter against s-‘Hertogenbosch winner Coco Vandeweghe. If she gets by that, a quarterfinal against Williams seems likely.
7. Belinda Bencic: The Swiss star has been plagued by a serious back injury and has barely been winning any matches recently except for reaching the semifinals in the Netherlands. Winner of Eastbourne last year, she has potentially the most difficult first round matchup with grass specialist Tsvetana Pironkova. If she survives that, a fourth round clash with Kvitova will be fascinating to see.
8. Venus Williams: The five-time Wimbledon champion couldn’t have asked for a better draw as no one can seriously threaten her on grass until the quarterfinals when Stosur or Muguruza will be most likely lying in wait. At this point in her career, Wimbledon is her best chance to win her eighth major.
9. Madison Keys: She won her second career title in Eastbourne and that win only reinforces how dangerous the talented American can be on grass with her weapons. She was handed a rough draw as a potential path to her first Grand Slam final would have her go through Halep, Pliskova or Kerber and Muguruza, who she beat on the clay in Rome.
10. Petra Kvitova: The 2-time Wimbledon champion is in a big-time slump and is titleless heading into her favorite Slam. To possibly capture a third crown at the All-England Club, she’ll have to navigate Bencic, Radwanska and Williams among others which, given her current form, seems unlikely.
11. Timea Bacsinszky: Played one match on grass, losing to Kristina Mladenovic in Eastbourne. She nearly reached the semifinals of the French again, losing to Bertens in the quarterfinals. Not expected to be much of a threat on grass, Vandeweghe or Vinci could knock her out before potentially seeing Radwanska or Konta in the quarterfinals.
12. Carla Suarez Navarro: Even less of a threat on grass than Bacsinszky, the Spaniard surprisingly reached the semifinals in Birmingham, beating Kerber along the way. Winner in Doha, Venus should eliminate her in Round 4.
13. Svetlana Kuznetsova: The Russian has had a resurgent year, winning in Sydney and cracking the Top 15 again. She faces a tricky opener against Caroline Wozniacki and if she gets by that, could face Serena in a very interesting fourth round match.
14. Samantha Stosur: With all the tools to succeed on grass, it’s mystifying the Australian hasn’t done better here. She has confidence from her semifinal run at the French, but she’ll probably only get as far as Round 4 against Muguruza.
15. Karolina Pliskova: A terrific grass court season saw the tall, powerful Czech win Nottingham and reach the final of Eastbourne, but she has still yet to make a breakthrough at a major. Kerber and Halep or Keys likely block her path to anything but the fourth round, which would be the beginning of the breakout everyone is waiting for.
16. Johanna Konta: The Brit reached the semifinals of the Australian Open and just reached the semifinals of her hometown event of Eastbourne, narrowly losing to Pliskova. A brutal draw sees her start with Monica Puig, followed by 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, Eastbourne champion Cibulkova in the 3rd Round and Radwanska in the 4th Round. The first seeded British woman at SW19 since 1984, any outcome is likely.
17. Elina Svitolina: The Ukranian conitnues to progress under Justine Henin, but grass is not her favorite surface. Stosur will likely end her fortnight in the 3rd Round.
18. Sloane Stephens: The American is back in the Top 20, but barely played on grass, if at all. A former quarterfinalist here, she got the unlucky misfortune of being in Serena’s section, which is where her run will end(the Round of 16) if she knocks off Kuznetsova the round before.
19. Dominika Cibulkova: Just winning in Eastbourne gives the Slovak a world of confidence heading into Wimbledon and she has a chance to go far even if Konta and Radwanska(who she just beat in Eastbourne)stand in her way.
20. Sara Errani: No chance to do much of anything on grass, she’ll lose badly to Keys in Round 3.
21. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova: The always dangerous Russian has a nice draw with Bacsinszky in the third round and Vinci in the fourth round. Consistency and erratic is always the question with the hard-hitting Russian.
22. Jelena Jankovic: She stunned Kvitova here last year and she should reach the Round of 16, but Venus will likely beat her there.
23. Ana Ivanovic: Not seeing a long run for the Serb with Pliskova and Kerber in her section.
24. Barbora Strycova: Already a finalist in Dubai and Birmingham, the Czech is a difficult matchup for higher seeds. Kvitova will knock her off in Round 3, but it should be a very good battle.
25. Irina-Camelia Begu: The Romanian continues to fly under the radar, but Bouchard handily beat her in Eastbourne and Kerber should do the same in Round 3.
26. Kiki Bertens: She was the Cinderella story in reaching the French Open semifinals, but picked up an injury that forced her to withdraw from s-‘Hertogenbosch. If physically right, she could do damage with Halep and Keys, who she beat in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, in her section.
27. Coco Vandeweghe: Quite possibly the most dangerous lower seed in the draw. She won s-‘Hertogenbosch for a second time, reached the Birmingham semifinals and pushed Maria Sharapova to the limit in the quarterfinals here last year. In the best section of the draw with someone who has weapons for grass, she should beat Bacsinszky and Vinci before seeing Serena in the last eight.
28. Lucie Safarova: Former Wimbledon semifinalist is in a major funk with only winning Prague as a notable result. Not likely to progress beyond the third round, where Muguruza should eliminate her.
29. Daria Kasatkina: Russian had her chance to go deep at the French, but Bertens beat her in Round 3, which is what should happen here after Venus gets done with her.
30. Caroline Garcia: In-form Frenchwoman finally starting to fulfill her potential, winning Strasbourg, teaming with Kristina Mladenovic to win the French Open doubles and just won Mallorca. She’s a danger to Radwanska in Round 3 and could go a lot further if she upsets the Pole.
31. Kristina Mladenovic: She lost to Vandeweghe in the s-‘Hertogenbosch final after winning the Roland Garros doubles with Garcia. She pushed Serena in the third round in Paris and that’s likely what will happen again here.
32. Andrea Petkovic: Showed signs of life by winning a couple of matches in Eastbourne, but she won’t go beyond the 4th Round, losing to Kvitova if she beats Bencic the round before.
Best first round matchups:
Pironkova vs Bencic: Out-of-form Swiss star drew a brutal opener and the Bulgarian is likely to pull the upset.
Wozniacki vs Kuznetsova: Interesting clash that should go the distance.
Puig vs Konta: Two grass semifinals in three weeks makes the Puerto Rican a dangerous foe for Britain’s top player.
Alison Riske vs Vinci: Grass is the American’s best surface and the Italian’s worst. Don’t be surprised if this is another opening round upset.
Laura Robson vs Kerber: Brit still working her way back. Is she ready for the big stage again? We’ll see.
Giorgi vs Muguruza: Italian has the firepower to knock last year’s finalist off, but not the consistency. Remains to be seen if Muguruza suffers a hangover after upsetting Serena to win her first Slam, similar to what happened to Kerber in Paris.
Prediction:
Semifinals: Serena def. Cibulkova: Slovak is confident, dangerous and will be this Slam’s surprise semifinalist, but Williams will reach the final.
Keys def. Muguruza: Keys beat Muguruza on the clay in Rome and on her best surface here, she should make her first Slam final.
Final:
Serena def. Keys: Finally, major #22 will come for Williams in the form of a repeat of the Rome final, but expect this to be a tough match.
Main Photo:
