So long clay, hello grass. Ladies and gentlemen, Wimbledon is here again.
For the men’s side, the narrative is an all-too familiar one, with the hyrda-headed trio of Nadal, Djokovic and…Murray(?) ready to do battle on grass. Roger Federer will be on the outside looking in on the favorites radar, sad to say, the seven time Wimbledon champ is not being pegged as a heavy favorite to win his 18th major.
The shocking seeding placed ATP number 1 ranked Rafael Nadal in 2nd place to Novak Djokovic, who is going through a long drought repeatedly coming in 2nd. Last year, Scotsman Andy Murray made history as the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936. Repeating as champ may be easier said than done, given the fact there hasn’t been a back-to-back winner since Roger Federer won 5 straight from 2003 to 2007.
Nadal is coming in fresh off a French Open victory, and with 14 titles amassed he’ll be as hungry as ever going in as he creeps closer and closer to eclipsing Roger Federer. While the plot of this year’s Wimbledon Championships may sound like the same old story, the backstories are all ambiguous, with no shoo-in favorite in the bunch. Each member of the big 4 comes in with some sort of baggage–from Nadal’s early ousts of recent on grass, Djoker’s long losing streak, Murray regressing and Federer continuing to decline.
We should be in for a real ‘pick em’ or maybe even an upset on the men’s side.
As for the ladies, as usual the theme of unpredictability is ringing true. World number one Serena Williams, comes into Wimbledon fresh off and embarrassing early defeat in Roland Garos to Garbine Muguruza and her play hasn’t been at all consistent. Maria Sharapova had a bounce back win in Paris and despite her 5th seed rank she’s coming in hot and with a chip on her shoulder, despite career plagued by inconsistencies she’s should be highly touted going in.
Eyes will also be on Li Na, who’s been mostly cold in 2014 despite her Australian Open victory. Her world number 2 ranking is about as beguiling as it gets, as she struggled mightily during clay court season.
Overall, the tournament is Serena’s for the taking–surprising, I know. Serena has always excelled better on grass and a win would be the perfect answer for her perplexing loss in Paris will steer her in the right direction as the US Open waits in the distance.
