WIMBLEDON

Twenty-five American players entered the 2017 main draw of Wimbledon, ten men and fifteen women.  At the completion of round one, eighteen Americans remained: eight men and ten women.  Both the highest seed man and woman are still in the draws.  It has been a long time since an American man has made it to the final of a Major; we do not have to look very far back in history to find the last time there was an American female in the final of a Major.  Both Williams’ sisters were recently in the final of the 2017 Australian Open.

While there is plethora of young talent, there is currently no male player who has taken the mantle as a realistic threat to claim a Major title this year.  Jelena Ostapenko stepped up big for Latvia; who will step up for the USA?  The number one ranked American male player has just recently returned from injury and is lacking in match toughness.  The number one ranked American female player is carrying a lot of emotional baggage, which may negatively impact her game and diminish her chances of getting to the final, despite her dominant record on the grass at Wimbledon.

Venus Williams is in the same quarter of the draw as Madison Keys, Jelena Ostapenko, Naomi Osaka, Dominika Cibulkova and Elina Svitolina.  While she will not have to play each of these players, anyone of them can potentially derail her from her quest to get back to the final.

Jack Sock’s path is even more obstructed as he is in the same quarter of the draw as Milos Raonic, Mischa Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, John Isner and Roger Federer.  So as much as we may want to have an American male and female in the final, we may have to delay our gratification for a while yet, perhaps.

SOURCE OF IMAGE:  serveandrally