The third major of the season gets underway on Monday, July 1st. The draws came out on Friday and as usual, Wimbledon has the prerogative to adjust the seedings. While I have no issues with this, I think if you adjust the seedings in the men’s draw then the same should be done in the women’s draw; or one may get the impression that Roger Federer is getting preferential treatment.
Tough breaks for Nadal
Rafael Nadal, currently ranked number two, was bumped down once again to number three, in deference to Federer. Unfortunately for Nadal, he is now in the same half of the draw as Federer; however, worst than that, if he gets out of the first round, he may have Nick Kyrgios in the second round. Unlike the women’s draw, there are two favorites to win Wimbledon, Federer and Novak Djokovic. Until someone steps up and dethrones them, I predict they will be in the final contesting the title.
Yet, majors because of the size of the fields can be somewhat unpredictable, so expect to see some upsets. I will be curious to see which player(s) steps up and performs above and beyond. Is this the major where the young players finally declare their intentions with conviction? Or, will the old guards continue to hold strong?
Juicy first round matches
Interesting first round matches: Alexander Zverev versus Jiri Vesely; Frances Tiafoe versus Fabio Fognini; Dominic Thiem versus Sam Querrey; Marin Cilic versus Adrian Mannarino; Lucas Pouille versus Richard Gasquet; and Taylor Fritz versus Tomas Berdych.
On the women’s side, there were no shuffling of the seeds, they are all seeded as per their rankings. Serena Williams is in the top half of the draw, along with Maria Sharapova, Angelique Kerber, Sloane Stephens and Petra Kvitova. While I usually can see a clear favorite, or at least two potential winners; this time around the women’s draw leaves me baffled. Perhaps because the women have not been consistently dominant, and the favorites are all banged up. Defending champion, Kerber will play fellow country woman Tatjana Maria. This should probably not be an issue for Kerber as Maria has only gotten to the third round of Wimbledon once; however, interesting tidbit, Maria has beaten Kerber.
Can Gauff upend her idol?
All eyes are on the bottom half of the draw where thirty-nine-year-old and five-time champion, Venus Williams, will face off against fifteen-year-old Cori Gauff. While many expect Williams to sweep aside the talented teen, there are some who feel Gauff at this age has the weapons to challenge her idol.
How will newly crowned number one, Ashleigh Barty, handle the pressure of being the top seed at a major?
Will Karolina Pliskova finally make her breakthrough and win Wimbledon?
What about Serena Williams, has the fire gone out, or is she still passionate enough about tennis to finally get number twenty-four?
Can Naomi Osaka shake the slump and her pesky opponent, Yulia Putintseva?
SOURCE OF IMAGES: Zimbio.com (main image-Getty Images Europe: Cori Gauff)
