2016 Wimbledon Preview: 10 things to look for at Wimbledon

      On Monday, June 27, Wimbledon will commence at the All-England Club. Amid all the paranoia and uncertainty surrounding Brexit, hopefully the championships will bring the United Kingdom together and help people get their minds off of what has been a very tumultuous week. Anyways, before I dive into more commentary about the possible ramifications that Brexit will have on the European and world economy at large as well as the possibility of Scottish independence, let me instead focus your attention on 10 things to look for going into Wimbledon.

#1. Will the rest help Roger Federer? Roger Federer, the winner of 17 grand slams and 7 Wimbledon titles, decided to not play in the French Open to help him better prepare for Wimbledon and the rest of the season. It will be interesting to see if Roger Federer benefits from the rest and seriously challenges to win his 8th Wimbledon and 18th grand slam title as a result of the extra rest.

#2. How will Garbine Muguruza respond to her French Open title? After winning the French Open and reaching the Wimbledon final last year, it will be interesting to see if Garbine Muguruza makes another deep run at a grand slam or if she goes out earlier than expected. She's the #2 seed in the tournament behind Serena Williams and certainly has good reason to be optimistic about winning another grand slam title. However, she lost in the first round in her home tournament the Mallorca Open as the number one seed to start off the grass season. So, that result has to at least give you pause when you start to hedge her chances at Wimbledon this year.

#3. Will the reunion of Andy Murray and Ivan Lendl bring forth fruit? Andy Murray has reunited with his former coach Ivan Lendl with the hopes of giving himself an edge going into Wimbledon. When Andy Murray won Wimbledon, Lendl was his coach and Murray wants to recapture some of that magic. It will be interesting to see if Andy Murray is any more of a threat because of Lendl's presence and also how long they stick together after the championships.

#4. Does Venus Williams have one more run left in her? At the age of 36, Venus Williams still has game. She enters the championships as the #8 seed in the draw and has had more success at Wimbledon than any other grand slam, winning the title five times. It's hard to see her sticking in the top ten for much longer, but right now, she's a top ten player with five Wimbledon titles. She's definitely a dark horse to win the title for a sixth time. It would be way fun to see Venus Williams play in one more Wimbledon final before her legendary career comes to a close.

#5. Will the pressure of a calendar slam get to Novak Djokovic? Novak Djokovic isn't a guy to struggle under pressure or let you know he's feeling the pressure, but he comes into Wimbledon as the odds on favorite to win and collect his fifth straight grand slam title. If he wins Wimbledon and the US Open, that will be six straight grand slam titles for Novak Djokovic en route to a calendar slam. If he accomplishes that, it'll be hard to not say he's the greatest to ever play the sport. With that kind of history on the line, it will be very interesting to see if we start to see any signs of the pressure getting to Nole.

Note: I have Djokovic winning it and carrying the calendar slam into the US Open.

#6. Will Serena Williams finally breakthrough in 2016? Serena Williams has won 21 grand slam singles titles and is just one grand slam title shy of Steffi Graf who has won more grand slam titles than any other woman in the Open Era with 22. Margaret Court is the all-time leader with 24, but those titles are inflated due to Margaret Court competing in the 1960s, a much less competitive era and also an era in which not everybody played the Australian Open. Being an Australian herself, Margaret Court took advantage of the diminished competition at the Australian Open to win the event 11 times. So for all intents and purposes, 22 is the mark that Serena is chasing, not that she doesn't intend to reach 25.

Anyways, enough of the history lesson. The bottom line is that Serena Williams has not yet won a grand slam title in 2016 and she is eager to surpass Steffi Graf in 2016 as opposed to having it linger during the offseason. Look for Serena Williams to come out guns blazing with razor sharp focus during these two weeks on the grass.

Note: I'm picking Serena Williams to win and tie up Steffi Graf at Wimbledon.

#7. Will Dominic Thiem continue his assent? After reaching the 2nd round of Wimbledon in 2015 and the 3rd round of the Australian Open earlier this year, Dominic Thiem exploded onto the tennis scene in Paris, reaching the semifinals of the French Open. As a result, he reached as high as #7 in the world and enters Wimbledon as the #8 seed. It's hard for guys like Dominic Thiem, who have surged like this, to backup their play in the next grand slam. Will Dominic Thiem flame out early or will he prove he's here to stay? That will be a key thing to look for during these two weeks.

#8. Don't sleep on Petra Kvitova. If there's any dark horse worth gambling on, it's Petra Kvitova. Even though she's the #10 seed in the tournament, she's won Wimbledon twice in 2011 and 2014, which are the only grand slams she's ever won. It's no surprise she says Wimbledon is her favorite grand slam. She moves well on the grass and uses here lefty serve to her advantage on the grass in a way that she isn't able to at any other grand slam. Don't be surprised to see Petra Kvitova make another deep run at Wimbledon.

#9. Will Stanislas Wawrinka's coaching change pay off? Stanislas Wawrinka made a coaching change of his own, hiring 1996 Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek as his coach to give him an edge on the grass. The furthest that "The Stanimal" has gone at Wimbledon is the quarterfinals, so he's definitely smart to look for an edge. I'm just not sure the hiring of Krajicek is the edge he's looking for. We'll see.

#10.  Will the ladies' tournament go chalk? If you follow my blog and read my posts on here, you know that I believe anything can happen in the WTA, which means seeds don't mean too much. I don't mean to take seeds lightly or not acknowledge that the top players are at the top for a reason, but while things tend to go chalk for the duration of the year, in any one event or grand slam, things can be tough to predict. A perfect example is the possibility of an unseeded Sabine Lisicki making a deep run. I tend to think things will go chalk for the most part since I have Serena Williams winning it all, but don't be surprised if Garbine Muguruza, goes out early or if some lower seed makes a much deeper run than expected.

Click here to view the gentlemen's singles draw

Click here to view the ladies' singles draw 

10 things to take away from the 2016 French Open

   
     Before I move on to Wimbledon, I would like to take a quick look back at the two weeks that we just had in Paris at Roland Garros. Novak Djokovic won his first Roland Garros title defeating Andy Murray in the final while Garbine Muguruza won her first grand slam title defeating Serena Williams in the final. There are 10 things that we can take away from the event, but Djokovic completing the career slam and Muguruza winning her first grand slam are definitely the two biggest stories.

#1. Novak Djokovic has entered rarefied air: Novak Djokovic has now won 12 grand slam titles at all four grand slam events (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, and now French Open). Plus, he as completed the "Nole Slam" which means he holds all four grand slam titles at the moment and is halfway to a calendar slam. Novak Djokovic is playing some of the best tennis we have ever seen and by getting a career slam, he is now in serious consideration to be considered the greatest tennis player of all-time. The only other players to ever win a career slam in men's tennis are Andre Agassi, Don Budge, Rafael Nadal, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Roger Federer, and Fred Perry. If Novak Djokovic surpasses Roger Federer to win 18 career grand slams, there will be no debate that he's the greatest.

#2. Garbine Muguruza is for real: Reaching the 2015 Wimbledon final should have already tipped us off that Garbine Muguruza was the real deal, but winning the 2016 French Open title should erase any doubt. What makes her title even more impressive is the fact that she defeated Serena Williams 7-5, 6-4 in the final. Serena Williams is chasing the all-time record for grand slam titles on the women's side and to take her out in straight sets is very impressive to say the least.

#3. Andy Murray can ball on the clay: Any questions about Andy Murray's prowess on the dirt should be answered after the way he played in Paris. He went all the way to the final and fell to a guy who might go down as the greatest to ever play. Murray has nothing to be ashamed of and should be feeling good heading into Wimbledon (I'll address this more in my Wimbledon preview).

#4. Shelby Rogers is on the rise: The 23 year old American Shelby Rogers came into Roland Garros ranked outside the Top-100, but that didn't stop her from making a run to the quarterfinals before falling to Garbine Muguruza. Shelby Rogers is definitely a player to keep an eye on as we head into Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

#5. Could this be the end for Rafael Nadal? Rafael Nadal withdrew from Roland Garros due to a wrist injury and he also withdrew from Wimbledon. He plans to return next month at Rogers Cup in Toronto and play in the Olympics, but even so, the accumulation of injuries and absences at grand slams makes me wonder how much longer we'll see the King of Clay play on the ATP Tour.

#6. Venus Williams is still hanging around: Venus Williams came into Paris as the #9 seed and lost to the #8 seed Timea Bacsinszky in the 4th round. Venus' ability to play at an elite level at her age is incredible and she should not be counted out at Wimbledon.

#7. Dominic Thiem is a guy to keep an eye on: Dominic Thiem came into Roland Garros as the #13 seed, but that didn't stop him from reaching the semifinals. It'll be interesting to see if Dominic Thiem can find similar success at future grand slams or if his run to the semis as Roland Garros was an anomaly.

#8. Agnieszka Radwanska was disappointing: Agnieszka Radwanska came into Roland Garros as the number two seed overall and she flamed out in the 4th round. That is not the kind of performance she was expecting to have. She better bounce back at Wimbledon.

#9. Stanislas Wawrinka couldn't get it done this time: The defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray and was unable to defend his crown. Wawrinka definitely contended, but in the end, he couldn't replicate the magic he had last season. Maybe he would have been better served to face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. He seems to have Djokovic's number.

#10. The future of Maria Sharapova is unknown: Maria Sharapova didn't compete in the event due to her suspension for taking meldonium. During the same time as Roland Garros, Maria Sharapova was handed a two-year suspension by the ITF. I personally find the suspension to be harsh since meldonium is new on the banned substance list and it isn't entirely clear whether or not it has any performance enhancing effects. What is good for Maria Sharapova is that her sponsors Head and Nike among others are standing by her. Hopefully she'll get her suspension reduced and finish her career on a positive note. She has done a lot of good for the game of tennis over the years.