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
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