We're at that time of the year again, as we find ourselves in the first week of the biggest event on the tennis calendar, The Wimbledon Championships. As always, there is an enormous amount of interest around the tournament, especially on the predictions about who will emerge victorious. On the women's side, the most likely contender is Serena Williams, who took the first two Slams of the year. On the men's side, the picture is less clear, with Novak Djokovic surprisingly losing the French Open final to Stan Wawrinka, who has never done traditionally well on the grass. Big hitters such as Thomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga are unproven as champions on the Grand Slam stage. Personally I think that the person in the best set-up for a win is the old horse, Roger Federer. The other guy with the best chance is Andy Murray, especially with the pressure taken off him, due to his win two years ago. In this article I will analyze the likely contenders in both (the men's and the women's) draws.
Obviously as happens every single year at the Championships, there will be the traditional formalities such as the requirement for all players to wear white. There will be the usual strawberries and cream for the regular and corporate fans there at the event. For tennis fans from my end of the world, there will be the very late nights spent watching the games. And more importantly, there will be more interest in this tournament than in any other on the tennis calendar. This is after all, The Wimbledon Championships, a tournament that began in July 1877 and is only three years younger than the game itself. The tournament has a television audience that is globally in the billions. In Britain alone, the 2013 men's final, where Andy Murray emerged victorious, attracted an audience of 17.3 million. The tournament itself earns a revenue of around 150 million pounds annually.
On the women's side, obviously the top contender for the title is Serena Williams, who is going for a repeat of her 2003 "Serena Slam", i.e. holding all four Slams at once. The pressure will not be as great as in 2003, since she has obviously already done it. And after fighting illness to win the French Open, I think that many doubters of the quality of Serena, and the likelihood of her beating Steffi Graf's open era record of 22 Slams, will have had their doubts dispelled. The defending champion on the women's side is Petra Kvitova, but having a 1-5 record against Serena is not something in her favor. If there is anyone to push Serena to the brink though, like Kim Cjisters did in the semifinals of the 2003 Aussie Open (when Serena was last going for a "Serena Slam"), it will be Kvitova. The only other one who I believe may win the tournament is Maria Sharapova, currently seeded at No. 4. She is a player with fire in her soul, and as we all know, is someone who gives her all every time she goes out on the court. There are many who say that the biggest enemy of Serena in London will be herself, but I don't subscribe to that doctrine. I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction here, which is that Serena will win Wimbledon, but will succumb to pressure and loss early at the U.S. Open. The pressure of going for the first calendar Slam, since Steffi Graf's in 1988, will be too great.
On the men's side the contenders for the crown of champion are a wee bit more varied. We had Stan Wawrinka surprising Novak Djokovic in the French final. Obviously Djokovic has still only lost three games this year so far, so he would have to be a strong contender. He is also the defending champion. But it is probably useful to note that aside from the Australian Open, which is his premier Slam, Djokovic has not defended a Slam. Perhaps this is a bit unfair on him, but I am sure that this is something that will be weighing on his mind. There is also his unenviable record of going 8-8 in finals, which means that he is in second place amongst the men for runner-up finishes, to only Ivan Lendl, who had 11 runner-up finishes. This will also be a fact that will be playing on his mind. My prediction is that Novak Djokovic will not win Wimbledon. My other prediction is that Stan Wawrinka will not win either. As great as his run at the French Open was, it is important for fans to remember that he is still 30 years old. There is the added record that he followed up his first Slam victory with a first round exit. And there is the other added fact that he doesn't have a game that is all that well suited to grass courts. Finally, in my continuation of (negative) predictions I will go ahead and say that I don't see Jo Wilfred Tsonga, Thomas Berdych or any of the other players outside the Big Four winning the tournament.
Now, for my first positive prediction. Although I don't think that he will win it, I think that there will be a big run from one Mallorcan/Spanish warrior, by the name of Rafael Nadal. He will show the tennis world in this tournament that he is not a spent force. He has lost in the first week in some Wimbledon championships since his win in 2010, but still he has in the past (like in 2010, and 2008) shown that he can preform well on grass. My prediction is that he will make it to the semifinals, where he will fall to Roger Federer, who happens to be in the same half of his draw. Nadal winning the quarterfinal match against Andy Murray will be the big surprise result of the tournament. A player who will have a big tournament will be Kevin Anderson, who knocked out Andy Murray in the second round at Queen's Club. I remember watching him with much enjoyment from the box at the Heineken Open in New Zealand, where he won, and thinking what a quality player he is. And his current ranking of 14 demonstrates clearly his consistent results this year, and back up that assumption of mine about him indeed being one quality player.
My prediction for the player who will win the men's single's championship is Roger Federer, who just won the tournament in Halle for a record eighth time. He has said many times throughout the year that his biggest ambition at this stage in his career is to win one more Wimbledon. And there is a number of factors that show that this ambition will be realized. Firstly, he had an extra week of rest after Halle. Secondly his results in the past year have been hugely consistent. This is clearly shown by the fact that is still firmly in the No. 2 slot in the rankings, 2,000 points ahead of his nearest compatriot, Andy Murray. Thirdly, and most importantly, is the obvious fact that Federer's game is well suited to grass. He has after all won seven times at The Championships, and reached two more finals, losing very close matches in each. With everything considered, I truly believe that he pips Pete Sampras as the greatest grass court player of all time. In his words he says, "It's probably the best preparation that I've ever had for Wimbledon." This comment of his shows I think, that he will be, along with Serena Williams, the champion of the Wimbledon Single's in 2015.