It's going to be a very weird year at Wimbledon. Instead of playing his standard third match on Centre Court, Andy Murray is going to play the opening Centre Court match of the tournament, which is his right as defending champion. There won't be a ladies' defending champion to start play on Tuesday, though. Marion Bartoli retired shortly after Wimbledon last year and won't be defending her title. I'm assuming that means Sabine Lisicki, as the returning finalist, will get the honor.
The TV coverage is going to be weird, too. ESPN has done a tremendous job since they acquired exclusive U.S. rights to Wimbledon. Expect this year they've got a little problem. The final group matches of the World Cup are Monday-Thursday, which means they need both ESPN and ESPN2 for soccer. They've got the same problem next week when they can't do their standard Centre Court on ESPN, Court 1 on ESPN2 thing during the round of 16 and quarterfinals. So, it's ESPNEWS to the rescue. (In 2010, they used ESPNU for the Wimbledon/World Cup conflict, which seemed to make a little more sense.)
But it's still Wimbledon, and it's still the greatest fortnight in tennis. This is the Grand Slam that each of the Big Four have won in the last four years, and it's also the place where we had that crazy day of early-round upsets last year. This is where we can turn back the clock and see Roger Federer as Roger Federer once again. This is where the Williams sisters are at their dominant best. This is where an entire country celebrated one of their own finally ending that tremendous drought last year. It's as if Andy Murray rewarded their passion.
At Wimbledon, they're allowed to deviate from the rankings when setting the seedings on the men's side. We should be thankful for that fact, because it means the fifth-ranked Murray is seeded third and we don't have to worry about a Big Four matchup prior to the semifinals. They also flopped Djokovic and Nadal, mainly due to Clay Boy's early exits in both 2012 and 2013.
Regardless, with the Big Four appearing in four different sections of the draw, they have to be considered favorites to meet each other in the semifinals (where it would be a Djokovic-Murray rematch and a Wimbledon renewal of Federer-Nadal). There are plenty of others who can challenge the Big Four, though. Tomas Berdych has been a finalist here before. Grigor Dimitrov has long been touted as the Next Big Thing in men's tennis. It's long been known that John Isner has the serve to contend at Wimbledon. Now he needs to prove that he can actually break serve and avoid playing those long early-round matches that inevitably kill his chances (this is the four-year anniversary of his 70-68 epic). Then there's Milos Raonic, who has a similar problem as Isner.
My quarterfinal predictions are just that. Djokovic-Berdych, Murray-Dimitrov, Isner-Federer and Raonic-Nadal. After all of the early upsets last year, knocking the favorites out before the tournament even really got started, we ended up seeing Jerzy Janowicz in the semifinals. I can't see that happening again. One of the Big Four might lose early, but we're going to see the big names at the end.
As for who emerges from those dream semifinals, I'm going to say Djokovic gets revenge on Murray and gets back to the final for the third time in four years. Most people agree that if Roger's ever going to win another Slam, it'll be here. Whether or not that magical 2012 run was that final Slam title is very tough to say, but we do know that Roger would have six more Grand Slam titles, including an eighth Wimbledon, if not for a certain little annoying Spanish guy. Believe it or not, Roger's looking for some redemption of his own at the All-England Club. Last year's second-round loss marked the end of his ridiculous streak of 36 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments reaching at least the quarterfinals (that's nine years people!), but he's gone out prior to the quarters in three of the last four. Wimbledon's as good a place as any to find his game again.
I bet Roger's probably hoping for Rafa's third straight early exit, though. Because if they meet in the semis, I see Nadal winning. That's just the way things have gone between these two recently, especially at Grand Slams. That puts Nadal against his other rival in a 1 vs. 2 rematch of the French Open final. Except this time, the result will be different. I'm going with Novak Djokovic to capture his third Wimbledon title.
On the women's side, as usual, the tournament is a lot more unpredictable. Serena Williams is the favorite, just like she is every time she shows up in London. Except for that one magical day 10 years ago, Serena has been Maria Sharapova's kryptonite. Well, guess who the French Open champ drew in the quarters? Although, it might not get to that. Because Eugenie Bouchard, the only woman to make the semis at both prior Slams this year, would be Serena's Round of 16 opponent. And waiting for the winner in the semis would be Sabine Lisicki, who beat Serena last year en route to the finals.
Whoever comes out of that top half will likely be favored in the final. Petra Kvitova's a former champ, beating Aggie Radwanska two years ago. The bottom half also features Australian Open champ Li Na, who lost in the first round at the French, and Venus Williams, who's not the player she once was, but is still a name you don't want to see anywhere near yours in the draw. I'm most intrigued by two other players in the bottom half of the draw, though. Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka.
Woz had that much-publicized breakup with Rory McIlroy, followed by an early exit at the French, followed by that trip to Miami with Serena that gave the world this. Vika, meanwhile, sat out the French and has been dealing with injuries for much of the year. It was her second-round retirement because of an ankle injury that got Wild Wednesday started last year, but she made two semifinal appearances in the two years before that (and won a pair of Olympic medals in 2012). If Vika's healthy and in form, she could definitely be a player.
Anyway, there are a number of women who could end up holding the winner's plate in two weeks. I think after what happened last year, then what happened at the French, Serena's incredibly focused. And a focused Serena Williams is a dangerous Serena Williams. She exacts her revenge on Lisicki in the semifinals. I think Azarenka is in form, at least enough to beat Radwanska and get to the semis. But not enough to beat Kvitova. And in a matchup of the 2011 champ against the five-time champ, I'll go with Serena.
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