by: Tom Cochrane
The year’s third Grand Slam starts on Monday and, just like last year, top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams enter the tournament as the respective favourites for the men’s and women’s singles. But it’s a different set of circumstances to last year, when Williams was halfway to a potential calendar Grand Slam and Djokovic was coming off a devastating loss to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final. This year, Djokovic enters the tournament as the holder of all four Grand Slam titles, whilst Williams is looking to win her first major since Wimbledon last year after suffering surprise defeats in the last three Grand Slams.
Tournament predictions – Men’s Singles
Novak Djokovic is the red-hot favourite on the men’s side, and rightfully so. Having completed the career Grand Slam in Paris, where the burden of never having won the French Open was finally lifted off his shoulders, Djokovic will begin his campaign at the All England Club not only full of confidence but probably more relaxed than he was in Paris. If he is successful in London, however, there will no doubt be a flurry of media scrutiny in New York as he attempts to complete the calendar Grand Slam.
There’s plenty of tough matches to be won by Djokovic at the All England Club before he can lift the trophy once more and, if Djokovic is undoubtedly the best player on the planet right now, then Andy Murray is pretty clearly the second-best player. This year, the Scot recorded his best ever French Open result by reaching the final and, having reunited with former coach Ivan Lendl, Murray will be focused on reclaiming the title he so famously claimed in 2013.
Murray is on the easier side of the draw, with potential semi-final opponent Stan Wawrinka never having played his best tennis on grass (although it will be interesting to see how the Swiss star performs with former Wimbledon winner Richard Krajicek recently added to his team as a grass-court consultant). Winning a record fifth title at Queen’s Club will provide Murray with additional confidence, as will the fact he has beaten Djokovic on the two occasions the pair has played on grass.
Djokovic is scheduled to face seven-time champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals and, whilst the Swiss legend has had an injury-interrupted season to date, Federer’s love of the tournament and grass-court nous means he will be very tough to defeat if he can negotiate his way through the early rounds. Before that, Djokovic faces a tough potential quarter-final with Milos Raonic, a former semi-finalist at Wimbledon who has added former champion John McEnroe to his coaching team, whilst Kevin Anderson, who so very nearly beat Djokovic at Wimbledon last year, also lurks in the Serb’s quarter.
Dominic Thiem has had a terrific season to date and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the young Austrian make a deep run at the tournament. Similarly, Bernard Tomic has a particular affinity with grass-courts and could well feature in the second week of the tournament.
I’ll back Murray and Djokovic to once again meet in a Grand Slam final, with the Scot using his grass-court nous and the home crowd support to finally get one back over the world number one.
Winner: Andy Murray
Finalist: Novak Djokovic
Semi-finalists: Federer, Thiem
Outside Chance: Wawrinka, Raonic
*****
Tournament predictions – Women’s Singles
Going into the semi-finals in New York last year, Serena Williams was just two wins away from completing a calendar Grand Slam. Since then, the world number one has lost Grand Slam matches to Roberta Vinci, Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza. Muguruza’s terrific performance in Paris perhaps heralds the start of a new era in women’s tennis but I would be very reluctant to write off Williams just yet.
Williams may get a chance for revenge against Vinci if the pair meet in the quarter-finals as scheduled. Petra Kvitova has had a typically inconsistent year to date but the two-time winner is at her very best on grass and I’m backing her to put in an impressive performance during the next fortnight. In the top half of the draw, former finalist Agnieszka Radwanska is another player who is adept on grass-courts and could produce a deep run in the tournament. Similarly, Dominika Cibulkova has been in good form of late and the former Australian Open finalist could do some damage in the second week of the tournament.
In the bottom half of the draw, I think Muguruza may struggle to deal with the pressures and expectations associated with being a Grand Slam champion and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Spaniard make a relatively early exit. Madison Keys, a recent addition to the world’s top 10, could take full advantage if the bottom half of the draw opens up, and I predict the rising star will scrape past five-time winner Venus Williams if the pair end up locking horns in the semi-finals.
With no Grand Slams to her name in 2016 to date, you can bank on Serena Williams being absolutely fixated on claiming this trophy and I think the American will shrug off some of rather sluggish recent Grand Slam performances to turn in a dynamic performance during the fortnight at the All England Club.
Winner: Serena Williams
Finalist: Madison Keys
Semi-finalists: Kvitova, Venus Williams
Outside Chance: Radwanska, Muguruza, Cibulkova
That’s it for now. Enjoy the tennis from the All England Club and follow all of the action on Twitter: @satelliteserve.
