By John Huston
It’s fair to say that the Wimbledon draws fell like tiny raindrops amid the torrential media storm brought on by the rather clumsily-tagged Brexit. But tennis goes on, and quintessential old England is the backdrop for The Championships at Wimbledon. Now, let us survey the top contenders and parse the luck – and the plentiful quirks – of the draws.
1. NOVAK’S QUEST: There’s no doubt that the Novak Slam has not received the same attention the Serena Slams garnered. But with five Slams in a row under his belt, Djokovic steadily journeys on, now on a quest for both a calendar-year Slam and, if he wins the Olympics, a golden one. Early in his career he could be knocked off the grass (hello, Marat Safin), but no more. An overwhelming favorite, going for his third Wimbledon title in a row, Djokovic takes on a Brit – Jamie Ward – in the first round, but his draw looks straightforward until a possible quarterfinal with Milos Raonic, who now has John McEnroe in his corner.
2. ROGER’S RETURN: For the first time in three years, the final of Wimbledon will not be a Djokovic-Federer duel. That’s because No. 1 Novak and No. 3 Fed wound up in the same half of the draw. His string of successive Slam appearances was snapped at Roland Garros. Will Roger – who fell short in a Wimby warmup – return rested and recharged, or rusty?
3. SERENA’S SEARCH: We all know the All England Club’s address includes SW19, but can we change it to SW22 this year? If Serena comes up short in London, she’ll have gone a full year without winning a Slam, and her attempt to tie Steffi Graf’s 22 Slam titles will begin to look cloudy. Word is that she targeted her fitness between the French Open final and now. Her draw is not easy – with recent bugaboos Christina McHale and Kristina Mladenovic as potential second and third round opponents she’ll needs to start out sharp.
4. FLASHY FIRST ROUNDS – GENTLEMEN’S DIVISION: Wimbledon delivers drama, and this year, both the men’s and women’s draws are packed with strong and sometimes curious first-round matches. Amongst the men: Stan Wawrinka vs. young American Taylor Fritz (who recently took Federer to thee sets), No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem vs. dangerous Halle champ Florian Mayer (who straight-setted Thiem in the semis there), Jack Sock vs. Ernests Gulbis, Fernando Verdasco vs. Bernard Tomic, John Isner vs. Marcos Baghdatis, Nick Kyrgios vs. Radek Stepanek and a trio of battles between countrymen – France’s Gael Monfils vs. Jeremy Chardy, Croatia’s Borna Coric vs. Ivo Karlovic and Great Britain’s Andy Murray vs. Liam Broady.
5. FLASHY FIRST ROUNDS – LADIES DIVISION: No. 7 Belinda Bencic’s craftiness suits grass, but she isn’t fortunate to have drawn Wimbledon wonder Tsvetana Pironkova. No. 13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova has Caroline Wozniacki as her opening opponent. French Open success story Kiki Bertens takes on the WTA’s very own Nick Kyrgios-type, temperamental teen Jelena Ostapenko. Others: in-form Monica Puig vs. equally sharp Johanna Konta, two-time champ Petra Kvitova vs. comeback slugger Sorana Cirstea, Dominika Cibulkova in a hard-hitting bout against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Angelique Kerber vs. Brit flameout Laura Robson, and successful doubles partners Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova pitted against each other.
6. MURRAY’S MOUNTING CHALLENGE: Andy Murray has ascended to the final of both majors so far this year, but hasn’t been able to conquer Mount Djokovic. He may very well have a third try at Wimbledon, where the five-time Queens champ landed on the other side of the draw from Nole. Roland Garros proved Murray rarely makes things easy for himself, and he has a high number of grass forces – Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Nick Kyrgios and Feliciano Lopez for starters – in his quarter. But the boisterous Centre Court crowd factored in Murray’s historic 2013 victory over Djokovic, and it likely will should they meet again.
7. GARBINE ON THE GRASS: Last year’s Wimbledon was Garbine Muguruza coming-out party, and she’s since gone a step further, defeating Serena in the final of the French. But new Slam champions tend to be vulnerable to early-round upsets in the wake of their big win, and she’s drawn a player – Camila Giorgi – whose game can be dangerous on grass when she’s hot. This year’s Wimbledon will reveal a lot as to whether world No. 2 Muguruza is ready to truly fight Serena for the No. 1 ranking and deliver a consistency that the WTA needs.
8. MADISON’S GARDEN, COCO’S HOTTEST SURFACE: Madison Keys has a big-hitting, huge-serving game that’s ideal for grass, and she just entered the top 10 while winning her second title on the surface in Birmingham. She’s landed in Simona Halep’s and Angelique Kerber’s quarter of the draw, with a potentially tricky second-round opponent in former semifinalist Kristen Flipkens. Her road will not be easy, but Keys is showing signs this year that she may be ready to contend. Coco Vandeweghe reached the semis last year, and knocked off then-world No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska at a warmup tourney. She’s in Serena’s quarter, but on the favorable side of it, unlike Sloane Stephens, who could face her nemesis Caroline Wozniacki in the third round – that is if she shrugs off her recent Slam slump.
9. YOUNG GUNS: Of the highly-touted young guns – Dominic Thiem and teens Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz – Zverev has by far the kindest immediate draw, though things get tough for him in the third round, where he might run up against Tomas Berdych. If American hope Fritz can upset Stan Wawrinka in the first round, he’ll be announcing himself in a major way on the main stage of tennis.
10. SHE’S OUR VENUS: Does Venus Williams have one more grand Wimbledon run left in her? The five-time champ hasn’t excelled at the All England Club in recent years, but her strong performance at the French Open and the fact that this may be her final year on tour lead one to hope that she’ll come out on fire. She’s in Muguruza’s corner, and her draw definitely looks favorable.
