As tennis fans, it’s no wonder summer is the most exciting time of the year. With the French Open not even three weeks in the rearview mirror, it’s already time to prepare for Wimbledon. On June 29th, the tennis world will turn its full attention to the Championships at Wimbledon at the All-England Club for the most important title in tennis each year. To get you prepared, I’ll provide a few storylines to keep an eye on throughout the fortnight.
Serena Williams’ Quest for All Four Majors
At the French Open, Serena overcame illness and five different three-set nail-biters to win her 20th Grand Slam title. Now, with Wimbledon on the horizon, she has a chance to make even more history. With a championship at the All-England Club, Serena will earn her 21st major title, bringing her to within one major of Steffi Graf’s Open-Era record 22 titles. Additionally, the win would mean that Serena would hold all four of the major titles at the same time, a feat she has accomplished once before, but not since 2002-2003. Finally, the victory would bring her one step closer to the calendar year grand slam, a feat that nobody else besides Graf has been able to complete. There’s a lot on the line for Serena in this year’s Championships, but per usual, it’s hard to imagine any of the other 127 women in the field hoisting the trophy after the final.
How Will Djokovic Rebound? Can Wawrinka Repeat?
After routing Rafael Nadal and handing him only his second ever loss at the French Open, it appeared Novak Djokovic had a clear run to his first French Open title. That is, until he was decimated by the one-handed backhand of Stan Wawrinka in the final. Can Djokovic put the devastating loss behind him and earn his third Wimbledon title? Or will it be another crushing blow for the world’s consensus best player? Only time will tell, but you know that Novak will enter this tournament hungrier than ever to prove that his #1 rank is not in danger. Meanwhile, Wawrinka has now won 2 of the last 6 majors, more than anyone else besides Djokovic, who also has 2 in that span. Can he win a second consecutive grand slam, and his third overall? At 30 years of age it would be one of the more impressive runs in recent memory.
Roger Federer: Still a Threat to Win?
Federer hasn’t won a major title since the 2012 Wimbledon Championships three years ago, yet at 33 he still holds a firm grasp on the #2 world ranking. Since the 2012 final he has made only one other grand slam final, that being the 2014 Wimbledon final in which he lost to Djokovic. Also, Federer, once a lock to reach at least the quarterfinals of a grand slam, as he did every tournament between Wimbledon in 2004 and Wimbledon in 2013, has been eliminated before reaching the quarterfinals four times in his last eight grand slam appearances. So there are some seriously mixed signals here in terms of Roger. It’s hard to count him out, but it’s also hard to picture him winning this tournament against a slew of formidable opponents. This could be his final shining moment, but we’ve been saying that for year.
Can Another Woman Challenge Serena?
Serena Williams has won seven major titles in the last five years; meanwhile, nobody else has won more than two. The crew with two each during that span includes Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Li Na. It’s been three years since Williams won at Wimbledon. Can one of these women hold her off yet again? Or will someone new and young, perhaps Simona Halep from Romania, earn their first title and pry it away from Serena? This will be the most intriguing storyline on the women’s side of the draw.
Rafael Nadal
Nadal in and of himself will be a storyline to look out for due to his recent performances, health, and ranking. Nadal, who sits at #10 in the world (no, that’s not a typo), hasn’t been ranked this low since 2004. Every year since 2005 he has been in the top 4 in the world by year’s end, so the sight of a double-digit rank next to his name is almost unimaginable. Rafa’s talent level is still top-four worthy, but a spell of injuries and illnesses have caught up to him of late, and resulted in only his second-ever loss at the French Open just a few weeks ago. Will he be able to right the ship, dispel the injury concerns, and win his third Wimbledon title? Or will he even make it into the second week of the fortnight? With Nadal it’s hard to predict how he’ll fare right now, but it sure makes every one of his matches all the more riveting.
Sources:
http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/rankings/singles