Wimbledon Preview

Here is my Wimbledon preview for what could a more wide open major, in both draws, than we are used to seeing.

On the men's side, one of the Big 4 likely wins this tournament but who it will be is the question.  I don't give Nadal any shot, given his grass court record the last 2 years.  He's lost to Rosol, Darcis, and now Brown in Halle, winning only 5 games.  Djokovic is a candidate, but I wonder where his game is at against top players he rode an easy draw to the French Open final and then lost there to Nadal.  Besides grass is likely his weakest surface.  Murray is the defending champion and is my pick to win again.  He has put the ghosts of Fred Perry behind and only improved his Wimbledon results over the years.  He is a tough out at his home major and doesn't lose earlier.  Federer comes to Wimbledon as the only one of the Big 4 to have any success in warm up, winning Halle for a 7th time.  Federer is in Nadal's half, so assuming Nadal losing before he gets to Federer (Nadal potentially starts with Klizan, Rosol (remember me?), and Karlovic), he'll only need to beat one of the Big 4 members.  And he's won this tournament 7 times.  He is a threat, despite his age and inconsistent play.  So that brings me to the dark horses.  Dimitrov is a viable candidate but would potentially play Murray in the quarters.  I can't see Wawrinka doing much.  I like Lopez and maybe Isner to take his spot in the quarters, and Kohlschreiber or Karlovic could take advantage of an early Nadal loss.

For the women, I think Serena still has to be considered the favorite but she has more question marks about her game than she normally does at this tournament.  Beyond her, throw several names in a hat and pick.  Li has played decent at Wimbledon in the past but has never been past the quarters.  Halep has some injury issues after all the playing she's done over the past year but did win a grass title last year.  Radwanska is a threat, especially coming from the bottom half.  She took a set off Serena in the '12 final and had a golden opportunity last year but couldn't convert.  Aside from the '11 final loss to Kvitova, Sharapova hasn't done much at Wimbledon post-surgery but see still is the reigning French Open champ and did win here in the past.  Kvitova seems far too inconsistent.  Kerber seems like she may have a chance to deep.  But more likely we'll have one or two top players and then some dark horses (if there can be any of those this year) with an opportunity to steal a major.  I'm looking at women like Wozniacki, Stephens, Venus, Makarova, Ivanovic, Cibulkova, or maybe even Keys or former finalist Zvonareva (who has a nice draw if she remembers how to play tennis).  This could be a very interesting women's tournament

Here are the big points defenders:
Men
F - Murray def. Djokovic
SF - Del Potro, Janowicz
QF - Ferrer, Berdych, Verdasco, Kubot
(Both Poles stand to lose a ton)
Women
F - Bartoli def. Lisicki
SF - Radwanska, Flipkens
QF - Li, Kvitova, Stephens, Kanepi

Former men's champs in the draw: Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray
Former women's champs in the draw: Venus, Serena, Sharapova, Kvitova
Former boy's champs in the draw: Federer, Melzer, Mahut, Monfils, Chardy, Young, Dimitrov, An.Kuznetsov, Saville
Former girl's champs in the draw: Flipkens, A.Radwanska, Wozniacki, U.Radwanska, Kr.Pliskova, Bouchard, Bencic

American participants (10 men, 13 women), from top to bottom in the draw:
-Klahn, Querrey, Johnson, q-Kuznetsov, q-Harrison, Young, Russell, 9-Isner, Sock, q-Kudla
-1-Serena, Tatishvili, McHale, Riske, q-Duval, w-Townsend, Keys, Vandeweghe, Lepchenko, 30-Venus, 18-Stephens, Davis, King

Potential quarterfinal matchups:

-Djokovic vs Berdych
-Murray vs Ferrer
-Federer vs Wawrinka
-Nadal vs Raonic

-Serena vs Sharapova
-Halep vs Jankovic
-Radwanska vs Azarenka
-Li vs Kvitova