Future Tennis Stars

The talk going into Wimbledon is that either Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic will walk away with the title and with good reason. However, without any warmup events under their belt, how ready will they be? Ivanovic pulled out of warmups citing fatigue, will she be ready mentally to take her second Slam? I don’t think this will come down to who wins Wimbledon, but who survives.

Looking at the favourites, Ana Ivanovic clearly has the game to take the title. However she hasn’t played well on grass, having never reached a final in any grass event. Last year, she was nearly upset by Nicole Vaidisova (little chance of that happening this year) before losing in the semifinals. After winning the French, her confidence should be high even though she will most likely have to wait until the US Open before hauling in another Slam.

Maria Sharapova is the most likely of all players to bring the title home. She definately has the game and having been injured for most of last year, she has the desire. Since winning the title in 2004, she reached the semis in ‘05 and ‘06. She’s 20-3 since she won the title. If anyone is a favourite, it’s her. Still, she’s in the bottom half of the draw, away from Ivanovic. She could be tested by Azarenka in the fourth round and she will still have to go up against Davenport or Safina in the quarters. In the semifinals, she could face Venus Williams or Jelena Jankovic. Williams is a 4 time champion and Jankovic is no slouch on grass having beated Sharapova last year in a warmup.

As for the other two favourites (according to ESPN anyway) are Venus and Serena Williams. You can count me out of that conversation. They are too up and down to seriously pick for a major title anymore. Lately, no one else seems more likely to either blow someone off the court or be blown off. They could win a title without dropping a set then win only 4 games their next match. If you’re going to bet on them, don’t bet big. Serena came out of nowhere last year to take the Australian Open then Venus fought off two potential upsets to take Wimbledon a year ago.

For Serena, in her quarter, she could have trouble with Agnieszka Radwanska, Svetlana Kuznetsova or Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals. With the way she played in Paris, she could have trouble with Kaia Kanepi in the first round.

For Venus, she should have a clear path to the quarters where she could play Daniela Hantuchova. Keep in mind she was nearly sent packing last year by Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round and Akiko Morigami in the third. Like her sister, she is just as likely to lose to Sania Mirza as she is to double bagel Jelena Jankovic.

Which brings us to the second (?) seed, Jelena Jankovic.  For the first time, she is seeded higher than third but playing at a Slam where she has never gone past the fourth round will be interesting. It’s unlikely that she will advance to the finals without playing a warmup and nursing a sore arm. Still, getting to the quarters shouldn’t be a problem. Afterall she has won a title on grass and has reached a few finals in warmups in the past so she knows how to adjust. Caroline Wozniacki will be waiting in the third round which will be very interesting. If Jankovic isn’t on her game, she will be upset and kiss any chance of becoming the new No. 1 goodbye. After that it’s Venus in the quarters and Sharapova in the semis and Ivanovic in the finals. Talk about a rough draw. If it’s Venus in the quarters, it may be over.

Dark Horses
Agnieszka Radwanska
Alona Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
Victoria Azarenka
Dinara Safina

The first round match you don’t want to miss…
Mauresmo vs. Harkleroad. Former champ vs. Miss August. The outcome won’t have an impact on the rest of the draw but if Harkleroad is healthy, Mauresmo could be out early.

First round upsets
Zuzana Ondraskova over Nicole Vaidisova or Katie O’brien over Shahar Peer, take your pick. Neither Vaidisova or Peer are playing well so I wouldn’t exactly call it an upset.

Predictions
Fourth Round (just to make it interesting)
Ivanovic vs. Szavay
Stosur vs. Chakvetadze
Kuznetsova vs. Radwanska
Kirielnko vs. S. Williams
Davenport vs. Safina
Azarenka vs. Sharapova
V. Williams vs. Hantuchova
Tanasugarn vs. Jankovic

Quarterfinals
Ivanovic vs. Stosur
Radwanska vs. S. Williams
Safina vs. Sharapova
V. Williams vs. Jankovic

Semifinals
Ivanovic vs. S. Williams
Sharapova vs. V. Williams

Finals
Sharapova over Ivanovic in straight sets

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm and is filed under Wimbledon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.