Novak Djokovic
Well believe it or not but I'm putting Novak Djokovic right at the top of this list and that's because in terms of consistency he has been the best player in the world over the last two or three years in the majors and most tournaments. And while Nole has struggled on the grass since his Wimbledon victory three years ago, he still has an excellent chance of winning should he reach the final and I think he will reach the final this year as he has been in the last four out of six major finals over the last year! However despite his consistency in his results, Novak has to yet win a slam this year and he hasn't won one since his win over Andy Murray in the Australian open final last year, so there is still a question mark over his head. And should Rafa reach the final then there is a fair bet that Rafa will win it given he has won their last four grand slam meetings. But given Rafa's back injury and very limited time to adjust to the grass, I can probably see Novak having a better chance of reaching the final than Rafa has. The other complication for Novak is of course Andy Murray, whom he has never even won a set against on the grass at Wimbledon never mind a match, so if the Scot finds his best form in the final again, well Nole is sure to be second best. However if neither Rafa, Roger or Andy reach the final then I think Novak will have his best shot at winning the title again for the 2nd time and as he has no fitness issues like Rafa has or has not had to have surgery like Andy and Roger might be getting a bit long in the tooth to go all the way. So the way I see it, Nole is a top contender with a real shot. Prediction: finalist or champion.
Andy Murray
Next up is the defending champion, Andy Murray, who made his mark in history by being the first British player to win the singles title in 77 years since Fred Perry back in 1936, which is in itself an incredible feat. However Andy after having come back from his back surgery isn't quite the same player this year and despite some good results in the slams so far with a quarter final result in Melbourne and the semis in Paris, he is yet to find his top form and hasn't won a title since Wimbledon last year or reached a final either. Andy also had a troubling dip in form this week at Queens club where he was the defending champion there too and he went out early in the 3rd round to Radek Stepanek, the Davis cup Czeck team hero. However we could attribute this to a bit of fatigue from Andy after having played such a gruelling yet promising campaign at the French open, which despite his drubbing from Rafa, saw his ranking bump up three places to No.5 in the world. But there is still a big question mark hanging over Andy as to whether or not has can defend his title this year, and despite hiring a new coach, Amelie Mauresmo (funnily enough they both have the same initials!) it remains to be seen how they will get on as a partnership. So there is much uncertainty ahead for Andy going into Wimbledon, however I don't think his result at Queens will be a true reflection of how he will play at Wimbledon and I think he will go pretty deep into the tournament. Can he win it this year??? I'm not entirely certain he will but I would really like to see Andy do it, and he just might with Mauresmo's help, who herself is a former Wimbledon champion and she has done very well at overcoming adversity in her career. There is also of course the issue of Andy's serve as his first serve percentage isn't high enough most of the time and his 2nd serve at Wimbledon will most likely get pummelled by his opponents, and whether or not Mauresmo can help with that or another is again another matter altogether. So a title defence for Andy is tough at this stage to predict but I do think Andy will be in the last four or final two. Prediction: semi finals or finalist
Roger Federer
So after Nole and Andy I have gone for Roger Federer, the seven time Wimbledon champion, who normally in the past you would bet your mortgage on each year that he would come out on top in his favourite tournament. But the problem for Roger this year is his schedule has taken a bit of a setback due to his wife Mirka, having given birth to their twins, it saw an impressive run from Roger earlier in the season disrupted. Roger is generally considered the greatest player of all time and it would be hard to argue with that, however in terms of fitness he isn't the same player he was, and in the slams he results over the last year or so haven't been that stellar and he made a surprise exit to Ernests Gulbis at the French open in the 4th round this year. Despite that I think Roger can still enjoy a pretty good run of form at Wimbledon and there is no doubt he will be sharper and more on his game this year than he was a year ago so it wouldn't be surprise he went real deep into the tournament. I don't see him as the champion, but I think he will still make an impact. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Rafael Nadal
Right so you might ask why I have put the world no.1 at the bottom of the "big four" and the reason why is because while Rafa is at the top of the men's rankings and the undisputed king of clay having just won his 9th French open title, when it comes to grass over the last two years, if you will pardon the pun, he just hasn't been cutting it (sorry!). This might well be to do with the very short turnaround time between the French and Wimbledon, which at a mere two weeks is simply too short. especially given the fact there are months in between the other slams in comparison. And this has left Rafa turned and fatigued from his French open campaigns and without match practice for the grass courts. Rafa did travel to the tournament in Halle this year after his sucess at Roland Garros but he went out in his very first match to the German player, Dustin Brown, which showed his lack of match play on grass was evident and also a concern. So his success at Wimbledon will purely depend on how well he can put together a good run of form and also find a way to win his matches. If Rafa can survive the first week, I'd give him a good shout at reaching the semis or even the final, but if he plays a much fresher Novak Djokovic for example in the final, then I think we could be looking at the Serb lifting the title instead. There is also the issue of Rafa's back, which had been troubling him during the French open again, and given the sudden change in surface, this could prove a problem again. So as far as Rafa is concerned he's a difficult one to root for in Wimbledon this year as it will depend purely on his fitness, form and ability to find a way to get his matches won even if he isn't up to par. But if he get's into the second week then he's got a good shot at making a run to the title. Prediction: 2nd round, semis, final or champion.
Grigor Dimitrov
Next is Grigor Dimitrov who I thought would do a great job at the French open, however his campaign there didn't go as planned at all as he exited in the first round. But this time I think Grigor will go much deeper and he won his first grass court title today at the Aegon championships today at Queens club in London and there he proved he has the belief to tough it out and win. Grigor also has a game that is well suited to grass as well which will make him a very dangerous player at SW19 and should he make a good start then he's got every chance of pushing himself into the second week of the tournament. Can he win it???? Not so sure but unlike the French open I think he can make a better impact there than he did on the red dirt. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
David Ferrer
My next pick would be David Ferrer who quite alot of people would see morely as a clay court specialist, but this guy is no specialist, Ferrer can play great on every surface. Ferrer may not yet have won a slam but he has shown remarkable consistency in his results over the years on all surfaces and he has also reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon over the last two years, which shows the Spaniard's game translate well to grass. Ferrer however despite his tremendous foot speed, athletic ability and sublime return game, lacks the big weapons to take down any of the big four on grass and he might be at risk to one or two other top players as well, which most likely will stop his progress at SW19. However I do think that Ferrer will once again show his consistency and it would be surprise me if the Spaniard will go deep and another quarter final most likely be on the cards and perhaps he might go a little further, we'll see. Prediction: quarter or semi finals.
Tomas Berdych
Then there is Tomas Berdych who was a former finalist back in 2010 at Wimbledon and he is also a very solid and consistent performer at SW19 over the years and with his big game and powerful serve he is a real threat to anyone on his day. However Berdych also lacks the mental edge that's needed when he get's closer to the finish line and he has often put himself in a position where he could go deep but then he squanders more often than not. So I don't quite see the big Czeck win the title but he definitely could make it into the second week given his pedigree on grass, he is a danger to anyone out there when he's on his game. Prediction: quarter finals.
Kei Nishikori
Kei deserves to be on this list as well as he is quite some player in his own right and he too has made it into the quarter finals of the slams in Australia, and he also recently reached the semi finals of the Gerry Webber grass court tournament in Halle (where Federer plays every year). The only issue with Nishikori will be his fitness as he had some back trouble during the clay court season where he managed to reach the final in Madrid, where he was a set and a break up against a less than convincing looking Rafa, before he was forced to throw the towel in because of his back injury. And if Kei's back flares up again well things might not be that good for him, but if it doesn't then I can definitely see the Japanese player reach the last eight or at least the final 16. Predictions: 4th round or quarter finals.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Then we have Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has been two times a former semi finalist at Wimbledon, and he has also reached the final at Queens club three years ago as well, so Tsonga's quality as a grass court player is undeniable. Tsonga however hasn't been having the best year as he has really been struggling with form and he made a puzzling exit at the French open in the 4th round against NOvak Djokovic, where he was sure to give the Serb a real match, but instead he faded badly, making a rash unforced errors he won only six games, perhaps he folded under pressure. And that is the problem with Tsonga as he is an all or nothing player, when his game is on, he can just about beat anybody, but when its off, and half the time it is off, then Tsonga really struggles to do anything well. So Tsonga if he can refind his form will have the chance to do well at Wimbledon, like he has in the past, but if he plays like he has so far this year, then he hasn't a chance, but despite that Tsonga could still pull himself together at SW19. Whether or not he does in time remains to be seen, but he could do well and get into the 2nd week. Prediction: 4th round or quarter finals.
Stan Wawrinka
And then we have Stan Wawrinka who's season has enjoyed mixed fortunes, he started off the possible way by winning the Australian open, his major title and then went on to claim his first Masters title at Monte Carlo. But since then Stan has struggled to find consistency and he also suffered a few early exits, the most notable one being his departure at the French open in the first round. But what can be said for Stan is when he finds his form, he is very dangerous and difficult to stop, especially given the power of his game, with a big serve and the perhaps the best single handed backhand of all time. So Stan's progress at SW19 will again purely depend on him finding his form at the right time, he sure will want to make up for his early exit at the French open and I'm sure he will. Can he win it??? No don't think so because his game isn't really tailor made for grass but he can possibly make the second week if he plays well enough. Prediction: 4th round, quarter or semi finals.
John Isner
And last of all we have big John Isner, who is already a star at Wimbledon because he played that incredible match against Nicholas Mahut four years ago, which lasted well over 11 hours and the final set alone featured 138 games! So Isner has got a decent chance of doing well at Wimbledon given his powerful and largely accurate serve as well as a good net game, as long as Isner isn't drawn into big long rallies he may have a good chance of preserving himself for the latter stages. However the problem for John is that he is quite often drawn into big long matches and if he has to endure two five setters in a row it could really impinge on his chances to go any deeper. But with a decent 4th round result at the French open already this year, I can see the big man reach the second week this year as well at SW19 and if his serve is on, there's not much anyone can do. So he won't win it, but John is still a threat (and a very big one!). Predictions: 4th round or quarter finals.
So that's it for my look at my Wimbledon predictions, so I guess we'll soon see how they pan out. I'd personally rather see a repeat of last year's final between Andy and Nole, which could give Andy a good chance of winning again. But I'd rather not see Rafa and Novak in the final as its all too familiar and Wimbledon has been the slam that has shaken things in the last two years, so let's hope things are shaken up once more.
So my next post will cover the start of the Wimbledon championships so we will see how it goes, it should be fun.
Until then bye for now!
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