Following its postponement a year ago, Wimbledon is back! When Novak Djokovic lifted the men’s singles trophy to conclude the 2019 edition of this iconic tournament, few would’ve imagined that it would be another twenty-four months before tennis was played on Centre Court again. However, 2020 saw no play at Wimbledon as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic but thankfully the tournament is able to go ahead in 2021.
GRASS SEASON SO FAR:
There were no official WTA or ATP tournaments on grass in 2020 so many players have been setting foot on this surface for the first time since 2019 over the past three weeks. As a result of Roland Garros being pushed back a week, some grass court tournaments were cancelled, although the WTA250 event in Nottingham and the ATP250 tournament in Stuttgart chose to take place during the second week of Roland Garros. In Nottingham, British number one Johanna Konta took home the title to make the perfect start to her grass court season, meanwhile in Stuttgart, Marin Cilic claimed the title with victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime in the final. The following week saw four grass court events as the world’s top players’ Wimbledon preparations intensified. On the WTA Tour, there was a surprise winner in Berlin as the unseeded Liudmila Samsonova clinched the title after a magnificent week that included victories over Madison Keys, Victoria Azarenka and Belinda Bencic. Elsewhere, there was a first career singles title for Ons Jabeur as she triumphed in Birmingham with a straight sets win over Daria Kasatkina in the final. Meanwhile, the ATP Tour also held events in Germany and England. In Halle, Roger Federer returned to grass for the first time since 2019 however he wasn’t on the court for as long as he wished after suffering a three-set loss against Felix Auger-Aliassime in round two. The tournament in Halle concluded with success for Ugo Humbert as he defeated Andrey Rublev to claim the title. While Humbert was winning in Halle, it was Matteo Berrettini who lifted the trophy at the ATP500 event in London after an impressive week where the Italian dominated with his serve. In this past week, some players chose to play tournaments to get some extra time on grass ahead of Wimbledon. Over in Germany, Angelique Kerber won the WTA250 Bad Homburg Open. Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev lifted the trophy on the grass in Mallorca. At a tournament a bit closer to Wimbledon geographically, Jelena Ostapenko won the women’s singles title and Alex De Minaur claimed the men’s singles title down by the British seaside in Eastbourne.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS:
Two years ago, Simona Halep and Novak Djokovic departed Wimbledon with a new addition for their respective trophy cabinets. On that occasion, Halep picked up her first Wimbledon title with a dominant straight sets win over Serena Williams in the final. Fast forward twenty-four months and unfortunately the Romanian will not be returning to defend her Wimbledon title. During a match against Angelique Kerber in Rome, Halep picked up a calf injury, which forced her to retire from that match and then subsequently withdraw from Roland Garros. Despite the injury, Halep and her team did choose to head to London and train ahead of Wimbledon to give her the maximum chance of being able to compete, however unfortunately it was announced on Friday morning that Simona Halep’s calf injury was still a problem and would prevent her from participating in this year’s tournament.
In contrast, Novak Djokovic is fit and ready to defend his Wimbledon title. In 2019, the Serb beat Roger Federer in a fifth set tie-break after saving two match points to secure his 5th triumph at the All England Club. So far this year, Djokovic has won both of the grand slam titles available to him including Roland Garros just two weeks ago. In the past week, the world number one has been preparing for Wimbledon by playing doubles at the ATP250 event in Mallorca alongside his friend Carlos Gomez-Herrera. They played some spectacular tennis and won three matches to reach the final although were forced to withdraw after Gomez-Herrera suffered a foot injury. Heading into Wimbledon, there is no doubt that Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to claim the title however there is always the possibility of the world number one suffering a shock defeat and that would create an opening for a number of other players to mount a challenge for the trophy. If Djokovic is to be beaten across the fortnight, the best chance of this happening may come in the matches where he is scheduled to play on Court 1, as quite incredibly Djokovic has not lost a match on Centre Court at Wimbledon since the 2013 final – eight years ago!!
THE CONTENDERS:
WTA:
Ashleigh Barty – The world number one and top seed will open play on Centre Court on Tuesday in the absence of defending champion Simona Halep. After retiring hurt at Roland Garros, Barty has not played since so there are question marks about her potentially still being bothered by an injury. Despite that, if she is fit then Barty is certainly a contender for the title. The Aussie has a game that is well suited to grass and she has often spoke about her love for the surface.
Aryna Sabalenka – Currently the world number three, Sabalenka is a phenomenal ball-striker who is yet to win a grand slam but has been claimed multiple WTA Tour titles. The quick conditions that are typically associated with Wimbledon are likely to complement the way Sabalenka likes to play. She also has a kind draw, when compared with the potential route to the final she could have faced so the Belarusian is definitely one to watch across the fortnight.
Serena Williams – There seems to be a general consensus among tennis fans and pundits that if Williams is to win a 24th grand slam title then it is most likely to come at Wimbledon. A seven-time former champion at the All England Club, Serena Williams certainly knows how to win on grass and if she can find some form will be looking to challenge deep into he second week of the tournament once again.
It has often been said in recent years that women’s tennis has become increasingly tough to predict. I think this Wimbledon might be the toughest yet to pick a certain number of contenders for the title because truthfully there are probably about 25 or so players who you can make a case for having a potential chance of claiming the title. Nevertheless, some names I’d suggest to watch out for are Bianca Andreescu, Belinda Bencic, Elena Rybakina, Anett Kontaveit, Jelena Ostapenko and two-time former champion Petra Kvitova.
ATP:
Daniil Medvedev – Seeded at number two for this year’s championships, Medvedev will be delighted to get off clay courts and onto grass having told us all clay season how much he dislikes that particular surface. The Russian has had good results on grass in the past including reaching the Eastbourne semi final in 2017. This year he has shown his quality on this surface once again by winning the tournament in Mallorca this week, so will head to Wimbledon full of confidence and ready to mount a title challenge in London.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Fresh from reaching his first grand slam final at Roland Garros, Tsitsipas will be hoping to go one better over he next fortnight at Wimbledon. There are still question marks about his game on grass after a disappointing early exit at SW19 in 2019 but the Greek has won more matches than anyone else on the ATP Tour in 2021 so he is certainly a man in form. If he can transfer his form from the clay season onto grass then there is no doubt that Tsitsipas is a contender to be lifting the Wimbledon men’s singles trophy.
Roger Federer – Last time he played on Centre Court, the Swiss was one point away from securing a ninth Wimbledon title. Similarly to Serena Williams, if Federer is going to win another grand slam then Wimbledon seems the most likely location for that to happen. Federer has made no secret that his comeback this year was all about trying to win Wimbledon, he even withdrew midway through Roland Garros so that he could spend more time on grass ahead of the championships. One thing that has worked in Federer’s favour is that he is in the opposite half to Novak Djokovic and given their head-to-head record at grand slams in recent years, Federer will need somebody else to take out Djokovic if he is to win a 21st grand slam title over the next fortnight.
Other players that could also be considered title contenders include Matteo Berrettini and Alexander Zverev. Meanwhile, some names to keep an eye on who will be aiming to make a deep run at Wimbledon are Roberto Bautista-Agut, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ugo Humbert, Lorenzo Sonego, John Isner and Marin Cilic.
To conclude, after one year away. Wimbledon is back and it is set to be another entertaining and exciting edition of one of the most prestigious events in the whole of sport. Thank you for reading. Enjoy the tennis!
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