By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, June 26, 2015
Serena Williams plays to complete the Serena Slam and move one step closer to the calendar-year Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
Photo credit: AELTC/Florian Eisele
Serena Williams' quest to reclaim Wimbledon, complete the Serena Slam and move closer to the calendar-year Grand Slam got a bit more complicated today.
A pair of former top-ranked Grand Slam champions Williams knows well — older sister Venus and rival Victoria Azarenka — could present a double dose of danger the world No. 1 must overcome to turn SW19 into SW21 by winning her 21st career Grand Slam crown.
More: Djokovic, Federer Gain Favorable Wimbledon Draws
The Wimbledon draw was released today and Williams, who is playing to complete her second Serena Slam and achieve the rare feat of holding all four Grand Slam championships simultaneously, will juggle the burden of playing for history with the prospect of facing dangerous opponents within the first four rounds.
Our quarter-by-quarter preview of the Wimbledon Ladies draw is here.
First Quarterfinal Prediction (1) Serena Williams vs. (23) Victoria Azarenka
Short-term memory loss is a prerequisite for Slam success, but neither Serena nor Vika will forget their controversial French Open third round match last month where Williams rallied for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. They could meet again in the quarterfinals here. But Serena, who opens against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan, could first face 32nd-seeded Caroline Garcia followed by a fourth-round reunion with Venus.
The five-time Wimbledon champion beat her little sister in their most recent meeting in Montreal last summer. Serena leads their head-to-head series 14-11, including a 3-2 edge in their Wimbledon meetings.
Intriguing first-round matches in the top quarter include:
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An all-Slovak match of Daniela Hantuchova vs. 2014 Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova
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British No. 1 Heather Watson vs. (32) Caroline Garcia
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(30) Belinda Bencic vs. former semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova
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(19) Sara Errani vs. compatriot Francesca Schiavone
Second Quarterfinal Prediction (4) Maria Sharapova vs. (11) Karolina Pliskova
Eleven years after she stunned reigning champion Serena with an audacious baseline assault to claim her first Grand Slam title, Maria Sharapova returns to SW19 more accomplished on dirt than grass these days. Still, Sharapova, who will be in the spotlight from the outset facing British wild card Johanna Konta in round one, plays bold first-strike tennis that should carry her past the fourth round for the first time in four years — if she can tame a sometime unruly serve.
Lucie Safarova reached her first major semifinal at SW19 last year and arrives this year empowered by her run to the French Open final—and the shot at the doubles Grand Slam with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands. The left-handed Czech's slice serve and curling forehand are both major weapons on the lawn. Given the fact Karolina Pliskova has never surpassed the third round of a Grand Slam in her career, it's a risk picking her. However, she can dictate on serve, owns an aggressive game and expansive reach and pushed Angelique Kerber to a third-set tie break in the Birmingham final.
An intriguing first-round matches in the second quarter:
(27) Barbora Strycova vs. Sloane Stephens — A clash of former quarterfinalists, who are both good servers and have split two prior meetings. Grass rewards athleticism, Stephens may be the fastest player in the game and can play all-court tennis.
Third Quarterfinal Prediction (10) Angeliqe Kerber vs. (3) Simona Halep
A year after her run to the Wimbledon semifinals, how will Simona Halep, who admits she hasn't always handled Grand Slam pressure well, hold up? The Romanian has won titles on all surfaces, but when she gets tight, she can adopt passive court positioning and get cranky after misses. Halep could face two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round followed by a possible fourth-round against 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki.
The 18th-seeded German blasted 27 aces — a WTA record for most aces in a main-draw match — last week in Birmingham and will be dangerous here. Halep defused the explosive Lisicki, 6-4, 6-0, in the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinals. Kerber is chronically overshadowed by higher seeds and though she lacks any single imposing weapon, the sturdy German does just about everything well — except serve. Her lefty slice stays low on the lawns, but her second serve is very suspect.
Camila Giorgi is a dangerous grass-court player, who won her first WTA title on the lawn of 's-Hertogenbosch and has been to the Wimbledon fourth round before. Giorgi's go-for-broke style — she leads the WTA in double faults and boasts two simple approaches hit hard, reload and hit even harder — has held her back in the past. But she's beaten Top 10 players on faster surfaces before, including No. 5 seed Caroline Wozniacki. They could square off in the third round.
Fourth Quarterfinal Prediction (2) Petra Kvitova vs. (21) Madison Keys
One of the purest ball-strikers in the sport, two-time champion Kvitova has the potent game to extend her reign. The left-hander can open the court with her stinging serve and punctuate points with flat strikes off both wings. Kvitova is one of the best volleyers in the Top 10, skilled on drive, angled and touch volleys. Injury, ennui and mental lapses that result in long matches have hurt the Czech, who can be erratic. The No. 2 seed opens against the hard-hitting Kiki Bertens.
It's been a disappointing year for 13th-ranked Agnieszka Radwanska, but she thrives on grass, beat Stephens to reach the Eastbourne final and won her last match with Kvitova at the 2014 WTA Finals. If Radwanska and Kvitova meet in the fourth round, it could be an entertaining clash of styles. Kvitova won their lone prior grass-court match, 7-6, in the decisive set.
Genie Bouchard burst into the Wimbledon final last year as the No. 13 seed, but has struggled to back up those results this season and has looked adrift at times. Left-hander Ekaterina Makarova plays hard and flat and can close at net — all qualities that helped her reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal last year. Makarova has been to the final four in two of her last three majors and is a threat again here. Madison Keys' serve is one of the biggest shots in the field — Radwanska calls the Keys serve one of the best in the sport. If the powerful American, who opens against Stefanie Voegele, can wield it wisely, command rallies with her forehand and avoid degenerating into wild shot selection lapses — when trailing Keys sometimes rushes through service games and overplays the down the line drives prematurely — the Australian Open semifinalist is a real threat to reach the last eight at SW19.