By Erik Gudris | Friday, June 24, 2016

 

Defending champion Serena Williams aims for a seventh Wimbledon title. But will she finish as a runner-up again to another surprise winner?

Photo Credit: Wimbledon

World No. 1 and defending ladies' champion Serena Williams goes for her seventh Wimbledon title. And while we always expect to see her in a Grand Slam final, this season so far has seen Williams come up just short in Melbourne and Paris. Williams remains the favorite to win, but could we find ourselves with yet another surprise winner holding up the trophy?

Wimbledon: Djokovic and Federer Could Meet in Semis

Top Quarter

Serena headlines the top half of the draw and will face a qualifier in her opening round. Waiting for her in this section is UK's own Heather Watson who nearly beat Williams when they met at Wimbledon last year. But it's more likely Williams will face No. 31 seed Kristina Mladenovic of France in the third round. The Frenchwoman severely tested the top seed when they battled at the French Open a few weeks ago and this could prove to be the first real hurdle for Williams to pass if she wants to reach the second week.

Several well-known names are in the bottom side of this section.

No. 11 seed Timea Bacsinszky is here. No. 13 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova squares off in her opening round against an unseeded Caroline Wozniacki. Big serving American CoCo Vandeweghe, who reached the quarters last year, just might be poised for another deep run at Wimbledon. No. 6 seed Roberta Vinci, who upset Williams in the US Open semifinals, could use her slice and dice game to carve herself a path into a quarterfinal meeting with the top seed. But while potentially tricky foes await Williams, this early draw is very favorable for her to once again book her place in the final four.

Quarterfinal Prediction
(1) Serena vs. (27) CoCo Vandeweghe

Second Quarter

No. 3 seed Agnieszka Radwanska once again goes in search of her so far elusive first major title. Grass suits "The Ninja" and her game of spins and variety, so it's hard not to see Radwanska going deep into the event yet again.

But nothing is certain for the Polish star as she finds several dangerous opponents in her section. No. 19 seed Dominika Cibulkova, who just beat Radwanska in Eastbourne, is always poised to pull off a big upset. All eyes will be on UK No. 1 Johanna Konta who is capable of another solid showing at a major yet must now deal with the increased expectation of playing in front of her home crowd. No. 7 seed Belinda Bencic, just returning to action after a lengthy break due to a back injury, gets a tricky opening round against former semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova.

And what about No. 10 seed and two-time champion Petra Kvitova? While Wimbledon often brings out the best in Kvitova, once again she enters a major with several question marks hanging over her in terms of her form and her ability to dig out of the inevitable three-set matches she often finds herself in. Kvitova is certainly capable of winning the title again. And she is also very capable of crashing out in the first round.

Let's hope that Kvitova does find some magic again on the grass and sets up a quarterfinal showing with Radwanska. A meeting between those two could just provide the match of the tournament.

Quarterfinal Prediction
No. 3 Radwanska vs. No. 10 Kvitova

Third Quarter

By far the toughest section of the entire draw with several players who could go all the way to the finals.

No. 4 seed Angelique Kerber is hoping to bounce back after crashing out in the first round of Paris. Though she remains the player to beat in this section, it won't be easy for her to reach the semifinals.

Karolina Pliskova, Ana Ivanovic, Kiki Bertens and Madison Keys all find themselves in this section. Keys, who just debuted in the top 10 and is fresh off winning in Birmingham, appears to finally be finding that next level in her game that includes more consistency to match her powerful shots.

No. 5 seed Simona Halep isn't being talked about much and that's probably how she likes it. The Romanian, a former semifinalist, has struggled this year, but the lack of attention on her at Wimbledon could help her fly under the radar and into the second week. But she remains vulnerable to big hitters and if she faces Bertens or Keys, she could be in trouble.

This section contains many potentially tantalizing matchups. While Kerber should reach the last eight, this section feels primed for someone to breakthrough into the semifinals for the first time.

Quarterfinal Prediction
No. 4 Kerber vs. No. 9 Keys

Fourth Quarter

Is Garbine Muguruza ready to win back-to-back major titles? The newly crowned French Open winner and No. 2 seed proved she has the game to win on grass after reaching last year’s Wimbledon final. But which Muguruza will show up on the lawns this time? The woman who blazed through the Paris draw including beating Serena Williams. Or the player who struggled throughout the first part of the season?

Muguruza gets a potentially tricky opening round against the always streaky Camila Giorgi of Italy. Several more unseeded yet dangerous players lurk in this section including former finalist Sabine Lisicki and Yaroslava Shvedova. Lefty Lucie Safarova might also pose a risk should she meet Muguruza in the third round.

The biggest name on the other side of this section is of course the ageless wonder in No. 8 seed Venus Williams. The five-time champion has a good early draw. Though Venus might face rising Russian No. 29 seed Daria Kasatkina, if Venus can maintain her current form of late, she has a solid chance of reaching the quarterfinals. If Muguruza wavers at all in her conviction, the sentimental favorite Williams just might have a shot at finding herself in the final four.

Quarterfinal Prediction
No. 2 Muguruza vs. No. 8 Venus Williams

Semifinals:
Serena vs. Radwanska; Keys vs. Muguruza

Finals:
Serena vs. Keys