By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday June 23, 2021
A fast, furious grass-court season means there could be more chaos than usual at Wimbledon. Here's a list of players to watch and why.
Photo Source: Camera Sport
Grass court season introduces a whole new cast of dangerous characters and Grand Slam hopefuls, and for many who struggled to find their form on the clay, it offers a reprieve. After three months of clay, we’ve become comfortable with matchups and skill sets that work on that surface, but now it’s time to see who excels on the grass.
Here’s a look at some names that could do damage at Wimbledon. We’ll break them into a few categories so that it’s easier to understand what type of prospects they have—and why—on the grass.
Tried-and-true champions of grass
These are players that have history on the surface where experience matters the most. They each also happen to have won Wimbledon--A LOT.
Roger Federer
He’s the only man with over 100 wins at Wimbledon, and the only man with eight titles. But he’s 39 and going on 40. Can Roger Federer muster more magic at SW19?
Serena Williams
Seven-time champion Williams, like Federer, is 39 going on 40. But she’s 98-12 lifetime at Wimbledon and many believe that 2021 could be her best chance to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 major singles titles won.
Novak Djokovic
Four out of the last six times Wimbledon has been played, Novak Djokovic has emerged as the men’s singles champion. Djokovic, who owns a 72-10 lifetime record at Wimbledon, has also won the last two stagings of Wimbledon.
Petra Kvitova
Two-time champion Petra Kvitova hasn’t been to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon since 2014, when she won her second title. Could this be the year she pushes for a third title at Wimbledon?
Showing Good Form in 2021
These players have hit the ground running with strong performances on grass already in 2021. Past performance is no guarantee of future success, but confidence is key on the grass.
Matteo Berrettini
A champion last week at Queen’s Club, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini is looking like one of the five best players in the world on grass at the moment. He’s 18-5 lifetime on the surface, and reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2019.
Ons Jabeur
Fresh off her maiden WTA title at Birmingham, Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur has a game well-suited for the surface. She’s 12-8 lifetime on grass, but has won 10 of her last 13.
Liudmila Samsonova
Who? The woman who stormed to the Berlin title last week, that’s who! The 22-year-old has never won on grass prior to last week, but now she’s at a career-high ranking of 63 and will head to Wimbledon—where she has a main draw wild card—with a full head of steam.
Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert first caught our attention on grass at Wimbledon in 2019. We were courtside for his third round victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime and duly impressed. Last week in Halle, he defeated Auger-Aliassime again, then took out Andrey Rublev for his biggest career title. The World No.25 is 13-5 lifetime on grass, and 7-1 in 2021.
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime is now 14-5 lifetime on grass, which is far better than his record on hard (48-39) and clay (20-21). He serves extremely well and seems to play with more confidence on the grass.
Marin Cilic
A former finalist at Wimbledon, Cilic is most dangerous on the fast-playing grass. The Croatian owns a 75-30 lifetime record on grass and will be one of the most dangerous unseeded players at Wimbledon—along with Nick Kyrgios.
Experience Counts more on grass than anywhere else
Players with tons of experience both on the grass and at Wimbledon will always enter the fortnight with an edge. Here’s a few that we see as threats to go deep at Wimbledon no matter the year.
Ash Barty
The Aussie loves grass and has four professional titles on the surface, including two WTA titles. At Wimbledon she's just getting started: 5-4 with a trip to the round of 16 in her last appearance. If healthy, this could be a breakout year for Barty at SW19.
Angelique Kerber
The German hasn’t been in the best form of late, but her Wimbledon history paints a compelling narrative. 31-11 lifetime with a title in 2018 and a runner-up performance in 2016. Those results come from a period when Kerber was a much more imposing force on tour, but nevertheless she’s a threat to cause damage and maybe even win it all if she finds her A game.
Victoria Azarenka
Azarenka tends to perform better at the Australian Open and US Open, but the Belarusian is no slouch on grass. She owns a 32-12 record at Wimbledon and has been to the quarterfinals or beyond four times.
Nick Kyrgios
Whenever Nick Kyrgios steps on a grass court he’s a threat to win, no matter who he faces. Kyrgios will not carry much momentum into Wimbledon, however. He has played just six matches, with his last appearance coming in February, at the Australian Open.
Garbiñe Muguruza
Garbiñe Muguruza has not fared well at Wimbledon since she claimed the title in 2017, going 1-2 in her last two appearances, but here’s a stat to keep in mind: each time the Spaniard has reached the third round at Wimbledon, she has gone on to reach at least the final.
Feliciano Lopez
The World No.90 will make his 19th Wimbledon appearance and his 77th consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearance. At 39 the southpaw doesn’t pack the same potency as he did in his heyday, but he has been to the second week six times at SW19 and reached the quarter-finals on three occasions.
Simona Halep
The 2019 champion has proven to be a steady performer on grass over the years. Halep has made at least the quarterfinals at SW19 in four of her past six appearances. It all came together for the Romanian in 2019 when she played one of the greatest finals in Wimbledon history against Serena Williams. Can she reproduce that form, or will her recent injury woes hinder her this year?
Alison Riske
The former Wimbledon quarterfinalist owns a 46-27 record on grass. She may not be a threat to win it all, but she’s a threat to make some waves for sure.
Jelena Ostapenko
Ostapenko, with her devastating ground game, loves to win on the grass. She has won 10 of her last 13 Wimbledon matches and owns a career record of 24-13 on grass as of reaching the Eastbourne quarterfinals
Young and inexperienced, but full of potential
Lorenzo Musetti
Lorenzo is very excited to make his Wimbledon main draw debut and we're excited, too. He has all the tools to be great on grass.
Iga Swiatek
The former Wimbledon juniors champion (2018) is feeling unsure of herself on grass this year, but given time we think she'll be a force on the surface.
Jannik Sinner
Sinner will make his Wimbledon debut next week, just like Musetti. Seems like he'd be a natural on the surface but he's 0-2 lifetime on grass.
Daria Kasatkina
We didn't know which category to put Kasatkina in, but we knew we needed to mention her She certainly doesn't belong in this section, she is 7-4 at Wimbledon with a quarterfinal to her name. She's crafty and comfortable on grass, as her 16-9 lifetime record on grass attests.
Daniil Medvedev
Medvedev first caught our eye on the grass, when he defeated Stan Wawrinka in the opening round in 2017. He's relatively inexperienced on grass, so the jury is still out, but Medvedev could be a force on the surface with the flatness of his groundies and the size of his serve.
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