2015 Wimbledon Preview

Can you believe it’s almost been two years since Andy Murray made history by becoming the first British male to win Wimbledon since 1936? Still feels like yesterday, as do several other cherished memories which linger around London’s SW19. 

The 2014 Mens Champion Novak Djokovic


Well it’s that time again. The grass is cut, the draw has been made and in a days’ time the shackles will be off. Permutations are already being made, with many looking ahead to a possible Murray, Nadal quarter final or a Sharapova, Williams match up in the Semis. But they remain a long way off, with some appetizing first round encounters to consider first. 

In the men’s draw it’s hard to look past the top three seeds, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, considering their success and consistency at the All England Club. It would certainly signal a large momentum shift in the men’s game if someone ranked lower were to lift the title in a fortnight’s time.

Even so there have been signs in the past few majors that the dominance of the so called “Big Four” (Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Nadal) is nearing its end. Nadal is seeded an unprecedented tenth and could face Murray in the last eight; Stanislas Wawrinka (seeded 4^th) lifted his second Grand Slam at the French Open a few weeks ago while Marin Cilic (seeded 9^th) claimed his first major at the US Open last September.   

The top names don’t have it easy in the opening rounds either. Djokovic will begin his defence of the title with a tricky first round match against German Philipp Kohlschreiber before a potential second round encounter with Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt, who will be competing at Wimbledon for the last time. Murray, who lies in the bottom half of the draw along with Federer and Nadal, faces Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in round one before a potential fourth round with Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, although the Frenchman will have to come through a tricky match with Gilles Müller in his first match.

Federer will be the strong favourite to come through his opening match with world number 87 Damir Dzumhur but could face 6 ft 6 American Sam Querrey in round two, who won the Aegon Championships at the Queens Club back in 2010. Looking further ahead, grass court specialist Feliciano Lopez could be waiting for the Swiss in round four while 6^th seed Tomas Berdych could emerge as a quarter-final opponent.

Other names to look out for include Canadian Milos Raonic (seeded 7^th) and Grigor Dimitrov (seeded 11^th) who showed their pedigree on grass last year by reaching the semi-finals and the pair could meet in round 4 this time around. Despite his patchy form and world ranking of 10 Nadal could still have a major say if he survives the early rounds, his likely second round match with the flamboyant Dustin Brown and that should be an intriguing match to watch.

The women’s draw is a little more unpredictable and is more likely to produce a new Grand Slam champion due to its best of three set format. Even so the familiar favourites will take some stopping. Top seed Serena Williams will be attempting to win her sixth Wimbledon title and add to major titles she claimed in Australia and France earlier this year.  The American begins her campaign against Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan; however her first test could come in the fourth round where she is seeded to play her sister Venus.

Maria Sharapova hasn’t won the Wimbledon title since she claimed it as a 17 year old back in 2004. Seeded fourth this time around the Russian is likely to have the home crowd against her when she takes on Britain’s Johanna Konta in round one. Sharapova may be on course to face Williams in the last four, but the Russian hasn’t reached that stage for four years and could face French Open runner-up Lucie Safarova in the quarter finals.

Other names to look out for in the top half include 18 year old Swiss Belinda Bencic ,who has surged up the rankings in 2015 and won the Eastbourne title this week, and double Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka who both lie in the same quarter as the 7^th  seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic.

The bottom half of the draw appears harder to predict, last year’s champion Petra Kvitova (seeded 2^nd) has a great game for grass and will be expected to compete in the later stages once again. However her preparation hasn’t been ideal after illness forced her to withdraw from this week’s tournament at Eastbourne.

Kvitova’s crown could be lost in round four when she is seeded to face Poland Agnieszka Radwanska, who was the runner-up at Eastbourne. Last year’s runner-up Eugenie Bouchard (seeded 12^th) will be under pressure to defend the points she earned twelve months ago after a difficult start to this year.

Third seed Simona Halep and fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki will both be in the hunt to claim their first major, although grass isn’t considered either ones strongest surface. Halap has the 2013 runner up Sabine Lisicki in her quarter of the draw. Another player to keep an eye on is the big serving American Madison Keys who could meet Bouchard in round three.