Wimbledon Eve

DEAR GEORGE, Wimbledon is the world’s oldest tennis tournament, dating back to 1877 at the All England Club in suburban London. It has the distinction of being the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass courts. (There are four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.) This year’s Wimbledon has special significance since the tournament was cancelled in 2020 because of the pandemic, its only cancellation since World War II. Americans aren’t as dominant as they were years ago. There are no American men seeded in the top 25, and only 3 seeded at all — Reilly Opelka at 27; John Isner, 28; and Taylor Fritz, 31. American women did better: Sofia Kenin, 4; Serena Williams, 6; Coco Gauff, 20; Jessica Pegula, 22; Madison Keys, 23; and Allson Riske, 28.

Two legendary players, members of the old guard, are seeking to add to their remarkable Wimbledon records. With 8 previous tournament victories, Roger Federer, age 39, has the best Wimbledon record of any man in the open era, and a ninth title this year would tie him with Martina Navratilova for the most of all times. However, no man over age 35 has ever won Wimbledon. Despite his two knee surgeries and a year of rehabilitation, fellow players and tennis experts aren’t counting Federer out. Second seed Daniil Medvedev observed, “I think Wimbledon is always — even when he will be 50 years old — a great chance for him.” The tournament also has historical implications for American super-star, Serena Williams. With her formidable serve and powerful groundstrokes, Williams’ game is perfectly suited for grass-court tennis, and she has won Wimbledon 14 times in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. At age 39 and seeded 6th, she needs one more victory to tie her with Margaret Court for the all-time Grand Slam victory total of 24, and she’s been pursuing that milestone since coming back from childbirth in 2017.

Novak Djokovic is the clear men’s favorite this year. A five-time Wimbledon winner, if he wins the tournament this year, it will be his 20th Grand Slam title and put him in a three-way tie with Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic’s aspirations are entirely clear. After the French Open in May he commented, “I don’t have an issue to say that I’m going for the title in Wimbledon. Of course, I am.” Having already won the Australian Open and the French Open this year, Djokovic is in a position to win a calendar Grand Slam of all four major tournaments (if he wins at Wimbledon and the US Open), a feat no male player has accomplished in the last 51 years.

Not all the top players are playing. Rafael Nadal, currently number three in the world and a member of the Big Three who have dominated men’s tennis since 2003 (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic), recently withdrew from Wimbledon A two-time winner on Wimbledon’s grass courts, Nadal lost in a thrilling five-set French Open finals last month to Novak Djokovic, and, at age 34, he said he was “listening to his body” and forgoing Wimbledon to “prolong my career and continue to do what makes me happy.” Another of my favorites, Naomi Osaka, the No. 2 ranked women’s tennis player in the world, announced on June 17 that she was withdrawing from Wimbledon. According to a statement released by her agent, “She is taking some personal time with friends and family She will be ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans [in Japan].” At the recent French Open Osaka withdrew after the first round during controversy regarding her decision to skip required post match news interviews. Osaka revealed that she had been dealing with anxiety and depression issues since winning the US Open in 2018. I hope she’ll be back for the US Open at the end of August.

We also have our eye on Coco Gauff, the 17-year-old American who is partnering in Ladies’ Doubles with Cincinnati native, Caty McNally, and who captured fans’ attention by reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019. Gauff reached the quarterfinals at the French Open last month, and she won the singles and doubles titles on clay courts at the 2021 Emilia-Romagna Open at Parma, Italy.

The only other man to win two Wimbledon titles in the last 20 years, Scotland’s Andy Murray is a dark horse at Wimbledon. After two hip surgeries and recurrent injuries, Murray has returned to the singles draw at Wimbledon for the first time since 2017. A British crowd favorite, Murray has said that his prospects at Wimbledon this year are unknown.

It seems like the Big Three have dominated men’s tennis forever, but the younger generation, now in their mid-twenties, are nipping at their heels, and it wouldn’t be surprising if one of them captured the title this year. The top contenders are: Daniel Medvedev (Russia, seeded 2nd), Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece, seeded 3rd), Alexander Zverev (Germany, seeded 4), Andrey Rublev (Russian, seeded 5th), and Matteo Berrettini (Italy, seeded 7th). Tsitsipas nearly upset Djokovic in a five-set thriller at the French Open final, Berrettini also pushed Djokovic to the limit in the French quarter-finals, and Medvedev is a two-time Grand Slam finalist and winner of the 2021 ATP Finals. The other top-ranked younger player, Austrian Dominic Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open, had to withdraw from Wimbledon because of injuries.

After a two-year wait, we are eager to watch lots of this year’s Wimbledon. Our hearts are with Roger Federer and Serena Williams, but we’re prepared for other more likely outcomes too. It’s at times like this that we appreciate what a miracle television is. In some ways it’s almost as good as being on the scene. Coverage on ESPN of Round 1 starts at 6 a.m. tomorrow. We’ll probably tune in a little bit later. LOVE, DAVE