Tag: Wimbledon

Posted on in Tennis

2021 Roland Garros Preview

By Saransh Sharma

The clay-court swing in tennis has been underway for months now, and after a few delays, it comes to a close with the clay-court major Roland Garros. The tournament has been largely dominated by Rafael Nadal and this year features him alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic on the same side of his bracket. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, Matteo Berrettini, and Alexander Zverev see themselves and other rising stars on the opposite side of the bracket. Here is all you need to know for Roland Garros:

Rafael Nadal Goes For More History

Rafael Nadal already made history with his 13th title at Roland Garros, the most ever at a single Grand Slam, but he now goes for his 21st Grand Slam, the record for most Grand Slams won by a single player. Nadal has a peculiar path, as he should go unchallenged until the Quarterfinals, where he could play Diego Schwartzman or Andrey Rublev, and then would face Novak or Roger if he advanced to the semis. The Final would feature him against one of the young stars, being Zverev, Thiem, or Tsitsipas is yet to be seen. Rafa’s 100-2 record in matches at Roland Garros makes him a near-virtual lock to win it all again, the question will be who gives him the biggest challenge.

How Will Roger Federer Perform?

Roger Federer will once again play at Roland Garros, but this year has been unlike any other. Roger has won just 2 matches out of 4 played this year and looks completely out of form since his return from a knee injury. What will be tough to gauge is if Roger is motivated enough to go far in this tournament, because while this is a way for him to get more matches under his belt, he faces tough opponents early, and Roger has said that winning Roland Garros is not a goal of his. He could get ousted as early as Round 3 by rising American Taylor Fritz or even go as deep as the semifinals again to play Rafael Nadal as he did in 2019. Whatever happens, we hope to see Roger play well.

Which Rising Star Will Step Up?

This year has been dominated by Rafael Nadal and the young stars so far, with Daniil Medvedev making it to the Australian Open Final, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev winning Masters 1000 tournament, and players like Matteo Berrettini, Jannik Sinner, and Aslan Karatsev going deep in tournaments and being in the top-10 in wins in 2021. The strongest player this season has been Stefanos Tsitsipas, as his improved clay-court game and draw could see him make a deep run. Daniil Medvedev has looked all out of sorts and has voiced his hatred towards clay many times in 2021, deeming him an early upset candidate. Rublev, Berrettini, and Zverev see themselves with tougher draws, as Rublev and Berretini could face Nadal in the Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively, and Zverev could face Roberto Bautista Agut, one of the most dangerous players on tour, in Round 4. If he were to advance, 2-time Roland Garros runner-up, Dominic Thiem, could await him in the Quarterfinals. These guys all have great chances to make a deep run and challenge Nadal. The question is, who is up to the task of dethroning Nadal?

Posted on in Olympics, Tennis

The Effect of No Wimbledon in 2020 on Tennis

By Saransh Sharma

Today, The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced that The Championships, Wimbledon, has been cancelled in 2020 due to the Coronavirus outbreak. While it was most definitely the right thing to do given the circumstances in our world today, the fans and players are still in utter shock over the announcement. The oldest and greatest tournament in the history of the game has now been cancelled for the first time since World War II. This is the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2020 year to be cancelled, and after Roland Garros announced its postponement, many people believed maybe Wimbledon would too, but there just simply is not enough time in one year to do it all. The decision will have a huge effect on the world of tennis as we see it, and may even affect players going into the 2021 tennis season:

With the Olympics now in 2021, Players Have Less Time to Train

The hardest part for tennis players and all athletes in general is definitely the fact that you cannot train. While you can always workout and stay fit, not being able to have a racquet, get coaching, and just hit tennis balls is something that hurts a player long-term. After such a huge layoff from the game, players will have to spend time getting back into a flow and rhythm of how their daily routines with training and practice goes, and then they have to prepare for tournaments, Grand Slams, and the Olympics. Many players will also be skipping more tournaments than usual in order to represent their country in the Olympics in July of 2021, and with the tennis calendar a month ahead after Australian Open (Roland Garros and Wimbledon are played a month earlier than usual in order to fit the Olympics into the schedule), expect players to be a bit more cautious with their body, while also still trying to get a lot of matches in. 2021 will prove to be the toughest year of many tennis players’ careers.

Rankings Will Change Tremendously Over Wins and Losses

The players will also have to be mindful of how winning and losing can drastically affect the rankings, with those currently being frozen right now due to the Coronavirus indefinitely suspending play for this year. While points won and lost for each win and loss will not change, what will change is how the players play after such a long layoff. Lots of younger and lower-ranked players will have their chances to shine and beat the top players in the world, so keep an eye out for major changes in rankings come 2021. We could see guys like Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal lose their top-2 ranking spots due to the competition in the mens side and how the layoff could affect them, and on the women’s side, where the rankings have not been safe for anyone for years with a lack of repeat women winners in many tournaments, those rankings could be a whole lot different than a year ago.

 

Posted on in Tennis

Wimbledon: The Rest of the Way

This year’s Wimbledon sure has been the craziest of all-time (#wimbledon). Rafael Nadal goes down 1st round, and Roger Federer in 2nd, and on the side of the WTA, Victoria Azarenka goes in the 1st round, Caroline Wozniaki in the 2nd, as well as Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams in the round of 16, Ferrer, Kvitova, and Li Na in the quarters. Here is the ATP (Men), and the WTA (Women) draw.

WTA

The WTA draw looks fairly slim in big names. The QuarterFinals will feature Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) and Marion Bartoli (FRA), who should make it to the SemiFinals in their half. The other half will feature Agnieska Radwanska (POL) and Sabine Lisiki (GER), who should fill in the other half. The Final will feature Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisiki. The result will end with Lisiki winning it all.

ATP

The ATP should be surprising, but an easy road for players like Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. The QuarterFinals winners will be Andy Murray (GBR), Jerzy Jankovics (POL), and Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) and Novak Djokovic (SRB). The Final will feature Djokovic and Murray, and in the end, Andy Murray will be crowned a Wimbledon champ!