TennisReporters’ Wimbledon predictions

TennisReporters.net’ co-owners Matt Cronin and Ron Cioffi go on the record with their Wimbledon picks. Each one give their thoughts on which players are going into the second week and the semifinals.

Here are the 10 men and 10 women, who want to happily shake hands in the final.

Rafa Nadal
Mal Taam/MALT photo

THE MEN

Rafa Nadal
Once again, Nadal continues to battle and work on new strokes. He won Roland Garros, with an amazing show, along with the Australian Open. He has a shot at the calendar year Grand Slam. That’s a big ask for a player of his age. Nadal gets hurt a lot, but when he manages to go on court, he figures it out. He is just fine at Wimbledon, and if he is healthy, he can win it and have 23 Grand Slam majors. That would be something else.

Novak Djokovic
Over the past couple months, the Serb finally began to play much better, banking on his super confidence. His backhand is phenomenal, his returns is terrific, and his first serve is so patient. However, he is not perfect. If he looks very good in the second week, he can push it into the final. And then he has a very good shot at his 21st Slam.
 
Matteo Berrettini
The Italian can go very deep once again. Last year, he beat Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz reading the final, before Djokovic beat him. He just won two tournaments this month, so he is ready to finally win a Slam. He likes to go down really low to hit his shot, and he also can jump up for some huge shots. He is right there, but can he really rise to the Slam challenge?

Carlos Alcaraz
The young Spaniard has had a wild, wonderful year. When the 19-year-old is feeling very good, he can leap around the court and paint the lines. He can be a little bit erratic, but he tends to go for it, anyway. He really likes the clay, but this is on the grass. So next week, he must change it up ASAP and get a clear understanding on how to preserve at Wimbledon.

Andy Murray
We all know that the three-time Grand Slam champion almost retired due to a massive injury, but he did return, and it appears that he is playing better now. The 35-year-old is unseeded. But, he knows almost everything to do to succeed on court. Now he is a little bit slower than when he won his majors. In order to reach the second week, he has to go for it early. If he cracks a bunch of winners, then the fans might think that he can win it at SW19. That would be a blast.


-MC


Stefanos Tsitsipas
The big Greek has a big game and a long fluid backhand. He is in the top tier of the best young players who haven’t grabbed a major, along with Alexander Zverev (who is injured), Berrettini, Andrey Rublev (the Russian is banned) and Felix Auger-Aliassime. It’s easy to say that it’s just a matter of time (and the retirement of the Big Three) for them to win a Slam. But, Tsitsipas has a better chance among these players because of his variety and ability to blast first serves. But, he may have to power through the unpredictable Nick Kyrgios in the third round.

Felix Auger-Aliassime
The Canadian has had a consistent assentation to No. 9. At 21, he still has a lot of time to improve. In 2022 he won Rotterdam over Tsitsipas and reached the Marseille final. But, there are too many events where he stalled in the quarterfinals. That has allowed him to rise to a career-high without having any notable momentum going into Wimbledon.

Casper Ruud
A run to the Roland Garros final was the high point of the Norwegian’s career, propelling him to No. 5 and the third seed at Wimbledon. But, he played only one match on grass and lost to No. 180 Ryan Peniston. Ruud has the big game to make a real run into the second week, especially that the only other seed in his first three matches is Sebastian Baez.

Hubert Hurkacz
Hurkacz is on fire. He took down Daniil Medvedev, Kyrgios, Auger-Aliassime and Ugo Humbert to win Halle. That gives the seventh-seed a head start on grass compared to others. His first-round contest is against the dangerous Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. He could face American Tommy Paul in the third round. Others in the bracket are has-beens Fernando Verdasco, Adrian Mannarino and Jiri Vesely.

Taylor Fritz
Fritz is seeded eleventh. That is fortunate as he has only reached one third-round match on the lawns ofWimbledon. It also doesn’t help that he is 0-2 on the grass in the two lead-up tournaments this year. His one claim to 2022 fame is downing Nadal at Indian Wells. So, why will Fritz go deep? He has the game to dominate on the grass. And, it just may be the right time for figure it out, if he can get by his possible third-round opponent: upstart Holger Rune of Denmark.

-RC

Iga Swiatek
Mal Taam/MALT photo


THE WOMEN

Iga Swiatek
She won Roland Garros, again, and the No. 1 hasn’t lost a match since early February. During each point, she goes for a winner quickly with her forehand and backhand, too. Obviously, she was a serious favorite on the clay, last year at Wimbledon, she lost in the fourth round. She certainly has been so much smarter now, and if that is the case, then she will continue to be brilliant.

Ons Jabeur
She has had a solid year, and gradually she has become more aggressive and better with her shot selection. On two clay court tournaments, she won in Madrid and reached the final in Rome. She just won Berlin on grass. However, she has yet to make much of an impact at Wimbledon. If she wants to achieve big-time success at Wimbledon, she has to bring a better game in the third set.

Maria Sakkari
No. 5 Greek Sakkari did have a very good last year, and this season, she did manage to reach the finals at Indian Wells. However, in the last three months, the fast hitter lost early at Roland Garros. She always loves to battle, and she rarely collapses. There is a good change that, if she reaches the final, she leap into heaven with the trophy?

Coco Gauff
She reached the final at RG. That was surprising, given that she is still very young. On the hard courts, she knows the right way to grind it, to take more time and to construct where to go. She is becoming better each months. While the grass can be odd, she will figure it out where to go.

Jelena Ostapenko
A few years ago, she won Roland Garros, crushing the ball. But, after that, she became so erratic. She is slower now, and she has not changed a few critical flaws. But now she is here again ready to crush her shots deep into the court. If she really wants to win a major again, she needs to find the motivation to hustle, really hustle.

-MC



Simona Halep
Remember 2019? Halep delivered a masterpiece with a crushing 6-2, 6-2 beatdown of Serena Williams. Sad to say she hasn’t played at Wimbledon since. As Halep has fought through injuries and questionable confidence, she still has the foot speed and consistency to battle all the top players. Getting into her way into the second week is Katrina Muchova in the first round and a possible clash with the resurgent Camila Giorgi in the third.

Petra Kvitova
I took a wild stab at predictions at the beginning of 2022 and said Kvitova would win another Slam. Which, obviously, has got to be on the fast grass of Wimbledon, where she prevailed in 2011 and 2014. She has the weapons and wide lefty serve to frustrate all comers, which showed in her straight-set defeat of Ostapenko in the Eastbourne final. She could face the fourth-seed Paula Badosa in the third round, which would be a challenge.

Karolina Pliskova
How can we do a Grand Slam prediction sheet without mentioning Pliskova. The “always a bridesmaid” label continues to stick. She can’t get deep without a possible meeting with Serena Williams. One of her two major finals was a year ago at Wimbledon. This year hasn’t been her best and she only advanced to the Roland Garros second round and lost to Gauff on grass in Berlin. She can get to the semis but holding the trophy might still elude her.

Paula Badosa
At the age of 24, Badosa doesn’t have much history at Wimbledon. She has only played twice and reached the fourth round last year. But, the Spaniard has the tools to bedevil most of the field, which is why she has risen to No. 4. She hasn’t played since Roland Garros, where she retired with a right calf injury. The lack of matches on grass could slow down her path to the second week. Still, she has the game to advance.

Serena Williams
What do you say about Serena? She still is a mighty force in women’s tennis. But, she has only played two doubles matches since her retirement in singles at 2021 Wimbledon. She is considered a threat to win her record-tying 24th Slam. But, she arrived in England out of shape. She will make all of her opponents worry. But, she could face Pliskova in the third round. So, we mention Serena in our top group but really have no idea how far she can go.

-RC

Modest in victory, or so says Rafa Nadal. On French Open: “I think I can do it. Then do it is another thing.”

Rafael-Nadal2_2957179

 

By Kamakshi Tandon

Rafael Nadal has come into the French Open for years insisting that he should not be called the favorite. That he does not go into matches confident of victory. That he is only practicing hard, doing his best, looking to be competitive. And all the while, onlookers would dismiss his remarks and — usually correctly — all but hand him the trophy before the tournament even began.

Now, there is no need for Nadal to say any of this. He is not the favorite, not confident, just looking to stay competitive. Now is when he might want to sound circumspect. But he has done the opposite, dropping his usual modesty to assert his abilities and insist he is still the same player. It looks like the only way to get Nadal to be confident might be to lack confidence in him.

Having heard the Spaniard downplay his success for so long, it’s quite a change to hear him talking up his chances. But that is what the now No.7-ranked player now finds himself having to do. With just one minor title on clay and no trophies at the European events coming into the French Open, he has had to strike a different note than when he was on an unbeaten or almost unbeaten run. Instead of arguing he hasn’t been cruising, the 28-year-old now argues he hasn’t completely collapsed.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the best clay season the last couple of years. It’s obviously that I had more up and downs. Even like this I was able to play semifinals in Master 1000, another final, and one quarterfinals. It’s not terrible, but if we compare with other years, obviously looks bad, no?” he said before the tournament got underway. “That’s always gonna happen when you achieve a lot in the past. Always going to have the compar[is]ions, but that’s it. ”But seriously, my last couple of weeks have been much more positive than what the results said. Probably in Rome I was playing much better than the result was, no? So is a court that I like. Is a tournament that I love. I am going to try to put my game in a position that gonna give me the chance. If I am able to do it, I have enough experience here.”

While winning three Masters before the French Open never left him assured of being champion, winning none this time has not deterred him. “My feelings are good,” he said, suggesting he’s doing quite well for a player who started the seasion having barely played for six months because of injury and illness. “Obviously when you lose more than other years it’s obvious the confidence is a little bit less. But the positive thing is I started again in January after tough second half of the year last year. And since January, day after day, I think I improved a lot. I having less bad days than in the first few months. I am a little bit more consistent, I feel.”

Once, he would arrive at the French Open and say his first goal was to win the first round. This time, he will go as far as to aim to “try to play a great tournament here.”

“I think I can do it. Then do it is another thing. I’m going to try my best, and I think can happen,” he said.

Once, he would question himself. This time, he is encouraging himself. “When I say I don’t know what’s gonna happen, I really don’t know what’s gonna happen. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have confidence on myself to try to be ready for it. I have to think that I am ready for it. But I know sometimes that it’s tougher to be ready for it.”

And if nothing else, Nadal notes, he has already won a record nine titles at the tournament. “Obviously winning nine times here is difficult to equal,” casually mentions the all-time great, though he is not usually one to talk a lot about his impressive record of achievements.

The new, defiant Nadal doesn’t sound like the familiar, unassuming one, but the circumstances have changed more than he has. His position now is not that different from his position in previous years. Anything can happen, he would say. Anything can happen, he says now. Like many established champions before him, Nadal no longer has as firm a grip on victory, but it is still within his grasp.

One thing, though, has changed. Nadal might not be playing as well as before, but he’s talking a better game than he ever used to do.

 

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Fellow slugger Mickey Mantle concurred, asserting, “During my 18 years, I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball.”

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Lendl made the author smile, and tried out his funky grip.

 

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Through the wonders of tennis journalism I was able to participate in a clinic run by Ivan Lendl last month at the ATP tournament in Delray Beach, FL, where Lendl played in the senior event.

The biggest risk for me was probably at the beginning of the clinic. In the first one of these that I did, Jim Courier gave an easy feed to my forehand, and my arm was so tight that the ball barely made it to the net