The picks at Wimbledon: Wednesday, July 5

Sebastian Korda
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Barbora Krejcikova over Heather Watson

Over the past 13 years, the Britain has put together some nice wins. Watson can really hustle, and she can also play hour after hour, but the reason why is she has yet to reach the top 35. Maybe  because her heavy strokes isn’t hard enough.

Krejcikova looks pretty darn good, and while she can play up and down, when she is concerning, she can pulp the ball. She is awesome at the net, and she can also return, pretty deep. However, from the backcourt, she can hit it too short. In a sense, though, she is pretty confident, when she won 2021 Roland Garros.

Yes, that is on clay, but on the grass, Krejcikova will be slightly confident, and she will win it in two secure sets.

Donna Vekic over Shuai Zhang
The Chinese Zhang has lost eight matches in a row, which is surprising, given that last year, she beat some very good players, but she is slipping, big time.

Vekic plays a lot, week after week, and this year, she moved forward. She can miss some odd-shots, but she can also roar with her backhand. She looked very good in Berlin, so perhaps at the Slams, she will continue to rise. At least in the first round, she will win it in two easy sets.

Sebastian Korda over Jiri Vesely

It seems like Korda is playing much better than he did it three months ago, as he was hurt, so he had to stop. However, at Queen’s, he finally looked very good, reaching the semis. He can be strong, and nail his forehand and his backhand. He is not perfect, yet, but he is getting better, year after year. The older Czech Vesely has had some terrific matches, but he is aging, and while the 6-foot-6 player has hit a number of aces, but in the backcourt, he can fall down. Korda will win it in four hard sets.

Matt’s yesterday picks

Correct: Andy Murray over Ryan Peniston

Matt’s picks from Wimbledon

1 out of 1, 100% correct

TennisReporters.net’s top 32 in 2022: women 25-21

Barbora Krejcikova

No. 25: Shuai Zhang 
The 33-year-old keeps improving, not just the doubles, which she has been wonderful, but also in the singles. Four years ago, at the Australian Open, she won the  doubles with Sam Stosur. They were so happy, and they also took the US Open. How about that? However, in the singles, though, she won just three singles, which is decent. If she is going to beat everyone, she has to out-hit the huge players. Here and there, she has won a few big matches, like this year, she upset Anett Kontaveit. She is very steady, and she can still run quite fast, but she doesn’t have enough power.

No. 24: Marie Bouzkova
Another Czech continues to beat some fine players. She started the year ranked No. 97 and gradually, she became much more fit and more caring. She reached the semis at Guadalajara in October and she was satisfied. However,  she has to improve her serve, net play and forehand, too. That is the only way she can reach into the top 5 in 2023.

No. 23: Amanda Anisimova
The 21-year-old has had an interesting year, with some phenomenal shots, but also, she has to feel unfulfilled. She believes that she can mince down almost anyone, and she has won a lot of matches going deep. Still in the Grand Slams, she backed off. Yes, she can whack her forehand and backhand and she can attack. However, she is not fast enough yet and her serves are marginal. She did get hurt in August, so in September, she stopped for the rest of the year. Next year, if she is healthy, then she will add some new diverse shots and come into the net more. If she reaches the top 10, it will because she trusted her skills and found ways to improve. 

No. 22: Barbora Krejcikova
Krejcikova and her partner, Katerina Siniakova, rose to no. 1 in doubles. They were so conformable. In singles, she had an odd year. At the Australian Open, she reached the quarters, and was no. 3. She looked very decent. However, after that she went down so slowly, losing everything for seven months. Finally ,at the end of September, she found out what she had to do to recover. Somehow she did, with more spin, winning Estonia and Ostrava and upsetting the no. 1 Iga Swiatek. Then she lost at her next event. If she can be more attentive, then she can push herself back into the top 5. Maybe. She has to keep find some consistency. 

No. 21: Elena Rybakina
At Wimbledon, she almost came out of nowhere to win her maiden Slam on the grass. She was so ferocious, bending down, do a split and aim for the lines. She returned very deep, and with a lot of skill. That was her two best weeks ever. But, after that, she just looked decent. Without a doubt, she is only 23 years old, so she has more time to throw in some more variety in her strokes. She is very good but not phenomenal yet.