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A Clear Women's Favorite and Flux at the Top for Men Clear Women’s Favorite, and Big Four Get Back Together
(about 13 hours later)
The question was how to beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon this year.The question was how to beat Serena Williams at Wimbledon this year.
Paul McNamee, the veteran coach and former Wimbledon doubles champion, was searching for an answer, any answer. Time dragged on. Paul McNamee, the veteran coach and former Wimbledon doubles champion, was searching for an answer, any answer.
“Look, if she’s on her game, you know, it’s hard to see her losing,” McNamee said, finally. Time dragged again. Time dragged on.
“To be honest, as great a physical condition as she’s now in, there always has to be a slight question mark about that,” he said at last, emphasizing “slight.” “Look, she has been known to get injured before mid-tournament. It happened at the Australian Open this year.” “Look, if she’s on her game, you know, it’s hard to see her losing,” McNamee said finally.
By now McNamee was laughing. “That, to be honest, is probably the best chance for the other women: Serena getting hurt,” he said. “It does happen, though. It does happen.” Time dragged again.
Indeed it does: If not for a sprained ankle in Australia, Williams might be on track for a calendar-year Grand Slam. But she looked perfectly, intimidatingly healthy in Paris as she stormed to her first French Open title in 11 years. “To be honest, as great a physical condition as she’s now in, there always has to be a slight question mark about that,” he said at last, emphasizing the word slight.
“She is about as heavy a favorite at Wimbledon as you get,” said the former American star Pam Shriver. “Maybe Justine Henin at the French Open those few years; Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon; Steffi Graf at Wimbledon; Chrissie Evert at the French and the U.S. Open back in the 1970s — there haven’t been many like this.” “Look, she has been known to get injured before midtournament. It happened at the Australian Open this year.”
By now McNamee was laughing at himself. “That, to be honest, is probably the best chance for the other women: Serena getting hurt,” he said. “It does happen, though. It does happen.”
It does indeed happen, and if not for an ankle sprain at this year’s Australian Open, Williams might be on track for a calendar-year Grand Slam. But she looked perfectly, intimidatingly healthy in Paris as she stormed to her first French Open title in 11 years.
“She is about as heavy a favorite at Wimbledon as you get,” said Pam Shriver, the analyst and former American star. “Maybe Justine Henin at the French Open those few years. Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon, Steffi Graf at Wimbledon, Chrissie Evert at the French and the U.S. Open back in the 1970s. There haven’t been many like this.”
The result is a two-tone Wimbledon, at least in the prologue phase. While Williams arrives at the All England Club with an aura of invincibility after finishing off her French Open victory with three aces in the final game, the leading men arrive at full strength with the grass-court pecking order very much in flux.The result is a two-tone Wimbledon, at least in the prologue phase. While Williams arrives at the All England Club with an aura of invincibility after finishing off her French Open victory with three aces in the final game, the leading men arrive at full strength with the grass-court pecking order very much in flux.
Unless there is a last-minute twist (or sprain), this will be the first Grand Slam since Wimbledon last year to include all the rightly named “Big Four”: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Unless there is a last-minute twist (or sprain), this will be the first Grand Slam event since last year’s Wimbledon to include all of the rightly named Big Four: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray.
Federer is the defending champion and a seven-time winner at the All England Club, where Murray won the Olympic gold medal last year but is still trying to become the first Briton since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title. Federer is the defending champion and a seven-time champion here but has a 1-5 record against the top 10 this season. Murray won the Olympic gold medal at the All England Club last year but is still trying to become the first Briton since Fred Perry in 1936 to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title.
The Big Four weren’t together for long in London last year. Nadal was upset in the second round under a closed Centre Court roof by Lukas Rosol, an unseeded Czech. Nadal later revealed that he was suffering from major knee problems that had required pain-killing injections and would ultimately keep him away from the game for seven months. The Big Four were not together for long in London last year as Nadal was upset in the second round under a closed Centre Court roof by Lukas Rosol, an unseeded, big-swinging Czech. Nadal later revealed that he had major left knee problems that required painkilling injections and would ultimately keep him away from the game for seven months.
But Nadal has been close to unbeatable since his return in February, reaching nine finals in nine tournaments and winning seven, including his eighth French Open after one of the best clay-court matches in memory, a five-set semifinal thriller against Djokovic. But Nadal has been close to unbeatable since his return in February, reaching nine finals in nine tournaments and winning seven of them, including his eighth French Open after one of the best clay-court matches in memory: a five-set semifinal thriller in which he beat Djokovic.
Even so, Nadal remains just fifth in the world rankings and has been seeded fifth at Wimbledon, where he won in 2008 and 2010 and also reached the final in 2006, 2007 and 2011. Nadal at No.5 seems far from ideal. While Wimbledon has a formula that allows it to adjust players’ seedings based on recent grass-court results, Nadal’s early loss at Wimbledon last year essentially kept him from leapfrogging into the No.4 spot past his Spanish compatriot David Ferrer. Even so, Nadal is ranked fifth and will be seeded fifth at Wimbledon, where he won in 2008 and 2010 and reached the final in 2006, 2007 and 2011. Nadal at No. 5 seems far from ideal, and it has created an unbalanced draw with Nadal, Federer and Murray all in the bottom half along with another strong contender, sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Nadal and Federer could play in the quarterfinals.
The All England Club once had a seeding committee and much more latitude, but pressure from leading Spanish players like Alex Corretja and Albert Costa, who boycotted Wimbledon in 2000, led to the dissolution of the committee and a more objective approach. Wimbledon has a grass-court formula that allows it to adjust players’ seedings based on recent grass-court results. Nadal’s early loss at Wimbledon last year essentially kept him from leaping into the No. 4 spot past his Spanish compatriot David Ferrer even though Ferrer never has been past the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
There have been complaints about Nadal’s seeding from the outside, although no top players have grumbled publicly. But Nadal, Federer and Murray ended up in the same half of the draw on Friday, meaning a potential Nadal-Federer quarterfinal clash. The All England Club once had a seeding committee and much more latitude, but pressure from leading Spanish players like Àlex Corretja and Albert Costa, who boycotted Wimbledon in 2000, led to the dissolution of the committee and a more objective approach designed to soothe the concerns of players.
“I think if you’ve got an objective system, you can’t change it arbitrarily,” McNamee said. “To change it back to a subjective system defeats the whole purpose, so in this case, Wimbledon had no choice, in my opinion. The question of course is whether it’s the best objective system.” Though there have been complaints about Nadal’s seeding, none of the top players have grumbled publicly, with Federer even defending Ferrer’s right to the No. 4 seeding when asked about it last week.
There has been no such debate about the women’s seedings. Williams, the defending champion, is No.1 and an exclamation point would not seem out of place. Victoria Azarenka is No.2, Maria Sharapova No.3 and Agnieszka Radwanska, last year’s finalist, is No.4. “I think if you’ve got an objective system, you can’t change it arbitrarily,” said McNamee, the former Australian Open tournament director. “To change it back to a subjective system defeats the whole purpose, so in this case, Wimbledon had no choice, in my opinion. The question, of course, is whether it’s the best objective system.”
But Williams is unquestionably the lodestar at this stage and the three aces she served to finish off Sharapova in the French Open final were easy to interpret as a harbinger of more aces to come on the grass. There has been no such debate about the women’s seedings. Williams, the defending champion, is No. 1, and an exclamation point would not seem out of place at this stage as she prepares to face 92nd-ranked Mandy Minella of Luxembourg in the first round and a possible rematch with Zheng Jie of China in the next. Victoria Azarenka is seeded No. 2, with Maria Sharapova No. 3 and Agnieszka Radwanska, a finalist last year, at No. 4.
There has been commotion since then, generated by her insensitive remarks reported in Rolling Stone magazine about the rape of a drunken 16-year-old girl in Ohio. Williams’s reported comments placed some of the blame on the victim, and she has since apologized publicly. But Williams, one of 14 American women in the Wimbledon draw, is unquestionably the lodestar at this stage. And the three aces she served to finish off Sharapova in the French Open final were easy to interpret as a harbinger of many more aces to come on the grass of the All England Club, where she has won five singles titles (six if you count the Olympics last year).
“What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame,” Williams said in a statement. It is unclear what effect the situation might have on Williams. “I just think she’s more consistent now; she manages somehow to have less ups and downs,” said Sascha Bajin, her hitting partner for the last six years. “This is not an overnight success. We’ve been working and coming a long way on this, so now it’s just everything coming together, and it shows on the court.”
There has been controversy since Paris: the stir generated by her remarks, reported in Rolling Stone magazine, about the rape of a drunken 16-year-old girl in Steubenville, Ohio. Williams placed some of the blame on the victim, and she has since expressed her regret to the family of the teenager and apologized publicly without taking full ownership of the comments.
“What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame,” Williams said of the victim in a statement.
It is unclear what effect the situation might have on Williams.
“I don’t know how upset she is over it,” Shriver said. “But that’s not a plus going into a big event.”“I don’t know how upset she is over it,” Shriver said. “But that’s not a plus going into a big event.”
Perhaps controversy might provide another pathway to beating Williams at Wimbledon this year? Perhaps controversy might provide another pathway to challenging Williams at Wimbledon this year, a year in which it feels more than ever that the most important match for Williams is the one she plays inside her head.
“If things aren’t just routine and familiar, then that can throw off anybody,” Shriver said. “But in the meantime, she’s certainly going to be my heavy favorite.”“If things aren’t just routine and familiar, then that can throw off anybody,” Shriver said. “But in the meantime, she’s certainly going to be my heavy favorite.”