Draws are here:
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ls/lsdraw.pdfhttp://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/msdraw.pdfWomen's seeds:
There has been an extra week of grass court tournaments this year in the build up to Wimbledon. Sharapova and Serena Williams haven't played any of the tournaments. With no form to go on, it's still difficult to back against either of these two. Serena's health and emotional stability would seem to be the only things stopping her winning at a canter.
Serena Williams has progressed through 3 rounds including an (obligatory) drama against Heather Watson. I wouldn't like to predict with total confidence how she will play against her sister in round 4 but I think that a comfortable victory is most likely.
Sharapova progresses comfortably but fails to impress me. Her serve will be the decisive factor and I suspect that she may not get as far as meeting Serena but, if she does, it will be a very comfortable win for Ms Williams.
Caroline Wozniacki withdrew from the semi-final at Eastbourne today with a back injury. She doesn't give up easily (she is renowned for playing through injuries) and her game is based on her physical ability so I think she can be discounted.
Ms Wozniacki is progressing but I still don't rate her chances and will be opposing her soon. I've not seen Giorgi play this Wimbledon yet but she might beat her. If not, I make Angelique Kerber a solid favourite to beat her in the next round.
Kvitova and Kerber both dropped out of Eastbourne with viral complaints but I suspect that they will be absolutely fine for Wimbledon.
Both are progressing very well and I think there's a good chance that they might meet in the semi-final.Simona Halep lost to Kristina Mladenovic in the QF at Birmingham and didn't play at Eastbourne. The TV commentators gave Mladenovic a lot of credit but it wasn't a good performance by Halep.
Ms Halep lost disappointingly in the first round to journeywoman Jana Cepelova.Agnieska Radwanska has found more enthusiasm for the game and should progress well. She has been playing consistently well apart from an odd performance at Nottingham in the semi-final against Monica Niculescu when she lost 5-7 6-4 6-0. She has reached the final at Eastbourne.
Ms Radwanska is, rightly, a big favourite to win her 3rd round match against Casey Dellacqua whom she has a 2-0 record against including a 6-4, 6-0 victory at last year's Wimbledon.Ekaterina Makarova is a grass court player but she is in bad form - she got slaughtered by a very impressive Johanna Konta (ranked 146 but playing top 50) 6-2 6-4 at Eastbourne.
(I happen to have a very nice freeroll on Konta which has been hampered somewhat by her drawing Sharapova in the first round.
).
Number 8 seed Ms Makarova lost to Magdalena Rybarikova in the second round.Lucie Safarova could do well but after a run of good form and reaching the final of the French Open but has only played one match since then. She lost to Dominika Cibulkova who had been out injured for several months.
Ms Safarova is through to round 4 and will meet the big hitting Coco Vandeweghe. The bookies seem to have it right at 1.67 for Safarova. She is much improved confidence-wise and is unlikely to be fazed by a, likely, golden patch by Vandeweghe.Ana Ivanovic flatters to deceive.
AS number 7 seed, she lost 6-3, 6-4 to Bethanie Mettak-Sands in round 2.Carla Suarez-Navarro is not a grass court specialist and is unlikely to progress far as she is scheduled to meet Mladenovic in round two and Azarenka in round three.
As number 9 seed, she lost 6-2, 6-0 to Jelena Ostapenko in round 1.Karolina Pliskova has a big game with a great serve which should be ideal for grass. She looks a generous bet at 66/1 with SportingBet.
http://www.oddschecker.com/tennis/wimbledon/womens/winnerGrrr. She lost 7-6, 6-4 to a very impressive Coco Vandeweghe in round 2. I must have got her confused with her indentical (although left-handed) twin who has made it through to the third round (but is likely to lose to Monica Niculescu).Sabine Lisicki has a very good draw and a game made for grass. Her form has been inconsistent but she generally rises to the occasion at Wimbledon.
She is through to round 3 but is not playing well. In fact her odds have lengthened! Fingers crossed for her to beat Bacsinszky in round 3Eugenie Bouchard is well below her form of last year. General opinion is that she has too many off-court distractions. She has also lost a significant amount of weight.
Even with her habit of playing well in Grand Slam events it's difficult to see her progressing far here. She retired against Bencic at Eastbourne.
Number 12 seed Bouchard lost 7-6, 6-4 to unknown Ying-Ying Duan in round one. She may well recover her skills but her ranking is going to plummet even further.Victoria Azarenka was making good progress after being out for a long time with injury. Sadly she withdrew during Birmingham with a foot injury. This may have been preventative rather than terminal so don't rule her out.
Ms Azarenka will play, and should beat, the youngster Belinda Bencic in round 4. Bencic is making big strides with the help of Monica Hingis but should be out-matched by Azarenka.
Madison Keys should do well on grass but lost her only game on grass this year at Eastbourne to Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-2.
Still a loose-cannon. She has progressed to round 3 but has an "easy" draw for the next two rounds. I'm a big fan and thought that her partnership with Lindsay Davenport was likely to be the key in her development but things are still unclear.
For the British interest:
Sadly, Laura Robson will lose in the first round to Rodina. She has not recovered sufficiently from her wrist injury.
Rodina can be backed to win 2-0 at 2.38 in several places:
http://www.oddschecker.com/tennis/wimbledon/womens/evgeniya-rodina-v-laura-robson/set-bettingLaura showed signs of significan progress but still lost 6-4, 6-4 to Evgenyia Rodina. It won't be long before Robson is winning matches.Heather Watson is playing fairly well and has a first round match against Caroline Garcia who is in very poor form.
I'm a big fan of Garcia generally but Watson at 1.9 appeals.
https://www.betfair.com/exchange/tennis/event?id=27476465Ms Watson played extremely well and lost in an epic round 3 match to Serena Williams as I'm sure you are all aware.As mentioned above, Johanna Konta drew the short stick.
Yup, she lost 6-2, 6-2 to Maria Sharapova but was better than the scoreline suggests (apologies for the cliche).Naomi Broady is favourite against Mariana Duque-Marino (who may be allergic to grass) despite being ranked 197 against her opponent at 97.
Broady lost in the first round, sadly.Random other thoughts:
Sloane Stephens seems to be re-focused on tennis and has an excellent coach in Nick Saviano who suits her personality. It may be a bit too soon for her at Wimbledon but she will be climbing the rankings soon.
Ms Stephens performed well but lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to an impressive Lucie Safarova in round 3.Oh, and apparently, some blokes will be playing in a tournament too.
I believe that the "big names" are still playing (apart from Rafael Nadal).All comments made above are purely my own and made under the influence of red wine. I'd welcome any feedback. I'm happy to venture a view on anything else in the women's tournament. (Being uninformed shouldn't stop me having an opinion).
I'm still happy to comment on anything relating to the women's tournament.Personally, I've backed half the field so I'm hoping to keep some interest into the second week.
A re-cap on my thoughts.
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