Big 4 remain favorites at Wimbledon
It’s likely that Federer, Djokovic, Nadal or Murray will win again at All England Club.
LONDON — Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray have ruled Wimbledon for the last 14 years, combining to win the tournament every time in that span.
No real surprise, given the way that Big 4 dominates the sport of tennis. Still, at some point, that group’s run of excellence at the All England Club must end.
It’s just hard to find folks who think that’ll happen this year, when play at the grass-court major begins Monday.
Somewhere, there is a man who one day will win Wimbledon — and other Grand Slam titles, too.
John McEnroe recalls knowing early on in the careers of players such as Nadal or Djokovic that they would break through. Lately, though, the seventime major champion said, “I don’t see that person right now that’s got it all, where you’re like, ‘OK.’ ”
McEnroe’s brother, Patrick, agreed the most likely winner will again be one of the usual quartet. And he went a step further.
“We’re going to be likely talking about two of those four guys on ‘championship Sunday,’ ” said Patrick.
Meanwhile, in the women’s bracket, Petra Kvitova still has not regained full strength in her left hand, the one she uses to swing a tennis racket so well that she won Wimbledon twice — and the one that was stabbed by an intruder at her home in the Czech Republic late last year.
Just seven months after that attack, Kvitova somehow carries the status of the closest thing to a favorite at the All England Club. She won at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014.
“I am just happy to be back on the court, and that’s it,” she said. “I will be focusing on myself and not thinking any further than my first match.”
Simply competing these days is an accomplishment in itself for someone who initially was told there was a possibility it might never happen again. All five fingers on her left hand were injured in the late December knifing, and she needed surgery.
“There was definitely doubt in my mind that I would ever be able to play again, because that’s what some of the doctors were saying,” Kvitova said. “But the more I heard people doubting if I could come back, the more it motivated me.”
The 27-year-old Kvitova, who has been ranked as high as No. 2 and is seeded 11th at Wimbledon, began practicing only a couple of weeks before the French Open started in May. She made a last-minute decision to enter the clay-court major and wound up winning her opening match, then losing her next.
In her second comeback attempt, a week ago on grass at Birmingham, England, Kvitova earned the title, beating Ashleigh Barty 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final with the help of 13 aces.
She pulled out of last week’s tuneup tournament at Eastbourne, England, citing an abdominal injury, but that didn’t stop British bookmakers from considering her among the likeliest to win Wimbledon.
Serena Williams is sitting out the rest of the season while pregnant, and Maria Sharapova is skipping Wimbledon because of an injured left thigh, so there are only two past champions in the field — Kvitova and Williams’ sister Venus, a fivetime winner.