Fourth Nadal-Federer final is a possibility
and 2007 finals, then lost to him in the 2008 title match.
Federer turns 36 Aug. 8, and Nadal just turned 31, but both are back to playing quite well this year. They met in the Australian Open final in January, won by Federer, and Nadal earned his record 10th French Open title in June.
Murray’s spot at No. 1 in the ATP rankings is up for grabs this fortnight — he, Nadal,Wawrinka or Djokovic could leave the All England Clubwith the top spot.
The WTA No. 1 ranking, which currently belongs to Angelique Kerber, also could change hands at tournament’s end. Four other women have a chance to take it: Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki, who already has spent time at No. 1.
The potential women’s quarterfinals are Kerber vs. Svetlanta Kuznetsova in a matchup between two, twotime major champions; 2016 U. S. Open runner-up Pliskova vs. two-time U.S. Open finalist Wozniacki; Svitolina vs. Dominika Cibulkova; and Halep vs. Johanna Konta, Britain’s best hope for its first women’s champion since Virginia Wade in 1977. Konta withdrew from a grass-court tuneup in Eastbourne Friday after hurting herself in a fall a day earlier.
Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, seeded 10th in her 20th appearance at the tournament, was drawn to face Elise Mertens of Belgium in the first round. A publicist for Williams said that the former No. 1 will play at Wimbledon after a police report in Florida said the tennis star caused a car crash in early June that led to the death, two weeks later, of a passenger in another vehicle.
Williams and Petra Kvitova, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, are the only two past champions in the women’s field.
Victoria Azarenka, a former No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion, is appearing in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in more than a year after giving birth to her first child. Her first-round match is against CiCiBellis, 18.