Judy’s Wimbledon
After 18 months of the pandemic, and last year’s cancellation, I am more than excited that Wimbledon is going ahead with 50% capacity and a full house for the semi-finals and finals! Crowds are being permitted as part of a government trial to assess the impact of Covid at major outdoor sporting events. I’m delighted ticketing is for the first time by public ballot and that a significant number of tickets have been allocated free of charge for key workers. Wimbledon without crowds would be unthinkable. I reckon we’re all more than ready for our grass-court fix.
A lot of people are speculating that this will be the last hurrah for Serena Williams and Roger Federer at Wimbledon.
I don’t have any inside track on that. But what I would say is that only they will know.
Botharenow39,and their longevity and success over the years has been absolutely outstanding.
It really is quite incredible they have both stayed at the top for so long.
Serena has won the Ladies Singles at SW19 seven times, Roger has gone one better than that, and they have another 28 Grand Slam Singles titles between them. That’s just mind-boggling. Much of that, of course, is talent and athleticism, but you have to add in their desire to compete for as long as they feel they are in the mix.
Serena has lost a bit of the Fear Factor in recent years, and I reckon when she no longer feels she can challenge the next generation, she will retire gracefully.
The same goes for Roger, and when he does hang up his racquet, I believe he will do so at Wimbledon.
He would deserve the acclaim – but I don’t think it will happen this year.
Who is most likely to follow in their footsteps this year?
Well, I never tip a winner before a tournament, especially this one.
I prefer to wait until we see the speed of the courts, the weather conditions and who’s in top form. We all know grass can throw up so many shocks because fewer of the top players are comfortable on it.
That said, it is hard to bet against Novak Djokovic for the Men’s title.
He understands so well what it takes to win over five sets in a Grand Slam, and will start the defence of his title against Britain’s Jack Draper.
What an opportunity for the 19-year-old, currently ranked around 250th in the world, to experience Centre Court against the World No.1.
The Women’s Singles is wide open. The winner could come from a pack of around 20 players, though may of the emerging crop are not experienced on grass.
Johanna Konta carries most of the home hopes. She won the WTA event at Nottingham recently, which will have given her confidence after her knee injury problems.
Of course, my prime focus will be on my two boys and, as ever, I know they’ll give everything they’ve got.
Andy received a wildcard, and he is very short of matches due to his well-documented injury problems of recent years.
But he’s feeling good, is physically sharp and when he opens his tournament against Nikoloz Basilashvili, he’ll get a proper sense of where his game is at.
The Georgian is seeded 24, and is a dangerous opponent, but Andy will have the support of the home crowd, and he has shown in winning the title twice that he knows how to play on grass.
Jamie is back playing Doubles with Bruno Soares,
and while they haven’t won Wimbledon, they have won the Slams in Australia and the United States.
He’s also won the Mixed Doubles a couple of times at SW19, first with Jelena Jankovic in 2007, then Martina Hingis 10 years later.
He goes into this year’s event with Bethanie Matteksands, with whom he has won the US Open Mixed twice.
I’m looking forward to Wimbledon getting underway. I missed my grass court and Pimm’s fix last year!