2012 Wimbledon Predictions

It is the time of the year when the most awaited grand slam of the year is here and this time it should be a bit special as all the 3 guys hunting for the crown has something to prove. On paper it does look like Djokovic will defend his crown but Rafa is coming off a good run on clay and he traditionally has done well in Wimbledon after a good run on Clay. Also during the early days of Rafa’s rivalry with Federer, Rafa did take some time to beat him on grass and now that Djokovic is beating Rafa on all surfaces except for clay expect Rafa to fight hard and give it all during this Wimbledon.

Then there is Roger Federer who is looking for his record equaling 7^th Wimbledon but despite Roger ageing and seems to have lost the edge, only 2 men on the tour are actually beating him and those happen to be Rafa and Djokovic. Federer took men’s tennis to a different level and now Rafa along with Djokovic is taking it to another level altogether. It will be a feel good factor to see Roger win Wimbledon one more time but to beat both Rafa and Djokovic at the same tournament is a very tough ask for even the likes of Roger.

Then there is Andy Murry who in a different era would have won a few slams but then he is in an era where you have Rafa, Djokovic and Roger that all the can do is keep reaching Semi-Finals and hope for the best. He is surely best among the rest but there is some distance between him and the top 3. You need to ask if there is anyone outside this lot who can actually win Wimbledon this year and well there is not one actually. You can expect decent runs from the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych but even if they reach the last 4 it will be a good achievement for them. Then there is Haas, he did beat Roger to win Halle last week but then to expect that during Wimbledon is something next to impossible. But Haas maybe reaching the last 4 will produce the feel good moment of the tournament.

On the women’s side for a change due to return to form of Sharapova during the last 6 months there has been some consistency. Sharapova fresh from her French Open win will once again start as favorite and this is the very place where she won her maiden grand slam during the 2004 Championships. It has been 8 years since she won here and this year she could once again pull it off. Ironically her challenger this year could very well be Serena Williams as it was Serena did Sharapova beat to win her first ever slam when she was 17 years old. Serena may have had a bad French Open but you just can’t discount her given the standard of women’s tennis now.

Last year’s surprise winner Petra Kvitova is not exactly having an earth shattering season while Victoria Azarenka after her win at the Australian Open has not put in good performances consistently to really count as a favorite but she could very well be the dark horse here.

Despite having a few people challenging for the crown, the Wimbledon like the French Open could well be very exciting and I am banking on Rafa and Masha to win this year.