In the run-up to Wimbledon, there's a lot of talk about the Williams sisters, and to a lesser extent, Sharapova, Henin and the Serbians. All quiet on Mauresmo though. OK, she's had a dodgy year so far, but she is the defending champion and seems a different player on the grass.

Whilst I'd put Serena ahead of her as a favourite, I'd consider Mauresmo a strong 2nd favourite, or at the worst, 3rd favourite for the title at Wimbledon.

As for Venus, I know she was brilliant two years ago, but she's just far too inconsistent for me...

The problem with Mauresmo is that we really have no idea how well she's playing at the moment.

RG isn't a good guide to her Wimbledon form as we know & it wasn't a surprise to see her struggle in the clay warm ups considering her time off ill though she wasn't exactly having a great year even before her operation!

Eastbourne next week may tell us something but then her record there is pretty poor as well - she went out first round last year after all!

I think she can play herself into form at Wimbledon but I reckon she could be vulnerable in the early rounds.

I wouldn't make her second favourite - for me Serena is 1st then Justine then probably in 3rd there's the group of Amelie, Maria, Venus who all can do it but have question marks against them at the moment. Then Jankovic & Kuznetsova.

It feels so weird with people saying Serena's the favourite to win, she's been the lurker in the draw for so long now :lol:

I agree with GS2 :ok: It's hard to pick a third favourite out of Amelie, Sharapova, Venus, they've all had their share of problems lately and even with Sharapova and Amelie you still can't tell how they're going to play at Wimbledon based on their warm up event. Although I would like to see Amelie do better at Eastbourne than last year.

No-one talked about Amelie as being a contender last year either... :unsure: and look what happened.

Of course it is difficult to gauge how she will get on. There are so few players in the women's game that you can predict with any degree of consistency.

I mean.. Justine is the only one likely to be a relatively safe bet.

Williams x2? :shrug: Serena of course, if she brings her game with her.. Venus.. look back at 2005.. then look at 2006..

Sharpie? Might be a relatively safe bet. But that shoulder could play up again.

Jankovic? Possibly..

So as for Amelie. well, her game is much better on grass than on clay. She usually plays with the sort of freedom that she doesn't have at RG.

She should be in the mix. Definitely quarter finals, at the very least.

Semis.. well, maybe a case of picking 4 from 6? Serena, Vee, Justine, Amelie, Jelena, Maria..

Well Serena always brings her game to grass if she's fit and healthy, ditto with Venus...I wouldn't say Justine was the only safe bet....depends how the draws work out ultimately...hopefully Serena will fall in the section of one of the weaker top four seeds so we get some good semis :ok:

Some good matches in the women's tourney, full stop would be good...

I mean, neither slam has exactly set the world alight in the women's game this year, has it?

Unless you're a Serena fan at the AO, of course, where her matches were interesting up to a point, but really, slim pickings.. ;)

Really can't see Justine making an early exit unless Serena or Venus lands in her draw early on.. but ideally SW19 should seed the big 6 to meet in the quarters :)

Well in terms of drama I think Serena's match with Petrova was :bow: And the match with Peer had us all on the edges of our seats, and the Jankovic match was good quality too, thank goodness for Serena :lol:

But yes a third slam final 61 62 would not be preferable!

Yes, the women's AO was effectively the Serena show, wasn't it!! :lol:

Serena and Federer show ;)

Hopefully Wimbledon will be the same :P Although Im sure you'll be plumping for Jelena all the way :D This was the tournament last year where everyone really started taking notice of her, so it'll be interesting to see how she does :ok:

Yip.. will be backing Jelena..! :ok:

But really, the women's tourney needs the big names to go deep into the draw to make it really exciting.. I mean, it's difficult not to get nostalgic for those big contests between the Williams, Davenport, Capriati, along with Henin, Mauresmo, Sharpie etc, etc..

In fact a QF lineup of Capriati, Davenport, Serena, Vee, Sharpie, Maruesmo, Jankovic, Henin would have been very nice, to say the least :)

I must say you're being a little optimistic hoping Davenport and Capriati could make the quarters roflmao

Yip.. LD's preparation would not have been best described as "ideal".. and Capriati's a little, erm, "low key" roflmao

Was more a case of wishful thinking, if nothing else... ;)


oh, ok, will have to settle for another young rising star hitting her way deep into the draw and then shanking a key match into a non-contest.. :blink:

Does anyone think Ivanovic will make inroads? Ive never seen her play on grass

She played a very poor match against Mauresmo (I think?) at Wimbledon last year.. she couldn't hit the back of a bus in that match.. but she's definitely improved since then..

Again depends on the draw, but based on form and seeding, she should make the last 8 at least, I would think..

The thing is with mauresmo, she needs a catalogue of maches behind her to really do well, and that just isnt the case this year. Hasnt looked match-fit yet at all, with only one decent run in strasbourg, but only 4 match wins outside of that final appearance. However this is grass, and mauresmo is such a well-trained athlete so she'll always be in top condition irrelevant of her form. The draw needs to be favourale though like last year. Meeting Venus, Vaidisova or Li, would not be great match-ups for her early on. Still with matches, it could come together..........

The Williams sister's, Sharapova, Henin are probably the major players coming into Wimbledon. Venus has the best record at wimbledon, and is still in many people's eyes the best mover on this surface. If her serve is firing and she's moving forward she has a title shot no doubt. The same goes for Serena. Such a hugely intimidating physical on grass, and the ideal serve for grass. Plus, she'll want it so badly after her RG dissapintment. When fast courts are in play, you just know at least one William sister will prosper. Sharapova has had great success on grass as well, champion in 04 and a couple of semis, and two Edgbaston titles. Will have a mental edge over a lot of the players, and if her serving woes are under control, should make the semis again. Just dont know if she's at the same standard as Henin and Venus and Serena on grass, especially given recent injury concerns. Early rounds will be very telling i feel..........

Henin is indeed an early favourite, especially how dominating she was at the French. Has so much artillery on grass, with a willingness to end points at the net and is a mental giant out there on court. Has improved so many area's on grass that will allow her to reap success. Second serve is more beefier and the forehand is looking more consistent than ever. If JUstine is to win however, she'll have to find a way to conquer the power factor which will inevitably come from Venus, Serena and Sharapova.

Outside bets for me are Ivanovic, kuznetsova and jankovic. Wierd calling these three players outsiders as they are firmly established in the top 10, but arent prven on grass yet to a major extent. Have all had good results at SW19 though, Kuzy a quarterfinalist in 2003 and 05, Ivanovic a fourth round last year and jankovic the same last year also, beating Venus en route. I feel these three have potential for big sucess on grass, particulary Kuznetsova. Has such an all-round game, but never really utilises it for the grass. If Ivanovic gets that forehand going, you could see carnage on a fast court for the top names.

Other dark horses:

Hingis- 1997 champion. Has unlimited skill and artisty for grass, but has never being able to repel supreme power on grass since her only win 10 years ago.

Petrova- quarter-finalist in 2005. Has such a huge, accurate serve that suits grass to the ground. Too many injury concerns however and form has been poor on grass generally in her career.

Safarova- Finalist at the ordina open in 2005, so obviously has some grass-court feel. Unpredictable, but immense shot-making could be explosive at Wimbledon.

Paszek- Future top tenner no doubt, and a backhand which is rivalling the top player's in terms of quality.

Grass has always been Mauresmo's best surface (four consecutive SFs at Wimbledon, the last culminating in the title, speak for themselves). She was even in a winning position against both Serena and Davenport in 2004 and 2005 but couldn't reach the finish line in either case.

But this time round I don't think she will cope well with the pressures and scrutiny of being defending champion. Certainly she seemed uncomfortable with the mantle at the AO this year. She will probably play like she does in Paris, unfortunately.

Form isn't everything, but it's a hell of a lot, and it's a lot Mauresmo doesn't have.
Last year she sneaked her first grand slam in Australia and it gave her a psychological boost to win her second, she doesn't have that psychological foundation this time-and she's certainly the type to feel the pressure, sadly i reckon she'll only make it to the quarters.

I'd put Serena in with the faves, but not as the outstanding fave. If sh eplays like her old self then sure, almost a cert BUT she is prone to inconsistency and her Fo perfromance was quite poor as it transpired. I'm nto saying she won't win btw, but overwhelming favourite? I question that. Besides how many times has the overwhelming favourite won in recent years? Since 2004 I dont; belive the favourite has won. Sharapova, Venus and MoMo were outsiders.

I think that SB's point about expecting th unexpected might well hold true.

It may well be that someone could spring a surprise once again at SW19, just like in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Yes, Amelie won the AO last year, but in underwhelming circumstances.. she also got knocked out early on at RG last year too.. and I recall her not exactly setting the world alight with her performance at Eastbourne last year either.

No-one has been talking up her chances at defending her title. It's all been Serena, Venus, Justine.

So maybe she will be viewed as an outsider? She may well like it that way, and enjoy the fact that the spotlight might be on her less :)

I also think that she could play herself into form at SW19. Usually many of the top players coast through the early rounds, and Amelie probably will too.

this is very true, the on slam that seems to be more sure in womens tennis is the French, with Justine, all the others are up for grabs by the top players.

I can't say that I really agree about Serena being prone to inconsistency tbh SB. Since she beat Sharapova in the AO Final this year and found her mojo again, I can only think of one match where she has genuinely struggled to find her game, the one with Henin. And that had a lot to do with the surface and opponent as well as it being one of those off days. What other off days has Serena had :shrug: I think she's been quite consistent on clay really considering her lack of match play on the surface, clay was a real learning curve. The only performance I was disappointed with, was the loss to Henin. I thought the FO was a pretty good tournament for her on the whole.

Even last year when Serena was playing at a lower level, it's not like she was somedays just going out there and not being able to find her game at all, she was at least consistently playing at that level, even if she was unfit. It's not like she's really made any early exits, I mean she's made the quarter finals or better of all her tournaments this year.....excepting Charleston where she pulled out after 8 games so doesn't really count.

She was inconsistent in 2004-2005, in a very weird way, but that had more to do with injuries and personal issues I feel. It's not like she's going out earlier than we would expect :shrug: This doesn't really have anything to do with the point you were making or the thread I know :lol:

But it's just that from my point of view I don't see Serena as an inconsistent player...she's not AS consistent as some players have been true...but she has such an agressive game she can't play within herself in every match.

I think Amelie has a great chance as always on the grass - she loves it and it suits her game too!

Favourites for wimby? I think it's very hard to choose between Mauresmo, Maria and Serena at the moment, Henin just behind for me because it's grass.

Her game is less inconsistent than that of Venus, but SB is right - the last few years her form has been very up and down. As I say in my previous post, I reckon she's a joint favourite at the mo, it's not as if she's been ripping the tour up all year and comes in on a crest of a wave, she's 5th on the race or something like that isn't she, which isn't great considering she has a slam in the bag