Wimbledon 2018 preview: The old guard return as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams lead the charge
A look at the runners and riders for this year’s Wimbledon looks like a walk down memory lane as tennis’ dominant trio look to fend off familiar competition
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Your support makes all the difference.Garbine Muguruza, Wimbledon’s 24-year-old defending champion, brought some youthful charm to the All England Club’s main interview room here on Sunday, but in other respects you could have been forgiven for thinking that time had been standing still.
Twenty-four hours before the start of the planet’s most famous tennis tournament, the three other players presented to the world’s media were Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki.
Williams and Federer, who will both be 37 come September, made their debuts here in 1998 and 1999 respectively. Williams won the first of her seven Wimbledon titles in 2002, while Federer won the first of his eight in 2003. Wozniacki is a comparative novice at 27, but is still making her 12th appearance at the Championships.
While there have been signs of a shifting world order in the last year or two, especially in the women’s game as a result of Williams’ 14-month break to have a baby, the major contenders over the next fortnight here will be familiar faces.
Ten years after Federer and Rafael Nadal contested a final hailed as the greatest match in tennis history, the Spaniard and the Swiss still occupy the top two places in the world rankings and have shared the last six Grand Slam titles.
In the women’s game, meanwhile, the three outstanding contenders are all former champions. The bookmakers see Petra Kvitova, the champion in 2011 and 2014, as the favourite, closely followed by Williams and Muguruza.
Federer and Nadal go into the tournament in similar circumstances to 12 months ago. Federer kicked off 2018 by winning the Australian Open, skipped the clay-court season in order to give himself the best chance of winning here, and has quickly found his grass-court form.
Nadal swept through this year’s clay-court season in customary style, winning his 11th French Open title, but was so exhausted that he pulled out of his only scheduled warm-up tournament at Queen’s Club. The 32-year-old Spaniard has not gone beyond the fourth round here for seven years, though this year’s draw appears to have been kind to the world No 1.
Federer is the clear favourite for good reason, but the years will catch up with him one day and his performances at his final warm-up tournament at Halle were not as convincing as 12 months ago. Benoit Paire had two match points against him in the second round and Borna Coric beat him in the final.
While Federer and Nadal have looked as strong as ever, their three main rivals of recent years have all been struggling. Andy Murray, who is recovering from hip surgery, pulled out today, while Stan Wawrinka, who has a horrible first-round draw against Grigor Dimitrov, has been struggling for his best form after a knee operation.
However, might this be the tournament where Novak Djokovic finally rediscovers the form that brought him three Wimbledon titles after two years struggling with fitness and confidence issues? The Serb’s results have picked up appreciably since his elbow surgery in January.
Many would like to see a breakthrough by younger players, but Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev have yet to prove they have the staying power to win a Grand Slam title, Kyle Edmund has only ever won one match here and this is probably a year or three too early for Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas, two of the most exciting talents to have emerged in the last year.
If there is to be a new men’s champion, nobody has stronger credentials than 29-year-old Marin Cilic, who has reached the final of two of the last four Grand Slam tournaments, having lost to Federer here last summer and in Melbourne in January. The world No 5 won the title at Queen’s seven days ago and is a proven grass-court performer.
In the women’s game the form player is Kvitova. The 28-year-old Czech won her fifth title of the year on grass at Edgbaston last weekend, underlining her remarkable recovery since the horrific knife attack on her 18 months ago. For months after the incident, in which she suffered terrible hand injuries, Kvitova was uncertain whether she would ever play again.
Muguruza has won only one minor title since last summer, but the Spaniard has regularly proved herself a big-occasion player. Like Kvitova, she has a proven Wimbledon pedigree, having reached the 2015 final and won here last year.
Maria Sharapova, who will be playing here for the first time for three years, and Venus Williams, who has won the title five times and was runner-up 12 months ago, also know how to win Wimbledon, but the clock is ticking for both women.
The biggest question mark hangs over Serena Williams, who has played only seven matches since beginning her comeback in March but performed well above expectations on her return to Grand Slam competition at the French Open before pulling out with a pectoral injury before her fourth-round match.
The former world No 1 said today that she had been unable to serve again until arriving here but has proved on countless occasions that she can still be a major contender when less than fully fit.
Williams, who needs one more Grand Slam singles title to equal Margaret Court’s record of 24, said that her hunger for success was greater as ever.
“I don't think I ever actually lost that competitive side,” she said. “In fact, I feel like it’s stronger because I’ve been through so much.”
Wimbledon, unlike the French Open, took up their option to diverge from the official world rankings when they seeded Williams (currently ranked No 181 in the world) at No 25. Some have said she should have been ranked higher, but Williams said she had no complaints and was “pleasantly surprised” at being seeded at all.
Williams’ fellow Americans Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys might both fancy their chances – Stephens won last year’s US Open and reached last month’s French Open final while the big-hitting Keys has a great game for grass – while Simona Halep and Wozniacki, the players ranked No 1 and No 2 in the world, could also be contenders.
Halep has not played any grass-court matches in the build-up but the world No 1 arrives free of pressure after finally winning a Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Wozniacki lifted a similar burden from her own shoulders by winning the Australian Open in January and has the look of the most likely champion outside the three main favourites. Although the Dane has never gone beyond the fourth round here she is a former Wimbledon junior champion and proved her grass-court prowess by winning the title at Eastbourne Saturday.
And the prospects of British success? Johanna Konta reached the semi-finals 12 months ago and should have the best chances of any of the home players, but this has been a difficult year for the world No 24. With so many ranking points to defend here, the British No 1 could have challenging times ahead.
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