LONDON—Serena Williams might just capture her third Grand Slam victory of the year and fourth in a row due to her Wimbledon draw.
Interesting possible matchups:
Fourth Round: Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams
Third Round: Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Victoria Azarenka
Quarterfinal: Maria Sharapova vs. Lucie Safarova
Third Round: Eugenie Bouchard vs. Madison Keys
Third Round: Jelena Jankovic vs. Petra Kvitova
Fourth Round: Agnieszka Radwanska vs. Petra Kvitova
Fourth Round: Angelique Kerber vs. Caroline Wozniacki
Quarterfinal: Angelique Kerber vs. Simona Halep
There is a very familiar face in her draw: Venus Williams. The sisters could meet up in the fourth round. Venus started off the year very strong, but went downhill since she reached the finals in Auckland in January. She lost in the first round at the French Open against fellow American Sloane Stephens.
If Serena makes it to the semifinals (more than likely she will, but she does struggle the most in the early rounds) she could possibly face fourth seed Maria Sharapova. Her road to the quarterfinals runs smooth until she possibly meets Lucie Safarova. The two met at the French Open when Safarova defeated the Russian in straight sets. Granted, an illness hampered Sharapova’s play, but Safarova is enjoying a great 2015.
Defending champion Petra Kvitova faces more challenges with Jelena Jankovic, Elina Svitolina, and Agnieszka Radwanska appearing in her draw. The most challenging one is Radwanksa, who started off the year in a rut, but lately found her groove. In fact, she will play for a title at Eastbourne on Saturday against Belinda Bencic. If Kvitova survives, she potentially plays her 2014 opponent Eugenie Bouchard. But Bouchard is in a sophomore slump with horrible appearances in tournaments.
It is hard to judge who Kvitova might meet in the semifinals. Third-seed Simona Halep performed at the most mediocre in the first two Grand Slams. While she played semi-well in the Australian Open, her easy defeat at the hands of Ekaterina Makarova in the quarterfinals raised a few eyebrows, but the way she brushed off the defeat afterwards sent confusion through the tennis world. Then she lost in the second round at the French Open and once again showed a carefree attitude despite the loss. But Wimbledon placed Angelique Kerber in her draw. She won three titles in the past two months, including her first on grass. Despite the lack of titles at Wimbledon, Kerber plays well at the All England Club. She reached the semifinals in 2012 and defeated Sharapova last year.
Serena will watch the bottom half of the draw. She lost only once in 2015 and that was against…Kvitova. The Czech easily handled Williams in the semifinals at Madrid. However, Serena is on fire this year and determined to win all the Grand Slams.
Caroline Wozniacki received the fifth seed, but withdrew from the Aegon International in Eastbourne on Friday after three games due to a back problem. She insists she is fine for Wimbledon, but she did not move well at all during her three games against Belinda Bencic. Wimbledon starts on Monday so it is hard to imagine her back problem will resolve itself by then.