Defending champion Serena Williams, along with her sister Venus, will look to dominate Wimbledon once again after being seeded 1st and 2nd respectively for the Championships.
Coming from an unsuccessful French Open campaign, both competitors will look to impress at the legendary grass court. With eight Singles titles between the two, Serena and Venus will certainly beef up the competition in Wimbledon once again.
But the Williams sisters should remember that they will be facing tougher opposition this year, with the Serb Jelena Jankovic leading the fight. Jankovic, who was the only one of the top four seeds to reach the French Open semi-finals, will be sitting at fourth seed, while Caroline Wozniacki seeded just above her.
The Williamses also have to look out for newly-crowned French Open champ Francesca Schiavone. The Italian hopes to build on her successful run at Roland Garros, where she beat Sam Stosur for the title. Schiavone will also take the place of Russia’s Elena Dementieva, who was originall seeded at fifth.
Missing out on the Wimbledon action this year is Dementieva, who was forced to retire from her semifinal match against Schiavone because of a calf injury. Dementieva said shortly after her loss that a Wimbledon appearance would seem unlikely. Early this week, Dementieva confirmed that she still has not recovered and officially withdrew from the Wimbledon Open. Dementieva reached the semis last year. Her withdrawal from the tournament will therefore end her run of 46 successive Grand Slam appearances.
Schiavone, for her part, welcomes the fifth seeding and will look to make the most of her momentum after bagging the French Open title.
Samantha Stosur, on the other hand, intends to rebound from her loss to Schiavone with a in at Wimbledon. The Australian will open her grass season campaign with a sixth seeding.
Rounding out the top ten seeds of the tournament are Poland’s Agnieska Radwanska, Kim Clijsters of Belgium, Li Na of China, Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Marion Bartoli of France.
Former Grand Slam champ Maria Sharapova continues her comeback trail with an appearance in Wimbledon. Keen to put in some early work for her grass season campaign, the Russian participated in the warm-up for Wimbledon at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham. Despite finishing second to top-seeded Li Na, Sharapova insists that she can offer a great showing, owing to her time in Birmingham’s grass court. Sharapova poses a great danger to Serena Williams’ title defense, as the 2004 Wimbledon champion showed she is already finding her feet on grass.
The Williams sister should also look out for Belgian Justine Henin, a solid contender who has won he French Open four times, the Australian Open once and and also the US Open. The only thing missing from her illustrious trophy case is the Wimbledon title, the lone target for a career grand slam. One cannot deny Henin’s grass court expertise, having been runner-up in Wimbledon in 2001 and 2006.
Svetlana Kuznetsova, another Russian standout is looking to ruin Serena Williams’ defense of the trophy. With a French Open title last year and US Open trophy in 2004, Kuznetsova could definitely pose some problems for the entire roster.
Another great story that we should watch out for is Dinara Safina’s bid to overcome the odds. Last year, many believed that Safina was well on her way to a Wimbledon title, having been seeded at number one. However, things didn’t turn out the way she wanted to and was defeated at the semifinals. From the top spot in the seedings, Safina now finds herself seeded at 20th.
The Wimbledon Open will unfold over the next week. And this early, Serena and Venus Williams have their work cut out for them. Expect a wonderful Wimbledon, people.
Tags: