tennis gut

  All the women who have a reasonable Wimbledon pedigree seem either past their prime or out of form.  So that leaves a lot of unknowns entering this year’s tournament.  Iga Swiatek is the bookies’ favourite, and justifiably so, riding a 35-match win streak.  But she’s only played the Wimbledon main draw twice, her best: a fourth round showing last year.  There are eleven slam champions in the draw, but only two of them, Swiatek and Muguruza, are in the top ten.  There seem two possible scenarios:  either Swiatek continues her indomitable march to victory, or the tournament is wide open.   First Quarter Iga Swiatek is a deserved #1, having dominated the tour since February.   If she wins here she could extend her win streak to 42 matches, a number that hasn’t been surpassed since Steffi Graf won 44 matches in a row in 1993.   For perspective, Graf had previous streaks of 45, 46, and 66; Navratilova won 74 straight in 1984; and there were several 100+ streaks in the 1920’s to 40’s

  For the second year in a row, the Grand Slam is ‘on’ as we head to Wimbledon, with Rafael Nadal claiming the first two slams of the year.  Can Rafa complete the job at which Novak fell one match short last year?  Its ‘the smell of napalm in the morning.’   Somehow, Nadal was not viewed as the favourite in either slam this year, and he’s not for this one either.   But should he be?   The conventional wisdom is that Novak Djokovic, three-time defending champ and winner of six Wimbledon titles is the favourite.   He certainly has the superior record here. But is it only a two-horse race, or can someone else claim this Wimbledon? For me, the big unknowns before the draw were, where will Berrettini and Hurkacz land?   First Quarter With Daniiel Medvedev banned for being Russian, and Alexander Zverev out after a horrific French Open ankle injury, third-ranked Djokovic is the top seed – which seems appropriate, even if everyone were playing.   Wimbledon has made the unfortunate de