tennis gut

Wimbledon Women 2017 Believe it or not, mayhem is not ruling the WTA tour this year.  In the absence of Serena, Sharapova, and Azarenka (and for half a year, Kvitova) there have been 26 different winners of 33 WTA tournaments in 2017.  But there are still certain players who consistently rise to the top.  Granted, naming a clear favourite is unpredictable, but to say ‘anyone can win’ is only true of about 20 or so players.  Which is still a large cast – and getting to know them can be enjoyable. So how shocking was Jelena Ostapenko’s victory at the French last month?  In my end of year summary from November 2016, I named Ostapenko among a group of four young players whom I thought could threaten the top 10 this year.  So her victory was not a total surprise.  And it is very good for the WTA, I believe.  In Ostapenko we have a hard-hitting young player who can handle the pressure of claiming the biggest crowns.  I have bemoaned...

Wimbledon Men 2017 Federer and Nadal have been ripping up the courts this year, claiming four titles each in 2017.  Nadal took four of the big five European clay titles including a 10 th French Open in the most dominant form he has ever shown at that tournament – and that’s saying something!  He lost only 35 games in sweeping to the title.  The only other years he won the French without losing a set were 2008 and 2010, the same years he claimed his two Wimbledon titles.  Nadal is in dominant, confident form, and must be considered a very serious threat for Wimbledon.  Let’s not forget that Nadal made the final five consecutive times he played Wimbledon, 2006-2011. Meanwhile world #1 Andy Murray has looked decidedly unthreatening this year.  He did manage to win one title at the 500 level in Dubai, but lost early at the Aus Open and the four 1000 level tournaments he played.  It looked like he was turning it around at the French, where he n...