tennis gut

    Novak Djokovic is the very clear and strong favourite to win Wimbledon in 2021, thanks in part to the withdrawal of Nadal who is recovering from the rare Roland Garros loss inflicted by Djokovic in the semi-finals.   But I doubt they’ll just forego the matches and award Novak the trophy.   It’s sports, and anything can happen.   And who is likely to be the runner-up?   Besides Djokovic and Federer who have won at least five titles each, none of the top 16 seeds have made it past the fourth round, except for Roberto Bautista Agut – call me cynical, but I don’t think he’s a strong threat for the title.   So who is?   First Quarter Djokovic (seeded #1) is half-way to the calendar year grand slam.   The only other time that’s happened in the last 30 years, was also Djokovic, five years ago.   In 2016 when he won the French, he became the first man to hold four slam titles simultaneously since Rod Laver in 1969.   It was a...

  Actually I have no clue who will win this title.   That we got a French Open final between Krejcikova and Pavlyuchenkova should prove the hopelessness of predicting the WTA in 2021.   So the best I can do is take a stab at the state of some of the potential favourites.   First Quarter Ashleigh Barty (seed #1) retired during her second round match at Roland Garros with a hip injury.   She’s saying she’ll be ready to go but as we know from Andy Murray, hip injuries are not to be trifled with.   The bookies have her as their #1 pick. The next highest seed here is Bianca Andreescu at #5.   The Canadian has only played one match in the main draw of Wimbledon, which she lost, but it was a full year before her rise to prominence.   She’s basically an unknown on grass, but we do know she is a fierce fighter. The new French Open champ, Barbora Krejcikova (14) has never played the main draw at Wimbledon in singles, but has won a doubles t...