Wimbledon preview: Spotlight on Serena but there’s enough depth and quality for a competitive Slam

Imagine a Grand Slam where the title favorite isn’t the world No 1 or the defending champion, or maybe even the top five seeds, but actually the current world No 181, who has played all of seven singles matches in the year.

The buildup to the 2018 Wimbledon ladies singles championship has focused more on Serena Williams than the usually unpredictable WTA tour contenders, because the All England Club is the 23-time Major winner’s seat of power.

Serena will be aiming for a record eighth title, having won in 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2015 and 2016. Despite an injury-marred French Open campaign, Serena comes into the grass season raring to go (Check out the countdown to Wimbledon on her social media accounts). By all accounts, the third-round run in Paris was testing the waters, with the real test starting on grass.

But in some ways, even without the addition of the 25th seed and seven-time champion, the storylines of the women’s preview would be about the open field.

The last seven Majors have been won by seven different women. Title holder Garbine Muguruza hasn’t had the best of seasons and the world number one and recent French Open champion Simona Halep doesn’t have the best of records of grass.

Unlike a few years ago, when the lack of a clear favourite in women’s tennis hinted at a lack of depth, Wimbledon 2018 has a set of top players who have proven their credentials with deep runs in the recent past.

There is serious quality at the top with the top 10 seeds – Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, Garbine Muguruza, Sloane Stephens, Elian Svitolina, Caroline Garcia, Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Venus Williams, Madison Keys – all capable of lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish two weeks later. The top four now have Slams, with three of them winning their first it in the last one year.

But grass has always known to be a great leveller, with mixed results for most of the top names and surprises in the semi-finals – Magadalena Rybarikova and Johanna Konta with Venus in 2017, Elina Vesnina with Angelique Kerber and the Williams sisters in 2016. Add to that the general upheaval of the women’s draw and we could see a tight contest on the grass courts of SW19, form notwithstanding.

Is there a favourite?

Based on form, it is a tough one. Based on talent, several.

The brief grass season after the clay-court swing has not thrown up any answer but this – Petra Kvitova is consistent. The two-time Wimbledon champion is the most successful player this season with five titles from as many finals, just over a year after her return from a horrific hand injury sustained during a home invasion. The most recent of these was on grass, defending her Birmingham trophy, before a hamstring injury forced her out of Eastbourne.

However, she has not been able to replicate her tour-level form at Grand Slams, not having reached a semi-final since her 2014 win. She was a favourite heading into French Open as well, being the most successful on clay, but she went down in the third round.

Which brings us to the champion at Roland Garros. With the Major monkey off her back, Halep will be look to achieve what only Serena has done in this decade – win the Channel Slam. She has momentum and confidence on her side, but the top seed has traditionally struggled at Wimbledon, with her only semi-final appearance coming in 2014 where she lost to Eugenie Bouchard. To compound matters, she hasn’t played a single competitive match on grass due to injury after an intense clay season.

Second seed Wozniacki has not had much success at Wimbledon in the past either, never having crossed the fourth round. But the Australian Open champ has primed herself with a hard-fought title run at Eastbourne, nine years after she first won it, to give her prospects a boost.

Defending champion Muguruza is another player whose game was thought not be suited for grass, but that was before she stormed to the title last year, dropping just one set and routing Venus Williams in the final.

For her to repeat this, she will require a lot more consistency and clutch play than she has shown this season with a second-round exit at the Australian Open and a rather tame loss to Halep in the semis in Paris. But if one believes in signs, she is on track: the Spaniard won her second Major after a loss to Barbora Strycova at Birmingam last year, something that was repeated this year.

And speaking of former champions, one name that will have everyone’s attention will be that of 24th seed and 2004 winner Maria Sharapova. Three years after her last appearance and 14 years since she beat Serena to the title as a teenager, she is back to where it all began.

While the Russian has not played a match on grass since losing to Serena in the semi-finals in 2015, she has steadily improved her performances this season, till a quarter-final loss to Muguruza at Roland Garros.

While winning another title here seems a long road, with the right frame of mind and fitness, Sharapova could well be the representative of the old guard; a slot that both Venus and Kerber will hope to fill as well, given their experience on grass.

Then, there are the young ones that have given a good account of themselves through the season, the ones that tennis fans hope would break through. Karolina Pliskova has done well on grass in the past; Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens look good enough to reach the second week for the second straight Slam; Ashleigh Barty has started the grass season strong, beating Naomi Osaka and Johanna Konta on her way to the Nottingham title; Osaka herself has a Major semi-final overdue while Garcia has primed herself for a final.

But with stacked draws and a glorious uncertainty of WTA, a women’s singles preview can only predict one thing – no matter the end result, the fiercely competitive field will make for immensely entertaining watching.