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Tournament Information
Dates: July 3rd to 16th
Opening Match: 3rd July, 11:30 BST
Venue: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Court Type: Grass
Player Dress-Code: All-White
“They act like they’ve got the biggest tournament in the world. And they are right, they do”. – Pete Sampras, seven-time Wimbledon Champion.
Wimbledon, the third Grand Slam of the season after the Australian and French Open and before the US Open, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. Pristine grass courts, strict all-white dress code and the ambiance of the All England Club makes Wimbledon to be widely considered as the most prestigious Grand Slam in Tennis.
Last year, Andy Murray defeated Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in the finals to win Wimbledon for the second time in his career. Serena Williams also won her 7th Wimbledon singles title last year, when she defeated Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 after an hour and 21 minutes of fierce competition.
This year’s championship, however, appears to be very unpredictable. Both the men’s and women’s singles are exceptionally open, with a large array of players confident of success. Last years winner and current world number 1 has endured a difficult season so far, so he has to bring his A-game if he hopes to retain his title.
Fortunately for Murray, most of his rivals have their own problems. Nadal has struggled with injury since winning the French Open, Djokovic is playing an ATP 250 event, trying to find some form, while Wawrinka lost in the first round at Queen’s. Now, let's have a look at the major contenders for this year’s Wimbledon Title.
Andy Murray (Current World ranking: 1, Seeded: 1)
Crashing out of the Australian Open in the 4th round and failing to win a match at the Indian Wells, the defending champion has appeared to have turned a corner when he reached the Semi-finals at Roland Garros for the fourth straight year. He lost the match to Stan Wawrinka.
We have seen the best of what the 30-year-old can deliver at Wimbledon and as he hasn’t failed to reach the Quarter-finals at Wimbledon since 2006, we can expect him to go as far as the Semi-finals.
Odds to Win: 4/1
Novak Djokovic (Current World ranking: 2, Seeded: 2)
At his time, last year, Djokovic was on top of the tennis world. He has completed his Grand Slam and became the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four major titles simultaneously. Now, the Serb is in the worst slump of his career, having surrendered all four Grand Slam titles and dropping out of the world’s top three for the first time since 2009. Having played a warm-up tournament on grass at Eastbourne, the 30-year-old will be hoping to prove to the tennis world that he still has what it takes to win another Grand Slam title and that he isn’t done yet.
Odds to Win: 6/1
Roger Federer (Current World ranking: 5, Seeded: 3)
After Roger Federer suffered a knee injury at Wimbledon last year, many thought he would never regain his form, but the 7-time Wimbledon champion is the favorite to win again this year. The 35-year-old has had a great year, winning his 18th major title at the Australian Open in January, defeating his greatest rival, Nadal, to do so. He bypassed the whole clay season to focus on his pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and first in five years. Giving his form, and the fact that he captured his ninth title in Halle last week, we can expect him to go all the way to the finals and maybe even win it.
Odds to Win: 2/1
Rafael Nadal (Current World ranking: 2, Seeded: 4)
Like Federer, Rafael Nadal has also had a boost in form after coming off the injury woes he has suffered in the past few years. A wrist injury suffered at Roland Garros last year forced him to come out of the tournament and was serious enough to rule him out of Wimbledon. However, the Spaniard will arrive this year with a good chance of winning Wimbledon for the third time. The 31-year-old did not drop a set when he won the French Open for the tenth time earlier this month, showing how dominant Nadal can be when playing at his best.
Odds to Win: 5/1
Other notable contenders include Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic seeded at 5, 6 and 7 respectively. For the Women’s singles, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber are the favourites to win. Last year’s winner, Serena Williams won’t be playing as she is currently pregnant.
The prize money has been increased this year with the singles champions to receive £2.2m each. Also, first round losers will also receive £35k for their solitary appearance, a 17% increase from last year.
The Championships get underway on the morning of Monday, 3rd July, weather permitting. Although the qualifying rounds were hit by rain, good weather has been in the forecast for the first week of the Championships. So who will the 2017 Wimbledon Champions be?