The first week of 2024 Wimbledon is over, and there's no rest day for this year's edition. Rainfall, which was more frequent this year than the previous years, resulted in a backlog in the men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. There was a delay in the number of men's singles matches and women's singles matches during the first few days as well.
Did your favorites make it through the first week? Tennis fans, and sports bettors, were surprised at the early departure of a few seeded players, who were expected to play during the second week, but most of the pre-tournaments predictions turned out to be accurate.
Let's start with Alex Eala.
Alex Eala was one win away from making it to the main draw of the women's singles. However, her record during her junior days showed that her record in grass courts was relatively weak (compared to her peers). Several players, led by Aryna Sabalenka, withdrew due to injury. The Filipina tennis player wasn't fortunate to be one of those lucky losers.
Filipino fans should be jubilant about the result because it's a sign that Eala is still on the rise. She was the former US Open winner (in the girl's singles), so there would be a good chance at her being invited to the week-long qualifying competition.
Most fans are excited about the quarterfinal match between Carlos Alcaraz, the defending champion, and Tommy Paul, the winner of the ATP 500 event in Queens a few weeks ago. (For those who don't follow the ATP Tour, there aren't any ATP Masters 1000 tournaments being played on grass. It would make the ATP 500 events in Halle and Queens as the most prestigious grass-court tournaments after Wimbledon.) We'll get to that later.
Many aren't surprised at Iga Swiatek failing to advance to the fourth round of Wimbledon. She admitted about a costly error, but she would have other chances. (The 2024 Olympics will start a couple of weeks from now. It will be held in Roland Garros, Swiatek's favorite court. She won't have any difficulty in making that short transition from grass to clay.)
Let's assess the Wimbledon winners, and losers, of the first week before we predict which players will make a deep run in the oldest tennis tournament (in the world). Are you ready for the latest Wimbledon scores?
Jannik Sinner faced a stern test in the second round, playing countryman Matteo Berrettini (on Center Court). Sinner won that match in four sets, three of which went to a tiebreaker. There was no hard feeling after Sinner won match point. (Berrettini told Sinner to win Wimbledon.) Sinner's game suits the faster courts, and the grass court would fall under that category.
Several fans believe that Sinner will end the season with three major titles under his belt. Agree? As for Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist, the comeback (journey) continues.
2024 is Alex de Minaur's breakthrough year; he broke into the Top 10 early this year. He reached the last eight of the Australian Open and then the French Open (this season). And he's favored to win his fourth-round match against Arthur Fils (of France). Most fans are looking at the mouth-watering match between Alex de Minaur and Novak Djokovic.
The Serb may have the advantage in their head-to-head matches, but the Aussie is becoming a threat to the higher-ranked players. It's only a matter of time (before he reaches his first tGrand Slam finals). We'll predict this match next match later.
Fabio Fognini, once ranked ninth in the world, rolled back the years when he reached the third round (in the men's singles). The mercurial Italian player lost ro Roberto Bautista Agut in five (tough) sets. Both players are a few years shy of 40.
The match is an indicator that retirement is out of the question. Fognini may have trouble in closing the match at times, but his resilience would help him make it through. He made it to the second week of the US Open in 2015, Will his recent performance result in a repeat? Your guess is as good as mine.
Daniil Medvedev was a semifinalist at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club last year, his best performance on grass. He had a walkover (over Grigor Dimitrov) in the fourth round, which was a good thing.
Medvedev will play Sinner in the quarterfinals. Medvedev and Sinner met 16 times, with the former leading their head-to-head matches at 9-7. But the Italian made tremendous progress during the last 12 months. (We'll talk more about it a little later.)
Grass has never been Casper Ruud's favorite surface (if fans would look at his historical performance). Ruud's loss to the resurging Fognini wasn't an upset at all. No one would see him as one of the favorites next year.
Alexander Zverev predicted that this year's Wimbledon would be the most open (Wimbledon) in two decades. He was right about the women's singles, as Jasmine Paolini became a contender, or one of the contenders, after her third-round victory. Paolini may be too small in grass courts, a surface that would favor taller players. But 2024 is the Italian's breakthrough season.
It would be unfair to compare Paolini to Argentina's Diego Schwartzman. (Paolini reached the finals in Roland Garros last month. And she's one of the gold-medal contenders in the upcoming Summer Olympics.)
Elina Svitolina might be the fourth mother to win a Grand Slam title. The top-ranked Ukrainian player won the 2018 WTA Finals, but 2019 wasn't her breakthrough year. She came close, twice, last season. She might have another shot this year.
Jelena Ostapenko, who won her first, and only, Grand Slam title in Roland Garros, had success in the grass courts. (She reached the semifinals in Wimbledon in 2018. She was the winner of the Rothesay Classic Birmingham 2023.) Most tennis fans don't see Ostapenko as a one-Slam wonder. In fact, they believe the Latvian player could win her second major title in a faster court. It might happen in the All England Club.
Coco Gauff fell to fellow American Emma Navarro in the third round. It's hardly an upset. (Navarro, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, is currently a Top 20 player. She is a potential Top 10 player.) Gauff has yet to make a deep run in Wimbledon, if not win a warm-up (grass) tournament. Most tennis analysts will overlook it, though. (Coco Gauff reminded them of the Williams sisters.) Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are still in contention in the women's doubles, though.
Ons Jabeur, a two-time finalist at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, failed to make it to the second week. Many tipped the Tunisian players to reach the semifinals (at least). Was it the long, grueling season? Or was it Elina Svitolina? The latter might be the likely answer. (Svitolina reached the semifinals last year.) It's too early to say that Jabeur would end up as one of those Top 10 players who failed to win a major title. She has another chance next year.
We can see this quarterfinal match going the distance, and Tommy Paul almost defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the past. We sense an upset on this one.
Novak Djokovic is the favorite on paper, but Alex de Minaur is making great strides in his game. It's possible that the Australian will win this match in three sets (if the Serbian would have one of those off days). But we predict a five setter.
The early departure of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff would make Elena Rybakina the presumptive favorite in the women's singles. And fans, and bettors, would like her chances on her side of the draw. Anna Kalinskaya had her best result in Wimbledon. Rybakina and Kalinskaya split their first four matches, and Wimbledon would be the first time that both players faced each other on grass. Rybakina will win this match (if she keeps the form that made her the 2022 Wimbledon champion.)
Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro met three times, the latter winning all their (three) matches. The American is favored to advance to her first Grand Slam semifinals, but Paolini is one dangerous foe.
Who are your bets?
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