Wimbledon 2017 is scheduled to start on July 3rd with top-seeded Angelique Kerber not looking the least bit dangerous at the moment. Petra Kvitova does look dangerous, however, as the two-time former champion won a grass-court title at one of the recent warm-up events.
Kvitova will be on the order of play for Monday as she takes on Johanna Larsson. With the start of the tournament approaching many are offering their takes on who will do what at Wimbledon 2017. Below you'll find my opinions on who will do damage in the Wimbledon 2017 draw.
Quarterfinalists, if the seeds held up
Firstly, here is what the quarterfinals would look like if the seeds held up at the All England Club. These are not predictions, but just a point of comparison:
(1) Angelique Kerber vs. (7) Svetlana Kuznetsova
(3) Karolina Pliskova vs. (5) Caroline Wozniacki
(8) Dominika Cibulkova vs. (4) Elina Svitolina
(6) Johanna Konta vs. (2) Simona Halep
Kerber out, Muguruza in
Sticking with Kerber and her section of the draw, it seems that she is not likely to make the quarterfinals. The World No. 1 simply doesn't have any strong recent results to hang her hat on right now. She lost to Johanna Konta in Eastbourne, Kerber fell in the first round of the French Open, and she has two recent losses to players ranked outside of the top 50.
Garbine Muguruza is seeded 14th, and she shares a draw to the quarterfinals with Kerber. The Spaniard is more likely to make the quarters at this point as she has played better in recent events.
Svetlana Kuznetsova also seeded to reach the quarters, seems like a tough pick to actually make them. Wimbledon has been the veteran's worst major over the years.
She has only made the quarterfinals twice, and her most recent appearance came in 2007. She has not actually played poorly overall recently, but French Open semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky is in this section of the draw as well. The last time Bacsinszky was playing well enough to make the French Open semifinals she followed suit with a run to the Wimbledon quarters.
Karolina Pliskova should be very dangerous
Karolina Pliskova certainly does appear to be a player that will live up to her seeding. As the three seed, she is expected in at least the quarterfinals. With a booming serve, she should do well on grass. While her previous results are lacking at the All England Club, this is a player that started to play her best at about this time last year. In effect, Wimbledon 2017 is the first time she will be playing at the All England Club after ascending to the player that we now know her to be.
Caroline Wozniacki seems like an underdog to make the Wimbledon quarters. The Dane will be making her 11th straight appearance at the venue, but she does not have much to show for it.
In those appearances, she has never actually made the quarterfinals before. There are a lot of dangerous players that share Wozniacki's draw to the quarters, including Kristina Mladenovic, Coco Vandeweghe, Daria Kasatkina, Annet Kontaveit, and Tsvetana Pironkova. The chances are that one of those players will make the quarters in this section instead of Wozniacki.
Cibulkova out, Williams in
On the bottom half of the draw, Dominika Cibulkova is a tough pick to make the quarters. She's been relatively quiet this season after a strong end to 2016. She has three recent losses to players outside of the top 100 among several other losses to players outside of the top 20. Cibulkova might be in tough right in the first round as she faces veteran Andrea Petkovic.
Sabine Lisicki, Ana Konjuh, and Venus Williams are all in this section of the draw to the quarters. Lisicki and Konjuh will face in the first round with the winner promising to be a dangerous player in this part of the women's singles draw.
Elina Svitolina has enjoyed a strong 2017, but she's yet to win many matches at Wimbledon. In four previous appearances, she has not made the third round. Madison Keys is in Svitolina's draw to the quarters, but perhaps it's French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko that will make the round of eight. Her confidence has to be sky-high after claiming her first Grand Slam title last month.
In another section, Johanna Konta shares a draw to the quarters with Petra Kvitova.
That's bad draw luck for Britain's top player as Kvitova is one of the two former champs in this year's draw. Kvitova is playing well despite only making a recent return to tennis, and she certainly looks more dangerous than Kvitova at the moment.
With two-seeded Simona Halep, the Romanian certainly looks strong to make the quarterfinals. Not only is she playing well right now, but she has the World No. 1 ranking as a dangling carrot in front of her. Furthermore, her draw to the quarters looks wonderful with the exception of Victoria Azarenka. The Bulgarian is returning from maternity leave, however, and even the best players in the world need time to get back to form.
Here's a look at my predictions for the Wimbledon quarters:
(14) Garbine Muguruza vs (19) Timea Bacsinszky
(3) Karolina Pliskova vs Anett Kontaveit
(10) Venus Williams vs (13) Jelena Ostapenko
(11) Petra Kvitova vs (2) Simona Halep
