Victoria Azarenka and Venus Williams are the two most proven women's singles players remaining in the women's 2017 Wimbledon draw. They were the most proven players heading into the tournament, however, they are all-the-more-brighter talents following the exit of both Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova in recent days.
Those two Czech players were the pre-tournament favorites for the Wimbledon title. The status of favorite, according to bet365's betting odds, now belongs to Johanna Konta, a player that has never won a major. With the favorites going out and the current favorite inexperienced, it seems to make Wimbledon all the more Wide Open this year for the women's singles tournament.
Skepticism for Azarenka and Williams
There are certainly problems with Azarenka and Williams. With Azarenka, she is returning from maternity leave and it is difficult for a player to get to her best tennis after a long layoff. While the Belorussian is more talented than nearly everyone in the draw, the timing for her to win another major right now might be off.
That said, if she is able to find an approximation of her best tennis in the days ahead, then she has a draw that she can work with. She shares a path to the semifinals with Simona Halep and Konta. Those are two strong players, but neither's the best tennis is close to Azarenka's best tennis.
With Williams, the reason to be skeptical of her chances certainly isn't pure talent.
A seven-time Grand Slam champion, she has had her share of success in her career. The problem with Williams is simply her age. Much was made of her run at the Australian Open earlier this season, but that tournament was a little light when it came to tough players.
Williams' game was error-riddled in the late rounds and she was fortunate to play Coco Vandeweghe in the semifinals, another player who had an error-riddled game.
Williams has a very tough draw to the semifinals at Wimbledon with Ana Konjuh up next and then either Elina Svitolina or Jelena Ostapenko to follow.
If Williams can get through that, she will still need to beat the winner of Halep's quarter to make the final. Where Vandeweghe was lenient with Williams at Melbourne Park, don't expect the same from either of Halep, Azarenka, or Konta at that stage.
The women's draw truly is wide open at this point. Even Angelique Kerber, the World No. 1, seems to have caught life a bit as she is into the third round having not dropped a set yet. If she's playing well then her pure talent has to be judged third behind both Azarenka and Williams among the remaining players.
The parity that seems to be part of Wimbledon 2017 definitely has something to do with the fact that both Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams are not in the draw for different reasons. Certainly, anyone trying to predict the outcome of this tournament faces a daunting task. Even Konta, the current favorite, only survived by the skin of her teeth in the early rounds and she won a coin-toss match against Donna Vekic.
Finalists tough to call
There are probably a lot more coin tosses coming in the days ahead. That's what happens when the most dominant players miss the tournament and the favorites remaining start suffering upsets. Accordingly, predicting the Wimbledon 2017 finalists may prove as foolhardy as taking a shot in the dark with Azarenka and Williams the brightest lights in terms of ability.
