Barely a week has passed since Day 1 of this year's Championships at SW19 and already, there are some high-profile guests boarding their early flights back home from Heathrow. The ladies singles draw has lost the most superstars. Australian Samantha Stosur, Chinese Li Na, Danish Caroline Wozniacki, American Venus Williams, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli have all gone out the exit within the first two rounds. The men's game, which is generally very predictable, has also been hit hard by upsets. Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka, France's Gilles Simon and Spain's Feliciano Lopez, all seeded players, are now gone. Perhaps the grandest upset in the year yet was World No 2 Rafael Nadal's second round loss to the Czech Republic's Lukas Rosol - a man who in just a few hours turned himself into a household name!
Women's tennis has been rather unpredictable for a fair period of time. With the Williams' sisters losing their dominance, Sharapova having been hampered by injury and the other younger crop of players unable to keep up consistency in Grand Slam tennis, the phrase 'upset win' has lost its value. The last 6 Grand Slams have seen 6 different women players holding the trophy. Rather clearly, there are no favorites in the women's game. Now there can be a number of reasons for this. One that I've already stated is that no real woman player in the last few years has been able to sustain herself at the highest level. Take Kim Clijsters for instance. Clijsters came out of retirement and went on to win the US Open in 2010 followed by the Australian Open in 2011. Serena Williams' respiratory troubles and sister Venus' indifferent form, coupled with Justine Henin's retirement, worked well for Clijsters as she scripted one of the emotional runs in modern day international tennis. However, the joy didn't last long. A certain Chinese woman named Li Na had just announced herself on the world stage. Li Na, the flagbearer of a new generation of Chinese, and indeed Asian, tennis won her first Grand Slam in the form of Roland Garros 2011. She'd already begun sneaking in to the top of women's tennis by reaching the finals of the Australian Open just prior to that tournament. However, again, she couldn't manage to win any other Grand Slam thereafter. Other young ladies stepped up to the task - it was anybody's game now! Czech girl Petra Kvitova clinched Wimbledon the same year but had to give way to veteran Aussie Samantha Stosur at the following US Open. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki continued to search for that elusive maiden Grand Slam win of hers (that was a very curious case indeed!). However, the anomalous situation didn't last too long for her as Belarussian Victoria Azarenka started 2012 by winning the Australian Open and dethroning Wozniacki from the top. Maria Sharapova then made a rather unprecedentedly strong return from injury troubles by winning a string of titles on clay and finally topping it off with Roland Garros and thereby reclaiming the World No. 1 spot. On current form, Sharapova looks the most potent in the women's game. But the volatility continues. This certainly still is anyone's game.
The men's game, meanwhile, has been far more stable. The top four of Serbian Novak Djokovic, Spaniard Rafael Nadal, Swiss Roger Federer and Briton Andy Murray have been fairly consistent at making the semifinals of each Grand Slam over the last couple of years or so. However, Wimbledon 2012 has challenged the predictability. Within 24 hours on Days 4 and 5, Nadal was knocked out, Djokovic was down by a set to Radek Stepanek and Federer was trailing two sets to love against Julien Benneteau. It isn't so much that the top three have slumped in their game as it is that a number of other men have re-invented theirs to match the top layer. In the last few tournaments, various players including David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Petro have challenged the might of the top four. In an ATP tourney in Madrid before Roland Garros, Nadal and Djokovic were in fact knocked out by Fernando Verdasco and Janko Tipsarevic (some think Verdasco and Tipsarevic are 'mirror images' of the other two!). That was followed by a rather intriguing Roland Garros which saw a number of hard-hitting Spaniards (Ferrer, Almagro, Verdasco and gang) dominate the court.
However, despite the strong challenge, the top four have largely prevailed. The consistency and variety of their tennis has only made the game better - compelling their rivals to lift themselves further and further. The others have responded well, adding spice to the game and pushing the top four to do even better. Women's tennis, meanwhile, seems to be in transition. The young bunch of Kvitova, Azarenka and Sharapova are likely to play musical chairs in winning the trophy while fighting off the strong challenge coming from the likes of Sara Errani, Tamira Paszek and Nadia Petrova.
Wimbledon 2012 certainly seems anybody's game.
Women's tennis has been rather unpredictable for a fair period of time. With the Williams' sisters losing their dominance, Sharapova having been hampered by injury and the other younger crop of players unable to keep up consistency in Grand Slam tennis, the phrase 'upset win' has lost its value. The last 6 Grand Slams have seen 6 different women players holding the trophy. Rather clearly, there are no favorites in the women's game. Now there can be a number of reasons for this. One that I've already stated is that no real woman player in the last few years has been able to sustain herself at the highest level. Take Kim Clijsters for instance. Clijsters came out of retirement and went on to win the US Open in 2010 followed by the Australian Open in 2011. Serena Williams' respiratory troubles and sister Venus' indifferent form, coupled with Justine Henin's retirement, worked well for Clijsters as she scripted one of the emotional runs in modern day international tennis. However, the joy didn't last long. A certain Chinese woman named Li Na had just announced herself on the world stage. Li Na, the flagbearer of a new generation of Chinese, and indeed Asian, tennis won her first Grand Slam in the form of Roland Garros 2011. She'd already begun sneaking in to the top of women's tennis by reaching the finals of the Australian Open just prior to that tournament. However, again, she couldn't manage to win any other Grand Slam thereafter. Other young ladies stepped up to the task - it was anybody's game now! Czech girl Petra Kvitova clinched Wimbledon the same year but had to give way to veteran Aussie Samantha Stosur at the following US Open. Meanwhile, World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki continued to search for that elusive maiden Grand Slam win of hers (that was a very curious case indeed!). However, the anomalous situation didn't last too long for her as Belarussian Victoria Azarenka started 2012 by winning the Australian Open and dethroning Wozniacki from the top. Maria Sharapova then made a rather unprecedentedly strong return from injury troubles by winning a string of titles on clay and finally topping it off with Roland Garros and thereby reclaiming the World No. 1 spot. On current form, Sharapova looks the most potent in the women's game. But the volatility continues. This certainly still is anyone's game.
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| Knocked Out: Nadal in his loss against Rosol |
However, despite the strong challenge, the top four have largely prevailed. The consistency and variety of their tennis has only made the game better - compelling their rivals to lift themselves further and further. The others have responded well, adding spice to the game and pushing the top four to do even better. Women's tennis, meanwhile, seems to be in transition. The young bunch of Kvitova, Azarenka and Sharapova are likely to play musical chairs in winning the trophy while fighting off the strong challenge coming from the likes of Sara Errani, Tamira Paszek and Nadia Petrova.
Wimbledon 2012 certainly seems anybody's game.
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