Wimbledon week two predictions: Demon to make a run at the Djoker?

We’ve reached the end of Week One of the Championships.

A fun fact: prior to 2022, there was no tennis played on the Middle Sunday of the Championships. The reason? Tradition.

Middle Sunday used to be a rest day for the grounds staff, volunteers and the players. However, due to scheduling and the typical London weather, the schedule was altered, with the 2022 edition bringing in this scheduling change.

Week one has brought carnage to both singles draws, and an extraordinary record set: the 2024 Championships being the major with the most two-sets-to-love comebacks ever recorded in a Grand Slam (Holger Rune’s victory last night taking the tally to 10).

Oh, and in case you missed it, American Ben Shelton hit a 153 mph (246 km/h) serve yesterday, the fastest ever recorded at Wimbledon.

To put that in perspective, the average lap speed at the British Grand Prix this weekend is 151 mph, or 243 km/hr.

Safe to say Shelton has an arm on him.

Andy Murray bids farewell

We saw emotional scenes on Thursday, with Andy Murray ending his Wimbledon career alongside his brother Jamie. Forced to pull out of the singles on the eve of the Championships due to a recent surgery to remove a back cyst, the Murray pair were not good enough for the Aussie duo of Rinky Hijikata and John Peers.

Post match, the crowd were treated to an extended interview between Andy and legendary presenter Sue Barker, in addition to a video tribute featuring commentary by Venus Williams and Murray’s Big 4 co-stars: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Whilst Murray never hit the heights of his fellow Big 4 members, winning three majors, breaking a 77-year British drought at Wimbledon, back-to-back Olympic Gold medals and 46 ATP singles titles in the Golden Era of tennis are a feat matched by no one.

The last five years have plagued Murray with injuries, having undergone surgery for a metal hip in 2019. A true fighter, known for his grit, determination, and for leaving everything out on the court, Murray was an active promoter of women’s tennis throughout his career, fighting for female recognition and equal pay.

Murray plans on resting up before the Olympic Games, and whilst there has been no confirmation on his final tournament, he has no plans to continue past Paris.

State of Play

As we look into the crystal ball for week two, we look at the current seeds left in the tournament:

What does this mean?

By the round of 16, if the draw plays out, the top 16 seeds should be remaining in the draw. The women’s draw has seen more upsets, particularly in the form of World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the third round.

Only six of the top 16 seeds made it through to the fourth round in the women’s draw; in contrast to the men’s, with 12 of the top 16 seeds remaining.

This can potentially be attributed to the five-versus-three set format; defending champion Carlos Alcaraz noting that the five set format requires lower-ranked players to sustain a high level for longer in order to cause an upset; this luxury is not afforded to women’s tennis given the best-of-three set configuration.

Ladies’ Draw key takeaways

The departure of World No. 1 Iga Swiatek has some saying the draw has been blown wide open.

However, there are some that disagree (hint: myself).

When the draw came out on the Friday before the tournament, the big name in Swiatek’s section was Latvian 13th seed Jelena Ostapenko; Ostapenko commanding a 4-0 head-to-head lead over the Polish star.

I had predicted Swiatek to make the fourth round, before remaining winless against Ostapenko. Sadly, this was not to be, but Ostapenko should move on to the quarter-finals.

However, the new favourite in the draw looks to be fourth seed Elena Rybakina. The 2022 champion has cruised through her section, crushing former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-0, 6-1 in the third round.

World No. 2 Coco Gauff cannot play an opponent ranked higher than seventh before the final, and has cruised through to the fourth round. As for the third section of the draw, Emma Raducanu is looking to build on her momentum at her home slam, with the patriotic crowd willing her on to what would be an unlikely semi-final appearance.

A mouthwatering final between Rybakina and Gauff could be on the cards in the final. However, Rybakina should have enough steel and will draw on her 2022 experience to take out her second grand slam.

Ladies’ Singles predictions

Gentlemen’s Draw key takeaways

With 12 of the top 16 men still in the draw, week two has some tasty match-ups in store.

It’s great to see some traditional, one-handed backhands still in the draw, thanks to Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

However, I don’t see either of these men going past the quarter finals. The firepower that Italian Jannik Sinner and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz possess makes it hard to look past those two men in the top half of the draw.

Sinner has been playing with confidence, dismantling Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round. He faces a stiff task in 14th seed Shelton, but for me, the Italian remains the favourite to reach his first Wimbledon final.

American Tommy Paul is the dark horse in the top half, having won the lead-in tournament at Queens and finding a purple patch of form on the grass. He will be a big test for Alcaraz, but the Spaniard should navigate both Ugo Humbert and Paul to reach the semi-finals.

In the bottom half, Alex de Minaur has been putting together a solid tournament. The Australian is yet to drop a set, and has the benefit of rest from a third-round walkover.

With the seventh seed departing in the form of Hubert Hurkacz, the Demon has the chance to go into the quarter finals fresh, where a showdown with seven-time champion Novak Djokovic potentially awaits.

Djokovic entered the tournament under an injury cloud having recently had surgery on his meniscus. The Serbian has looked rusty, dropping sets in both his second and third-round matches, and is yet to click into first gear.

I think he’ll have too much in the tank for Holger Rune, but de Minaur, with his willingness to extend rallies and rely on his stamina, might be a step too far.

A de Minaur v. Sinner final is what I predicted at the start of the tournament, and nothing has changed thus far. My heart says I’d love for de Minaur to go all the way, but the firepower that Sinner possesses off both wings, in addition to his Grand Slam form in 2024, makes me believe he’ll double his Grand Slam tally come next Sunday.

Gentlemen’s Singles predictions