1. Barbora Strycova v Sloane Stephens (Wimbledon, R1)
This is a first round match!!! Sloane Stephens missed out on a seeding by nine places and it’s poor old Babs who has drawn the short straw. Since Indian Wells, Stephens has posted an 19-8 W-L record which has included semi-finals in Strasbourg and Eastbourne, quarter-finals in Miami and fourth rounds at the French Open and Indian Wells. The partnership of Stephens and Nick Saviano has really blossomed and he seems to have instilled her with a much tougher mentality. In her first venture on the grass courts this year, Sloane reached the semis of Eastbourne with victories over Naomi Broady, Carla Suarez Navarro and Heather Watson. The match against Broady threatened to get away from Stephens but she did well to come back and win it in the third set tiebreak.
Strycova had a terrific grass court season last year. This year hasn’t been quite as rosy; the Czech player won two matches in Birmingham and just the one in Eastbourne, falling to Sara Errani in a delightfully wild and wacky ride that I got to enjoy the end of. Strycova had strapping on her leg and was clearly hampered by an injury and/or cramp. That match was on Tuesday so she will have had some time to recover. Strycova and Stephens are tied at 1-1 in their head-to-head; Strycova won their first match in Miami in 2011, but Stephens won their most recent clash in Cincy last year. To be honest, this wasn’t a difficult one for me to make a pick. Sloane is in great form and in my opinion, will carry her confidence and form from Eastbourne into Wimby…
Prediction: Stephens d. Strycova in 2 tight sets
2. Maria Sharapova v Johanna Konta (Wimbledon, R1)
Maria Sharapova‘s first match on grass in 2015 won’t be an easy one as she takes on the in-form Brit, Johanna Konta. Konta played all three grass court tournaments in the UK and improved with each week. In Nottingham, she reached the quarter-finals with victories over Monica Puig and Magdalena Rybarikova. While she only won one match in Birmingham, she played a superb match to defeat Jarmila Gajdosova in the first round before taking a set off the eventual finalist in Karolina Pliskova. Playing in her current home town, Konta racked up back-to-back top 20 wins in Eastbourne over Ekaterina Makarova and Garbine Muguruza. For a player currently ranked at number 146 in the world and who hadn’t won a main draw match on the WTA tour in 2015, this was a stunning effort. It does beg the question though what Konta has been doing for the rest of the year when she is capable of these results.
Sharapova hasn’t played a competitive match since losing in the fourth round of the French Open to Lucie Safarova. She was obviously struggling with illness there and needed recovery time but I thought she might take a late wildcard into Birmingham. While she didn’t play any tournaments, she’s had much longer to adjust to the grass in practice and also, didn’t go particularly deep in Paris. I feel Konta can win a set in this one, taking Sharapova by surprise early on. She’s been playing some superb tennis and confidence will be high. I’d expect Maria to be too strong in the end though.
Prediction: Sharapova d. Konta in 3 sets
3. Lucie Safarova v Alison Riske (Wimbledon, R1)
I repeat… Lucie’s a top eight seed! After a magnificent run to her first Grand Slam final in Paris, Lucie Safarova returned to action in Eastbourne where she lost her first match to Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets, 7-6 6-4. Lucie didn’t play a bad match at all, but she failed to take advantage of her opportunities including two set points in the first set tiebreak. Her first opponent, Alison Riske is an accomplished grass courter and she has had three completed wins on the grass this year with the best of those coming in Eastbourne where she thrashed the world number 25, Alize Cornet, 6-0 6-3. In their only previous match, Safarova defeated Riske on the clay courts of Madrid earlier this year, 6-4 6-2. I’m wary of this match for Lucie because Alison does well on grass and has reached back-to-back third rounds at SW19. Lucie though, has bigger weapons (notably the serve) and ultimately, I believe she will come through in a tight match.
Prediction: Safarova d. Riske in 2 tight sets
Moo's Tennis Blog 
As a gay man, I am also very excited to see the outfits that the top players will wear. Especially, Maria, Venus, Serena. Lol
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Fabulous. Venus in 2 sets
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Venus’ attire is pretty simple and straight for her usual self, but I guess there is so much you can do with wimbledon rules. Love Sharapova’s back with hers. Wonder what Serena will do with her choice. Ana’s looks good as well by adidas. I prefer it to Wozniacki’s. Me thinks would have looked a bit better on Woz 3-4 years back when when she was more full figured, just my opinion. Fila’s is fairly simple too.
No 2 piece for Venus, but I agree with the 2 sets.
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Yeah, Konta ain’t getting a set IMO. She has simultaneously been lifted by the home crowd and made nervous by them, and I think the latter will happen on CC at Wimbledon. Maria has apparently been fine for a while and got some good grass practice, so she should be fine.
Also going for Pironkova over BB, I don’t know why tbh. Garcia over Watson too lol, we have been quite different.
I agree with you on Sloane-Barbora. Strycova peaked last year and is dropping to her usual level. Sloane is better player.
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If Maria is going to win over Konta only in one department – mental strength. I don’t see any difference in terms of skills and technicality since Konta is playing very well on grass. It may not be an upset but it is possible.
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I already have my lay on Maria and Nole….Sugarpova’s match wiull go to down the wire in 3 and Novak can go to a 4 or 5 ….both have to encounter tough resistance in there first encounter
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I think five sets would probably give Novak a bit of a boost. But I think he’ll do it in 4 at the most.
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I’m going Novak in 4. I’ve seen a few people actually go for Kohlschreiber to win the match which i’m not feeling at all.
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Yeah people have gotten a little carried away with him losing RG. He’s still only lost 3 matches this year and it’s taken perfect performances from Karlovic, Federer and Wawrinka to do it.
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Tough draw for Maria this time around. But you’ll never know, it may just be the tonic she needs.
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I’ll say this about your girl Safarova James…this is the type of match (vs. Riske) that she MUST win confidently to start to shed her reputation as also being an inconsistent and mentally weak player. She’s certainly shown some improvement in that regard lately, but I am far from convinced yet that this is a new and improved and more importantly, “here to stay” Lucie. I hope so though, as I like her…but I also hate mentally weak/inconsistent players.
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Yeh your right she BETTER win.
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I’m gonna go for KONTA!!! Major upset guys lol
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Well played match Sloane,hopefully you can keep this level up during Wimbledon
Loved the double bagel Vee dished out in her first rd match:)
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She really was outstanding because Brengle didn’t do much wrong in that first set to be honest!
I do think she could run the risk of peaking too soon though. The first week is about adjusting and surviving. The second week is where you need to bring your best.
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Agree, Madison didn’t do much wrong in set 1. She was a bit passive and her serve went away in the second set with quite a few double faults.
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Last year the final to me at Wimbledon was between Vee and Petra,all their matches usually go 3 sets,it was a cracker of a game.I was really wanting Vee to win,still she did herself proud.I agree with your thoughts Andrew the 2nd week is the business end of any GS,still Vee is a vetran and I think she knows at this stage of her career,how to manage and pace herself,remember to,she suffers from a auto immune disease,Vee is a credit to the game of tennis.
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I don’t think she managed it well at the Aus Open.
I doubt she’d beat Serena if it came to that anyway. I don’t buy that they fix their matches but I think Venus would probably lose before standing in the way of her sister winning all four slams in the year, Serena obviously wants it so bad!
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BTW in winning today Venus is now level with Steffi-3rd most wins at Wimbledon.Well done Venus!
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I believe Serena is only one match behind Venus also! They are close to 150 wins at Wimbledon between them!
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