Adieu Paris, ‘Allo London

Pick those strawberries and churn that cream . . . It’s Wimbledon time.

Grand Slam time for any tennis lover is a treat and with the French Open and Wimbledon being so close in calendar proximity, we are clearly spoilt. If anything, the two weeks between clay and grass allow us to celebrate the title holders of Roland Garros whilst speculating about the next Wimbledon champions.

Now that we’ve bid adieu to Paris, it is time to say ‘allo to London.

With Justine Henin out of the picture and mixed results from some of the top players of late, the women’s draw may welcome a new victor this year.

The two Serbian women of Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic have done for Serbia what Henin and Clijsters did for Belgium. Both have similar styles of game, centred on fitness, footwork and force. Ana (coming off her French Open win) must aim to keep her unforced error count low; Jelena needs to serve more consistently. In saying this, each has achieved excellent results over the past year at a Grand Slam level and you can expect more of the same here.

The uncustomary exits of the Williams sisters in France (particularly for Serena) will do little to curb their enthusiasm given their liking to grass. It would be foolish of us to discount these two power hitters. They share 6 Venus Rosewater Dishes and not surprisingly, will arrive in London at short odds to win.

Whilst Venus returns as the defending champion, her flimsy second serve and current form may impede a smooth run into the second week. Nonetheless, her past record at the tournament makes it difficult for us to go past the older Williams sister on her favourite surface and arguably, at her favourite event.

Having lost her number one ranking to Ivanovic, Sharapova will likely seek redemption from being knocked off the mantle.

Maria will be a solid contender as long as she doesn’t succumb to the yips – particularly in reducing the number of double faults and unforced errors. Her performance at the French was not pretty and luckily for her, the loss to Safina has allowed preparations for the grass court season to begin early. Expect Maria to be sharp come June 23.

The Russian brigade is ever prominent now. Led by Sharapova and Kuznetsova, other women such as Chakvetadze, Petrova and Dementieva will be keen to impress. Speaking of Russians, the dark horse of the women’s draw is Dinara Safina. Her finals look at the French Open will certainly give her a confidence boost, as she strives to better her mental toughness in closing out matches. This is questionably the defining attribute that separates the champions from everyone else and Marat’s little sister has struggled to do this in the past.

Positively, the come-from-behind triumphs over Sharapova and Dementieva on clay are experiences she can draw from. Wimbledon is not her favoured event however who knows what this talented Muscovite can achieve post-Roland Garros.

The aforementioned women are your obvious choices for the Title but do expect competition to be fierce.

Past champion and the much-adored Lindsay Davenport is to return from her stint on the sideline and the likes of Amelie Mauresmo and Svetlana Kuznetsova are sure to be a threat, regardless in which part of the draw they get placed.

Meanwhile, the name Krajicek is synonymous with The Championships – we are talking Michaella and not Richard. Despite a terrible first half to ’08 (with her singles record being 0-10), she will be eager to prove that her ‘surprise packet’ status (for reaching the quarter finals in 2007) was not a fluke.

Additionally, look out for the much-improved Aussie Casey Dellacqua, Estonian Kaia Kanepi, last year’s Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli and serial pest (in a tennis sense) Patty Schnyder.

Wimbledon commences on June 23.

Tania Tchea is a tennis enthusiast and aspiring sports writer / presenter from Melbourne, Australia. She has experience working at the Commonwealth Games, FINA World Swimming Championships and other National Football Clubs, however her passion is tennis.

She has often been described as a Human Almanac of Tennis due to her strong knowledge of the game at a national and international level. Tania has previously worked for the Australian Open and Tennis Australia and she joins On the Baseline as our newest contributor.