Wimbledon Preview: Will a new champion emerge on the men’s and women’s sides this year?

Once upon a time, Serena Williams was ranked number one in the world. She spent a total of 319 weeks with that ranking, 186 of them consecutive. Leading up to Wimbledon, however, she is ranked 1204th. Williams went out with an injury at Wimbledon last year in the first round and hadn’t played a match since then until just this week when she won a doubles match on grass.

While Williams may not be a favorite to win like the No. 1 ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland, she shouldn’t be counted out despite the fact her career appears to be slowing down. Swiatek is 20 years younger than Williams and her age shows in her play. She is on a hot streak at 21-years-old, having won her last 35 matches and having captured her second French Open title recently.

Swiatek is the clear favorite going into the year’s third Grand Slam event, but there are plenty of other players who are vying for the trophy. Beatriz Hadad Maia will be one to watch at Wimbledon after winning 12 straight matches including back-to-back tournaments on grass.

On the American side, close attention should be paid to Coco Gauff. While Gauff lost to Swiatek in straight sets of the French Open final, the fact she reached the final at all at age 18 is an accomplishment in itself. In 2019, Gauff was the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon and defeated five-time champion Venus Williams on her way to a fourth round appearance.

Tunisian star Ons Jabeur has earned the No. 3 seed at Wimbledon despite a less than ideal appearance at Roland Garros last month. Jabeur clearly used the early loss as motivation to bounce back in Berlin last week to win it all after beating Belinda Bencic on the grass court. Jabeur’s win at the Madrid Open on clay in May makes her the only other player to win multiple titles so far in 2022 alongside Swiatek.

With so many young players on the scene for Wimbledon, Williams seems unlikely to win, but her age and experience could be an advantage. With her tenured career, Williams has learned how to deal with the pressures of the game while some of the younger players may not have fully learned how to navigate them yet. Emma Raducanu won the U.S. Open last year, but had to retire herself due to a panic attack at Wimbledon. The mental strains are something that athletes learn to manage after years of playing and that is certainly something Williams has on her side.

On the men’s side, there are four names that have dominated the tournament for the last 20 years and it still remains that way today. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer have excelled at Wimbledon since 2002. Djokovic has won the last three titles but his headspace hasn’t seemed to be clear since he was deported from Australia right before the Australian Open in January.

Federer is still out rehabbing after knee surgery and both Nadal and Murray have been plagued by injury so far this season, though it clearly didn’t stop Nadal from winning yet again in Paris. If those four players don’t continue their run, who could be the next Wimbledon champion?

Matteo Berrettini has the potential for a great showing next week. Despite having hand surgery only three months ago, Berrettini has returned from rehab seemingly stronger than before winning the Stuttgart Open and the Queen’s Club championships earlier this month. Carlos Alcaraz is another player to keep an eye on, but his youth may be a factor in the tournament. At 19, he is one of the younger competitors and has not played on grass since last year at Wimbledon where he went out in the second round.

With some of the more seasoned players not seeming like contenders this year and the 2021 Wimbledon winner on the women’s side being retired at only 26, the door seems open for both sides to have a new name hoisting the trophy at the end of the tournament. The question is, with so many young players trying to fit through that door, will one of the veterans find a window to climb through and make a run at the Championships?