Serena Williams (1) is in the top half of the draw and could meet Maria Sharapova (4) in the semifinals. Serena could face her sister Venus in the 4th round. In the bottom half Petra Kvitova (2) could meet Simona Halep (3). Diego Sampaolo
Serena will be looking to win her sixth Wimbledon title and her third major of the year after winning the Australian and French Open titles. She is also en route to winning her 4th major in a row for what she has dubbed the “Serena Slam.” In the past two editions of Wimbledon, Serena has not managed to reach the quarterfinals. Last year she lost to Alizé Cornet in the 3rd round.
She will start her campaign against Margarita Gasparyan before possible clashes against either Timea Babos or Petra Cetkovska in the 2nd round and either Caroline Garcia (32) or Heather Watson in the 3rd round, her sister Venus in the fourth round, Ana Ivanovic (5) in the quarterfinal and Sharapova in the semifinal. Sharapova has not beaten Serena since 2004 and is 2-17 lifetime, including 16 straight losses.
Ivanovic should have a easy start against Yi Fan Xu before a possible match against Tsvetana Pironkova. A possible big third round match could feature Viktoria Azarenka (23) and Carla Suarez Navarro (9). This section of the draw features the all-Italian match between Sara Errani (19) and Francesca Schiavone and the winner could meet another Italian Roberta Vinci who will start against Aleksandra Krunic.
Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004 as a 17-year-old player, reached her last final at the All-England Club in 2011 but has not advanced past the fourth round since then. The Russian super star will open against Joanna Konta from Great Britain who reached the quarterfinal this week in Eastbourne. Sharapova could take on Andrea Petkovic in the 4th round. The German could meet Italian Flavia Pennetta who will play against Zarina Diyas in the first round.
2015 Roland Garros finalist Lucie Safarova (6) looms in the background as a possible quarterfinalist for Sharapova. Safarova recently beated the Russian en route to the French final. The Czech No. 2 will play American Allison Riske in the first round, possibly Kaia Kanepi in the second round, Barbora Strycova (27) in the 3rd round and in the 4th round yet another Czech Karolina Pliskova (12) who recently made it to the finals of Birmingham grass court event.
Caroline Wozniacki (5) will open against Saisai Zheng before a possible third round match against Camila Giorgi (31) who recently won her first title on grass in s’Hertogenbosch. Wozniacki’s possible rival in the quarterfinal could be Halep who will open against Jana Cepelova in the first round before meeting Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round and former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round. Angelique Kerber (10) who won three tournaments in Charleston, Stuttgart and Birmingham, could meet Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the 2nd round and Garbine Muguruza (20) in the 3rd round.
Kvitova, winner at Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, will play her first match against Dutchwoman Kikki Bertens in the fourth quarter of the draw. The Czech player could also meet Jelena Jankovic (28) in the 3rd round and Agniezska Radwanska (13) in the 4th round. However, Radwanska would have to get past Elina Svitolina (17) in the 3rd round. Kvitova is also on collision course for a possible quarterfinal encounter against either this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova (8) or last year’s Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard (12) who was forced to withdraw from Eastbourne earlier this week.