The 2014 Wimbledon Draws

by Savannah

The Ladies Singles Draw

TOP HALF

WILLIAMS, Serena USA [1] v TATISHVILI, Anna USA

SCHEEPERS, Chanelle RSA v MCHALE, Christina USA

JAKSIC, Jovana SRB v CETKOVSKA, Petra CZE

SCHMIEDLOVA, Anna SVK v CORNET, Alize FRA [25]

PETKOVIC, Andrea GER [20] v PITER, Katarzyna POL

BEGU, Irina-Camelia ROU v RAZZANO, Virginie FRA

SOLER-ESPINOSA, Silvia ESP (W) v GOVORTSOVA, Olga BLR

HANTUCHOVA, Daniela SVK v BOUCHARD, Eugenie CAN [13]

KERBER, Angelique GER [9] v RADWANSKA, Urszula POL

WATSON, Heather GBR v TOMLJANOVIC, Ajla CRO

MARTIC, Petra CRO v DOMINGUEZ LINO, Lourdes ESP

PASZEK, Tamira AUT (Q) v FLIPKENS, Kirsten BEL [24]

PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia RUS [26] v RISKE, Alison USA

CADANTU, Alexandra ROU v GIORGI, Camila ITA

BACSINSZKY, Timea SUI (Q) v FICHMAN, Sharon CAN

MURRAY, Samantha GBR (W) v SHARAPOVA, Maria RUS [5]

HALEP, Simona ROU [3] v PEREIRA, Teliana BRA

PFIZENMAIER, Dinah GER v TSURENKO, Lesia UKR (Q)

BENCIC, Belinda SUI v RYBARIKOVA, Magdalena SVK

DUVAL, Victoria USA (Q) v CIRSTEA, Sorana ROU [29]

VINCI, Roberta ITA [21] v VEKIC, Donna CRO

ZVONAREVA, Vera RUS (W) v MOORE, Tara GBR (W)

DIYAS, Zarina KAZ v MLADENOVIC, Kristina FRA

ZHANG, Shuai CHN v SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP [15]

IVANOVIC, Ana SRB [11] v SCHIAVONE, Francesca ITA

BECK, Annika GER v ZHENG, Jie CHN

PLISKOVA, Karolina CZE v KNAPP, Karin ITA

GLUSHKO, Julia ISR v LISICKI, Sabine GER [19]

KOUKALOVA, Klara CZE [31] v TOWNSEND, Taylor USA (W)

KEYS, Madison USA v PUIG, Monica PUR

PLISKOVA, Kristyna CZE (W) v SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava KAZ

KANEPI, Kaia EST v JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB [7]

BOTTOM HALF

AZARENKA, Victoria BLR [8] v LUCIC-BARONI, Mirjana CRO

LARSSON, Johanna SWE v JOVANOVSKI, Bojana SRB

SMITKOVA, Tereza CZE (Q) v HSIEH, Su-Wei TPE

VANDEWEGHE, Coco USA v MUGURUZA, Garbine ESP [27]

SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE [23] v GOERGES, Julia GER

HERCOG, Polona SLO v ORMAECHEA, Paula ARG

NICULESCU, Monica ROU v VAN UYTVANCK, Alison BEL

WOZNIAK, Aleksandra CAN (Q) v CIBULKOVA, Dominika SVK [10]

ERRANI, Sara ITA [14] v GARCIA, Caroline FRA

PIRONKOVA, Tsvetana BUL v LEPCHENKO, Varvara USA

DOI, Misaki JPN v SVITOLINA, Elina UKR

DATE-KRUMM, Kimiko JPN v MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS [22]

KUZNETSOVA, Svetlana RUS [28] v LARCHER DE BRITO, Michelle POR (Q)

VOEGELE, Stefanie SUI v GAJDOSOVA, Jarmila AUS (W)

KONTAVEIT, Anett EST (Q) v DELLACQUA, Casey AUS

MITU, Andreea ROU (Q) v RADWANSKA, Agnieszka POL [4]

KVITOVA, Petra CZE [6] v HLAVACKOVA, Andrea CZE

BARTHEL, Mona GER v OPRANDI, Romina SUI

NARA, Kurumi JPN v FRIEDSAM, Anna-Lena GER

TORRO-FLOR, Maria-Teresa ESP v WILLIAMS, Venus USA [30]

STEPHENS, Sloane USA [18] v KIRILENKO, Maria RUS

KONTA, Johanna GBR v PENG, Shuai CHN

DAVIS, Lauren USA v KLEYBANOVA, Alisa RUS

CEPELOVA, Jana SVK v PENNETTA, Flavia ITA [12]

WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN [16] v PEER, Shahar ISR

BROADY, Naomi GBR (W) v BABOS, Timea HUN

KONJUH, Ana CRO (Q) v ERAKOVIC, Marina NZL

WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL v STOSUR, Samantha AUS [17]

VESNINA, Elena RUS [32] v MAYR-ACHLEITNER, Patricia AUT

KUDRYAVTSEVA, Alla RUS (Q) v ZAHLAVOVA STRYCOVA, Barbora CZE

KING, Vania USA v MEUSBURGER, Yvonne AUT

KANIA, Paula POL (Q) v LI, Na CHN [2]

Before we talk about either draw let's talk about the chatter around them both.

Why don't we start with Sabine Lisicki opening women's play on Day 2, the role usually played by the previous years Ladies Champion. As we all know Marion Bartoli retired after her win over a tearful Sabine Lisicki last year. Many thought, at this most tradition bound of the Slams, that Serena Williams would be opening play on Day 2 since she is the reigning women's number one. Many thought wrong. In their seemingly incessant pursuit of drama and since they didn't veer much from the WTA rankings (although some would argue that five time winner Venus Williams could've been seeded in the top twenty and not #30 is meddling and wouldn't happen in the men's draw) the Committee chose to have Lisicki open play in that honored position. Of course Lisicki has had stunning results since making the final last year right? Again you would be wrong. In a serendipitous turn of events I see that ESPN is featuring Lisicki in it's Wimbledon commercial instead of Bartoli. I'm not even shaking my head because I'll have to call the medics for shaken brain syndrome. Marion won last year. Lisicki cried. As is usual with the WTA the advertising is deceptive.

Then there is the boast by Tennis Australia that all but a few of its players are avoiding seeds in their opening rounds. Who are the ones facing seeds? They are Marinko Matosevic, Matt Ebden and Sam Groth on the men's side. Tennis Australia goes on to characterize Samantha Stosur's opening round match against an "up and coming Yanina Wickmayer" as "tricky". I'd think they'd talk about her not having a coach going into Wimbledon as her biggest challenge but they decided to call Wickmayer "up and coming". Okay.

Then of course there's the new WTA darling Eugenie Bouchard. She's in the top half of the draw and will open against Daniela Hantuchova. The other seed in her section is Andrea Petkovic who had a pretty decent warm up season and looks to be trying to come back from injury. I don't think Bouchard's game is mature enough to take her deep into the tournament but she can have a good start with the other players in her section easily classified as head cases.

Someone who does have a mature game is Simona Halep. She's also in the top half of the draw and opens against Teliana Pereira of Brazil. Fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea is the other seed in her section. Halep fell apart mentally against Sharapova in her grass warm up so she can play badly. I don't think Pereira will trouble her though.

I can't talk about the Ladies draw without mentioning how well Madison Keys is playing right now. She's coming into Wimbledon unseeded but has blown her opponents away in Eastbourne. Saturday's match against Angelique Kerber will go a long way towards showing if she's ready for prime time. She opens against Monica Puig, another young player with a lot to prove. With Keys making the final at Eastbourne Puig has a chance at what to me would be an upset. If Keys gets a few days rest before her opening match making the final could become a non issue.
It's interesting that Taylor Townsend is in that same section of the draw and opens against veteran Klara Koukalova. If both women win their opening round matches they would play each other, an interesting match up indeed.

Sloane Stephens, seeded #18, opens against Maria Kirilenko. For all the hype Stephens has done almost nothing since that infamous Australian Open win. She's never made a final, and is the only woman in the top thirty who has never won a title. Flavia Pennetta is the other seed in her section. Sloane has been showing some life in her play of late but when it's time to step up she doesn't. She has a lot to lose this tournament.

Victoria Azarenka, seeded eighth, opens against Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. She moved well in her grass court warm up but I'm still surprised she chose to come back during grass court season. She's the professional though so you have to think she knows what she's doing.

I'm not going to say much else about the Ladies draw. Are there soft spots? Yes. Overall the WTA doesn't have much depth so that is bound to happen. For me the focus will be on the younger players, the new generation. We all know the strengths and weaknesses of the old guard.

Gentleman's Singles Main Draw

TOP HALF

DJOKOVIC, Novak SRB [1] v GOLUBEV, Andrey KAZ

STEPANEK, Radek CZE v CUEVAS, Pablo URU

KRAVCHUK, Konstantin RUS (Q) v SIMON, Gilles FRA

HAASE, Robin NED v POSPISIL, Vasek CAN [31]

YOUZHNY, Mikhail RUS [17] v WARD, James GBR (W)

WANG, Jimmy TPE (Q) v GONZALEZ, Alejandro COL

KLAHN, Bradley USA v QUERREY, Sam USA

MELZER, Jurgen AUT v TSONGA, Jo-Wilfried FRA [14]

GULBIS, Ernests LAT [12] v ZOPP, Jurgen EST

STAKHOVSKY, Sergiy UKR v BERLOCQ, Carlos ARG

CHARDY, Jeremy FRA v COX, Daniel GBR (W)

MATOSEVIC, Marinko AUS v VERDASCO, Fernando ESP [18]

CILIC, Marin CRO [26] v MATHIEU, Paul-Henri FRA

HAIDER-MAURER, Andreas AUT v EDMUND, Kyle GBR (W)

TOMIC, Bernard AUS v DONSKOY, Evgeny RUS

HANESCU, Victor ROU v BERDYCH, Tomas CZE [6]

MURRAY, Andy GBR [3] v GOFFIN, David BEL

ANDUJAR, Pablo ESP v ROLA, Blaz SLO

KAMKE, Tobias GER v HERNYCH, Jan CZE (Q)

JOHNSON, Steve USA v BAUTISTA AGUT, Roberto ESP [27]

ANDERSON, Kevin RSA [20] v BEDENE, Aljaz SLO (L)

VOLANDRI, Filippo ITA v ROGER-VASSELIN, Edouard FRA

GABASHVILI, Teymuraz RUS v PUETZ, Tim GER (Q)

KUZNETSOV, Alex USA (Q) v FOGNINI, Fabio ITA [16]

DIMITROV, Grigor BUL [11] v HARRISON, Ryan USA (Q)

SAVILLE, Luke AUS (Q) v THIEM, Dominic AUT

YOUNG, Donald USA v BECKER, Benjamin GER

GROTH, Samuel AUS (Q) v DOLGOPOLOV, Alexandr UKR [21]

SEPPI, Andreas ITA [25] v MAYER, Leonardo ARG

BROWN, Dustin GER v BAGHDATIS, Marcos CYP (W)

KUZNETSOV, Andrey RUS v EVANS, Daniel GBR (W)

CARRENO BUSTA, Pablo ESP v FERRER, David ESP [7]

BOTTOM HALF

WAWRINKA, Stan SUI [5] v SOUSA, Joao POR

LU, Yen-Hsun TPE v NEDOVYESOV, Aleksandr KAZ

RUSSELL, Michael USA v REISTER, Julian GER

ISTOMIN, Denis UZB v TURSUNOV, Dmitry RUS [32]

LOPEZ, Feliciano ESP [19] v SUGITA, Yuichi JPN (Q)

FALLA, Alejandro COL v PAVIC, Ante CRO (Q)

NIEMINEN, Jarkko FIN v DELBONIS, Federico ARG

SMETHURST, Daniel GBR (W) v ISNER, John USA [9]

JANOWICZ, Jerzy POL [15] v DEVVARMAN, Somdev IND

HEWITT, Lleyton AUS v PRZYSIEZNY, Michal POL

RIBA, Pere ESP v MANNARINO, Adrian FRA

LACKO, Lukas SVK v ROBREDO, Tommy ESP [23]

GRANOLLERS, Marcel ESP [30] v MAHUT, Nicolas FRA

GIMENO-TRAVER, Daniel ESP v GIRALDO, Santiago COL

MULLER, Gilles LUX (Q) v BENNETEAU, Julien FRA

LORENZI, Paolo ITA v FEDERER, Roger SUI [4]

RAONIC, Milos CAN [8] v EBDEN, Matthew AUS

HERBERT, Pierre-Hugues FRA (Q) v SOCK, Jack USA

KUBOT, Lukasz POL v STRUFF, Jan-Lennard GER

LAJOVIC, Dusan SRB v GARCIA-LOPEZ, Guillermo ESP [28]

KOHLSCHREIBER, Philipp GER [22] v SIJSLING, Igor NED

ITO, Tatsuma JPN (Q) v BOLELLI, Simone ITA (L)

ILHAN, Marsel TUR (Q) v KUDLA, Denis USA (Q)

DE SCHEPPER, Kenny FRA v NISHIKORI, Kei JPN [10]

GASQUET, Richard FRA [13] v DUCKWORTH, James AUS (Q)

KYRGIOS, Nick AUS (W) v ROBERT, Stephane FRA

VESELY, Jiri CZE (W) v ESTRELLA BURGOS, Victor DOM

JAZIRI, Malek TUN (L) v MONFILS, Gael FRA [24]

KARLOVIC, Ivo CRO [29] v DANCEVIC, Frank CAN (L)

SELA, Dudi ISR v KUKUSHKIN, Mikhail KAZ

PAIRE, Benoit FRA v ROSOL, Lukas CZE

KLIZAN, Martin SVK v NADAL, Rafael ESP [2]

All the the shenanigans in the Gentleman's draw were done to make sure Andy Murray was seeded in the top four.
He's safely ensconced in the bottom half of the top of the draw and opens against David Goffin. Grigor Dimitrov is in that same part of the draw and if he wins his opening match would face Dominic Thiem, another press favorite.
Thiem opens against Australian Luke Saville. The potential early round clash of these two would make a television court for sure.

I'm sure Nishikori Kei is looking to have a good tournament. Philipp Kohlschreiber is the other seed in his section.

Both David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka were sick during this week and some thought one or both would withdraw. Both are in the draw. It's ironic that Canadian Frank Dancevic, who bitched and moaned about the horrible conditions he was made to endure ends up in the Main Draw as a Lucky Loser isn't it? He opens against Ivo Karlovic.

Winners and losers? Not my game. There are players who have a chance to make or break their reputations during this tournament. Someone like John Isner making Week 2 would be huge for the United States. For Thiem and Dimitrov to potentially meet so early in the tournament is a shame for both men.

The Championships Wimbledon are the crown jewel of tennis. A good run here will make or break a reputation especially for a young player but especially for a young woman who is used to on court coaching. No fathers or coaches will be allowed to hold a players hand.

Let's hope for a good clean tournament.