WTA Tour: Early Grass Court Predictions

WTA Tour: Who will top the class on grass?

The tour has now moved from clay to grass. This year, the break between the French Open and Wimbledon has been extended by a week, meaning that there will be three weeks of play on grass before Wimbledon. For the women, that means stops at Nottingham, S’Hertogenbosch, Birmingham and Eastbourne.

The shift from clay to grass is never easy and many a top player has failed to make the transition in time. Whereas the clay causes the ball to bounce higher and slower, the grass is much quicker, rewarding faster, flatter hitting and bigger serving/returning. Therefore, players find themselves either loving the change or struggling to survive.

Here, I’ll take a look at the current top 10 and predict how well I think their grass court season will go. I’ll rank their chances of winning Wimbledon from 1 to ten.

1 Serena Williams

Fresh off winning her twentieth Grand Slam title, Serena is back at her best. During the French Open, she proved time and time again that no matter how down and out she appears to be, there’s always a way back. Serena adores the grass, having won Wimbledon five times before, as well as the Olympics when it was held at Wimbledon in 2012. Though she hardly ever plays an event beforehand, she’s always ready for Wimbledon. Her serve becomes even more of a weapon (if that’s possible) and her power game is irrepressible. Though things haven’t worked out at Wimbledon in the past couple of years, this time she’ll be all the more dangerous as she guns for the ‘Grand Slam’ in holding all four majors simultaneously.

2 Petra Kvitova

Though the French Open was rather disappointing, Petra comes to life each year on the grass. She will be the defending champion at Wimbledon, having won the event twice (2011 and 2014) and will prepare for the event at Eastbourne. Her lefty serve, huge groundstrokes and feel at the net make her the perfect package for the surface. If Serena falters, Kvitova’s my pick to go all the way.

3 Maria Sharapova

Maria has hopefully recovered from the virus which afflicted her in Paris. Despite her premature exit in the fourth round, Maria is renowned for her ability to bounce back. However, the grass court season hasn’t been kind to her as of late. Despite winning Wimbledon in 2004 and boasting an enviable grass court winning percentage through 2005, her ability to perform on the surface was undoubtedly dented by the shoulder injuries she suffered circa 2007. Since then, despite her powerful returns, her serve has been far too erratic to secure success on the surface. Aside from a reprieve between 2011-2012, Maria generally departs Wimbledon mid tournament. Unlike in the past, she scarcely plays in Birmingham beforehand and isn’t down to play this year either. I don’t think this will do her any favours.

4 Simona Halep

The clay court season was disappointing for Simona, especially her second round defeat in Paris. She struggled to find the balance between playing aggressively and consistently. Therefore, she might enjoy the fact that the grass will offer her less time to think and encourage her to go for her shots. In the past, she’s performed well on the surface, reaching the semis at Wimbledon last year and winning S’Hertogenbosch in 2013. Unlike last year, she will have had more time to prepare for Wimbledon and will compete in Birmingham next week. My main concern for Simona is the fact that she seems to struggle in backing up good showings from one year to the next.

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5 Lucie Safarova

A run to the final at the French Open sees Lucie on the radar for the first time. Now inside the top 10, it will be interesting to see how she handles heightened expectations. Last year, she had her first big breakthrough in reaching the Wimbledon semis. Like Kvitova, her game is perfectly suited to the surface when considering her lefty serve and flat, aggressive groundstrokes. Lucie is set to play Birmingham next week and it will be fascinating to see how she moves on from her unexpected success in Paris.

6 Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline will be happy to leave the clay behind her. Though she made a determined attempt to master the surface this year, it ultimately mounted to little in Paris, where she lost in the second round. Caroline is set to play Eastbourne this year, where she often does well (winning in 2009) before losing in the fourth round of Wimbledon. It seems as if Caroline finds herself in the middle ground when it comes to grass, as it plays quick enough for her to play more aggressively than usual but also too quickly for her to defend against the bigger hitters.

7 Angelique Kerber

Who would’ve thought Kerber would find herself back in the top 10? Her impressive spring revival in winning Charleston and Stuttgart back to back didn’t assist her in Paris, where she lost disappointingly in the third round. However, Kerber’s game is far more suited to the grass. She boasts one of the more impressive grass court resumes amongst the top 10, including a Wimbledon semi final (2012), quarter final (2014), Olympic quarter final (2012) and 2 finals at Eastbourne (2012 and 2014). Her soft, but curving lefty serve and fierce forehands down the line make her a nightmare opponent on this surface. She plans to play Birmingham next week and should be in top form come Wimbledon.

8 Ana Ivanovic

Ana reminded us of how she can play in Paris, where she reached the semis for the first time since 2008. As was the case there, it’s been years since Ana last made the Wimbledon quarters. 2007 to be exact, when she lost in the semis. Her game, centred around an explosive forehand, seems suited to the surface, after all she won Birmingham last year. However, I think she prefers a higher, truer bounce than grass affords and finds herself rushed into errors on the surface.

9 Ekaterina Makarova

Ekaterina comes in off the back of an uneventful clay court season, where she was solid yet unspectacular. However, that could all change on grass, which I think is her best surface. In 2010, she memorably won Eastbourne as a qualifier ranked 100, taking out the likes of Pennetta, Petrova, Kuznetsova, Stosur and Azarenka in the process. She also made the quarters of Wimbledon last year. Ekaterina’s game is so well suited to the grass as she’s not only a lefty, but also enjoys hitting the ball extremely flat with great risk involved. The main question I have is whether she mentally has what it takes to win Wimbledon.

10 Carla Suarez Navarro

Despite playing with tremendous consistency on tour this year, which has taken her into the top 10, Carla has bombed in the Grand Slams thus far. Her quintessential Spanish game of heavy topspin might have proven effective on clay and hard courts, but won’t have the same impact on grass. That being said, she has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before and plans to compete in Birmingham next week. It’s important that Carla utilises her one handed backhand slice on grass, to keep the ball lower and make it harder to attack. However, I feel that she will find it hard to hold serve effectively.

Next: Murray can overtake Federer for number two spot

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