For the first time since the 2016 Australian Open, the six most prolific Major singles champions in the sport are all present: Serena, Roger, Rafa, Novak, Venus, and Maria. An astounding 103 Major singles titles are represented in the singles draws.
Federer and Nadal have combined to take the last six Majors. Will someone break that streak? It feels like we may be a due for a change. Meanwhile, the last seven Majors have seen seven different women prevail. Will we have an eighth different champion in a row? That seems entirely possible, with so many women in contention for the title.
Each day during the upcoming fortnight, we’ll preview the best match-ups on that day’s order of play.
Roger Federer vs. Dusan Lajovic
For the eighth time in his career, Roger Federer will open play on Centre Court at 1pm on Day 1. Tradition dictates that is the honor bestowed to the defending gentlemen’s champion. Federer is the top seed, though he’s ranked number two in the world. Nadal has a 50-point lead over Federer, but Wimbledon’s seeding formula puts a bigger weight on grass court results, thus bumping Roger up to the top seeding. Federer overtook Nadal atop the rankings a few weeks ago with his victory on the grass of Stuttgart, but gave it back just one week later by losing to Borna Coric in the final of Halle. Federer arrives at SW19 with a 25-3 record on the year, with three titles. The only previous time Roger has faced Dusan Lajovic was actually last year at Wimbledon, with Federer winning a second round encounter in straight sets. The 28-year-old from Serbia has never been farther than that round at The Championships. Dusan has shown he’s capable of stepping up on a big stage, as we saw when he upset Juan Martin Del Potro in a third set tiebreak just two months ago in Madrid. However, that was on clay. On Federer’s preferred surface of grass, Roger will be a heavy favourite to get the first of seven wins needed to win his ninth Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy.
Serena Williams vs. Arantxa Rus
The last match of the day on Court 1 will be the SW19 return of Serena Williams, in her first match since her seventh Wimbledon title two years ago. Serena is on a 14-match winning streak at The All-England Club, dating back to 2015, though she is only seven matches into her 2018 comeback from child birth. She is currently ranked 181st in the world. Williams looked better with each victory at Roland Garros, but had to pull out of her fourth round match with Maria Sharapova due to a pectoral injury. One month later, she speaks of not yet being back to 100%. Serena told the press this weekend that she’s yet to serve at full speed during practice. Of course we’ve seen Serena play herself into form during a Major many times before, so she is a legitimate threat to win this tournament for the eighth time. She has never before faced her opponent on Monday, a 27-year-old from The Netherlands who is also currently ranked outside the top 100. This is the first Major singles appearance for Rus in five years, having spent the last several seasons playing in the minor leagues of the sport. This should be a straightforward victory for the 23-time Major singles champion, but all eyes will be on how close to her best Serena appears to be.
Grigor Dimitrov vs. Stan Wawrinka
This is a blockbuster opening day matchup to conclude the day’s schedule on Centre Court, made possible by Wawrinka’s current ranking of 224 in the world. Stan is still not back to 100% following knee surgery which forced him to miss the second half of 2017. He is just 5-9 on the year, and went 1-2 in the grass court lead-up events. His opponent on Monday has also struggled in 2018. After winning the biggest title of his career the last time he played in London, at November’s ATP World Tour Finals, Dimitrov has failed to follow-up on that result. Grigor is yet to win a title this year, and has only appeared in one tournament final. While he is a former semifinalist at Wimbledon, that was four years ago, and he hasn’t gone passed the fourth round since. I was surprised to find Dimitrov is 4-2 lifetime against Wawrinka, a three-time Major champion. He’s won their last four meetings, including their only match on grass. Grigor is the favorite here, but considering his current lack of confidence, the result of this one is far from defined. What I do know is we’ll see some exquisite one-handed backhands on the lawns of The All England Club.
Richard Gasquet vs. Gael Monfils
Here’s another marquee first round contest with two more of the most pleasurable players to watch on tour: Gasquet for his unique one-handed backhand, and Monfils for his athleticism and flashy shot-making. Their last two meetings actually both came on grass last year, with one victory going to each in two tight matches. Overall Monfils has a slight 9-7 edge against Gasquet, though Richard is the stronger grass court player, and comes into Wimbledon with more momentum. Gasquet won his first title since 2016 just a few weeks ago on the grass of s-Hertogenbosch. Of course he’s also two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, while Monfils has never been beyond the third round. That being said, you can never be quite sure what to expect from these two, especially in the uncomfortable position of playing a fellow countryman and friend.
Elina Svitolina vs. Tatjana Maria
Here we have a possible upset alert involving a top five seed on Day 1. While Svitolina already has three titles on the year, she was upset in the round of 32 in both of her last two tournaments by the same player: Michaela Buzarnescu. Elina of course is yet to go farther than the quarterfinals at a major, and is just 5-5 in her career at Wimbledon on her weakest surface. Meanwhile, Tatjana Maria is one of the hottest players on tour. The German just won the first singles title of her career on the grass of Mallorca. Svitolina is 1-0 against Maria, but their only meeting was two years ago on a hard court. Tatjana is coming off the best result of her career, and should play freely knowing all the pressure is on her opponent. This could be a dangerous first round for the world number five.
Order of play
(Play starts at 11.30am GMT unless stated)
Centre Court – 1pm
1. Roger Federer v Dusan Lajovic
2. Varvara Lepchenko v Caroline Wozniacki
3. Stan Wawrinka v Grigor Dimitrov
Court 1 – 1pm
1. Donna Vekic v Sloane Stephens
2. Liam Broady v Milos Raonic
3. Arantxa Rus v Serena Williams
Court 2
1. Marin Cilic v Yoshihito Nishioka
2. Johanna Larsson v Venus Williams
3. Gael Monfils v Richard Gasquet
4. Elina Svitolina v Tatjana Maria
Court 3
1. Sam Querrey v Jordan Thompson
2. Ajla Tomljanovic v Madison Keys
3. John Isner v Yannick Maden
4. Coco Vandeweghe v Katerina Siniakova
Court 12
1. Karolina Pliskova v Harriet Dart
2. Daniil Medvedev v Borna Coric
3. Norbert Gombos v Kevin Anderson
4. Svetlana Kuznetsova v Barbora Strycova
Court 18
1. Lucas Pouille v Denis Kudla
2. Ekaterina Alexandrova v Victoria Azarenka
3. Stefanos Tsitsipas v Gregoire Barrere
4. Julia Goerges v Monica Puig
Court 4
1. Evgeniya Rodina v Antonia Lottner
2. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez v Gastao Elias
3. Malek Jaziri v Jared Donaldson
4. Tereza Smitkova v Viktoriya Tomova
Court 5
1. Peter Polansky v Dennis Novak
2. Luksika Kumkhum v Bernarda Pera
3. John-Patrick Smith v Andreas Seppi
4. Lesia Tsurenko v Timea Babos
Court 6
1. Alexandra Dulgheru v Kristyna Pliskova
2. Petra Martic v Ekaterina Makarova
3. John Millman v Stefano Travaglia
4. Vera Lapko v Christina McHale
Court 7
1. Gilles Muller v Michael Mmoh
2. Aleksandra Krunic v Madison Brengle
3. Ryan Harrison v Roberto Carballes Baena
4. Viktorija Golubic v Ons Jabeur
Court 8
1. Mona Barthel v Yanina Wickmayer
2. Camila Giorgi v Anastasija Sevastova
3. Yuki Bhambri v Thomas Fabbiano
4. Radu Albot v Pablo Carreno Busta
Court 10
1. Sergiy Stakhovsky v Joao Sousa
2. Yafan Wang v Anna Blinkova
3. Lukas Lacko v Benjamin Bonzi
Court 11
1. Magdalena Rybarikova v Sorana Cirstea
2. Jason Kubler v Guido Pella
3. Laslo Djere v Paolo Lorenzi
Court 14
1. Jan-Lennard Struff v Leonardo Mayer
2. Kiki Bertens v Barbora Stefkova
3. Irina-Camelia Begu v Katie Swan
Court 15
1. Nicolas Jarry v Filip Krajinovic
2. Viktoria Kuzmova v Rebecca Peterson
3. Steve Johnson v Ruben Bemelmans
Court 16
1. Philipp Kohlschreiber v Evgeny Donskoy
2. Ricardas Berankis v Mackenzie McDonald
3. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova v Kristina Mladenovic
4. Aryna Sabalenka v Mihaela Buzarnescu
Court 17
1. Shuai Zhang v Andrea Petkovic
2. Ivo Karlovic v Mikhail Youzhny
3. Adrian Mannarino v Christian Garin
Not Before: 6:00pm
4. Kateryna Bondarenko v Lucie Safarova
TO BE ARRANGED
Not Before: 5:00pm
1. Aljaz Bedene v Cameron Norrie
TO BE ARRANGED
Not Before: 5:00pm
1. Agnieszka Radwanska v Elena-Gabriela Ruse
