2009 Wimbledon – Nick’s Picks – Women’s Singles Round 1
Every day throughout Wimbledon Nick’s Picks will bring you the latest analysis and predictions. We are also teaming up with The Independent Newspaper in London to cover the event. For the first week, we are coming to you live from Wimbledon so be sure to check our twitter page for information!
Venus Williams (USA) vs. Stefanie Voegele (SUI)
There is no other way to put it: Venus was born to play on grass. She has won this title five times (including the last two years) and she has reached the finals two other times. She has had a good season thus far in 2009, boasting a 21-6 record and having two titles already under her belt. Don’t be surprised to see Venus playing well into week two again!
Voegele is a 19-year old Swiss girl who comes in ranked a career high of #97 in the world. This is her first career Wimbledon and only her second Grand Slam singles main draw appearance.
Match-Up:
This is the first career match between Voegele and Venus. Voegele has played very well recently, reaching the finals of Nottingham and the quarters of Birmingham (both on grass). Unfortunately for her, she has never seen Venus before on this surface. Venus has too much for Voegele. She is a great mover, has an unbelievable wingspan at the net and can punish opponents with her serve. Sometimes Venus can get off to slow starts and make unforced errors, she cannot do this in this match so that Voegele doesn’t gain any confidence.
Nick’s Pick – V. Williams in 2 sets
Michelle Larcher de Brito (POR) vs. Klara Zakopalova (CZE)
I don’t think anybody has been in the press more on the women’s tour than NBTA student, Michelle Larcher de Brito. She finds herself smack in the middle of the grunting controversy, and there has been so much press about it worldwide that it is crazy! Lost in that is how good she is for her age and the fact that she is the youngest player ranked in the top 100!!
Zakopalova is a 27-year old Czech who comes in ranked #122 in the world. Back in 2006, she was #27 in the world but she has never regained that form. She did beat Serena Williams earlier this year on clay, but Serena returned the favor at the French Open.
Match-Up:
This is the first career meeting between Zakopalova and Larcher de Brito. Zakopalova didn’t play any of the grass court warm-up tournaments this year, but she did qualify to get into Wimbledon. On the other hand, Larcher de Brito just won an exhibition in Liverpool on grass right before Wimbledon. Larcher de Brito is still only 16 years old, but she is realizing at a young age what the media can do to you. She’s done a good job of shaking that off so far, but when the grunts start coming again who knows what’s going to happen. For Larcher de Brito to win, she needs to get a high percentage of her first serves in and play her game. If she does that, she will be fine. If not, she may be in trouble.
Nick’s Pick – Larcher de Brito in 3 sets
Jelena Jankovic (SRB) vs. Julia Goerges (GER)
Jankovic’s year has been all over the place. She cannot find her rhythm and you can see by her body language that she isn’t comfortable on the court. She lost in the first round at Eastbourne on grass to Anna Chakvetadze, but like any of the great players in the world, Jankovic does have the ability to win this tournament if she finds her game.
Goerges is a 20-year old German who comes in ranked #93 in the world and is still looking for her first career WTA title. This is her second Wimbledon, with her first coming last year, when she reached the second round.
Match-Up:
This is the first career meeting between Jankovic and Goerges. Jankovic has already started drawing attention to herself by showing up to practice in black shorts. That’s a big no-no at Wimbledon! Sometimes I feel like Jankovic needs to step out of the spotlight a little bit and focus on winning and doing it consistently. Her biggest asset, movement, has not been good this year, and for her to compete for this title she must be able to move well otherwise we could see an early exit.
Nick’s Pick – Jankovic in 2 sets
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) vs. Georgie Stoop (GBR)
Zvonareva is coming off an injury that kept her out of play from April until the beginning of June. She played at Eastbourne last week and fell to former world #1 Amelie Mauresmo in three sets. You have to cut her some slack on that match though because of the injury.
Stoop is a 21-year old Brit from Cambridge, so the crowd is going to be really behind her throughout this match. She was given a main draw wildcard for the tournament, and this will be her first appearance in the main draw of any Grand Slam event.
Match-Up:
This is the first career meeting between Stoop and Zvonareva. This is a great opportunity for Stoop and if she could somehow win this match, she would definitely take some of the media attention off of Andy Murray!! Zvonareva is one of the best movers on the tour. She has no real weakness and when healthy she is extremely consistent. The big question is Zvonareva’s health. If she is feeling good and playing her game, she wins. If not, Stoop has as chance!
Nick’s Pick – Zvonareva in 2 sets
I wish the women’s side was getting the kind of attention that it deserves as opposed to everyone focusing on the Nadal health withdrawl and the Federer/Sampras do one better. I think that Venus Williams is in a great position to match or surpass the 9 wins of Martina Navratolova at Wimbledon and I’d like to see more discussion of her chances. After watching Safina in the French Open Final I think she still needs to find some inner calm but I guess the first grand slam win in a way mentally must be the hardest. Good luck to all.
The women’s side is wide open and that has its pros and cons. I think seven or eight different women have a chance to win this title. That makes it exciting in my mind. I think one of the Williams’ sisters will be there in the end.
I hope de Brito drops out early on so that we don’t have to listen to that ridiculous grunting anymore…
Fingers crossed for Sabine Lisicki that she finds back to her form that she showed in Charleston!
Henry: The grunting is now outlawed at Wimbledon because it is considered an advantage when your opponent can’t hear the ball bounce. I saw this video about it : http://www.newsy.com/videos/no_more_grunt_work
I don’t really follow tennis but do you guys think that this is just part of the game or a new way to cheat? Just curious, the story caught my eye…
Thanks Nick for tipping Michelle Larcher de Brito.
I’m new to this site but bookmarked it right away to check back for any new picks!