“She can serve well and has flat, aggressive shots”, said Petra Kvitova, the world No.11 and two-time Wimbledon champion. No. 7 seed Belinda Bencic, just returning to action after a lengthy break due to a back injury, gets a tricky opening round against former semifinalist Tsvetana Pironkova. Serena will likely lose no more than two games in this match.
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When they pick the names out of the hat on Friday morning, Heather Watson’s mantra can be summed up in three words: Anybody But Serena. White has shown the finished documentary to Williams and he says she was happy with the final product.
The last person to hold the Wimbledon title before Djokovic was Andy Murray, who topped Djokovic in straight sets in the final to claim his second grand slam title and his first Wimbledon title in 2013. “Venus asked me if I was okay”, Serena says of her sister after she beat her at one of their matches.
2 Garbine Muguruza, who will have to defend the final reached past year. She is now a step away from equaling the Steffi Graf’s record of 22 majors, and 3 more to tie Margaret Court’s 24.
What’s it like to stand in the deep glare of the number one tennis player in the world at this pivotal moment?
On the men’s side, defending men’s champion Novak Djokovic will play British wildcard James Ward in the first round of the Wimbledon championships on Monday as he continues his bid for a calendar year grand slam.
He succeeds Peter Keen, who announced he was leaving the LTA last month.
“It felt like a football stadium, which I would like to experience more often if I’m honest, and afterwards I had people telling me they had taken up playing tennis because they were hooked by it”. Next up could be either British No 1 Johanna Konta, whom she has never faced in the past, or Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. “And I know it has been raining and everyone’s hated the rain”. And yet there are glimpses throughout Serena of how much she’s come to define the sport on her own terms (in one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene, Roger Federer sneaks a picture of her on his phone while she’s warming up). The Frenchman had a hard time working with Bouchard in the first half of a year ago, but before that had coached Victoria Azarenka when the Belarusian won two Australian Open titles and reached No 1 in the world rankings. Her tactical style of play has been instrumental in several of her wins despite a relatively weak service, but given the surface it will be interesting to see how each player will perform. “The film presents us with a captivating vision of this world-class athlete while offering the viewer rare insight into what makes Serena Williams the person she is beyond the court”. No. 5 Simona Halep and Muguruza vs.
This will be the first time these two meet on the tennis court.
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“I mean, who is going to be next, the next No.1 player, after Serena is gone?”
