Archives for June 2025

Americans can win Wimbledon: Gauff, Keys, Pegula

Coco Gauff
Mal Taam/MaltPhoto

Coco Gauff just won Roland Garros, and before that, Madison Keys snared it at the Australian Open. Both of them have reached into the semis on the grass, but they can make the transition to new surfaces. 

The other veteran, Jessica Pegula, who reached the final at the 2024 US Open. However, she will really try to nail the ball, early. Right now she must be considered a favorite as she just won at Bad Homburg, beating Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5. As she said, “It was a special week.”

But they are not the only ones. All of them are in the top 32 include Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova, Sofia Kenin, Ashlyn Krueger and McCartney Kessler. That is a lot of possibilities. 

Navarro went to Virginia to the college thing and she came into the WTA to play, and now she is ranked in the top 10. She has improved a lot, but she does have more work to do on her power game. However, at the US Open, she reached the semis until she lost again.

Anisimova left the WTA after her father’s death, as she didn’t like to play at the events, but eventually, she missed it. On the court, she thought about it, and she recommitted. Now she is looking much better in the rallies. As Anisimova said, “I think it’s super important. I feel like the crowd has really enjoyed watching us women play out there.”

Sofia Kenin is another player who won the 2020 Australian Open, and she made it to the final at Roland Garros. But she began to collapse, and she was upset on the court and off.  Part of it was she was injured a lot. Now she is a veteran at 26 years old, so at Wimbledon, she should shift it up.

Since 1999, the American women went super deep and won it at Wimbledon, such as Lindsay Davenport, Venus and Serena Williams. The last time that she won it by Serena, in 2016, but after that, each year, they did go into the second week, or even the final, but they couldn’t do it from 2017 to 2024. 

Next week, someone will rise up. Maybe the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who won it at Wimbledon with a lot of variety. But she was hurt for five months and she couldn’t play, yet the veteran can attack when she wants to. 

Outside of the Americans, there are a bunch of people who can go deep, such as the No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Jasmine Paolini, Zheng Qinwen, Mirra Andreeva and others.  

Who will win Wimbledon? Alcaraz, Sinner are favored

Carlos Alcaraz
Mal Taam/MALTphoto

No. 1 Jannik Sinner is the favorite player against almost everyone, but the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, is on fire, once again.

Not only did he win the 2025 Roland Garros, but now, he has won five Grand Slams, also winning Wimbledon twice and the US Open. At times, he can hit some odd shots, but he stands in there, hitting where he wants to and has learned to br more patient.

Sinner has more control plus lots of power in his forehand backhand and first serve. He can mix it up, too. Three years ago, he would become very frustrated, and then he would lose control. However, most of the players can get better, gradually, but some others were never going into second week at the Slams. They just weren’t able to beat the top dogs. Sinner is past that.

 The last time with the American men won Wimbledon was when Pete Sampras won in 2000. He was a great player. Since, the only men to win at Wimbledon from 2001-2024, were Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Alcaraz.

Is it possible that the US men can go very deep at Wimbledon? Maybe, as the American Andy Roddick also reached into the final it, but Federer was too good for him. 

They do have a chance, though. You can chuck in such as standouts like Taylor Fritz, who recently won a grass tournament, but not at Wimbledon yet. Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Frances Tiafoe, Sebastian Korda and Brandon Nakashima are all rising. On the famous grass, you can hit some hard shots and try to nail winners, fast, but if you cannot play well, then you will have to re-set it.

Fritz did reach into the quarters at Wimbledon, but he backed off. Fortunately, in the fall at the US Open, he sprinted into the final on the hardcourt, knocking off Tiafoe in the semis, until Sinner out bashed him. That was good enough, but to actually win a Slam, he will have to improve at the net and his return. 

Shelton really likes to rally and mix it up and celebrate. Shelton has been too slow to react when he had to decide which way to go, but it will take him another year to understand where he could go. 

Tommy Paul has made it into the top 10, but it took him 12 years to get there. He is super consistent, and he can really grind it. Plus, now, not only will he rally crosscourt but he will smash it down the line. He has faded before, but on the grass, he is still working to bend down to keep it very low. Three other Americans in the top 32 can be impressive with Tiafoe, Korda and Nakashima. But they can also lose it when they are playing in the matches. They can pound it into the corners, but they can also hit it way out. Can they dominate for three out of five set. Unlikely.