Grasscourt Season Recap & Wimbledon Predictions

In this episode of the Everyone Watches Women's Tennis Podcast, I will discuss the latest updates from the WTA Tour which includes the introduction of a new fertility protection rule for players. The episode features a recap of recent grass court tournaments, highlighting key performances and champions. Then I'll share insights on the Wimbledon draw, predictions for the tournament, and players to watch, culminating in my final predictions for the championship.

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Transcript

Matipa Ruzive (00:06)
Hello and welcome back to the Everyone Watches Women's Tennis Podcast. A tennis podcast that is solely focused on the women's game, giving you regular updates about what is taking place on the WTA Tour both on and off the court. Hi everyone and welcome back. I'm very sorry, long time no speak. I'll just keep it brief. I've just not been feeling well and it's been difficult to record, edit.

and do everything I need to do to give you guys a good quality podcast episode. So I decided to just take a little break, which is wild since I've only released two episodes. But sometimes you just have to look after your mind and your body. But I do appreciate you coming back and spending this time with me today. And it is grass court season, not just grass court season. It is Wimbledon in about 24 hours.

And there's a lot to get through. With that being said, before we got any further, I realized that in the first two episodes, I never actually introduced myself by name.

So maybe it's a bit awkward you like listening to this person talk but you don't know them that well. So well not even don't know them that well you don't know the basics. So the basics are my name is Matipa Ishe. I go by Mati most of the time but feel free to call me either Matipa Ishe, Mati or Matipa. I will answer to all.

And yeah, that's all I wanted to say honestly, I do have a name. I'm not just like a talking voice, you know,

for this podcast episode, we'll be going through the short but very important grass court season, which I think does give you some telltale signs about people where their headset is at, where their tennis is at going into Wimbledon. But I also think it's not the be all and all because Wimbledon can be very unpredictable. And

We'll just go through the champions of the past three weeks since it's a three-week season not counting Wimbledon of course and the six tournaments that have just occurred and we will also take some time to look at the draw my draw reaction do some predictions and that's about it to be honest it sounds like it's not a lot of things to cover

you go into enough detail it becomes a lot to cover. so I hope that's enjoyable for you.

Okay, so first up, this might actually be some news that you might have missed regarding the WTA Tour, but I think it's important news to share specifically because we're focused on the women's game. There was an announcement about, I'd say two weeks, three weeks back announcing that on the WTA Tour, they'll be introducing new fertility protection special entry ranking rule.

So this provides players with rankings protections while they undergo a fertility procedure. Example, egg freezing or embryo retrieval. And there's some qualifications for it, mainly similar to rankings protection, which I haven't gone over, but you can Google it, but just ranking protection when people have a child and go away for a while or are injured. Anyway, so the...

four things the criteria i guess it's players ranked between one to 750 both in singles and doubles they must be out of tournaments and competing for 10 weeks for a fertility procedure thirdly the ranking can be used to enter three tournaments that are

WTA level 500, 250 and 125. And the ranking protection is based on a 12 week average of your WTA ranking. And I think this incentive, this rule is...

it's something important and very welcome on the Circuit on another tour, especially women trying to balance their careers and then also family planning. It's sometimes something that they have to choose one or the other. So I do appreciate that the WTA tour is taking steps to making it an easier process and providing different avenues.

providing also just support for players that are family planning or are thinking about their future after tennis because this tennis thing isn't forever but I guess your family is so it's important to look at it from that perspective so I do appreciate that from them.

and I think it's also understanding that women are different from men in terms of how they have to look at their careers, their bodies and their futures.

Just a little food for thought.

And now moving on to the tennis or the tennis playing.

we'll just be recapping the past, I was about to say six weeks, it's not six weeks, it's a lot shorter than that, the past three weeks of the grass court season and the six tournaments that were played at different levels ranging from 250 to 500. it's brief overview because if I was to do this in depth we would be here for ages

Anyway, so we'll start with the first tournament which was the Libema Open that's held in Hertogen Bosch in the Netherlands. Well actually it's a city just outside yes Hertogen Bosch in the Netherlands and this tournament was won by Elise Mertens

in straight sets against Elena Gabriela Ruse and she won that 6-3-7-6.

I will say this, Elise Mertens is one of my favourite tennis players, not even in terms of like playing and style. I just like her consistency. She's been around for ages and she's been uber consistent in all that she does in her singles and in her doubles. I mean her doubles more than consistent. She's been at the top. But I just like watching her, seeing her in the draw, I like seeing what she's going to do. I like seeing what upset she might cause.

You never want to draw her in anything, in a grand slam, in any other tournament. And I just liked her. I think she has a lovely demeanor on the court. And yeah, she's just one of my favorite tennis players. And on her way to the final actually against Ruse she saved 11 match points in her semi-final match against Ekaterina Alexandrová,

which is really, really impressive being able to like stand your ground and be steady.

is I think one of the most amazing things I find about tennis because the margins are so thin the ball being in and the ball being out is millimeters so well done to her and then she went on to win the title so sometimes you just have to play that extra shot you have to try and hit that winner because that might be the difference between you lifting the trophy and you going home again earlier

and then the next tournament was the Queen's Club Championship the last time there was a women's event at the Queen's Club was actually in 1973 which is over 50 years ago so it's nice to see its return very nice and I think this tournament and this tournament winner

has been the story of the grass court season with Tatjana Maria winning in straight sets in the final against Amanda Anisimova 6-3 6-4 which made her the oldest woman to win a WTA 500 title as well as the oldest woman to win a title on the WTA tour since Serena Williams who won at 38 years old in Auckland. Tatjana is about 37 years and 10 months.

old. So brilliant to see she's a mother of two daughters and her daughters were there in the final and it was just beautiful to see

And I think it's probably like a memory they'll hold very dear seeing their mom. I think even just watching their mom play tennis, she doesn't have to win watching her go out and play tennis. But I think watching her win and actually hitting career highs at this age, because she's currently ranked number 43. She reached her highest ranking 42 last year in January. So sometimes it's like keep going. You don't know when your peak is, if you still feel like you can play.

keep going in terms of that's but in terms of life not me giving life advice it's not an advice podcast but in terms of life and this is advice to myself as a 23 year old who sometimes feels like they're behind just keep going you don't know when your peak is

and there's so many things you can peek at in life. But anyway, sorry, I just, me putting in a little bit of life advice there for the kids. And on her way there, even more impressively, before I move on, she beat two Grand Slam champions in Madison Keys and Elena Rybakina, and two Grand Slam finalists in Leylah Fernandez and Karolina Muchova

and only dropped one set on her way to the title. So impressive. I was so impressed because each match I was watching I was like, okay, like Tatjana has played well, but you know, her time, like when she played Madison Keys, I was like, she's played really well to get past Fernandez and Muchova. I'm sure Madison Keys will be able to beat her, you know. That didn't happen.

next match i was like okay she's playing grand slam champion not just a grand slam champion someone has won wimbledon or grass in elena rebeca now same thing got rid of her quite tidy then final very tidy final as well against amanda and missy mofa who is having one of her best years so that was really really lovely to see

think some of my other insights from that tournament would be people they're playing well I think Amanda Nessimova played really really well especially in the match against Qinwen Zheng because there were times when she was down or the momentum just shifted and she was able to turn it back into her favor so it's nice to see

then Eliana Rybakina also played relatively well. You always want to see more but I'm not going to be too technical and be too in-depth. The transition from play to grass is really difficult so I'll leave that there.

in terms of the queens.

The next tournament was Berlin Open,

and the draw for Boonlin Open was stacked. It had seven out of the top ten players in the draw

and two Wimbledon Grand Slam champions in Maketa Von Drussova and Elena Rybakina. And Maketa Von Drussova ended up taking this one, the 2023 Wimbledon champion. She won in a pretty, I would say it was a hotly contested match against Xin Yu Wang, who was also a surprise finalist. She played really well, Xin Yu, to get even to the final. I'll just quickly go through

the people that she beat to get to the final.

first round she beat Daria Katsutokina 6-3 6-2 then she beat Coco 6-3 6-3 then won against Badosa via walkover but she had won the first set 6-1 then she beat Samsonova who's been playing really well especially on the grass 6-4 6-1 and then ended up losing to Von Drustova but

really really brilliant tournament from her especially that match against Coco I thought at some point like Coco will come back in but she didn't let her she just stood her ground and played her game

and to the winner are Maketa von Dravsova we know her pedigree on grass obviously she is a Wimbledon champion I will say something about Maketa I did see her at the French Open and I was impressed by her level she lost in the third round to Jessica Pegula but I think it was more so of just being more match ready because it was a

three set match it wasn't just a straight set victory for Jess it wasn't a walk in the park.

And on her way to the final from Drussova she beat Madison Keys, Diana and Aryna Sabalenka and she beat Aryna in straight sets

that's a really difficult draw because her rankings dropped due to injuries so getting that draw and being able to come out to the other side of it bodes very well for Wimbledon and she was already someone to watch for Wimbledon but now even more so I think now people are worried no one wanted to draw her in that draw but we'll get into that later.

And then the next competition was the Nottingham Open which was won by a McCartney Kessler of the United States and she beat Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska in straight sets which was 7-6-6-4 and McCartney Kessler's had a quietly good year. A lot of people haven't talked about her. This is now the second tournament she's won this year. She won Hobart

before the Australian Open. And she beat some solid grass court players. a field of players that you want to start beating if you want to rise up the rankings. And that's what she did. She beat Harad Maia and Catie Walter on her way to the title.

And then the second last tournament played was Bad Homburg.

And that saw Jessica Pegula beat Iga Swiatek in straight sets, which was 6-4-7-5 and updated their head-to-head to be 5-6. Still in favour of Iga, but that gap is almost completely closed. And just also entered Iga's nine match final winning streak she's won nine finals in a row, which is insane.

I will say though about Iga, she's obviously lost in the final, but it was her first time being in the final for this tournament and she looked pretty good on the grass, which is known as her weakest surface. She served really well and played really well throughout the whole tournament. I just think Jess was too steady but I think Jess was very, very steady throughout the whole competition, not just this match.

but in the semi-final before when she played Nosková, Nosková had the opportunity to serve for the set and she couldn't do it because Jess was steady, didn't panic and played her best tennis when she needed to. Even against Iga that's the same thing that she did.

And then lastly we had the Eastbourne Open which was won by Maia Joint of Australia. The 19 year old beat Alex Eala in three sets 6-4 1-6 7-6 and she saved four championship points to do it and it's also her second title this year. I think her second title in about

two months maybe a month and a half but she won in morocco just before the french open

To be honest that tiebreak was, my leg's heart was in my stomach. It was such a toss up and a really heartbreaking loss for Eala because she had those four championship points and she cried when she eventually lost that match. But the tiebreak was a toss up. I just think Alex didn't play the big points well enough or steady enough and she made for overheating I think.

little bit but then it's hard sometimes because you have to go for it your opponent doesn't let you win you have to win and i also think maya was steady and very gritty she didn't let the game get away from her but i will say about alex i'm really happy to see her in a final and

finally start building on that Miami Open win after the Miami Open run she didn't have the best continuation in her year especially on the clay she was out first rounds or not making it through qualifying so it's good to see now that she's finding her stride and hitting her stride and maybe she just loves the grass

also marvelous job from Maia

It will be interesting to see where her career goes, especially being an Australian and I'm here in Australia. I will be keeping a close eye on her.

Okay so now the time has come to review the Wimbledon draw and put in my predictions. I am going to preface this by saying as I think I've said before predictions especially at like the start of a competition I don't think I'm my strong suit I overthink too much

when the tournament is going on, I'm better at predicting things or like match to match, which I think is everyone like how can you predict an entire tournament? I find that really difficult, but I also take it maybe too seriously. And like overthink everything. that's me giving you a warning. And if you don't agree.

Let me know, we can talk about it, can discuss it. Okay, so the first thing I'm going to start with before we go into like my initial reaction to the draw and then going into the predictions now that we have the draw is my original thoughts.

my thoughts going into Wimbledon who I thought was gonna do well.

And I'll say something about Wimbledon. I think it's one of the more difficult, actually no, I think it's the most difficult Grand Slam to predict because a lot of these people don't have a lot of matchups on grass. So you have nothing to go back on. Well, you don't really have a history to look at.

They don't play a lot on grass so the sample size is a lot smaller and the preparation can be up and down for everyone. Some people will not play any tournament and then come in and win Wimbledon. So I just think sometimes it's difficult to look at and make a prediction. And I will say about like 10 people, I will mention them by name when we're going through it. There's like

10 people maybe even more that if you said to me or they won Wimbledon or they'll win Wimbledon 2025 I wouldn't even fight you on it I would not be surprised at all because yeah I just don't know I don't know what happens

and with Wimbledon as well. No one has won it back to back since Serena Williams 2015 to 2016. There hasn't been any consistency. The only consistency has been the past two Wimbledons have been won by two Czech players. So that's Barbora Krejcikova and Marketa Von Drausova. So maybe there's something in that. Wink, wink.

That's why I think it's just so hard to predict. It hasn't been any consistency, you know?

I rambled for a little bit. Sorry. What I was saying was before I tell you what my initial reaction to the draw was, my prediction before the draw is some names just to throw out there. had Sabalenka, Keys, Anisimova, Vanjosova, Rybalkina and Svitolina. People that I thought, hey, you're in with her. Really.

really really good chance

So going into my draw reaction, my draw first impressions, I wanted to watch the draw like live, but somehow the Wimbledon link wasn't working for me. But my first impression was what the heck? That was my first impression of the draw because I looked at it and I was like, my gosh.

no one's liking this, no one is having a good time. None of the top seeds look at this draw and go ah I'm glad I'm a top seed. I think some of them are thinking I wish I was ranked a bit lower or I wish I was a wild card or a qualifier so I could sneak into a different part of the draw because

I would talk about the top four. Sabalenka, Coco Gauff Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini probably looked at their draws and they said, who made this and why do they hate me? That was my initial reaction.

And I think in the tennis world, because there's tends to be like a notion of this person got an easy draw, which I sometimes say, I say it often actually. I'm like, that was an easy draw. And there is some something to that, but I always say in tennis, you beat who's in front of you. But in terms of this draw, no one can say there's an easy draw. No one can complain that someone got an easy draw. I don't. Even if someone got a slightly easier draw.

you can't really complain about it. Everyone's going to have to work hard, whoever wins,

I did say like no one got an easy draw and I stick by that. I think the only person that I am looking at because I do have the draw in front of me now because we're to be going through my picks was that Jessica Pegula probably came out as the winner. Yeah, I think Jess came out as the winner in this draw.

Okay so before I do my draw predictions that's just going round by round each match and picking a winner until we get to the and. I'll just go through some of my players to watch that will be seeded but outside of the top 10 unseeded, young players and likely upsets. So I'll start with the players to watch that are seeded but they're outside the top 10.

Because I don't know, I think if you're a top 10 player, you should always have a chance to win a Grand Slam. That's my thing. If you're a top 10 player, you should go into every Grand Slam being like, I could win this. I want to win this. think obviously every player wants to win a Grand Slam, but the mindset should be as a top 10 player, let me make sure I get to the semi-final at least. It rarely works out that way, but I hope that's their mindset.

Anyway, back to my players to watch outside top 10 but seeded. I've got Elina Svitolina. She has a high pedigree at Wimbledon.

I would say it's her best slam she's made the semi-final twice last year she made the quarterfinals the year before that she made the semi-finals and I think if there's ever a chance for Elina it's on grass and it's at Wimbledon where people are as steady as they normally are on all the other surfaces

And I think if she's gonna win a Grand Slam, the time needs to be now. She has to push now.

Then the second player I've got is Liudmila Samsonova. I just think she's been playing well. I think she needs a big result at a Grand Slam as well to showcase her consistency of her career so far. She played well, French Open, and I think she should have gotten a big result. She should have made it to the quarterfinals because she had opportunities against Qin wen but she didn't take them. So hopefully the opportunity arises now.

Then thirdly, I've got Amanda Anisimova again. Amanda's been having a great year. think probably her best year to date. She's won her first 1000 titles, her biggest title. And she's played really well on grass. She made that final of the Queens Club Championship. And I think she plays well on grass. I liked her movement from what I've seen.

But from what I've seen and not just on the grass, what I've seen from her from Grand Slams and her attitude and her, I guess, hunger this year, it wouldn't surprise me if she was in the semifinals or even lifting the trophy.

but it's been a while since an American woman has done that.

Done that not lifted a trophy Coco just lifted it like last week. I mean lifted a Wimbledon trophy and Then lastly I've got former champion Elena Rubikina again. She looked very good in Berlin, although she did not convert six match points against Sabalanka I feel like she has the game. Obviously, we know she has the game and

I think if games are like easier she just gets through them but there seems to be some sort of like hangover some sort of inability to overcome adversity is that too much? but in tight matches she doesn't have that edge anymore she used to be a player you could back she was very like bankable but now she doesn't seem to have the edge anymore

but the game is there. If she's playing her best tennis, I don't doubt she would make it to a final.

And then these ones that are unseeded I'll be honest, I just did some pics. They're not random, but they're also people that I want to see do well. So it's like, you know, 50-50, it's stats and tennis history. And then the other 50 is heart, which I think goes a long way in tennis. So first I've got Jessica Bouzou's Maneiro. She played really well.

If she played really well the Australian Open, she just happened to play the world number one in the second round.

but she played well in that match.

And then a role on Garros, she played against, she lost in the third round to Hailey Baptiste after outing Emma Navarro in the first round, 6-6-1. And I think she was a very aggressive game and very attacking game. She's an attacking player. So it would be nice to see her do well. And I think she's slowly building on all her performances.

Then next I've got Hayley Baptiste who again is also building on her performances. She has a great serve, offensive player. I would like her to be a bit more offensive and I would also like her to sometimes choose the easy option. I think you might have heard me say that in the last episode but

Hailey has started making strides in the bigger tournaments like at the Grand Slam, the last Grand Slam Roland Garros. She made it to the fourth round losing out to a top 10 player. Understandable. So hopefully she can keep making those strides here at Wimbledon. And then lastly, I've got for the unseeded players, I've got

Xin Yu Wang and she played really well at the she played really well at the Berlin Open. I was really impressed with her game and how she was taking it to players even in that final against Vondrusova she took the game to her and then unfortunately faded away in the final set but it wasn't an easy match for Vondrusova whatsoever so it'd be nice to see her do something or build on that here at Wimbledon.

and then.

the two young players to watch I've got Maia joined. I will say she has an unfortunate first round match. it's a really unfortunate first round match for her. I wish she had a different one. I still believe she'd be able to win it but again it's difficult but she's one to watch not just for Wimbledon. One to watch in the future. Only 19 and then I've got Iva Yor...

Iva Jovic who is 18 she is also one to watch she's been making a lot of waves on she's been making a lot of waves for the past couple years

especially on the ITF tour in the 125 competitions. So it'd be nice to see her do well here and I think she's got a good first round match. We'll take a look at it.

And then quickly I've just got some upset alerts here. We've got Oster Penko, she is injured. Or I don't know if she's injured but she did pull out of her match due to injury. her first round match is...

not one she would like I don't think is Sonay Kartal from Great Britain she'd be playing Sonay on her home stage and that's probably something that would frustrate Yelena unless she can just block out the crowd and yeah grass isn't her best surface but also with Yelena you never know what's gonna happen

she'll either play really well and just knock everyone out of the park and you'll be surprised or she will she will go out with a whimper which is what's been happening more often lately and then I've got Coco Gauff again I will go deeper into the draw but that match against Yastremska is not looking nice especially considering

their last match in Madrid. She did and up winning but it was a tussle. It was a tussle and I think Yastremska has more of a chance on the grass. Then the other upset I've got is Qin Wen who is playing Sinia Ková who has beaten her their last two matches.

And Sinia kova who has a 2-1 positive record against Qin Wen.

the two times she has beaten her has been on grass once in 2023 at Wimbledon and then last year in Berlin and both those wins over Qin Wen were in straight sets. So I'm not feeling too good about that one. And then lastly we've got Mira Andreeva

I don't think Mira likes the surface and she hasn't been playing well. To keep it short and simple.

Okay, so finally, my gosh, finally, I'm going to go and pick a winner for every match. I will see if I can upload my, I've got a PDF here, upload a blank PDF of the draw, but also my filled out version. I will let you know the PDF, if you just look up Wimbledon draw PDF, women's, it should come up on the internet and you can download it if you want to look at it that way.

But we'll just go match by match this might take a while. So the first couple of rounds I'm just gonna quick quick. I'm not even gonna go through my reasons why And I will just let you know My Some of my picks can be emotional I'm not gonna tell you which ones are emotional because I try and remain as neutral But everyone has favorite players and I do have favorite players that I want to see do well So in some instances, I might just pick them because I want to see them do well, even though

there could be an upset on the cards

I'm going to do the draws in quarters and for some of them I'm gonna give some explanations for the others I'm not because it might get too convoluted while you're listening but I'll do quarter by quarter until we get to like the quarter finals and then I will do all of them together.

So we'll start with the first quarter, which is Sabalenka's quarter. And she's the number one seed, of course. So these first couple of rounds will just be do them very quickly. No explanations as to my reasons. And then as we go further into the draw, I will probably give some backing and reasons for it.

So we'll start with Sabalenka versus Carson Branstine of Canada. Sabalenka through then we've got Lulu Soon versus Marie Bouzkova Lulu Sun was a quarter finalist last year.

but I go Buzkova for this one. Then we've got two people from Great Britain. We've got Emma Raducanu and Mingjie Zhu and I've got Emma going through.

And then next round we've got Maketa Von Drussova and Makatni Kessler I've got Maketa going through and then I've got Elise Mertens versus Vinda Fruvitova I've got Elise going through, Elise Mertens Then we've got Ann Li versus Victoria Golubic and I've got Ann Li going through then we've got Varvara

Grajceva versus Aleksandra Sasnovich I have got Grajceva going through. Then we've got Anna Bondar versus Elina Svitolina. I've got Elina Svitolina going through. And then we've got Paula Badosa versus Catie Bolter. This is if Paula has not pulled out and she plays and plays a match. I've got Paula Badosa going through. Then we've got Greet Minnen versus Olivia Gadecki.

Australia I've got Greek Minnan going through then we've got Anca Todoni and Christina Buska I've got Todoni going through then we've got Kim Burel versus Donna Vekic I've got Vekic going through and then we've got Leila Fernandez versus Hannah Klugman wild card from Great Britain I've got Hannah Klugman going through upset alert then we've got

Peyton Stearns versus Laura Siegemund I've got Laura Siegemund going through. Then we've got Olga Danilovic versus Shuai Zhang of China. I've got Olga Danilovic going through. Then we've got Elena Gabriella Russo versus Madison Keys and I've got Keys going through. And then back to the top because this is a first quarter.

Then second round we've got Sabalenka versus Bouzkova I think Bouzkova could give Sabalenka a match but we still should trust the world number one. Sabalenka and then we've got Emma Raducanu Vondrusova. I think Emma does play well on the grass but I mean Vondrusova her showing at Berlin and the fact that she's won this before Vondrusova. Then we've got Elise Mertens versus Ann Li.

I think Elise consistency makes me pick her. Elise And then we've got.

Varvar Gracheva versus Elina Svitolina. I think for this one I have to pick Svitolina. Then we've got Badosa Greet Minnen Healthy Badosa. If she's healthy I pick Badosa over Greit. Then we've got Anca Todoni versus Donna Vekic. I will say Anca has a game to trouble anyone and Donna included but I think Donna

did well last year to make the semi-final and I think she'll want to reach that same success again so I picked on a Vekic Then Klugman versus Laura Siegemund. I think you always need a story of the Grand Slam right? So what about this young wild card from Great Britain to beat Laura the veteran?

to make it through to the third round, Okay, I just like a story. We'll say Klugman to make it to the third round. And then we've got Danilovic versus Keys I think Keys should be comfortable enough to make it to the third round. And then that's the end of that. And then from third round to fourth round, this is when it becomes very difficult.

very very difficult where my heart is saying things but my head is saying something else.

Okay, so the next matchup is if it happens will probably be the matchup of the third round and As I was saying I think all the players when the draw was coming out

and saw that Vandrosova is unseeded they were all praying that she would not land in their quarter let alone like even their half and unfortunately for Aryna Sabalenka she landed in her quarter and due to meet her in the third round if they both do what they have to do so for this one my pick is okay

Let me just give you some background. So they literally played like two weeks ago in Berlin. Vondrusova won that in straight sets. I didn't watch that match. So I don't have any insight in terms of the tennis, but the scoreline was not a great one for Aryna was 6-2-6-4. And Vondrusova actually won their last meeting before that one, which was on clay in 2024.

and that was in three sets but they do have like four four head to head so it's very equal.

I will say though this is Sabalenka in a Grand Slam and I think she wants a Grand Slam this year. She always wants a Grand Slam but if she's made two finals and doesn't and this year with at least one Grand Slam, I don't think she'll be pleased with that. So because, Sabalenka is a different prospect in a Grand Slam and

maybe if Vondrousova has played too much tennis and it might get to her which I to be honest I'm just making things up. She looks quite healthy and fit now and ready to play but I'll just take the world number one just because if I'm bet on someone making the final for Grand Slam I should bet on someone who's made the final of the last three Grand Slams. So Sabalenka and then Elise Mertens versus Svitolina

Svitolina has a winning record against Elise. I think it's also pretty lopsided and she has Svitolina has more pedigree on the grass so she should do well to get through that third round match. Again a difficult one for her as well.

Okay, and then next we've got Palabra Dosa versus Donna Vekic.

They have actually only played once which surprises me considering like their ages and how long they've been on the tour for. But that was last year in the fourth round on grass at Wimbledon and Vekic won that in three sets. So it's really hard to predict Paula because she gets injured and her body is what lets her down not necessarily her tennis.

And I think if she lost that match in three sets, not close sets, but still three sets nonetheless.

A healthy Paula I would pick her based on her performances this year the Grand Slams and the fact that I don't think Vekic has been on the same high but I think Vekic will probably view since she made it to the semi-finals her best Grand Slam result I think she will take this as a chance so I pick Vekic for the fourth round

I be a lot faster. There's so much more to get through. And then Hannah Klugman versus Madison Keys. I think they've never played, of course. And I think this is when the journey would and for Hannah and Madison Keys moves forward. And then fourth round, Sabalenka Svitolina. Sabalenka Svitolina.

That head to head is in favor of Sabalenka with her winning five and Svitolina winning one match. They've never played on grass. So that's a different factor. But again, even in in the tight moments and the close matches, I would pick Sabalenka So we'll say Sabalenka over Svitolina, then Vekic versus Madison Keys for that one.

pick medicine. Keys

so quarterfinals. We've got Madison Keys versus Aryna Sabalenka That one will leave as is and move on to the next quarter So the next quarter is Jasmine Paulini's quarter And first round she plays Anastasia Sevastova I take Jasmine to go through on that one

Then next match is Kamila Rakimova versus Aoi Ito of Japan. for that match, I'd say Kamila Rakimova. Then we've got Evelise versus Yu Yuan. And for that one, I move through with Evelise. Then we've got Bernada Pera versus Linda Nosková. Linda Nosková through to the second round.

Then we have Beatriz Haddad-Maia vs Rebecca Sromkova. But Haddad-Maia is the next one. Then next match is Harriet Dart of Great Britain vs Dalmar Galfi of Hungary. That one Harriet Dart should move through. Then I've got Yanina Wickmayer vs Renata Zarazua. I've got Wickmayer moving through. Then we've got...

Yulia Putinseva versus Amanda Anisimova. I've got Anisimova moving through. Then we've got Moyuka Uchijima and Diana Shnaider. I've got Diana moving forward. Then we've got Diane Parry and Petra Martic. I've got Petra Martic moving forward. Then we've got Victoria Tomova versus Ons Jabeur. I've got Ons going through.

we've got Jelena Ostapenko versus Sonay Kartal. I've got Sonay going through

then the next match is Ashlyn Krueger versus Mika Stoysavlivich wild card from Great Britain I've got Ashlyn Krueger going through the next match we've got Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova against Ayatomyanovich and that goes through I've got

Ajla Tomlanovic going through. Next match we've got Naomi Osaka versus young qualifier Tally Gibson from Australia. I've got Naomi going through. Then we've got Katerina Sinjakova versus Qin wen Zheng. I've got Sinjakova going through. I will say with my predictions, they're pretty like, I'm just picking the seeds for most of them. There's some, you know, surprises there.

someone who thinks Wimbledon is unpredictable i'm looking at my draw right now it looks very predictable but anyway all right then second round of this order we've got jasmine Paolini versus Kamila Rakhimova i think Paolini will do well to go through so i've got jasmine third round then linda noskova versus everlyse i've got linda noskova through the next round then there's

Haddad Maia versus Hannah Dart. I've got Beatriz going through. Then Yanina Wick Mayer versus Amanda Anisimova. I've got Amanda through to the next round. Then we have Diana Shnaider versus Petra Martic I've got Diana Shnaider through to the next round. Then Ons Jabeur versus Sonay Katal. I've actually got here Sonay Katal going through to the next round and that is a upset alert.

I didn't even mention ONZ as an upset, but that is what I've got listed here. You have to make some bold predictions, you know? And then I've got Ashlyn Krueger versus Tom Janovic. I've got Tom Janovic to go through.

Then Osaka versus Sinia kova I've got Osaka to go through.

Okay, third round of the second quarter.

Jasmine Pallini vs Linda Noskova unfortunately I don't have Jasmine retaining her finalist points I've got Linda Noskova moving forward then we've got Beatriz Haddad-maia vs Amanda Anisimova I have Amanda moving forward to the fourth round then I've got Diana Shnaider vs Sonay Kartal I've got Diana Shnaider moving through to the fourth round

Then I have got Ajla Tomlanovic versus Naomi Osaka. I've got Naomi Osaka moving through to the fourth round. And then in the fourth round, I've got Linda Nosková against Amanda Anisimova. I've got Amanda Anisimova moving through to the quarters and then Diana Shnaider versus Naomi Osaka. I have Diana Shnaider moving through to the quarters. And then we'll leave those for now.

then moving forward to the second half of the draw, the third quarter. We've got Jessica Pegula's quarter,

I think it's probably the best quarter any of the top seeds could have hoped for. Again, still difficult, but I think Jess will do really well. And I think she will push her way through to the semifinals. That's a spoiler alert, but let's just quickly go through it. So start at the top. We've got Mira Andreeva versus Mayar Sherif.

I've got Mira moving through to the second round. Then we've got Jill Teichmann versus Lucia Bronzetti. I've got Teichmann moving through then to the second round. And then I've got Hailey Baptiste versus Sorana Cirstea I've got Hailey Baptiste through to the second round. Then I've got Anastasia Potapova against Magdalena Frech. I think Magdalena Frech through to the second round.

Then I've got Barbara Krejcikova, our defending champion versus Alexandra Eala of the Philippines. I've actually got upset Alexandra Eala through to the second round. Okay. I have more upsets than I thought. And I also didn't mention them before when I was talking about upsets. So I do apologize for that.

Then the next match I have got Caroline Dolehide versus Arantxa Rus I'm so sorry if I butchered your name. I always look at her name and I'm like that is the coolest name ever. I need to learn how to pronounce it properly, her first name. Anyway, I've got Caroline Dolehide moving to the second round.

then I've got Veronika Kudermetova the older Kudermetova playing Xu Lin

I've got Veronika Kudermetova moving through to the next round. Then we've got another popcorn match which is Petra Kvitova versus Emma Navarro

I I said I wasn't going to talk but I think this is Petra's last Wimbledon she has said that so I want her to win you know one last hurrah she's won this twice but I also can't have Emma going out in the first round in consecutive Grand Slams so I just went safety and I said Emma Navarro then we've got Karolina Muchova versus Xin Yu Wang

And I've got one going through to the second round. Whoa, too many. OK, now I'm not following what I was doing before, which is just picking the seeds. next match is Zeynep Sonmez versus Jacqueline Cristian. I've got Jacqueline Cristian to the next round. Then we've got Suzan Lamens versus Iva Jovic. Sorry, against Iva Jovic. I've got Iva Jovic moving on to second round.

Then next matchup is Priscilla Hon vs Ekaterina Alexandrova. I've got Ekat moving on to the second round. Then next match is Magda Linette versus Elsa Jacquemot. I've got Magda Linette moving through. Then we've got Alycia Parks vs Belinda Bencic. Difficult match for Alycia and for Belinda but I've picked Belinda Bencic to move through. Then next match is

Catie Volynets versus Tatjana Maria. I've got Tatjana Maria moving through to the second round. And lastly, we've got Elisabetta Cocciaretto versus Jessica Pegula And I have got JPEGs moving on to the second round.

Back to the top. So second round off the third quarter. We've got Mirra Andreeva versus Jill Teichmann. I think.

I think Mira Andreeva will get through that and then I've got Hayley Baptiste versus Magdalena Frech. I think Magdalena Frech will get through. We've got Alex Eala versus Caroline Dolehide I think Alex will get through to the next round. We've got Veronika Kudermetova versus Emma Navarro. I've got Veronika Kudermetova moving on to the third round. and then next match, I've got

Wang versus Cristian. I've got Wang moving on to the next round and then I've got Iva Jovic versus Alexandrova. I have got Alexandrova moving on to the next round. Then I've got Lynette versus Bencic. I've got Lynette moving on to the next round. Then Tatjana Maria versus J Pegula. I've got Pegula moving on to the next round.

And then third round of the third quarter,

the next matchup I've got is Mira Andreeva versus Magdalena Frech.

These two have played each other three times already this year. The head-to-head is in favor of Mira 2-1 but that one win for Magdalena came about two weeks ago in Berlin in three sets. So I've actually picked her to go through to the fourth round. And then I've got third round Alexandra Eala versus Veronika Kudermetova I have got Kudermetova through to the next round.

And then I've got Xinyu Wang against Ekaterina Alexandrova. I've got Ekat through to the fourth round. Then I've got Magda Linette versus JPEGs and I've got JPEGs through to the fourth round.

And then fourth round I have got Magdalena Frech versus Veronika Kudermetova. I have got Veronika Kudermetova moving on to the quarterfinals and then last match for fourth round in this quarter is Alexandra Ova versus Jessica Pegula. I have got Jessica Pegula through to the quarterfinals.

the last quarter I have here is the Coco Gauff quarter which starts off with Iga Swiatek versus the younger Kudermetova Polina Kudermetova I've got Iga through then I've got Kate next match is Catie McNally Catie McNally versus Jodie Burrage I've got Jodie through then Camilla

Osorio vs Danielle Collins. I've got Camila Osorio through. Then Veronika Erjavec against Marta Kostyuk. I've got Marta through. Then Clara Tauson vs Heather Watson. I've got Clara Tauson through. Anna Kalinskaya vs Nina Stojanovic. I've got

Anna Kalinskaya to go through. Then Maria Sakari versus Anna Blinkova. I have Sakari to go through. Then versus Elena Rybalkina. I've got Rybalkina through. Then we've got Kasatkina versus Emiliana Arango. I've got Daria Kasatkina to go through. Then we've got Aryna Kameliabegu versus Kaya Juvan.

I've got Kai you want to go through got

Then I've got Yulia Staro dubtseva against Francesca Jones. I've got going through. Then next match, such a horrible, horrible first round match for Maya but Maya joint versus Liudmila Samsonova. I have got Liudmila Samsonova through. Then Sofia Kenin versus Taylor Townsend. I've got Sofia Kenin through. Then we've got

Jessica Bouzas-Mainero against Ella Seidel. I've got Jessica Bouzas-Mainero going through. Then we've got Victoria Azarenka versus Anastasia Zakharova. I've got Azarenka through. And then this match, it was hard to call. I'll be honest with you. I was thinking upset first round.

I can still change my mind but I'm gonna back the number two seed here. Sorry I haven't even said the match up. It's Diana Yastremska versus Cori Gauff. I've got Coco going through to the next round. Then second round match we've got Iga Swiatek versus Jodi Burrage. I've got Iga through to the next round. Then we've got Camilo Osorio versus Marta Kostyuk. I've got Kostyuk through to the next round. Then

Clara Tauson versus Anna Kalinskaya. I've got Clara through to the third round. Then we've got Sakari versus Rybakina. I've got Rybakina through to the second round. Sorry, to the third round. Then Daria Kasatkina versus Kaya Juvan I've got Kasatkina through to the next round. Then we've got Sta ro dubtseva versus Ludmila Samsonova. I've got Samsonova through to the next round.

then I've got.

Kenin versus Bouzas Maneiro I've got Bouzas Maneiro through the next round. Then I've got Victoria Azarenka versus Coco Gauff. I've got Coco Gauff through to the next round. It's actually interesting. think Coco and Azarenka are bit similar players in terms of they can defend a lot, but Coco's serve is a lot better, especially now.

And then third round we've got Iga Swiatek vs Marta Kostyuk. I think Iga takes that one. Then we've got Clara Tauson vs Elena Rybakina I've got Rybakina through to the fourth round. Then we have Daria Kasatkina vs Ludmila Samsonova. I've got Samsonova through to the next round. And then we've got Gauff vs Jessica Bouzas-Mainero.

I've got Coco going through to the fourth round. And then in the fourth round, have got Iga Swiatek versus Elena Rybakina. So they meet again in the fourth round. I've got Elena Rybakina going through. Then I've got Ludmila Samsonova versus Coco Gauff. I've got Samsonova going through. So the quarterfinalists I have here, going from the top of the draw. I have Aryna Sabalenka, Madison Keys

Amanda Anisimova, Diana Shnaider, Veronika Kurumitova, Jessica Pegula, Elena Rybakina and Ludmila Samsonova. Before I go through the quarter-finalists, like I said, this draw is difficult for a lot of people. Looking at, let's say, Iga.

I think Iga after, based on my predictions, which we know is gospel, after the second round, even the first round is a difficult match against Polina depending on how Polina is playing.

when you get to the third round and you play Kostryk, if the right Marta, the fighting Marta shows up, that is not an easy match in the slightest. And then if both her, Iga and Elena Rybakina make it to the fourth round, I think I have to pick Elena Rybakina to get through that because their match on Iga's favorite surface was very very close and I think Elena threw that game away. If we're gonna come to

Iga's I'd say worst surface. Again, she's good on everything, but this is not her best against Elena's winning surface and best surface. I would say Elena wins that one out. I'm just going through some key matchups. And also before I go through the quarterfinals, I will give you some first round matches to keep an eye on.

First we've got Kessler-Vondrusova. I did mention them earlier before because both of them won tournaments in the past three weeks. Vondrusova winning the 500 in Berlin and Kessler winning the 250 in Nottingham.

So that's a horrible match for Kessler. I think she's like all my hard work to be seeded for what? To play someone who's won the Grand Slam before and not just the Grand Slam, the Grand Slam that I'm playing in right now in Wimbledon. So I hope she's ready to fight because you kind of want some sort of an advantage being seeded but that is probably the worst matchup she could have pulled.

the next match again this is if Paula does play and it's a fit and healthy Paula. A good match to watch first round is Badosa versus Boulter

with the home crowd and also just a lot of hard hitting and some pure ball striking. Great match to watch and then another match I think is Kudermetova Iga depending on which

Kudermetova shows up. This is Polina Kudermetova the younger sister. I think if she is playing like she was playing in Brisbane she can give Iga a match and then the next one I've got is of course Ya Stremska versus Coco because I'm kind of worried about Coco win that match so I think it'll be a very interesting one to watch and keep an eye out for.

And of course Petra Kvitova vs Emma Navarro. I know Petra is not the same Petra who won two Wimbledons but it's still a match to watch and even if she loses 6 love 6 love I think it'll be a good match to watch just sending off a legend of the game. And I'll be honest with you there are a lot of good matches. There are so many. I always think this but

these first rounds are yeah they're good and then the last one this is the last one i'll mention is Krejcikova versus Eala again upset alert so be i think good to watch that one as well

Okay, so the first quarterfinal I have lined up here with my predictions is Madison Keys versus Aryna Sabalenka Their head-to-head is 5-2 in favor of Sabalenka

They've played on grass twice.

once in 2021 where Madison Keys won and then the second time in 2023 at Wimbledon where Aryna Sabalenka won in straight sets so i think because it's not a final i give the edge to Sabalenka i think you're probably better to play Sabalenka in a final than any other match before then i think a Sabalenka that's playing well

Beats Madison Keys. think if both their games are at their peak I think Sabalenka beats Madison Keys So I think yes Sabalenka through to the semi-finals And then we've got

so the second quarterfinal match we've got is Amanda Anisimova versus Diana Shnaider they have never played each other before so I do not have a lot to go on except for their performances in the past couple of weeks and their past performances on grass or not just grass at Wimbledon

Amanda Anisimova the last time she played at Wimbledon which was in 2022, she made the quarterfinals and she's been playing very well recently. I mean she's been playing well all year and the past couple of weeks especially in Berlin. And then we've got Diana Shnaider who is a slightly younger player.

She played Wimbledon last year which was her first and only and she made it to the third round

And she's not been playing as well as I would like to see her play This year, so I think I have to give the edge to Amanda Ani simova especially in those tough moments. I think Amanda has the strength to or the mental strength to pull out a win when needed

So yes, so our semi-finalists for the top half have got Aryna Sabalenka versus Amanda Anisimova.

then the second half of the the draw my quarterfinal first quarterfinal is Veronika Kudermetova versus Jessica Pegula. Surprise quarterfinalist in Kudermetova but

Who knows, she's a former top 10 player.

Okay so the head-to-head for Jessica and Veronika is 2-1 in favor of Kudermetova but Jessica did win their last match and that was in three sets and that was on hard court. I don't know I think JPEG's has it. I think her mind is different. I think because she's made a Grand Slam final that quarterfinal curse is gone.

So I picked Jess to make it to the semi-final and then I've got Elena Rybakina versus Ludmila Samsonova.

Okay so Elena Rybakina and Liud milla Samsonova head-to-head is 4-2 in favor of Samsonova but Elena Rybakina has won their last two.

matches which was on hard court so she's trying to turn around that head-to-head again in the big moments although I did say that she's been a bit shaky off the past year year and a half I back Elena to be able to get through this quarterfinal against some son of a who hasn't been at this stage before and also

not just this stage, Elena's been here too when Wimbledon and I think it's nice to have past experiences to draw on. Alright, semi-finals, my gosh.

Okay, so my first ever video where I did my predictions for the year I said I predicted Sabalanka to win Wimbledon, right? And she's made a lot of finals this year. So her making a final, although it's crazy making like three Grand Slam finals, I would have put it past her. And technically

I should be going for my original prediction at the start of year but things change. I don't know. I know she recently played Anisimova in...

played it on clay Aryna's game has evolved a lot and she has evolved it to clay those drop shots the slices which she can obviously bring on grass but something at the back of my head is saying that it's Amanda Anisimova time.

which I could be completely wrong about. And I know I keep like qualifying what I'm saying, but I just, I just, I don't know. I just get so like in my head with predictions. I think too much. I put too much of my heart into it.

And their head-to-head is still positive to Anissa Mova. Like I said before, Sabalenka won their last meeting in straight sets at Roland Garros.

But I missed him over one last year in Canada on Hard court. And the head to head is 5-2 by the way. But Sabalenka is a different person, a different player. Especially, like I said, at a Grand Slam. I've said it before, you have to kill her at a Grand Slam.

This shouldn't be as difficult as I'm making it seem. Originally I had Sabalenka in the semi-final, in the final and then I got in my head. I think it's because I'll be honest with you, I don't want to put her in a final for her to lose. Yeah, I don't want to put her a final for her to then lose a third final, third Grand Slam final. I think she would pull out her hair. So you know what I'm going to do?

To save her the heartbreak, I'm going to put Amanda Anisimova in the final.

over Sabalanka and then the second semi-final is JPEG vs Elena Rybakina

I this is the most accurately predicted Grand Slam ever.

looking at this, Elena Rybakina has a losing record against Jessica Pegula. Jess leads the head to head 3-1. But the last time they played was at the WTA finals in 2023 in Mexico. And Jessica did win that.

And that was, would say when Elena was at the peak of her powers.

Guys, I promise you these predictions are so sideways but I also need to take the pressure off because predictions should be fun. Okay, I had actually had something else completely different written. My final had Elena Rybakina versus Sabalenka with Sabalenka winning but I have changed it completely. I've got Anisimova in the final and I've decided to put Jessica Pegula the final.

over Elena Rybakina and my winner is Jessica Pegula.

Yep, I'm not changing it. Let's end the episode now.

Based on Mati draw prediction, I have placed Jessica Pegula as the 2025 champion of Wimbledon, which I'll be honest would make me very happy and I think would make a lot of people happy. No one would have any complaints for the most part. My

prediction doesn't affect anything that happens. I'd like to think it does, but it doesn't.

So that is that. Our preview to Wimbledon. I think it's going to be a very exciting Wimbledon.

I'm very, very excited.

I think this is the first time I am more, I'm most excited about Wimbledon other than the other slams in terms of the results. Cause I think at the Australian Open, I'm always excited cause it's like, tennis is finally back. But this year in terms of the results, I cannot wait to see what happens Wimbledon this year.

With all of that being said, I want to thank you very much for listening to this episode of Everyone Watches Women's Tennis. I hope you enjoyed it. And something I've realized, I haven't been putting my social medias in the description or letting you know what they are. I have an Instagram, which is EWWT Podcast.

And just chuck me a follow. I do post some videos on there, some content, some stats, some information. So if you want more information or even just to talk tennis, I'm available there. As well as I'll be starting a YouTube channel soon where I'll be posting these episodes, but also creating some like medium length to short form content about tennis. And it might also be the place where I will

do reviews after every round. Because I think with the podcast gig, you can get a bit too much to do it after every single round. But again, thank you all for listening. I will see you next time.