Though it seems like the French Open just concluded, tennis’ next Grand Slam kicks off Monday at the All-England Lawn and Tennis Club and Canadians are ranked in the Top 15 in both the men’s and women’s draw.
Even with being bounced in the quarterfinals of this week’s ATP Tour stop and having only recently returned to action following a foot injury, Milo Raonic will enter the tournament as the No. 7 seed, switching places with David Ferrer, who is seeded No. 8 despite being one spot ahead of Raonic in the current rankings. A big part of that decision has to stem from Raonic’s booming serve, which is always a formidable weapon and can be even more lethal on the grass.
After reaching the finals last year during a tremendous spring and summer run of career best play, Eugenie Bouchard enters the tournament as the No. 12 and on a serious skid. With just three wins since her quarterfinal loss to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open earlier this year, the 21-year-old Montreal native has gone from being a potential threat to being someone that could easily be bounced in the first round and no one would be surprised.
Last year was a breakthrough year for the Canadian tandem, with Bouchard reaching the semis at the French and the finals at Wimbledon, while Raonic made the Final Four in England as well, but the duo has been snake-bitten and struggling in 2015, leaving them in a position where everyone is rooting for them, but few are expecting all that much as they take to the courts next week.
What’s interesting is that both the men’s and women’s side feels like there is room for a couple emerging players to climb into the Top 5 and consistently challenge for titles. Roger Federer has shown slight signs of decline, Rafael Nadal has been struggling and lost in Paris for the first time in forever, while the women’s side is always pretty fluid and open outside of Serena Williams being Serena Williams.
Raonic looked like he was ready to take up permanent residency in the group just below the elite, but his foot injury and time on the sidelines scuttled that move. Though he’s back in action, it takes some time to work your way back into shape and find your rhythm, so it might be too soon to expect big things from the top-ranked Canadian male at Wimbledon.
As for Bouchard, she too appeared on the brink of breaking through following a tremendous campaign in 2014, but she’s absolutely fallen apart this year. Bouchard has exited in the first round more often than she’s advanced of late and withdrew due to an abdominal injury on Wednesday at Eastborne, though she says she expects to be on court when the festivities kick off at Wimbledon on Monday.
Williams, a five-time winner in England, is the top seed on the women’s side, followed by defending champ Petra Kvitova, Simone Halep, Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki. On the men’s side, last year’s winner and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic sits atop the rankings, with Federer, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori rounding out the Top 5.
The Wimbledon draw takes place on Friday and the tournament begins Monday.
