The Wimbledon tennis festival is about to begin on Monday. A few players are out of the tournament with injuries, and a few others are playing in the tournament despite recent injuries. All these injuries matter, and we’ll look at them below.
Rafael Nadal
There was no doubt that Nadal would not play Wimbledon. This was known weeks ago after he bowed out of the French Open with a wrist injury. Nadal will try to be ready for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The significance of Nadal’s injury is that Dominic Thiem was able to move from the ninth seed to the eighth spot. Getting into the top eight means that a player doesn’t have to play the other players in the five through eight seed range in the fourth round. Thiem will play someone in the nine through 12 seed range, and he drew No. 10 Tomas Berdych. Had Thiem been stuck at nine, he might have had to play Milos Raonic or Richard Gasquet, which are tougher matchups on grass.
Nadal’s absence also means that Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka – one of the four – did not have to play Nadal in a possible quarterfinal. It’s true that Nadal has not done well at Wimbledon the past few years, but Nadal is still capable of winning matches, and a quarterfinal against the 14-time major champion would have been a scary proposition for any of the top four seeds. Now, that threat doesn’t exist.
Victoria Azarenka
The injury-based absence of Azarenka is a big boost for lots of the top women’s seeds, none more than Serena Williams. Remember, Azarenka started the season like she was shot out of a cannon. She started the year 24-2 and one of her losses was in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She was a monster during the hard court season. Then things shifted to clay and she clearly wasn’t herself. Her body just hasn’t been right and now she’s been forced out of Wimbledon with a knee injury.
That’s crucial because you might remember, last year, Serena and Azarenka played a very tough three-set quarterfinal which was, according to most, the best women’s match at Wimbledon in 2015. Serena should be very relieved that she doesn’t have to face Azarenka. If she can avoid Petra Kvitova, who is a possible semifinal opponent, Serena has a very smooth road to the ladies’ singles final. Azarenka’s absence carries real consequences, especially in light of Serena’s draw and also a bottom half in which Garbine Muguruza also received a fairly decent draw.
Belinda Bencic
The Swiss youngster suffered an injury at Birmingham a week ago. She returned at Eastbourne but was not able to go far in that tournament. She missed a lot of the clay-court season and had hoped to make a real push on grass, but this injury seems to have thwarted her. She should not be expected to make a deep run. She’s been very unreliable this season as is going to be one of the players that is ripe for the picking the in the early rounds at Wimbledon.
Kei Nishikori
Nishikori is not a very strong grass-court player to begin with, and he has suffered injuries at pre-Wimbledon tournaments before. Therefore, his injury in Halle, Germany, is not unprecedented. It’s also not surprising at all. Marin Cilic is in Nishikori’s section of the draw. If the two men play, Cilic should be the favorite at this point in time. Nishikori is a lot like Bencic in that he doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Nishikori has been a very disappointing player overall and as of now, he’s in the category of guys who has to prove it before we believe it. There was a time where there was so much optimism surrounding the Japanese player but he’s no longer a young, budding star. He’s plateaued, he hasn’t registered any major wins and he’s been wildly inconsistent this year. Be very careful betting your money on him on the grass at Wimbledon.
