Wimbledon 2012: Can Novak Djokovic Defend His Title?

A two-time Wimbledon semifinalist, Clijsters is playing in her final Wimbledon after announcing she will retire later in the year. She has won three of the last seven slams she has entered, but injuries have prevented her from maintaining any sort of momentum. Since the beginning of 2011, she has won the 2011 Australian Open, lost in the second round of the 2011 French Open, missed Wimbledon and the U.S. Open (where she was the two-time defending champion), advanced to the semifinals at the 2012 Australian Open and missed the French Open. Just last week, she withdrew from the semifinals of the Unicef Open in Holland to rest a strained stomach muscle. When healthy, she is still one of the three or four best players in the world; unfortunately, she’s never healthy and currently ranks 47th because of the simple lack of matches.

A full-strength Clijsters has a significant advantage over Jelena Jankovic, the former No. 1 who seems to have established residence between about 15th and 25th in the WTA rankings. Clijsters has won seven of eight head-to-head matchups and 15 of 20 sets. They haven’t faced off on grass since 2005, Jankovic’s first on the tour.

The Championships of Wimbledon start on Monday, early in the morning in the United States, with the No. 1 ranked men’s and women’s players in the world. Novak Djokovic begins his title defense in an early match on Centre Court, followed immediately by Maria Sharapova.

Unlike previous years, the entire tournament will be shown on the ESPN networks. Their live coverage starts at 6:30 a.m. ET on Monday on ESPN2 and runs all the way through 5 p.m. ET. There will also be online coverage provided on ESPN3. Wimbledon provides its own streaming service, which can be watched at Wimbledon.com.

Four years passed between Slam No. 3 and Slam No. 4 for Maria Sharapova. Four weeks will have passed by the time the finals are played at Wimbledon. The world’s top Russian is gunning for Slam No. 5 and she thinks she’ll get it at the All-England Club.

From SuperSport.com:

The draws for the 2012 Championship at Wimbledon were released Friday morning. Per usual, there are some interesting matchups ahead at the All England Club. As Bill Connelly points out in his analysis of the men’s and women’s sides of the bracket, some superstars may have a much easier road to the finals than others.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic hopes to rebound from his finals loss to Rafael Nadal at the French Open. To get there, he may have to go through a gauntlet of former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, up-and-coming American No. 52 Ryan Harrison, and No. 7 Tomas Berdych.

The third Grand Slam event of the year is set to begin on Monday, as the 2012 Championships at Wimbledon get underway. The field has been set for the prestigious grass-court tournament, as all draws have been announced for the opening round of play. No. 1 men’s seed Novak Djokovic will return to defend his title and may be in line for a French Open rematch against Rafael Nadal in the finals.

Although he is expected to make it deep into the tournament with relative ease, Djokovic’s first round opponent will not exactly be a pushover, as he has drawn former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero. This will be the first meeting between the two players in five years. When last they met, Djokovic was a decidedly different player. If all favorites win out for the first four rounds, Djokovic looks set to face Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals.

The 2012 Championships at Wimbledon begin on Monday, as the third Grand Slam event of the year -- and arguably the most famous -- will get underway. The full draws have been announced for the tournament.

Defending champion Petra Kvitova will return and will face Uzbekistan’s Akgul Amanmuradova in the opening round. Serena Williams looks to rebound from the Franch Open, in which she was eliminated from a Grand Slam event in the first round for the first time in her career. She meets Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the first round at Wimbledon. Serena and her sister, Venus Williams, are on opposite sides of the bracket, so if the sisters are to meet in the tournament, it would have to be in the finals.

That’s what the 2011 Wimbledon champion said about defending her title. The Czech tennis player became just the fourth left-hander in women’s tennis to win a slam in the professional era.

From Reuters:

The third and arguably most famous Grand Slam event of the season is fast approaching. The Championships at Wimbledon 2012 will be held from June 25 - July 8, with the top tennis players in the world vying for the men’s and women’s titles.

The official Wimbledon website has released the seeds for the men’s and women’s singles tournaments. Novak Djokovic will once again enter the tourney as the No. 1 seed on the men’s side, while Maria Sharapova will hold the top seed among the women. Sharapova is fresh off having won the French Open to complete her career Grand Slam, while Djokovic lost out in the finals of the Roland Garros to Rafael Nadal for the second straight year.