Young and old have much to prove as Wimbledon 2019 gets underway

LONDON—What's next for women’s tennis? Anyone trying to follow a form book on the eve of Wimbledon would be as likely to find themselves in Hampton Court Maze running into a scowling King Henry VIII, smacking the palm of his hand with an oddly-shaped wooden racket as discover who might actually win the title.

​Twists and turns and dead ends have been the order of life on the WTA tour so far this year, and searching for a rational reason has been an elusive exercise. By mid-April there had been 18 WTA tournaments in 2019 and 18 different winners.

That had seemed unlikely when Naomi Osaka added the Australian Open title to her US Open crown and became world No. 1. Little more than a month later, Osaka had relinquished her Indian Wells title to a stunningly aggressive Canadian teenager, Bianca Andreescu. But the 18-year-old could not build on that startling success as a shoulder problem has kept her largely off the tour ever since.

So step forward a diminutive Australian with a big game. Ashleigh Barty beat Karolina Pliskova in the final of the Miami and, just in case anyone thought that was a fluke, followed it with her first Grand Slam triumph at Roland Garros, beating Angelique Kerber in the final. A week later, Barty usurped Osaka by grabbing the world No. 1 spot after winning the grass-court title in Birmingham.

But another week later, Pliskova also proved herself adept at winning on clay and grass by adding the Nature Valley International at Eastbourne to the Rome title she had won a few weeks earlier. Given that Pliskova’s opponent at Eastbourne was Kerber, the reigning Wimbledon champion, she might have expected a tough match. Not a bit of it. Using every inch of her 6’1” frame, the Czech overpowered Kerber, 6-1, 6-4.

So does that leave Barty and Pliskova as joint favorites, or will Kerber, who is in Barty’s quarter of the draw, still have something to say about it? And what of those two Americans, Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, who can blow anyone away if the mood is right? Stephens, seeded No. 9, is in the same quarter as No. 4 seed Kiki Bertens, while Keys may have to deal with Simona Halep before the quarters. \

And then there is the first-round match everyone will want to see: 39 year-old Venus Williams against 15-year-old qualifier Cori Gauff. That match will draw more interest than Serena’s opener against the Italian qualifier, Giulia Gatto-Monticone.

It is all so much easier with the men. Novak Djokovic remains No. 1 and most people’s favorite to retain his crown. Rafael Nadal, unhappy at being pushed down to No. 3 seeding, because of Roger Federer’s grass-court record, volleyed well enough while winning Roland Garros to suggest he is well prepped for another Wimbledon challenge. It’s impossible to discount Federer himself​: the 37-year-old won his 10th Halle title in typically untroubled style.

But can you hear the knocking on the door? The list of young contenders is long, with Taylor Fritz reminding everyone of his talent by winning his first-ever ATP title in Eastbourne with an impressive 6-3, 6-4 triumph over the vastly more experienced Sam Querrey.

Fritz may prove this wrong, but there appear to be a quintet above him stepping ever closer to a major Grand Slam breakthrough. Surely Alexander Zverev can’t wait much longer to get past the quarterfinal barrier at Grand Slam level.

Stefanos Tsitsipas seems to have the body and the mind to make it all the way to the top in the not-too-distant future; Russia’s Karen Khachanov can power his way past anyone, as he proved against Djokovic at the ATP Paris Masters 1000 last November; his fellow countryman Daniil Medvedev reached the final of Queen’s Club, and who knows what 18-year-old Felix Auger Aliassime is poised to achieve. Powerful beyond his years, the Canadian seems well grounded as a person and a player and, interestingly, had no trouble beating Tsitsipas at Queen’s.

“He always does,” 20-year-old Tsitsipas said of Auger-Aliassime, who is 5-0 against the Greek, based on combined junior and professional results. “I have no idea how to beat him.” How long will that last?

Much will be revealed as the action, boosted by a sudden heatwave, pits young and old against each other at The Championships which, this year, feels as if it might herald a climate change—on court as well as in the Met Office.