Wimbledictions (For The Ladies)

Wimbledon starts tomorrow! How quickly it has crept up on us! And I, for one, am totally excited - this media saturation it's got going on is totally infectious! So without further ado: we've done our Wimbledictions for the menfolks, let's do it for the ladies:

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The top quarter is the Safina quarter, and I get the feeling she would rather not have been seeded first. The seeding committee was extraordinarily kind to both her and her brother, but I think she'd rather have been seeded a little lower and tried to fly under the radar a bit, after the pressure cooker that was Paris. She could run into Szavay in the third round and that could be a tough one for her if she's feeling under pressure - here's hoping that she's settled a bit.

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She lost in the semis of s'Hertogenbosch, and what was most remarkable about that tournament was that the omnipresent Zeljko was away for a lot of it as his daughter was sick (I think) so she was flying blind. To me, this might have been the best possible thing for her. To not have his face in her box must have been hard, but after those stares that she was delivering during the Roland Garros final I think it's good for her not to have him around sometimes. Here's hoping she delivers at the big W.

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But I'm going to pick teen queen Caro Wozniacki to come through this side. She was impressive in Eastbourne and I see no reason why she can't back it up. All the way to the semis with her, I think - though I'll be cheering for Dinara. I can't help myself.

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The second quarter belongs to Venus. Sure, she's performed pretty rubbish in both Australia and France, but she's a different creature on the grass. I would have made her the top seed and I know I'm not the only one. There is very little doubt in my mind that she will win this quarter, provided she is fully fit. She has both the Serbian girls in here but I don't see either of them pulling a threat - strangely enough, because I never find myself saying this, I think her biggest threats are the Aussie girls. Stosur and Dokic are both in this quarter and they've both performed on the big stage this year. I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them go deep at all. But I don't see anyone coming through Venus.

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The third quarter is probably the most open, and I'm having real trouble picking a semi finalist here. I'm tempted to go with Dominika Cibulkova, because I'm not seeing Dementieva or Zvonareva having a big impact, unless Zvonareva has really come back off injury firing on all cylinders. This is really anyone's quarter.

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So I'm going to go with someone random. I'm going to pick Yanina Wickmayer, who made the final in s'Hertogenbosch, where she went down to tiny Tammy Tanasugarn. She's proven she can play on grass and she's in form, which is more than anyone else has done. But I would like to point out that I am not confident here, and that anyone of the 32 players in this quarter is a potential winner.

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Last quarter = Serena. I don't have any doubts there. Azarenka, Sharapova and Pavlyuchenkova are possible challengers - this is definitely the strongest quarter, in my opinion, but if Serena's firing, I don't see anyone coming through her. End of story.

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So that makes:

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Semis: Venus Williams vs. Caroline Wozniacki, Serena Williams vs. Yanina Wickmayer

Final: Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams

Winner: Miss Williams

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Yeah, I can't pick which Williams I think will win. I'm leaning towards Venus, but you'd be a fool to ever count Serena out...

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Until tomorrow! Until WIMBLEDON!