Former Wimbledon quarter-finalist and Indian tennis icon, Ramesh Krishnan, strongly rooted for Roger Federer to clinch a record eighth Wimbledon title this year. “I’d rate Federer as high as anybody. He has played really well this year and the Wimbledon committee also feels he has a good chance, because they have promoted him from five to number three,” said Ramesh, in an interaction with Sportstar, in a Facebook Live session on Saturday.
Commonwealth gold medal winner and former Davis Cup player, Somdev Devvarman, who was also part of the interaction, hoped to see a classic Federer-Nadal final.
Looking at the draw, no player seems to have an easy run at this year’s tournament. “The top four seeds have each won the championship more than twice at least. I think it is a very interesting position, where you have four people who have done it before and know what it’s all about,” said Ramesh, implying the level of competition in this year’s tournament.
“Novak Djokovic has not been playing as well as he has over the last few years and Andy Murray isn’t either, that opens up a whole lot of opportunities for Federer,” added Somdev, speaking of the Swiss’ chances.
Responding to a viewer query on whether he would back the young guns like Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem, Ramesh said, “I don’t think I’ll back either, I don’t feel Wimbledon is the best tournament for them. They may need a little more experience on grass to prove themselves.” A fit Nick Kyrgios will have a much better shot than these two,” he opined.
Ramesh named Nick Kyrgios, Feliciano Lopez and Milas Raonic as the dark horses for the tournament, while Somdev picked Argentinian Juan Martin del Potro.
With Serena Williams not playing the championships this year, as she is expecting her first child, Somdev felt this could be anyone’s title for the taking, but favoured Jelena Ostapenko. “As we saw in the French Open, we could see a few upsets and few players breaking through. Ostapenko put up a fantastic effort to win the tournament, so you would not want to count her out. She has also won the junior Wimbledon, so she is comfortable on grass.”
Ramesh added that the chances of seeing a first-time title-winner were high.
When asked about their picks in the women’s category, Ramesh picked his “sentimental favourite” Venus Williams to win the championship one more time, while Somdev picked the more seasoned Gabrine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber.
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