Monday, July 11, 2011

Ranking the 16 women remaining at Wimbledon

The round of 16 is set at Wimbledon. Busted Racquet ranks the remaining players from 1-16 based on who's most likely to hoist the Rosewater Dish next Saturday afternoon on Centre Court. Read the men's rankings here.

Favorites

1. Serena Williams -- The oddsmakers recently shifted her to favorite status and it's hard to argue after her play on Saturday against Maria Kirilenko looked like vintage Serena. There's still rust and the very real threat that she's not playing well enough to bail herself out if she has an off-day but not enough to think of her as anything but the frontrunner.

2. Venus Williams -- The rest of the field has as many Wimbledon titles combined as Venus does by herself. (And it's only so close because of Serena's four championships.) She's 31, hasn't won a Slam since 2008 and plays the woman who knocked her out of last year's tournament in the next round. Count her out, if you will, but do so at your own peril.

3. Maria Sharapova -- Sharapova's the favorite if her serve can hold up, which is sort of like saying that John Mayer would be John Lennon if he wrote better songs.

Contenders

4. Petra Kvitova -- A semifinalist last year, the big-hitting Czech could play Venus Williams in a blockbuster quarterfinal.

5. Caroline Wozniacki -- I like her chances at Wimbledon more than most, particularly in a hypothetical quarterfinal against Sharapova. (See: serving.)

6. Victoria Azarenka -- For all her success, Azarenka is 0-4 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. That could change at Wimbledon. She wouldn't see a seed until the semifinals.

7. Sabine Lisicki -- Christopher Clarey on�Lisicki:�"Best Wimbledon wild card here since Goran?" Best Wimbledon wild card here since Goran.

Dark horses

8. Tsvetana Pironkova -- A tad high for a player who entered Wimbledon with a grand total of one career appearance in a Slam third round. If she gets by Venus, however, her side opens up nicely.

9. Nadia Petrova -- The unseeded 29-year-old has cruised in the opening rounds, bidding to become a quarterfinalist here for a third time.

10. Dominika Cibulkova -- Caroline Wozniacki must have breathed a sigh of relief when Cibulkova defeated Julia Goerges, the No. 16 seed whose had the top-ranked player's number this year. Don't rest too easy, Caro. The diminutive Cibulkova can attack too.

11. Marion Bartoli -- If the 2007 finalist didn't have Serena in the next round, she'd be higher on the list.

Long shots

12. Yanina Wickmayer

13. Shuai Peng

14. Tamira Paszek

15. Ksenia Pervak

16. Petra Cetkovska

Jessica Cauffiel Emmanuelle Vaugier Sarah Silverman Larissa Meek Gina Carano

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