All eyes now turn to the 2011 Championships at Wimbledon with the top four men on the ATP World Tour finishing their 2011 French Open run in fantastic fashion. Wimbledon provides a much needed change of pace as tennis fans can enjoy the speed of the green grass over the slow red clay of Paris. It's a different game and a different challenge with hard serves and great net play being more important than the defensive posture and long rallies at Roland Garros.
Here's some key dates to keep in mind leading up to the full schedule of play starting at the 2011 Wimbledon:
- Qualifying: June 13 to June 16
- Seeding: June 16
- Draw: June 17
- Championships: June 20 to July 3
The 2011 Championships at Wimbledon will be broadcast by NBC and ESPN with online streaming available on ESPN3.com and NBCSports.com. More details on TV and online streaming broadcast schedules will be released at a later date.
It is unclear if Venus or Serena Williams will be fit enough to compete at this year's Wimbledon but fellow American Andy Roddick is expected to play. It is hard to image Serena being ready after undergoing emergency surgery to remove a clot from her lung in March 2011, but there are signs she's trying to play.
Serena Williams training with Mackie Shilstone for another comeback | NOLA.com
Although Williams wasn't able to compete in the French Open, Shilstone said the plan is for her to play in one tune-up tournament before attempting to defend her 2010 Wimbledon crown later this month.
Here's are the early odds (via bodog.com) for the men's and women's winners at Wimbledon 2011:
- Rafael Nadal 2/1
- Roger Federer 9/4
- Novak Djokovic 5/2
- Andy Murray 7/1
- Andy Roddick 16/1
- Serena Williams 3/1
- Kim Clijsters 7/2
- Maria Sharapova 11/2
- Caroline Wozniacki 6/1
- Venus Williams 6/1