The Wimbledon finals represent the pinnacle of the grass-court season, the ultimate showdown on tennis`s most hallowed lawns. But how do players best prepare for this unique challenge? This year`s lineup for the single-sex finals at SW19 offers an intriguing insight: for most contenders, the path to the final included reaching the decisive stage of *other* grass tournaments beforehand.
It appears that reaching a final on grass *before* arriving at the All England Club serves as an excellent barometer of form and a crucial final tuning session. Three out of the four singles finalists this season demonstrated this, having contested a championship match on the surface in the weeks leading up to Wimbledon.
On the women`s side, both finalists honed their grass skills extensively. Amanda Anisimova showcased her powerful game by making a deep run all the way to the final of the WTA 500 tournament held at Queen`s Club. Similarly, Iga Swiatek proved her adaptability across surfaces, reaching the final at the Bad Homburg Open. These performances underscored their comfort and effectiveness on grass ahead of their Wimbledon campaigns.
The trend holds true for one of the men`s finalists as well. Carlos Alcaraz arrived at Wimbledon fresh off a successful defense of his title at Queen`s Club, another significant grass-court event. His victory there solidified his status as a top contender and provided the ideal preparation.
However, the narrative takes a curious turn with the other male finalist (either Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic). Uncharacteristically, this player has not reached a final at any grass tournament this season *before* storming his way to the Wimbledon final. Does this deviation from the pattern signify anything? Perhaps it suggests that some players possess such innate talent or peak conditioning that they can bypass the `final-as-warm-up` phase. Or, perhaps, it simply adds an extra layer of intrigue to the final matchup – a clash between a player battle-tested in recent grass finals and one whose first grass final of the year is the biggest of them all.
Regardless of interpretation, the performances of Anisimova, Swiatek, and Alcaraz highlight the value of competitive matches – specifically finals – on grass before arriving at SW19. It seems, for many, the road to a Wimbledon final truly runs through other grass-court finals first.
