Notes from the North
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With Wimbledon coming so close on the heels of the French Open, it's hard to think a lot will change. On clay, Rafa and Nole proved themselves to be head and shoulders above the competition while Sharapova dominated on the women's side.

Will anything change in England?

I'm surprised to see so many pundits picking Federer to win the men's side. Pleased, yes, but surprised too. I didn't see much in Roger's semi-final loss to Djokovic at Paris to suggest he can beat both the world number one and the world number two on grass, a feat he'll have to accomplish to win Wimbledon.

With Murray struggling with injuries, that means some underdog might just face Nadal in one semi-final. Tommy Haas? Del Potro? Ferrer? Canadian Miles Raonic? Maybe even a Frenchman like number-five Tsonga? (I haven't checked the draw closely enough, to be honest, to know who's in the Nadal side of things so some of these players might not be in the running at all).

 Whoever it is, however, I don't see Rafa losing in the semifinal.

So, no surprise, I think we're going to see three of the top four men in the semis at Wimbledon, with yet another Djokovic-Nadal final. Go with Djoko to avenge his loss at the French, in five sets.

On the women's side of the tournament, French Open champion Maria Sharapova seems to be emerging as the pre-tournament favourite to make it two Majors in a row. It's hard to pick against that logic, considering how consistent Sharapova has been of late.

Still, with Kim Clijsters in the mix and a rested Serena Williams smarting to prove herself after an early exit at the French, I'm not willing to hand the tournament to Sharapova yet. In fact, I expect to see some of the other top seeds (Azarenka, Kvitova and Na in particular) rebound from somewhat weak French performances to compete for the title.

My heart wants to pick Clijsters in her last Wimbledon appearance. My brain says Sharapova will win it. My gut goes with Serena.

Which, of course, means none of those three will win the tournament. It will probably be Azarenka or Kvitova...

So I'll pick Kvitova to repeat. In three over Sharapova.

There you have it: Djokovic and Kvitova to win Wimbledon. Hey, wait a minute. Didn't those same two win last year?

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