The year 2022 can be special for tennis in many different ways. First of all, we all hope that it will be corona-stress-free at least at the second half of the year. That would mean we will know the calendar in advance. The waiting for updates and cancellations could be over.
Moreover, 2022 can be the first year when the next generation of players will take over. We saw it in ladies tennis, where new young players were able to win Grand Slams and the last player standing was Serena Williams. Now, we will see the same in men’s tennis too. Out of three great players, just Novak Djokovic seems to be eligible to compete for tournament wins. And that means the tennis world will be quite different from what we know in the past two decades. That sounds like bold prediction alone but we are also going to do our usual prediction exercise.
First of all, look at our predictions for 2021 and the actual results:
| Men Singles Winner Prediction | Men Singles Actual Winner | Ladies Singles Winner Prediction | Ladies Singles Actual Winner | |
| Australian Open 2021 | Djokovic | Djokovic | Osaka | Osaka |
| French Open 2021 | Thiem | Djokovic | Halep | Krejcikova |
| Wimbledon 2021 | Djokovic | Djokovic | Kvitova | Barty |
| US Open 2021 | Rublev | Medvedev | Barty | Raducanu |
Who will win Grand Slam tournaments in 2022?
Australian Open 2022 Winner Predictions
Predicting the Australian Open was always the easiest task. But nothing is the same this time. With uncertainty about who will be allowed to travel to Melbourne without two weeks mandatory quarantine, all is set open. Will Djokovic, Medvedev, and Tsitsipas play in Australia or not? We do not know yet.
So let us start with Ladies’ singles. Ashleigh Barty is the biggest favorite and not just because she does not need to travel to Australia. She already won Wimbledon (2021) and the French Open (2019), she holds the number one position in the WTA ranking for years but her best result in Melbourne was a semifinal in 2020. She can have just one ultimate goal in 2022: to win Australian Open.
Winning a Grand Slam is not easy, with a pack of motivated contenders. And as we saw in past years, anybody out of the top 100 can win the trophy. But I still think that Barty has the best shot in Melbourne. I would even put my money on it.
Guessing the winner of any man’s Grand Slam was easier in the past decade. You had Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal, and sometimes Murray or Wawrinka. This year I expect that out of the three above we will see just one player (maybe two). And just Djokovic will have a real chance to win it. Except for him, I expect Medvedev, Tsitsipas, and Zverev to be in the mix for the trophy. I see their chances even, but as I have to pick one name, I am going with Alexander Zverev. His performance in the second half of the 2021 season was spectacular and I do not see any reason why he should stop it.
Readers Poll: Who will win Australian Open 2022?
French Open 2022 Winner Predictions
The usual question in Paris stands: “can anyone beat Nadal?”. Last year, Novak Djokovic did it and we were all surprised. This season I expect Rafa Nadal to be ready to claim another French Open title but the situation changed a lot. There will be another two or maybe three (if Thiem recovers finally) players to challenge him. I count on Tsitsipas and even Casper Ruud to play exceptionally well on clay. Of course, I can not forget Carlos Alcaraz, who definitely win at Roland Garros in the future. But now it is probably too early for him. And to pick just one name to claim the trophy, I am going with Tsitsipas.
From 2017 and Ostapenko’s win in Roland Garros, nothing is guaranteed. Iga Swiatek in 2020 and Barbora Krejcikova in 2021 just prove the point that anyone starting in the first round can celebrate two weeks later. It would be safe to pick someone from the top 10 but that would disappoint anyone who picks the article because of the word Bold in the title. That gives me no choice but to pick someone from the lower ranking places: Cori Gauff, Nuria Parrizas Diaz, or Clara Tauson? Cori Gauff will be my pick for the French Open 2021 winner.
Readers poll: Who will win the French Open 2022?
Wimbledon 2022 Winner Predictions
The grass surface suits players with more experience. That is the reason, Roger Federer will skip the clay season again to focus on the grass and especially Wimbledon. Of course, that does not mean he is going to win it. I think this will be the Djokovic tournament finally (maybe for the last time). Other young guns will try, but in the end, the surface, the atmosphere will get them.
Ladies’ singles Wimbledon winner prediction can be made in two ways. Blind way with random number generator or by studying the players and their form. I am afraid, that the first way will get me closer to reality. But at least I try and pick Aryna Sabalenka, who already was in the semifinals last season and has all the tools to be a champion one day.
Readers poll: Who will win Wimbledon 2022?
US Open 2022 Winner Predictions
It is always hard to pick winners for events played in 10 months, but I can at least try.
Daniil Medvedev is on the rise and I do not see any reason to exclude him from the list of Grand Slam winners in 2022. US Open can be his favorite tournament for decades. He already proved himself in New York and now he will play stress-free. That is a solid base for his case.
The list of ladies singles winners in New York for the past seven years is interesting. Pennetta, Kerber, Stephens, Osaka, Andreescu, Osaka, Raducanu. It is not bold to say that I do not see Raducanu winning it again anytime soon. So let me go defensively and pick someone who is already established in the world of tennis. Belinda Bencic has potential and it can be easily she who pick up the trophy in September 2022.
Readers poll: Who will win US Open 2022?
Recap of my Grand Slam Winners predictions for 2022:
| Men Singles Winner Prediction | Ladies Singles Winner Prediction | Singles Results | |
| Australian Open 2022 | Zverev | Barty | Men: Nadal Ladies: Barty |
| French Open 2022 | Tsitsipas | Gauff | Men: Nadal Ladies: Swiatek |
| Wimbledon 2022 | Djokovic | Sabalenka | Men: Djokovic Ladies: Rybakina |
| US Open 2022 | Medvedev | Bencic | Men: Alcaraz Ladies: Swiatek |
What about Federer, Nadal, and Serena Williams?
The last question that needs to be answered in this article is the usual one I ask for four years in a row. And this time I get it right. Roger Federer will call it a career this year. He tries to return, maybe in Wimbledon or later in the USA. But that will be it. Basel in autumn 2022 will be his last tournament. And this time I mean it for sure. Not everybody is Andy Murray and wants to play with iron in his body.
Rafael Nadal can play on clay till his fifties and still win some tournaments. But does he want it? Probably yes, so he will stay in the business for another season.
Serena Williams and her sister Venus did not win a big tournament for a while too. That could be a good reason to call it a career.
So we will lose players who were synonyms for tennis for years. It will be sad to see them for the last time on the courts but tennis will not be worse without them. It will be different but not worse.
ATP 2022 Tournament Schedule – WTA 2022 Tournament schedule
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