Are the Wimbledon titles more up for grabs than ever? - ESPN

WIMBLEDON, England — With the notable exception of Rafael Nadal winning the French Open almost every year, Wimbledon used to be one of the most predictable tournaments in the calendar, a time when you could pick the likely title winners on the fingers of one hand.

Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and Serena and Venus Williams all dominated proceedings.

But after two rounds, this year's event has a distinctly different feel. All of the big names have an air of vulnerability, brought on by shock losses, a dip in form, the performances of others or even the hotter-than-normal conditions. And some are already gone, including men's No. 4 seed Ben Shelton and women's No. 8 Elina Svitolina.

The heat of the first week at Roland Garros contributed to the carnage that ripped through the men's and women's draws there, and with temperatures in London predicted to be in the high-80s plus in the second week, weather could be a factor again.

That could spell bad news for Jannik Sinner, whose capitulation in the heat in Paris, where he let slip a two-sets-to-love and 5-1 lead to lose in the second round to Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, has added a layer of doubt against the defending champion — even if he was odds-on favorite with the bookmakers leading into the event.

Sinner underwent various tests after the match to determine the reason he started to wilt and cramp. The tests proved inconclusive, but his opponents now know that if it's hot, then maybe they have a chance. He didn't play on grass before Wimbledon this year and struggled through his opening match in five sets. He won his