The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club hosts the 137th playing of the Championships at Wimbledon commencing Monday. The All England Club is just 7 miles outside of London.

The storylines are rich as Novak Djokovic is battling through a torn meniscus injury he suffered three weeks ago at Roland Garros at the French Open and will give it a go in hopes of capturing Grand Slam numero 25 and his eighth Wimbledon title. That’s the all time greatest resume in my opinion. Nadal and Federer have good arguments, but the way Novak keeps delivering is beyond reproach. He won three of the four Grand Slam titles in 2023 with his only loss coming last year at the Wimbledon final to the great 21 year old Carlos Alcaraz from El Palmar, Murcia Spain. Alcaraz has three Slams on his resume; the 2022 US Open, 2023 at Wimbledon, and this year’s French Open. So who will emerge as the champion in the highly competitive men’s side? Also, the women’s bracket looks to be electric as well with world No.1 Iga Swiatek, the 23 year old from Warsaw, Poland, being challenged by the likes of American Coco Gauff, Russian Aryna Sabalenka and others. Iga has won 5 majors; the 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 French Open and the 2022 US Open.

ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN+ will broadcast.

First round coverage begins tomorrow at 5 AM CT on ESPN and lasting all day through 4 PM CT. ABC will help out a little bit as well.

The women’s semifinals will commence on Thursday, July 11th, from 7AM-12 PM CT on ESPN.

The men’s semis will take place Friday, July 12th, from 7 AM-1 PM CT on ESPN.

The Women’s Final is Saturday, July 13th, at 8 AM CT on ESPN.

The Men’s is Sunday, July 14th, at 8 AM CT on ESPN.

Here are predictions for the Championships.

Men’s Semifinals

Jannik Sinner over Carlos Alcaraz 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Novak Djokovic over Hubert Hurkacz (27 year old from Poland) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3

Men’s Final

Sinner over Djokovic 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

Jannik, the 22 year old from Innichen, South Tyrol, Italy, outlasts the great champion and captures major number 2 in his young, invigorating career. Novak doesn’t make it easy though. He never does.

Women’s Semifinals

Iga Świątek over Elena Rybakina (25 year old from Kazakhastan who won Wimbledon in 2022) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

Coco Gauff over Sabalenka 4-6, 7-5, 7-5

Final

Gauff over Swiatek 7-5, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4

The 20 year old from Atlanta gets it done.

Men’s Champion: Jannik Sinner

Women’s Champion: Coco Gauff

The Crimson Tide in 2024 will have a new look on the sideline. The GOAT has called it a career and it was quite the illustrious career, particularly for 17 seasons in Tuscaloosa, where championships are always attainable. Coach Saban finished his career at Alabama with 6 national titles and threw in another @ LSU in an earlier stop, and will now navigate the world of sports commentating for ESPN along with predicting, which is also a challenge. He left a lasting legacy at Alabama that may never be duplicated in the SEC or nationally, but the Tide will move on with new coach Kalen DeBoar from Washington, who’s had terrific success as a head coach. DeBoar will try to acclimate quickly to the challenges that the brutal SEC presents.

DeBoar has the great Jalen Milroe returning at quarterback with a solid backup in Ty Simpson. Milroe had a terrific season in 2023 and looks to enhance his legacy in 2024. He’ll have some nice pieces around him. Jam Miller, Justice Haynes, Richard Young and Daniel Hill form a formidable running back room. Really high on Miller and Haynes, and Young was a top recruit as was HIll. The Tide lost some wide receivers in the portal headlined by Isaiah Bond, who transferred to Texas, but still has some excellent options on the perimeter in Washington transfer Germie Bernard, who had a terrific spring game, along with returners Kendrick Law and Kobe Prentice. There is some young talent behind those three. The offensive line will be anchored by left tackle Tyler Booker. Parker Brailsford has arrived in Tuscaloosa from Seattle as well, and will be in the middle of the trenches at center. He’s not a huge guy at 280, but has great quickness, smarts and toughness. Jaeden Roberts at right guard is another big, physical leader up ftont. CJ Dipper and Robbie Outzs are a couple of returners at tight end.

On defense, I like linebackers Deontae Lawson (Mike LB) and Jihaad Campbell (Will). On the back end, the great Malachi Moore is back and will lead the defense at free safety, and transfers Keon Sabb (Michigan, SS) and Domani Jackson (CB, USC) join freshman Zabien Brown (CB). Returner DeVonta Smith will man the Star position. I know DeBoar wishes he had the other Devonta back as well. He’s excelling for the Philadelphia Eagles now. He’s been gone for four years now. What a career that was in Tuscaloosa for the Heisman winner and he’s become elite in the National Football League.

Bernard is the starter at punt returner and he and Law are the kick returners. Graham “Jack” Nicholson will be the kicker and punter.

The schedule is intense, but that’s always the case in the SEC. The Tide opens vs Western Kentucky at 6 PM CT, Saturday, August 31, on ESPN. South Florida comes to Bryant-Denny on Saturday, 9/7, for a 6 PM kick which will also air on ESPN. Then the tide travels to Madison, Wisconsin to face the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday, 9/14, with an 11 AM CT kickoff on FOX. Then “Dem Dawgs” come to Tuscaloosa for an epic confrontation. It’ll be Saturday, 9/24, at 6:30 PM CT on ABC. @Vandy, vs South Carolina, @ Tennessee, vs Missouri, @LSU (Saturday, 11/9, with a night kickoff possible, but not for sure), vs Mercer, @ Oklahoma, one of the two new members of the SEC along with Texas, and then Auburn @Bryant-Denny on Saturday, 11/30.

Jayden Proctor, the 6’7”, 360 pound mountain of a man, transferred to Iowa in the offseason for a cup of coffee, and then came back to Tuscaloosa. He’s listed as a backup right now at left tackle behind Booker. He’s going to have to work hard to regain the trust of his teammates and coaches. Unclear whether he’ll be a major factor this season. The 99, 5 star rating is there, but Booker is a veteran, who’s talented and hung in there when Coach Saban left; so Proctor has his work cut out for him to find a position up front.

I like the Crimson Tide to have another good season. Georgia and Auburn are @ home, but the Tide has to travel to LSU, Tennessee and Oklahoma and Madison won’t be a bargain. Missouri @ home is a lot more interesting as the Tigers won 11 games last season and defeated overrated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. They finished No.8 in the country in the Final College Football Playoff rankings.

I don’t like to say how many games a team can win until they’re in the arena and playing games, but the Tide has the material to win 10 games. I would call that the over/under number. It could be 8 or 9. Ten and a playoff spot would be all they would need to get another shot at winning it all in the 12 team playoff.

DeBoar is 104-12 in his college coaching career. All of that is in South Dakota and on the west coast, so if he can adjust to the rigors of this conference, and recruit well, which he did in 2024 with the second ranked class, and he has the 3rd ranked class in 2025, he can be exceedingly successful in Tuscaloosa.

Pinehurst No.2 hosts the 124th edition of the United States Open. The defending champion is Wyndham Clark, who was victorious at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023 edging out Rory McIlory by a shot. Clark finished10 under at LACC.

Scottie Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite. He’s won 5 times already heading into Thursday’s Open tying Tom Watson, the last person to accomplish that feat. Watson did that in 1980. He has joined Eldrick Woods as the second player to win the Memorial, the Masters, the Players Championship and the Arnie in the same season. Eldrick did it in 2001. Scheffler has also won the RBC Heritage this season. He’s got a great wife, a 3 week old son, and two majors under his belt along with two Players Championships. So life is very good. And he’s earned every penny and every trophy he’s collected.

Can the other guys hang with Scheffler? They can. Can they defeat him on Sunday? Possibly. He’s taking on 155 other players with every one of the best players in the world in the field. Here are details for the Open.

Weather

Thursday: 88 Sunny, ENE 8

Friday: 92 Sunny, NW 5

Saturday: 91, Sunny, NNE 9

Sunday: 89, Partly Sunny, ESE 7.

TV

Thursday: 5:30 AM-4 PM CT, USA; 4-7 PM CT, Peacock.

Friday: 5:30 AM-12 PM CT, Peacock; 12-6 PM CT, NBC; 6-7 PM CT, Peacock.

Saturday: 9-11 AM CT, USA; 11 AM-7 PM, NBC.

Sunday: 8-11 AM CT, USA; 11 AM-6 PM CT, NBC.

Notable tee times Thursday. All times Central. All groups off No.1 unless otherwise noted.

6:29 AM (No.10)-Will Zalatoris, Matt Fitzpatrick, Eldrick

6:40 AM- Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka

12:14 PM-Rory, Xander, Scottie

12:25 PM-Brian Harmon, Nick Dunlap, Wyndham Clark

12:25 PM (No.10)-DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa

12:36 PM- Hideki Matsuyama, Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm WD’d.

Key holes

No.5, 588 yards, Par 5. The runoff down the sides of the green is brutal with a misplayed chip. The waste areas are a major part of this course’s defense.

No. 16, 536 yards, par 4. The longest Par 4 on the course. Par here is a very good score.

No.17, 207 yards, Par 3. Will be filled with drama on Sunday.

No.18, 448 yards, Par 4. Forty two year old Payne Stewart sank an 18 footer for par in 1999 to win the first Open played at No.2. He won by a shot over FIGJAM in that classic. He tragically died in a plane crash four months later. That was a historic Open moment. More in store this Sunday on 18.

Odds

Scheffler, 3/1

Rory, 10/1. Reunited with his wife. That should help him.

Xander Schauffele, 12/1. PGA Champion tries to add another major

Morikawa, 16/1, been close recently. Tied 3rd at the Masters and tied 4th at the PGA, but showed some shakiness in the clutch at the PGA and at the Memorial last Sunday where he was in a battle with Scheffler, but couldn’t capitalize on opportunities and finished second. Maybe he gets major number 3. He won the 2020 PGA Championship and the 2021 Open Champinship.

Hovland, 18/1. A guy who is due for sure.

DeChambeua, 18/1. Finished 2nd at Valhalla, but this is a totally different golf course. The Donald Ross design (1909) and the Bill Coore/Ben Crenshaw redesign (2011) places a premium on approach shots and scrambling. He could overpower Valhalla. He can’t overpower No.2. There are waste areas that are hazardous if you’re offline off the tee or on your approaches.

Ludvig Aberg, 22/1. Has really come on this season.

Koepka, 22/1. Won two U.S.’s and three PGA’s, so the game’s there unless LIV is just too soft a test for a U.S. Open.

Tommy Fleetwood, 35/1. Love his scrambling ability.

Cam Smith, 35/1. With his putter, he can be dangerous.

Patrick Cantlay, 40/1. Great putter when he’s cookin’.

Justin Thomas, 40/1. Gotten better this season, but still somewhat of a disappointment recently.

Homa, 45/1. Picked Max to win the PGA. He’s an outstanding player who’s due as well. I like him to win a major soon.

Hideki, 50/1. Got all the shots, but his putter usually holds him back. If he putts well, he’s a factor.

Matt Fitzpatrick, 2022 U.S. Open winner at Brookline Country Club outside of Boston.

Tyrrell Hatton, 50/1. Does he have the mental game to handle an Open? That’s a “major” question.

Tom Kim, 55/1. Hasn’t done a lot since breaking on to the scene a couple of years ago.

Spieth, 55/1. Does he have any mental game left?

Shane Lowry, 55/1. Won the Open Championship in 2019 in his home country of Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush.

Wyndham Clark, 60/1. Hasn’t fared great lately.

Sahith Theegala, 60/1. Possible.

Tony Finau, 60/1. If he can chip and putt, yes, he has a shot.

Winner

Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley are taking the 155 man field versus this 156th player in the tournament. Maybe they think he looks too good to be true in this Major. I’m saying he is that good and he is the truth. The only reason he didn’t win the PGA Championship at Valhalla is because he was unlawfully arrested by some thug cops in Louisville. Give me the truth; the 27 year old Ridgewood,New Jersey native by way of the University of Texas captures major number three in what is becoming a historically terrific career…..

Scottie Scheffler

Sleeper

I’ll take the 26 year old from Orange, Cali by way of Pepperdine University……

Sahith Theegala

Speaking of the truth, this 1992 classic features one of the best movie scenes of all time.

TV times Memorial Tournament:

Thursday/Friday: 1-5 PM CT, Golf Channel

Saturday/Sunday: 11:30 AM-1:30 PM CT, Golf; 1:30-5 PM CT, CBS

Winner

Give me the 31 year old from Louisville by way of the University of Alabama to get the job done at this Signature PGA event with a $20 Million purse and a $4 Million check for first place. That’s massive. He finished tied for 8th at the PGA Championship at Valhalla and I like his momentum going in here.

Justin Thomas, 25/1

The 156th Belmont Stakes winner

Post time: 5:41 PM CT, NBC/Peacock

Winner

I’m going to take the Preakness winner. This year’s race will be run at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, 187 miles north of the Big Apple, as Belmont Park is under renovations. The race will be 1 1/4 miles as opposed to the 1 1/2 mile normal race. This thoroughbred gets the No.1 Post Position which features the most winners at the Belmont with 24. It ran very well on a muddy track at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore three weeks ago and I like it to do it again at Saratoga on what should be a wetter course with rain expected the rest of this week in Saratoga Springs. I’ll take 88 year old trainer Darrell Wayne Lukas (Antigo, Wisconsin, 15 triple crown victories, 4 Belmonts with the last coming in 2000) and 25 year old Puerto Rican jockey Jaime Torres to get’er done again in an American Classic, this time in “The Test of the Champion” at Saratoga.

Seize the Grey, 8/1

Roland Garros has been electric the past week as the 128th French Open has displayed the finest tennis in the men’s and women’s game and promises to deliver the rest of this week all the way through the Finals. Here are my predictions for which players I like to keep advancing and which two players will hoist their respective women’s and men’s trophies on Saturday and Sunday in Paris in the year’s second Grand Slam event. In the 112th Australian Open, first major of 2024, 22 year old Italian Jannik Sinner, a rising superstar in men’s tennis, defeated Russian Daniil Medvedev, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, as he captured his first Grand Slam in thrilling, comeback fashion. Several more could be on the horizon for this talented, well-grounded young player.

On the women’s side, 26 year old Russian Aryna Sabalenka defeated Chinese player Qinwen Sang, 6-3, 6-2.to go back to back in Melbourne and earn her second major.

The Women’s Final will commence this Saturday at 8 AM CT on NBC and Peacock and the Men’s Final will transpire Sunday at 8 AM CT on NBC and Peacock.

Here are predictions for the quarterfinals through the championship match in the men and the semis and final in the women.

Men

Quarters

Casper Ruud over Novak Djokovic 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4

Joker is relentless having won the most men’s majors ever at 24 including three French Opens, but I’m seeing the same relentlessness from Casper. Ruud advances.

Alexander Zverev over Alex de Minaur 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)

This should be an excellent match, and I like the West German to prevail in a major tussle over the Aussie.

Carlos Alcaraz over Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

Carlos is playing terrifically, and while Stefanos will give him a tough match, I like Carlos to keep advancing.

Jannik Sinner over Gregory Dimitrov, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Jannik is an unstoppable force when he’s cookin’ and he is right now.

Semifinals

Ruud over Zverev 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4

Casper grinds out a tough one over Alexander.

Alcaraz over Sinner 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3

Carlos looks strong this week and has won two slams: 2023 Wimbledon and the 2022 US Open.

Final, 8 AM Sunday, NBC/Peacock

Ruud over Alcaraz, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

This will be an epic. I like the 25 year old from Snaroya, Norway native to prevail in an upset over the 21 year old Spaniard and capture his first major. He made the Roland Garros final last year but was upended by Novak, who was on fire at the time.

Women’s Semis

Coco Gauff over Iga Świątek 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)

Coco advances over the three time French winner who is going for three in a row in Paris.

Elena Rybakina over Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 3-6, 7-5

The 24 year old Kazakhstan native advances in a heavyweight match versus the Russian.

Women’s Final, Saturday, 8 AM, NBC/Peacock

Coco over Elena 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-7)

Should be a terrific match with 20 year old Atlanta native earning her second Slam after capturing the 2023 US.