Wimbledon 2018: Karolina Pliskova is the only top-10 seed left in the women’s draw – I told you so

If you take Serena Williams out of the equation there are just no players at the top of the women’s game who you feel will perform consistently at the highest level week in and week out

Excuse me for saying I told you so – but I told you so. At the start of this week I said that it was impossible to predict who would win the women’s singles. After an incredible first six days we now have only one of the top 10 seeds – Karolina Pliskova – left in the tournament and even she will be playing in the second week for the first time in her life.

If you take Serena Williams out of the equation there are just no players at the top of the women’s game who you feel will perform consistently at the highest level week in and week out. Simona Halep has come closest to achieving that this year, but even she has gone out now, beaten by the world No 48, Su-Wei Hsieh.

The Grand Slam tournaments are talking about reducing the number of seeds from 32 to 16 next year, but this week has shown that the strength in depth of the women’s game is such that it’s almost a case of anyone being able to beat anyone. Holy mackerel, maybe they should try no seeds at all!

The more this tournament goes on the more I start to think that the situation could be made for Serena. Her serve, her lethal forehand and those big two-handed backhands are all looking in good order.

It would be an incredible achievement if she could win another Grand Slam title just four tournaments into her comeback, but you learn never to rule anything out as far as the greatest women player in history is concerned.

Karolina Pliskova is the only remaining top-10 women's seed (Getty Images)

What the best players have taught me: Each day I’m looking back at some of the things I’ve learned from players I’ve worked with at the IMG Academy I founded in Florida.

Tommy Haas taught me this lesson: no matter what your troubles are, never say: “Why me?” Tommy, who was based at the IMG Academy from an early age, reached No 2 in the world but suffered a catalogue of injuries throughout his career. Although he underwent five major operations, Tommy never complained. He just kept working and fighting his way back.

We miss Tommy at the academy, but I’m delighted at the way things have worked out for him. He’s now doing a great job as the tournament director at Indian Wells.

And what I can teach you: I know that some club players prefer not to hit too many overheads. That can make life difficult if you’re playing someone who uses the lob as a regular weapon.

If you’re uneasy against a lobber, I have two pieces of advice. Firstly, hit your first couple of overheads with caution. The temptation is always to hit your overheads hard, but it might pay to be a bit more conservative at the start. If the lobber sees you blow some early overheads they’ll be tempted to keep lobbing you for the rest of the match.

Another tactic is to not get too close into the net, because that’s what a lobber likes to see. When you come forward, don’t go in too far. That will force the lobber to try passing shots instead, which they might feel uncomfortable about.

Read all about it: I’ve been working on a new book which will be my personal account of what I’ve learned in a lifetime of coaching tennis. The Professional Tennis Registry will be publishing it later in the summer. You can find out how to buy it at www.ptrtennis.org.