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The general consensus out there is that this year's
Wimbledon will be contested by Federer and Nadal. This could
very well be true considering how they have dominated the
last 2 finals at SW17 and on the evidence of Roland Garros
last week. Although both players are by far ones with the
most impressive credentials to win this year's
championships, there have been a few players that have
improved somewhat and can pose a bit of a threat.
With Henin's retirement comes a whole lot of relief for the
up and coming youngsters. She has opened the door wide open
for a lot of players and even the likes of Ivanovic,Jankovic,
Chakvetadze who are in the top 10 will see this as their
opportunity to go one better in their career quests.
Wimbledon this year wont be as one sided as punters out
there are making it out to be. Yes, Federer is the king of
grass, it is true Nadal is a potential threat and Djokovic
can break the party, the Williams sisters still have a
commanding personality out there but there is a new
generation of gutsy hard hitting youth that can challenge
this 'exclusive club'.
David Ferrer is likely to meet Mario Ancic in the 3rd round
in a repeat of the quarterfinals at Ordina this week. Ancic
did not do his credentials for Wimbledon any good and he is
not looking sharp enough. On the other hand, a name in the
first quarter that is worth noting is Philip Kohlschreiber.
The German started the year winning a hardcourt tournament
in Australia and in Halle last week proved to be a solid
contender on grass. He was superb against Blake but succomb
to the Federer onslaught. Tomas Berdych is another player
normally confident on grass but something is missing in his
game these days. A case could be made for Soderling too but
he is expected to meet the King in round 2 and if he can
pose the same kind of questions like he did to Nadal last
year to Federer, he is in with a chance. From the top
quarter, Kohlschreiber has the game to go all the way and he
will relish a rematch with Federer in the quarterfinals.
Last year, Ferrero stunned us all by reaching the round of 8
last year after an impressive win over James Blake. He has
not played much this year or make any significant impact and
a tough start awaits him against useful Sam Querrey. The big
hitting Croat, Karlovic, Feliciano Lopez and Marco Baghdatis
are real threats in the second quarter but Djokovic seems
safe in the midst of all the potential challengers with his
outstanding return game on grass. There is no point in
over-analyzing a simple section of the draw, Djokovic should
come out on top and Karlovic is a definite danger.
Tipsaveric, Blake, Mathieu, Roddick and Davydenko mix it up
in Q3. It is going to be a slug fest to get out of this
particular quarter as all of them are hard hitters in their
right and can be difficult to break their service game down.
Roddick is injury prone and there is a question mark voer
his shoulder. He never really carries his form at the
Queen's club to Wimbledon and that is a worry. Blake loves
Wimbledon and has been improving steadily this year but his
breakdown against Kohlschreiber last week is a cause for
concern. Despite that, James Blake can bury his horrible
showing last year against Ferrero and sneak out of a tough
section.
There is no easy section of the draw this year. Andy Murray
is not a reliable player but the potential is there even
though his record in grandslams suggests otherwise. Nadal is
definitely the favourite to win this draw and his emphatic
win at Queens last week strenghtens that opinion. But he
might have to face Youzhny who he lost so dramatically to in
his first final this year in January, and there is Kiefer
who can match anyone on grass a surface he thrives on. Tommy
Haas is another potent opponent but he has been plagued with
injury of late and not to mention Radek Stepanek who has all
year exceeded expectation at every grandslam. Stepanek is a
major threat and he might overcome the barrier this time
after knocking on the door at the last 3 grandslams.
In summary, the other options to Federer and Nadal are;
Novak Djokovic @ 6.8, Philip Kohlschreiber @ 590, Ivo
Karlovic @ 95, James Blake @ 390 and Radek Stepanek @ 600
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