Tennis Chatter

Wimbledon Draw

Section 1:
This is Federer’s section of the draw and it looks pretty thin. If Safin has shown up with his head in the game, there could be an interesting match-up in round 3, between him and Federer. In my mind, this could be Federer’s biggest threat until finals. Safin has a big serve, huge backhand and good forehand, and great volleys. His weakness is his mental game and his movement on grass. However, if he’s on, he poses a much greater threat to Federer than Haas, who could be Federer’s fourth round oppenent.

The other half of this section is even weaker. The only two players who have consistently been a threat on grass are Gonzalez and Blake. Both of them have big forehands and average backhands. Both of them prefer hardcourts, however are adapt on grass. Expect for Gonzalez to make it to quarterfinals with his newly developed slice and huge forehand.

My pick to make it to semifinals is Federer (shocker).

Section 2
This is Andy Roddick’s section of the draw. He should have pretty smooth sailing, until fourth round when he could face Ljubicic. Ljubicic has felt comfortable on grass recently, winning the Ordina Open. However if Roddick’s serve is on I doubt Ljubicic will be able to win.

The other half of the section is much more interesting. Gasquet, Clement, Mahut, Moya, Henman, and Lopez are all residing in this half. Clement and Mahut play first round, in a rematch of the Queen’s semifinal match they played a week ago. The winner could then play Gasquet in the second round. Moya and Henman play first round, a match of two players past their primes. Henman’s been short on success lately, while Moya is more of a clay courter. I look for Mahut to make it out of this side of section two, unless Gasquet finally puts things together.

My pick to make it to semifinals is Roddick.

Section 3
This section of the draw, I feel, is the most wide open. The highest ranked player is Djokovic and he’s had good success on grass. However, he has to fear his third round match-up against Karlovic. If he makes it through the big serving Karlovic (a big if), he should face either serve and volley specialist Miryni, or the former Wimbledon champion Hewitt in the fourth round.

In the other half of the draw, there are three players that stick out to me as having a chance to make it to quarterfinals: Johansson, Nalbanian, or Baghdatis. Johansson has been there before, while Nalbanian is a former runner-up. My pick is Baghadatis though, with his youth and recent success on grass.

My pick to make it to semifinals is either Karlovic or Djokovic.

Section 4
Some people have said this is an easy draw for Nadal. I don’t agree. I mean, he missed out on Karlovic, but he has no easy ride. His first round opponent, Fish, is certainly no pushover. From there, things only get tougher. Third round he could either face Soderling or Grosjean, both of which have a chance to beat him on grass. In the fourth round he could face Cilic or Youzhny (probably Youzhny). Youzhny beat Nadal earlier this year at Dubai.

In the other half of this section I see Bjorkman and Berdych as the players with the best chances to make it to quarterfinals. Bjorkman was a quarter-finalist last year, while Berdych has been hot on grass lately, winning the Gary Weber Open. Of the two, I see Berdych as posing more of a threat to Nadal if he makes it to quarterfinals.

My pick to make it to semifinals is Berdych (although Nadal certainly is the player to prove me wrong).

The last thing to note is that Murray join Ancic by deciding to sit out this Wimbledon. He wasn’t able to recover from injury in time to be fit.