Tennis: Wimbledon analysis

by: Andre Gomes

We have finally entered the second week of Wimbledon, when things really start to get serious. Actually things were already too serious for some contenders in the first week, as they were eliminated from the competition very early in tournament, shocking the tennis fans worldwide. On the men's draw, the biggest upset was the elimination of the third seed Novak Djokovic at the hands of Marat Safin in the second round. Even though Safin is one of the most known players in the world, he has past his prime and Djokovic was considered by some experts the biggest contender for the title in here. I don't agree with that, but he was clearly the only one who would be able to fight against Federer and Nadal for the trophy. Also the two biggest American hope in the men's draw was upsetted in the second round. Roddick lost to the always dangerous Tipsarevic, while Blake lost another 5 set match at the hands of the experienced Schuettler. Actually the only American who reached the third round was Bobby Reynolds, who was eliminated at the 5th day of the competition, making this edition of Wimbledon one of the worst ever for the American tennis, when it comes to the men's circuit.

However with all these upsets, the truth is that Federer and Nadal didn't have problems to reach the second week in here. Federer is yet to drop a set and he continues to show his amazing tennis on grass. Nadal lost a set against Gulbis in the second round, but he quickly bounced back and he has easily reached the fourth round. Experienced players like Clement, Safin and Schuettler have suprised the tennis world by reaching the fourth round, while youngsters like Cilic, Tipsarevic and Wawrinka have confirmed their potential and they are still in competition. Other favorites behind Federer and Nadal like Murray, Hewitt, Gasquet, Ancic, Baghdatis and Youzhny are also still playing in here.

But now let's see how the draw is organized right now.

On the top half, Federer has a very tough fourth round against Lleyton Hewitt. He may drop a set in here, but he will end up advancing. Ancic and Verdasco will be a really close match, as both players are in top form right now. This is probably the closest match of the fourth round in the men's draw. Safin and Wawrinka will also be involved in a very interesting match, but the Swiss has never lost against Safin and he will probably advance. The last match of the top half will be between Baghdatis and Lopez. The Cypriot player has reached semi finals in 2006 and quarter finals last season in here and he should get past the Spanish player. On the bottom part of the draw, the youngsters Tipsarevic and Cilic are the favorites to get past Schuettler and Clement, but experience (and the lack of it) may be a factor if the youngsters can't get the job done in straight sets. The local favorite Murray faces one of his main rivals, Gasquet, who reached semi finals in here last season. Even though Gasquet leads the head to head by 2-0, Murray is in better form and he is playing at home, so he should be capable of get into the quarter finals. The last match is between Youzhny and Nadal. This will be the definitive test for Nadal and in case he is capable of beating one of the players which most makes him struggle, then he should get into the final. But the test will be tough and I wouldn't be surprised if Youzhny once again defeats Nadal.

For the rest of the tournament, I predict Federer to easily reach the final and the only player who can prevent him to get the title is Nadal. In case the Spanish player isn't able to get into the final, then Federer will easily get his sixth Wimbledon title in a row. But if Nadal gets into the final, the match will be really close. It's as obvious Federer is the better grass courter as it's obvious Federer can't play his best against Nadal. Federer defeated Nadal in 4 sets in the Wimbledon final in 2006 and in 5 sets last season. Even though it's cool to say right now that Nadal will win the title, I still think Federer will still get the win at the end. Obviously not as easy as Nadal defeated him in Roland Garros, but Federer is playing very well and he will seek revenge from his humiliation at Roland Garros last month. I predict the King to retain his trone for one more year at least.

Now onto the women's draw where upsets have become a regular thing in this edition. The two main contenders to the title, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova have been eliminated in straight sets by two players out of the Top 100! This completly shocked the tennis world, who is now upset due to the lack of leadership the circuit has, since Henin has retired. Also former winner Davenport has withdrawn for the tournament, due to an injury before his second round match. The lack of depth is so big in the draw right now than if the winner of the tournament isn't one of the Williams Sisters or the world number two Jelena Jankovic, this will need to be considered as the upset of the year. The draw still has some good players like Kuznetsova, Vaidisova and Dementieva, but these players are far from having played tennis on grass good recently to win Wimbledon.

So now let's see how the draw is organized right now.

On the top half, Jie Zheng after having eliminated the world number one Ana Ivanovic will now face Agnes Szavay. The Chinese player is playing extremely well and she has a great shot to eliminate another seed in here. Name-wise the match between Vaidisova and Chakvetadze is probably the biggest match of the fourth round, but both players have been terrible recently. Still Vaidisova has been better and she is better on grass than her opponent and she should advance in here. Also Kuznetsova and Radwanska will go head to head, in a match which is clearly a 50/50 match and even though Kuznetsova is more experienced, I think Radwanska can make her breakthrough in this tournament and she should advance in here. To finish the top half, Serena Williams should have no problems in taking out her compratiot Bethanie Mattek. On the lower half, Dementieva even though she doesn't like grass shouldn't have problems in taking out Peer and her moonballs. Also Petrova should use her experience and power to take out Kudyatseva, the player who send Sharapova out of this tournament in the second round. The defending champion Venus Williams and the world number two Jelena Jankovic should advance to the quarter finals, where they are going to face each other, in an amazing match is perspective.

I really think the final will be between Serena Williams and Venus Williams or Jelena Jankovic. The only player who can actually prevent this is Radwanska, if she can take out Serena in the quarter finals, but that sounds unlikely right now. This edition of Wimbledon have been plagued by upsets, but if the winner of the tournament isn't one of these three tournaments, we may actually have one of the biggest upsets ever in the circuit. It's hard to pick a winner, but I would go for Serena Williams to win once again in Wimbledon.

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