• Tono
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Topic: Wimbledon 2011!

I know it's still a month away but I thought I would start a new thread for this years event, anybody got any early predictions on this years Champions?
I have a feeling Djokovic will do well for some reason, im guessing he may well be Number 1 by the time this tournament starts, his two BIG goals have always been Number 1 and Wimbledon Champ, I think he may just cap off his year by achieving both.
The women's, well where do you start, will Serena and Venus be back? Have they had enough tennis to be a force this year? Im leaning towards Petra Kvitova at this stage, could be another wide open tournament for the women I think.

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Go Andy Roddick!

But seriously, I like a Fed-Novak final, but I have to wait for the draw to see if that's even possible.

-Arvis

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Well, Queen's Club has started and Andy Roddick's first match will be against Feliciano Lopez.  If Andy can beat him after this long injury layoff, it will make a major statement going into Wimbledon.  I'm rooting for Andy.

-Arvis

  • Aiur
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

IDK why, but I think this is Murray's time. Novak has been in the spotlight all year, and now Fed and Rafa are back after that great match yesterday. Andy lost his game for awhile after the Aussie Open, but it seemed like he regained his form on the dirt. If his ankle is good to go, I have no problem with saying he'll win, until the draw comes out of course.

  • Tono
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

That's a BIG call there Aiur!
Andy is still a pretender at this stage, too much pressure on him to win his home Slam I think, most tennis fan's would like to see him break his duck and win a GS sometime soon though, make a refreshing change from the big 3 but sorry, I can't see it happening this time.

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Yes, I would like to see Murray win Wimbledon for the same reasons I'd like to see Roddick win it: just to finally get the monkey of his back.  To watch someone's hard work pay off is nice to see, and it's always so painful to watch someone get so close all the time and fail.

But Roddick's time is fading fast.  Every year his chances get smaller and smaller.  I don't think he will ever win it, but as long as he is playing I will still cling to hope.

-Arvis

  • Tono
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Agreed! I'd like to see Andy Roddick win it, Murray will have more chances in the future, Roddick's time is fast running out as you say.

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Here's my early call: I think the ONLY person with a good chance to beat Roger at Wimbledon this year is Rafa.

If I could just pick the winner and have it happen, I'd give it to Mardy Fish.  He has worked very hard to improve his game and especially his conditioning, and has finally become the US #1.  He deserves a break.  It would be great to see him rewarded for all the hard work.  On the grass, he has a (very outside) chance -- a better one than Roddick IMO.

Or David Ferrer winning Wimbledon would be absolutely wonderful, too.  Ain't gonna happen, of course.

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

I'd just love to see Ferrer get a Masters 1000 win someday.  Then we can start hoping for him to get a Slam. smile

-Arvis

  • Wolmas
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Arvis wrote:

I'd just love to see Ferrer get a Masters 1000 win someday.  Then we can start hoping for him to get a Slam. smile

-Arvis

Exactly.  Nadal has robbed him of that multiple times, plus many more if you throw in Barcelona.   


As for Murray; who knows, he may finish his career having something in common with Tim Henman, but a step above - with Tim going to a bunch of semifinals but never making it to a grand slam final, and Murray ends up making it to the finals a bunch of times (already three), but never winning. 

Roddick: Barring injury to at least two of the top three in the world, I see '09 Wimbledon having been his last chance.  If he grabs another Miami or other ATP Masters 1000 title before his career is finished, that wouldn't be a small accomplishment.

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Ferrer has managed to reach closer to his full potential than nearly everybody.  No one is in better shape.  No one is a tougher competitor.  No one gives away fewer points while being aggressive -- as aggressive as he can be, anyway, given his size.  He has no chance to win a slam, of course, but I just love the guy. 

I don't see him winning a Masters Series tourney, either, to tell the truth.  The way the game is so stacked at the top right now, combined with the presence of a number of good power players who can blow David off the court on their day, it's amazing he's ranked as high as he is.

It's a testament to how far determination and intelligence can take you.  At the same time, it's a reminder of the importance of power to compete at the top of the game.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 9, 2011 12:14am)

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

I think Wolmas makes an interesting prediction regarding Murray.  It is hard to see him competing well against Nadal, Djokovic and Del Potro if all are healthy. 

Murray certainly moves beautifully, but not as well as Djokovic or Nadal.  He does not have anything even vaguely resembling Rafa's strength or Nole's balance and flexibility.  He does have great hands, maybe the best hands.  However, Djokovic serves better and returns serve better.  Ouch! 

Though Andy matches up better against Rafa, that's really only on hard courts.  He has no hope against Rafa on clay and not much more than a prayer on grass.  I can't see how he could begin to compete on hard courts with a healthy Del Potro, much less with Djokovic. 

And then there's Federer.  And Soderling and Berdych and the boys.  Damn!  Good luck, Andy.  You'll need it!

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

OK.  That'll teach me.  I bash Murray and he plays the grass court match from heaven. 

I admit it.  I have no clue what Murray's going to do.  It's starting to get aggravating!   ;-D

  • Tono
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

LOL...The joy's of prediction huh Don smile
Andy may very well win Queen's but I will go on record now and state that he will NOT win Wimbledon (Even though it would be good to see)
Im hoping he has a strong showing at Wimby, he certainly has the talent, but the hype of the media will eventually weigh him down I think, he's good enough to make the semi's and with some luck he could reach the final, if it's not Fed or Djokovic he's up against who knows he could make Britain proud (Im guessing not though)

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Yeah.  Like I was just saying: 2-7 against the Big Three in slams so far.  Hmmm.  Does that mean something?

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2011 9:10am)

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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

This time Roger could win Wimbledon.The reason for that he played extraordinarily superb clay court Tennis despite his hated surface & his defeats against least rank players prior to that GS.If  he wouldn't have dropped his desirable 1st serve % level the story would have been swapped,Nevertheless,Nadal came back from behind & availing that unforced errors & low  1st serve% of Federer he deserved for that win,but that was his fav.dirt & at Wimbledon grass is associated with Maestro.
Roger chances to win that Title 7th time will depend upon his high 1st serve % level as well as controlled rallies as he demonstrated at RG in Top genre then it would be Federer's glory @125th Edition of Wimbledon.Best of luck Maestro.

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Personally, I'm hoping for yet another Federer/Nadal final.  If that happens, I like Rafa.

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Realistically I think Federer will win his 7th, with Rafa being the next most likely.

But honestly, it would be much more interesting for Novak, Murray, or Roddick to win it.  Especially Roddick.  That would make me happy and be a great story for the sport of tennis in general.

-Arvis

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Certainly it couldn't hurt American tennis (which has not been competitive with European tennis for years) for an American male to win Wimbledon. 

Don't hold your breath, though.  Roddick is simply not aggressive enough, apart from the serve, to have any chance, really.  Fish and the big guys are too inconsistent.  Fish is, IMO, the only American with any shot, and it's a very outside chance.

Certainly it's just a matter of opinion, but to me a continuation of the greatest rivalry in tennis history is the most interesting thing that could possibly happen. 

Of course, if Murray were to win it by some miracle, it would be the biggest news of the century in Great Britain.

As for Fed being the favorite at Wimbledon, it's what I've said since he displayed his great form in his win over Nole in the RG semis -- though against Rafa you have to wonder, and I lean toward Rafa in that matchup.  Rafa has not lost at Wimbledon to anyone not named Federer since 2005, and since his first round loss to Mario Ancic in 2002, Roger has played 8 Wimbledons and won 6 of them, his only losses being to a ridiculously in-form Tomas Berdych last year and to Rafa in the 2008 final, in what was immediately hailed by one and all as "the greatest match ever played."  So you have to like their chances of meeting, either in the semis or the final.  Should be a memorable match if it happens.

Obviously, one thing that could get in the way of the match up would be if Roger is in Nole's half of the draw.  Though Roger is up 14-9 head to head, Nole had famously won their three meetings this year until Roger returned the favor at RG to go up 3-1 on that surface.  Interestingly the other 11-8 (favor of Federer) are all on hard courts.  The two have never met on grass!

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2011 9:49am)

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

You're right about Roddick.  The odds of him ever playing the kind of tennis he managed in 2009 again are nil.  But... hope springs eternal, I suppose.  I keep thinking of 2009 and wondering... he did it once, why not a 2nd time?  And even in 2010, he played INSANE tennis and won Miami, but then he got all these injuries and illnesses and stuff and he's never really bounced back from that.

Anyways, you're right that Roger-Rafa matches are ALWAYS the most interesting thing that can happen in tennis.  And for them to happen at the biggest tournament of the year would make them the most interesting matches of the year.  I just figured that it wasn't very likely to see them in them both in the final, but I don't know why I thought that.  If Roger ISN'T in Rafa's side of the draw, the who else is going to stop him?  Either way, Roger's game works much better against Rafa on grass, so I like his chances.  As long as he doesn't choke away the first set the way he did at the French, there should be no stopping him.

-Arvis

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

The reason I favor Rafa is that Roger needs an early lead to have a chance IMO.  I do not see him fighting back from a deficit against Rafa.  On the other hand, Rafa might very well be able to fight back from an early deficit against Roger.  Or so I think, anyway.

  • Arvis
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

True, Wimbledon 08 was the closest Roger has come to making a big comeback against Rafa at a slam.  But I guess some things just aren't meant to happen.

Usually, between Roger and Rafa in a Grand Slam, whoever wins the first set wins the match.  Can you find any stats on that, Don?

-Arvis

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

Yes.  Rafa is 7-2 against Roger in slams.  The only one where the winner of the first set lost the match was in the RG '06 final, when Roger won the first set 6-1 and Rafa won the next three 6-1, 6-4, 7-6.  So, yes, in 8 of 9 the first set "decided the match" by one way of looking at it.

That includes 5 matches on clay at RG, 3 on grass at Wimbledon and the '09 Australian Open.  All were finals except the first one, '05 RG, which was a semi-final.

Rafa beat Mariano Puerta in that '05 RG final, his first slam victory.  His next 7 slam finals were all against Roger, with Rafa winning 5.  That takes us up to last year, when Rafa won three slams, beating Soderling in the RG final, Berdych in the Wimbledon final and Djokovic in the US Open final.  Hence the feeling by some that Federer's day had passed.  But of course, Rafa's most recent win was once again over a brilliantly in-form Roger in the RG final, which gives us hope that the reports of Roger's demise were somewhat exaggerated.

Rafa is now 10-2 in slam finals, his only two losses being to Federer in Rafa's first two Wimbledon finals, '06-7.

And, oh, yeah, Rafa has now won 4 of the last 5 slams.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2011 5:56pm)

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

But let us not forget that Roger Federer --
who has a 2-6 record against Rafael Nadal in slam finals --
has a 14-1 record in slam finals against the rest of the world!!! 

Roger's only loss in a slam final to someone not named Nadal was in the '09 US Open final, when he lost that incredible 5-setter to Juan Martin Del Potro, who looked at that time like he was poised to become the new #1.

Rafa is 4-0 in slam finals against the rest of the world.  Between them, the two great ones are 18-1 in Grand Slam finals when someone else is the opponent.  Only Del Potro.  Nobody else.  Not too shabby, really, when you stop to think about it.

Last edited by DonDenman (Jun. 13, 2011 9:06pm)

  • Don
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Re: Wimbledon 2011!

If Rafa Nadal had followed his OTHER uncle's footsteps -- and played as a professional Spain's #1 sport instead of its #2 sport (and do you doubt for a second that Rafa could be great at "futbol"?) -- Roger Federer would be either 22-1 or, at worst, 21-2 in Grand Slam finals. 

I say definitely 22-1.  Which guy that Rafa beat would have beaten Roger?  Probably no one.

But would it matter whether Roger was 22-1 or 21-2 in Grand Slam finals?  No.  He would have already ascended into Heaven and tennis would officially have ceased.  Well done, Rafa!  Thanks, uncle Toni!  Because of you and only because of you, players play on.