Yes, it is that time of year again. fresh off the back of a fantastic clay court season the green grass of Wimbledon will once again become the focus of the Tennis world. This is made all the more special by the fact that the All England Club are hosting this years Olympic Tennis as well.
This preview will discuss the Mens side of the game ONLY. nothing against the woman, but i feel the quality isn't the best and i have watched far too little womens Tennis this year to comment. HOWEVER, my pick would be Australia's Sam Stosur, frankly in my opinion she is the best womans player at the moment. The mens singles this year is shaping up to be really exciting, and i will talk a little about the contenders and dark horses, that will challenge for the title in my view.
Defending Champion and world number one Novak Djokovic, will undoubtably be many peoples favourite for the title. The man has had an unbelieve year and a half and is hungry to recover after his loss at the French Open to Rafael Nadal, another former champion with more than a great shot at the title. The reason i have put these two men in the same paragraph is simple... while both are former winners, i can't help but feel that on grass they simply aren't the best. Not to say they aren't good on the stuff, far from it.
This is why my pick for this years title is Roger Federer. Arguably and in my opinion the greatest grass court player we have seen, Federer has had a good year and will want to improve upon his dissapointing loss to Djokovic in the French Semi-Final. On grass, i think that Federer will be too strong for the above mentioned Nadal and Djokovic.
The next men in my opinion are outsiders and even dark horses. What of Andy Murray you ask? Murray will not win Wimbledon this year. Heck, i'm not sure he will make the Semi-Final. His form this year hasn't been great, and i think he will fall at the Quarter-Final,stage this year. In fact, i have doubts he will ever win this title. It seems likely he will win an Australian or a US Open however.
The draw will have other players to watch as well, former finalist Tomas Berdych and the Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga being the other two threats on grass. Berdych is impressive on grass and Tsonga was beaten in the Semi-Final by Djokoivc last year - definitely two players to watch.
To end this quick preview, there are two rank outsiders for this title. Two players who, on their days, and especially on grass, could upset anyone in the draw. One, was the winner of this tournament in 2002, Lleyton Hewitt. The other, 3 time runner-up, Andy Roddick. These two fromer world number one's are two of the greatest grass court players of all time, and Hewitt currently holds the record for most wins on grass (just ahead of Federer). They could easily upset anyone.
