Wimbledon 2010 Preview

In just a few hours, my favorite two weeks of the tennis year are set to begin: Wimbledon. Unfortunately, I had to return back to the US after my trip to Paris and won’t be in London for this year’s Championships. In January, I had the opportunity to visit the grounds of the All England Club. I’ll be the first to admit that the tour and museum will only interest true die-hard fans, but considering this is my favorite tournament, I loved every rainy, cold moment. Luckily, I’m free for the next two weeks and will be able to watch every minute of action this year, except maybe the ones that occur at 6:30 in the morning. I might watch those on my DVR.

Anyway, the draw was released on Friday and I’ve taken some time to mull it over. First off, let’s take a look at Grand Slam champions in the men’s field…

Grand Slam Champs:

Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal

Novak Djokovic

Andy Roddick

Lleyton Hewitt

Juan Carlos Ferrero

Wimbledon Champs:

Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal

Lleyton Hewitt

Clearly, Federer and Nadal are the favorites for the men’s title. Nadal wasn’t able to defend his title and Wimbledon last year and is back to top form as we saw a few weeks ago at the French Open and as we’ve seen throughout the clay court season. I don’t think anyone would count out Roger Federer for a title at Wimbledon. Federer may have lost in the quarters at the French Open, something he hasn’t done in the 23 majors prior to that, but Wimbledon is a whole different ball game from the French. Until last year, Federer the French Open had eluded Federer as one of the last holes in his trophy collection. This year he wasn’t feeling nearly the same amount of pressure. He’s silenced the critics by beating all the records and continuing to play at a phenomenal level. I think Roger Federer will amp up his game for Wimbledon. Wimbledon was Roger’s first Grand Slam title and he was clearly devastated to lose the crown in 2008. I don’t think he’s going to want to part with the trophy this year after he fought so hard to get it back. So, let’s break down the draw a little bit more…

First Quarter:

The highest seeds in this quarter are Roger Federer (1) and Nikolay Davydenko (7.) Under normal circumstances, I would say Davydenko could be a threat, but he’s never played his best tennis at Wimbledon and this is his first major tournament back in action since breaking his wrist. In any case, Federer should really face any resistance until the quarter finals, where countryman Stanislas Wawrinka or Tomas Berdych.

Semi Finalist: Roger Federer

Second Quarter:

Now we’re looking at a slightly trickier section of the draw. There are a lot of possible contenders in this quarter, namely Novak Djokovic, Lleyton Hewitt, and Andy Roddick. Djokovic is always kind of iffy at Wimbledon and Hewitt is looking in top form at the moment. He recently ended a 15 match losing streak against Roger Federer to win the title at Halle. On the other side, Roddick shouldn’t have too much trouble making it to at least the quarters. My guess, Roddick d. Hewitt in the quarters, which means we’re in for a real treat in the form of a rematch between the two players who gave us such an epic final last year.

Semi Finalist: Andy Roddick

Semi Final Prediction: Roger Federer d. Andy Roddick

Third Quarter:

Andy Murray should have this in the bag. He’s made it to the semis before and I think he’s looking to avenge last year’s defeat. The next highest seed in this quarter is Fernando Verdasco (8.) Andy’s biggest threat could come in the form of Sam Querrey (18) in the fourth round, who won Queen’s last week. Murray should get an extra boost on Thursday, when he may get the opportunity to play in front of Queen Elizabeth II.

Semi Finalist: Andy Murray

Fourth Quarter:

Here’s where things get interesting. This is Nadal’s section of the draw and it holds a lot of hazardous players. Originally, I thought Nadal’s first test would come very early on, in the form of Ernests Gulbis, who’s been playing very well this year. However, he has withdrawn from the tournament. This means Nadal should have no trouble until the fourth round, where he is set to meet either Mikhail Youzhny or John Isner. Either of these guys could be tricky. Youzhny has his ups and downs, but overall he’s had a pretty good year and could put up some resistance. Nadal has played John Isner twice, both this year, and has won both of these confrontations. However, they haven’t played on grass before. If they end up meeting, I think Nadal will make it through, but Isner will put up a fight. The next problem, and a slightly bigger one (not physically, Isner is 6’9”) will most likely be Robin Soderling. Nadal had no real issue dispatching this guy in the final of the French Open, but Soderling has been Nadal twice in the past and is increasingly hungry to win his first Slam.

Semi Finalist: Rafael Nadal

Semi Final Prediction: Rafael Nadal d. Andy Murray

Final Prediction: Roger Federer d. Rafael Nadal

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve got some time on my hands, so hopefully I’ll be blogging very often over the fortnight.

I very nearly forgot to mention the ladies side. I won't go into detail, but I believe we'll be seeing another all-Williams final, but this time Venus will prevail. I'll go into more detail on the women's side in my next post.