Black and White Hexagons

A space where I say what's on my mind concerning the beautiful game

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Who wins the Grass Crown this year?

I normally go on and on about football but tennis is one sport I like and on Monday,another serving of Wimbledon will be dished out for us to savour.The All-English Club will see the best tennis players in the world line up against each other and probably the weather (if it rains) to win one of the four Grand Slam titles.I'm no tennis expert but I'm putting this together as a fan who is excited about what happen from Monday in London.
My favourite?The smooth Roger Federer.After Pete Sampras,no player has showed more grace,coolness and panache than RF himself and especially in a tournament he's virtually dominated ever since he dumped out his hero,Pete Sampras in 2001.However,he's not been himself since winning the Australian Open last year so it puts him in a tight corner as he's no more the hands down favourite simply because of ......Rafael Nadal,the left-handed,hard-hitting,king of clay who wants to expand his territory to other surfaces and in doing that he's blitzed Federer on clay,grass,hardcourt and I'm sure that even if they played in the air,Nadal would really fancy his chances.After winning the recent French Open,he'll feel confident ahead of Wimbledon.He's now become a big name if not THE big name.Unfortunately,though,both he and Federer have a new common threat and he is ........ Novak Djokovic.Out of the shadows,the Serbian has become a major revelation or headache depending on where you stand and after going on his incredible run of 40 or so games,he's put himself in the queue for favourites.However,there are always the others who'll try and ruin the party for the big lads.Jo Wilfried-Tsonga,the Frenchman whose jumpy victory dance always excites me,Andy Roddick,the likeable American who's not yet hit the height and of course,the man carrying the hopes of the UK,Andy Murray.As to whether,he'll clinch the title or not,we'll just wait and see but I'm sure we all know the answer.He just has to show us otherwise.
For the women's game,it's not as stellar as it used to be.No more star names and eventhough,it may look like it's evened up,the seemingly lightweight nature of the rankings counters that assertion.We now have World Number 1,Caroline Woszcniacki of Denmark as the main favourite but with Li Na's win at Roland Garros,China now has a say in world tennis and a shout at Wimbledon.The absence of Kim Clijsters means no comeback fairy tale win but I hope the Williams sisters can make a big shout.Hope simply because they've been out for sometime and they lack the bite,grit and all that to win but what do I know?
So,what do we expect?Slow start, a bit of rain, a few surprises here and there but when it ends,I hope it would have been a great Wimbledon 2011.

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