Wimbledon Men's Singles

Since I've taken to watching a lot of tennis since last year's Wimbledon (and I don't see any signs of stopping soon), I figure I should probably dedicate at least one post once in a while to discussing this sport I love. This is as fangirlish as I'm gonna get these days. Ü

The most pertinent issue right now, of course, is Wimbledon. It starts on June 20 and will end on July 3. (Aw, shucks. It misses my birthday by a day.) You can bet I'll be tuned in from start to finish.

The reason this tournament rivets me to my seat? Wimbledon is the only major held on grass courts, which are the original surface tennis was played on. (Ever wondered why it's called "Lawn Tennis" at MILO clinics? Now you know.) With a long history and much tradition, Wimbledon is easily the most prestigious tournament on the tennis calendar.

As the Star Sports promos say, all the great champions have won at Wimbledon. This is why 128 male players and 128 female players are about to converge in London on a raquet and croquet club. This is also why I'm going to watch: to see players make history.

Last year, my favorite male player Andy Roddick lost to defending champion Roger Federer in a final between the number one and two seeds. This year, world number one Federer is aiming to make it a three-peat to equal Pete Sampras' record at Wimbledon. However, Roddick has again been seeded second, despite a slip in rankings to Australian Open 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt and French Open 2005 champion Rafael Nadal. The number one and two seeds will be placed at the top and bottom of the draw respectively. This ensures that any meeting between Federer and Roddick will take place in the final.

Roddick and Federer aren't the only two contenders for the men's singles title, however, nor is their progress into the final secure. There's still Lleyton Hewitt, a previous Wimbledon winner, seeded third. As the number three seed, he may be randomly placed in either Federer's or Roddick's half of the draw. Hewitt has proven to be Roddick's nemesis in the semifinal of the Australian Open earlier this year and the Pacific Life Open a few months later. Federer has beaten Hewitt soundly the last few times they met, most notably in the final of the US Open 2004 where he bageled Hewitt in the first and third sets.

The fourth seed Rafael Nadal will then be placed in the opposite half of the draw from Hewitt. He beat Federer in a thrilling French Open semifinal and defeated Roddick at the Davis Cup final between Spain and the US. However, both these victories came on slow clay surfaces. Federer narrowly beat Nadal in five sets at the NASDAQ-100 Open on hard court, which was slower than the US Open hard court surface Roddick pounded Nadal on in 2004. Nadal hasn't proven himself on fast surfaces, although he has stated that it is a dream of his to win Wimbledon. He lost in his first match at the grasscourt Gerry Weber Open in Germany last week.

Marat Safin (another favorite of mine) is seeded fifth. This guy is dangerous when he wants to win a match. His biggest opponent, actually, is his mind. Having no motivation last year, he exited Wimbledon in the first round and declared that he was giving up on that particular Slam. This year, he seems to want to be a serious contender at the four slams, overcoming his two-time bridesmaid syndrome at the Australian Open by winning it this year. Although he's stated that he doesn't like grass much, Safin's shown success at the surface this year ; he made it to the Gerry Weber Open final where he fell to Federer in singles and doubles. He hasn't met Roddick in a match this year, aside from an exhibition set that Safin won. However, Roddick had three consecutive victories over Safin in 2004 after losing to him in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Just looking at the top men's seeds at Wimbledon, I'm already relishing the great matches I'm going to watch next week. Don't expect me to sleep much. I'll want to watch Wimbledon live.

(Originally posted on June 15, 2005.)

posted by Noelle De Guzman @ 11:50 AM