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June 21st is approaching fast and even though the FIFA World Cup rage is far from over, the real Tennis fans will surely sneak some time out for watching their favorite tennis players battling it out at the biggest grass court event of the year. Both the Men’s & Women’s singles draw is unlikely to make it easy for the defending champions, Roger Federer and Serena Williams to retain their titles.
Last year it was not too tough for Federer to recapture the Wimbledon championship with only Andy Roddick putting up a fight in front of the Swiss masterpiece at the final. But the situation is not the same anymore this time as not only Rafael Nadal but Novak Djokovic, Juan Martin Del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko and several others are also clutching at Federer’s heels for a chance at the Wimbledon crown. Even Lleyton Hewitt is thought to be back on the track after the Aussie Tennis Star stunned Federer on his way to win the ATP Tour event in Halle. This could be a good bet for those into tennis betting. Interestingly Hewitt’s victory marked the first ever win for Hewitt in the last sixteen matches he played with Federer. Quite an achievement!
It must be remembered that Nadal didn’t participate at the 2009 Wimbledon and it was the Spaniard who last defeated Federer on a Wimbledon court. The Swiss’s confidence must have suffered a big blow as well after losing at the Quarter Finals of this year’s French Open, marking an end to his 23 consecutive Grand Slam Semi Final record. Though Robin Soderling is not the best player on grass, he will surely be ready to cause some upsets this time. Another big obstacle for Federer will surely be the local favorite Andy Murray. The young Briton has defeated Federer in the past and knows what it takes to win a Grand Slam.
On a whole it seems that Federer is still the favorite (The Wimbledon authorities made him number 1 seed despite his ATP rank being 2). However there are many of big players now who have the potential to beat the Swiss including Nadal, who is again vying for the title.
When it comes to the Women’s tennis, the last 10 years have been dominated by the William’s sisters. But last year Serena won the championship after having to save some crucial match points against Elena Dementieva in the Semi Finals. Dementieva will not be present this year giving Serena a relief for sure, but Henin and Clijsters will be there to have a go at breaking the recent tends. Other than these elites Sharapova will surely have a chance as well. Not to mention Samantha Stosur the Australian wonder who was on her way to the Final of French Open this year after making three consecutive upsets. Caroline Wozniacki will surely be another tough woman to beat this year.
The Women’s draw has always been quite unpredictable as there are always a lot of new players on the scene. This year may not be an exception, but the Williams sisters are surely up there with the favorites because of their excellent record on Grass.
