Wimbledon – 2009

The tennis ball is finally back to the green turf after toiling in clay.

Wimbledon is back.The coming forth night is the most sought after for the simple reason that the record books could be rewritten. And the crown had a high chance of returning to the guy they call Federer.

Federer is still not the player of 2006 or 2007.  But Federer being Federer, is still the player to beat, especially when it comes to grand slams. The last 20 odd grand slams show how consistent Federer has been. To add to it, the French open victory would have done his confidence a lot of good.  And this time around there is no Nadal to push Federer. He is having an amazing comeback. If everything goes well we could

Nadal’s injury forced exit from the most famous and oldest of grand slams leaves us wondering whom to blame for this. It’s bad for the prestigious tournament to not have the number one playing it. Doubly bad as he is the one who is the one supposed to defend. We can blame the thick schedule imposed by ATP and keep quiet. But I wouldn’t do that for the simple reason that every player has a choice to pick which all ATP events he wants to appear. And here I would only blame Nadal and his team for getting the number one player’s current state.

Surely Nadal will be missed for his energy and never say die attitude. He is the only person who can push Federer to a state where Federer starts to play like human. I wish Nadal does speedy recovery and comes back and puts a fight at the US Open, and may be make 2009 a year to remember for more than one record.

Andy Murray has been the second best player in the circuit if ATP points are to be considered. But he is yet to win a grand slam. May be with the crowd support he can muster, he has a very good chance.

Djokovic did promise a lot with his Australian open victory last year, but after that it has been not that great for him. I wish he stops playing the Joker and concentrates on playing the best tennis.

Andy Roddick is doing a pretty good job, but he is still not there. His biggest enemy will be his attitude. His progress will be determined by how well he can keep his cool. His outburst at the French open is something we don’t need from a player of his caliber.

Del Porto is yet another player to look out for. He could well be in the semis.

So guys get glued to the TV sets. For we have either history in the making.(Roger winning his 15^th slam) or we will have a new player emerge as a champion which is good for the game as we see only Nadal and Federer winning at slams (if we don’t count the 2008 Australian open and 2005 Australian open).

My bets are on Federer bettering  Sampras’ record. Roger that!