**Wimbledon 2009, June 22nd -July 5th

jrodga2k5

jrodga2k5

jrodga2k5

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Wimbledon starts next week and we now have the draw followed by the usual cries of hope for the only realistic Brittish chance, Andy Murray.

Britain's Andy Murray will face world number 76 Robert Kendrick in the first round at Wimbledon, with Rafael Nadal a possible semi-final opponent.

Third seed Murray has a 3-0 record against Kendrick and beat the American 6-0 6-0 in their only meeting on grass in Newport, USA, three years ago.

Nadal is a major doubt because of a knee injury and will decide on Friday whether he is fit to defend his title.

Should he pull out, Murray will be the highest seed in his half of the draw.

Nadal has been drawn to face Arnaud Clement in the first round, with Lleyton Hewitt his likely second-round opponent.

In the other half of the draw, five-time champion Roger Federer will open against Yen-Hsun Lu and fourth seed Novak Djokovic takes on France's Julien Benneteau.

Defending women's champion Venus Williams will play Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele in the first round, while 15-year-old British wildcard Laura Robson takes on Daniela Hantuchova.

Robson will become the youngest player in the women's singles since Martina Hingis in 1995, and last year's junior champion will defend her girls' title in the second week at the All England Club.

Serena Williams will begin her singles campaign against qualifier Neuza Silva, Maria Sharapova has drawn qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova, and British number one Anne Keothavong will face Patricia Mayr.

The draw was not kind to the British men, with Dan Evans taking on Nikolay Davydenko, James Ward to face Fernando Verdasco, Alex Bogdanovic up against Tomas Berdych, and Josh Goodall drawn against Michael Llodra.

Among the women, Mel South will play Mathilde Johansson, Katie O'Brien takes on Iveta Benesova, Georgie Stoop plays Vera Zvonareva, and Elena Baltacha will meet Alona Bonadernko.
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BBC Link

Interesting draw and you can see the full thing here.(I will add a link when we get full confirmation.)

**NADAL PULLS OUT**
World number one Rafael Nadal will not defend his Wimbledon men's singles crown because of a knee injury.

Nadal, struggling with tendinitis, had problems with his movement during an exhibition match in London on Thursday in a 6-4 6-3 loss to Lleyton Hewitt.

And Nadal, 23, went down 4-6 7-6 (10-3) to Stanislas Wawrinka when he returned to the Hurlingham Club on Friday.

He is the first champion not to defend his SW19 crown since Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic skipped the event in 2002.

Nadal, the four-time French Open champion, had been drawn to play Arnaud Clement at Wimbledon on Monday.

Nadal was forced to withdraw from last week's tournament at Queen's Club with knee trouble and underwent intense rehabilitation in Barcelona.

He was diagnosed with tendinitis in both quadriceps tendons as well as a small amount of fluid on the kneecaps.

I'm scared that Nadal will be out for the rest of the season, what do you think?

laughingnadalfed

The 23-year-old looked to be on the mend after practising with Andy Murray at the All England Club on Wednesday, but the following day the Spaniard seemed troubled throughout his 80-minute exhibition encounter with Hewitt.

In Nadal's first match since losing to Robin Soderling in the fourth round of the French Open, the Spaniard looked increasingly frustrated as he repeatedly failed to get to balls he would normally reach.

Hewitt challenged Nadal from the start, forcing him to save two break points in the first game before holding serve.

Nadal and Murray practise together

The Australian then managed to break to love for a 3-2 lead after three unforced errors from Nadal, and held his next service game to love behind a barrage of aces.

Nadal frequently muttered to himself in Spanish after missing shots, and often had to rely on his top-spin forehand to bail him out of trouble.

He had his first break point in the first game of the second set, but Hewitt saved it with a service winner.

Nadal set up another break point at 2-2 with a good forehand volley, but Hewitt produced a forehand winner down the line before holding.

Hewitt broke again for a decisive 4-3 lead after Nadal sent a forehand long, and the Australian converted his second match point after Nadal sent a lunging backhand long as well.

Nadal, who beat Roger Federer in a classic final in 2008, had previously stated that he would not defend his Wimbledon crown if he was not 100% fit.

"He is having difficulties bending and it seems his treatments aren't enough," said coach and uncle Toni Nadal on Thursday.
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BBC Link


**Who Do ya fancy?**

Andy Murray starts against Kendrick which should be a comfortable win for him, he is also on Nadal's side of the draw which is what I hoped for throughout the week. I'm hoping Murray can at least make the semi's and then we will just see what happens after that, I am thinking this could be a good tournament for him and he should come close but he needs to keep his cool and serve well to be in with a shout. Nadal dropping out makes it even more appealing that Murray can reach the final!

Roger is definately my tip here as I will vouch for in my bet for the tournament, no pressure on him no he's broken the record and took the carreer grand slam. I think we may see the best of him in this tournament. Novak will be a danger to him on his side of the draw but thats if he plays like he can, last year he fell early on to Marat Safin and that is the fluctuation in form he can fall victim to.

So what you all thinking? Who are you going for? Should be a good tournament!

**The Roof**

One thing we're guarenteed of this year is constant action, the weather wont be a big problem on Centre Court and this means at least there will always be something to watch, i.e the bigger games. That in all honesty is a great thing for a tournament known to be interupted by rain.

**Betting**

I can't see past Roger however this year who will take great confidence after his French Open victory, I have paired him up with a win for Serena Williams in a double to try and shore up some decent odds. (will need to double check how much I can win from that)

A good outside bet for the Tournament IMO would be Andy Roddick, 25/1 on William Hill and rightly so since he could be facing Murray (who he just stuggles against) in the semi's if he is to reach the final. However Roddicks service game has been solid all year and Grass is a fantasic surface for him. A good each way chance but needs a bit of luck to get to the final.

**Brit Hopes**

Well looking at things I really can't see much progress apart from well....Murray, its just a sad state of affairs with our game but I could see all Brits going out in the First round apart from him.

Dan Evans taking on Nikolay Davydenko, James Ward to face Fernando Verdasco, Alex Bogdanovic up against Tomas Berdych, and Josh Goodall drawn against Michael Llodra. They should all be losses unfortunately.

Laura Robson at 15 has been drawn against Daniella Hantuchova and again its a shame as she will likely fall.

**Murray Watch**

As before I will track Murray's results on the main page but any others I will gladly update and keep on the first page too.

First Round

MURRAY bt Kendrick, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 6-4 2hrs 38mins

Second Round

MURRAY bt Gulbis 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 1hr 28mins

Third Round

MURRAY bt Troicki 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 1hr 38mins

Forth Round

MURRAY bt Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 3hrs 56 minutes

Quarter Final

MURRAY bt Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 1hr 43mins

Semi-Final

RODDICK bt Murray 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6

Final

Roddick v Federer

**Potential Route to Final**

1st: Kendrick
2nd: Ernests Gulbis
3rd: Taylor Dent Out in Round 2
4th: Marat Safin(14) Out in Round 1 Wawrinka to face.
Qrt: Fernando Gonzales(10) Out in round 3, Ferrero to face.
Semi: Roddick(6)
Final: Federer(1)
 
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Meh, I've never had a bad experience with the scottish tbh so I'll support him.

Love tennis, my 2nd favourite sport behind football, then again I'd much rather be a professional tennis player.

Statistic for some of you guys

Murray has earned 10 Million so far from matches and he's only 22 ;)
 
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Murray's got a fantastic chance to do well if Nadal doesn't make it, but even then, I think a lot of people getting the 'mania will be in for a disappointment. Grass isn't his favourite surface, so I don't think this will be his.
 
Gustov said:
Meh, I've never had a bad experience with the scottish tbh so I'll support him.

Love tennis, my 2nd favourite sport behind football, then again I'd much rather be a professional tennis player.

Statistic for some of you guys

Murray has earned 10 Million so far from matches and he's only 22 ;)
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Nadal at 23....

$25,006,295 :p Not bad for him either, that Murray stat will be $10 million as well :P just so people dont think its in £'s

Honestly though, Fed for the title but his opponent may depend on how Murray handles the pressure (he's done ok considering he's the only brit in every tournament essentially) and how fit Rafa really is.

I think there could be a round 2 shock should Hewitt be the player to meet Rafa ;)

If Murray is on his game he can beat absolutely anyone however, it's just his ability to stay in a rally which works out for him. He really puts pressure on his opponents and they make numerous unforced errors. I'm hoping for the Federer v Murray final, in fact I think it could be a very good shout. As for the whole scottish/brittish thing, everyone will be supporting him the longer he goes in the tournament, I know a lot of people dont like him but he has majorly matured over the last year or so.

Lets get behind him and have a good showing from at least one Brit this fortnight coming because it's going to be a Great Brittish Massacre in Round 1.
 
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Yes, but how much money has, say, Lionel Messi made so far?

That said, I'd rather be a tennis player than footballer. Much nicer atmosphere to the sport in general. Difficult to describe.
 
jrodga2k5 said:
If Murray is on his game he can beat absolutely anyone however, it's just his ability to stay in a rally which works out for him. He really puts pressure on his opponents and they make numerous unforced errors. I'm hoping for the Federer v Murray final, in fact I think it could be a very good shout. As for the whole scottish/brittish thing, everyone will be supporting him the longer he goes in the tournament, I know a lot of people dont like him but he has majorly matured over the last year or so.

Lets get behind him and have a good showing from at least one Brit this fortnight coming because it's going to be a Great Brittish Massacre in Round 1.
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I don't think Murray will have a better chance than this for 4/5 years.

Nadal won't be at his best due to his injury.

Federer despite recently winning the French open has been off color for a long time and has lost to some easy (not using term literally) opposition.

The only other people who i can genuinely see challenging Murray are Djorkovic and Haas. Safin on his day is a brilliant player.

I would not like to bet on this year....very,very difficult.
 
Added my potential route to the final opponents, I have studied the draw and there is the potential to play Blake, Simon, Wawrinka at certain points in the lead up to the final but I think the route to the final I've proposed seems the most likely. :)

Honestly it's a very decent draw for Andy and I'm happy he's been kept apart from Roddick despite his much superior record against the American due to his 2009 form.

Gustov said:
The only other people who i can genuinely see challenging Murray are Djorkovic and Haas.
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Well he's been kept apart from Djokovic and Haas so its all good. CHeck out the full draw and also my Route to the Final, its a very good draw for Andy, some decent opponents but nothing he cant overcome, Semi at least I would expect now I've looked at it closer.
 
jrodga2k5 said:
Well he's been kept apart from Djokovic and Haas so its all good. CHeck out the full draw and also my Route to the Final, its a very good draw for Andy, some decent opponents but nothing he cant overcome, Semi at least I would expect now I've looked at it closer.
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Great news. As i just said I don't think he'll have a better chance than this in a very long time.
 
My money is on Fed to win this again...cant see Murray winning it although hes in with a very good chance and Nadal??..has he decided to stay or pull out??.

Nevertheless im backing Fed to win this again..
 
Well it just confirmed my hunch that Nadal may indeed struggle, he lost yesterday to Hewitt 6-4, 6-3 in an exhibition match. Now I dont want to read into that too much since it's an exhibition but reports suggest he struggled with the fact he hadn't played in a bit but his coach is concerned about him struggling to bend his knees.

In all honesty grass is not exactly the ideal surface to be coming onto after all this, though it could be worse if it was still the clay court season :p

Plays Wawrinka this afternoon, will be interesting to see the outcome and his announcement on whether he will play or not.

Spawn said:
My money is on Fed to win this again...cant see Murray winning it although hes in with a very good chance and Nadal??..has he decided to stay or pull out??.

Nevertheless im backing Fed to win this again..
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Yup, I agree, but if Murray does get to the final I honestly could see him winning it! Got my bet on Fed however.

If Nadal does pull out I'm going to stick £20 on Roddick each way.
 
I'd say Nadal won't play. Losing to Hewitt? Nadal on his game is in a different league.

Seriously considering sticking a tenner on Murray, means he would have to beat Federer but he's proved he can, saying that, has he beat him on grass?
 
Where are you looking at the draw jrodga? I usually use the BBC for Wimbledon, but they never actually lay the list out so you can see who will play who in the later rounds.

EDIT: Nevermind, Wikipedia has a decent layout of it all. Looks like Safin could be Murray's first real test, fourth round.
 
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As much as i would like Nadal to win again this year, i cant see past Federer.

Can also see Roddick having a very good run this year. I expect Murray to get to the semis and he does really have a realistic chance this year!

Really looking foward to it this year :)
 
Is that chick with the massive fun bags - eastern European I believe, in Wimbledon? Those alone are worth tuning in for :D

I'm voting for Le Fed to regain is title as Wimbledon-don!!
 
Clipsey said:
Is that chick with the massive fun bags - eastern European I believe, in Wimbledon? Those alone are worth tuning in for :D

I'm voting for Le Fed to regain is title as Wimbledon-don!!
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Simona Halep.....:p il check if she qualified ;)

*EDIT* SHE WASNT IN ANY OF THE DRAWS :( NO WILD CARD, NO QUALIFYING ROUND, NOTHING! :(
 
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