"Official" Wimbledon Thread

[nafselon]

The big grass tournament starts tomorrow. R-Fed and Amelie are the defending champs.

ESPN is going with the "why hasn't Henin" won yet card and I say it's because the fast surface benefits the power players more these days. She doesn't have the time to set up her wide angle shots like she can on the slower clay surface. I don't think she'll win this time either and get knocked out in the semifinals.

My picks are R-Fed for his fifth and Sharapova for her second.

A couple of questions for those interested:

How many sets with R-Fed drop in the fortnight? (I'm guessing two)

Does Nadal reach the finals again? (No, quarters)

How far does Roddick advance? (Semifinals, he's pretty good on grass).

Any other Americans got a shot? (Serena? Blake? etc.)

 

[sportschick]

I don't think Sharapova wins. She's having serve issues. I think Serena manhandles her.

Roddick gets as far as Federer, unless my man Marat gets Roger early (won't happen, but a girl can dream).

 

[ondeadline]

R-Fed? Are you serious. Is that a widely used nickname? I wish that athletes had better nicknames these days. Most, like this one and A-Rod and D-Lee and J-Roll. Lame.

Federer is making the men's draw boring. He's just to dominant. I'd love to see Serena Williams make a good run in the women's draw.

 

[kingcreole]

Roddick loses to Federer, wherever that is. Federer wins.

I'm going with Serena to win it.

 

[nafselon]

R-Fed? Are you serious. Is that a widely used nickname? I wish that athletes had better nicknames these days. Most, like this one and A-Rod and D-Lee and J-Roll. Lame.

No it's not a widely used nickname. I actually use it due to the silliness of the first letter of first name/first three letters of last name fad.

 

[nafselon]

Roddick is slated to meet Federer in the semifinals, hence why I said he'd make the semifinals .

SC: Safin hasn't done well on grass traditionally right? I can't remember, he's so up-and-down from slam to slam.

 

[sportschick]

He's not a grass court guy, but you never know with him. He can play out of his mind and win just about any Slam, or he can **** around and lose in the second round on one of his best surfaces.

Grass is his worst surface, and I think he meets Roger in the third (I think), so he'll be gone by then if not earlier.

But like I said, a girl can dream

 

[John]

With his head on straight, Safin can win any tournament on any surface. Always could.

Federer ties Borg with his fifth straight title, beating Nadal in the final -- and proving that men's tennis is purely a two-man race. On the women's side, I pick Serena to win every major she enters. Henin is on enough of a roll, however, that this might be her year.

 

[standman]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

 

[melock]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

 

[sportschick]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

He lacks the talent. Not the desire or the heart. He's not half the tennis player Federer or Nadal is, yet he's ranked in the top 3. Yep, he obviously has no heart. Jesus.

 

[imjustagirl2]

[dork]
Our office had a seven-person Wimbledon draft, each person taking three men and three women. I got to pick first, so I took Federer (duh). But my second pick, 14th overall, was Andy Murray. Doh!
[/dork]

 

[TwoGloves]

R-Fed? Are you serious. Is that a widely used nickname? I wish that athletes had better nicknames these days. Most, like this one and A-Rod and D-Lee and J-Roll. Lame.

Thank you.

 

[melock]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

He lacks the talent. Not the desire or the heart. He's not half the tennis player Federer or Nadal is, yet he's ranked in the top 3. Yep, he obviously has no heart. Jesus.

It's just my opinion. Roddick is a pretty damn good player and I think he could play with those guys if all he did was play tennis and train. Maybe he does now, but a few years ago he was too busy filming commercials while Federer was on the court fine-tuning his game.

 

[sportschick]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

He lacks the talent. Not the desire or the heart. He's not half the tennis player Federer or Nadal is, yet he's ranked in the top 3. Yep, he obviously has no heart. Jesus.

It's just my opinion. Roddick is a pretty damn good player and I think he could play with those guys if all he did was play tennis and train. Maybe he does now, but a few years ago he was too busy filming commercials while Federer was on the court fine-tuning his game.

He'll never play with them. He doesn't have the natural talent. Has nothing to do with the amount of time he practices, his commercials or banging Mandy Moore. He's not a natural tennis player. Federer and Nadal are.

Roddick is a damn good player, but Federer and Nadal are all-time greats, quite possibly the greatest grass court and the greatest clay court players of all-time.

See the difference?

 

[GB-Hack]

[dork]
Our office had a seven-person Wimbledon draft, each person taking three men and three women. I got to pick first, so I took Federer (duh). But my second pick, 14th overall, was Andy Murray. Doh!
[/dork]

I am gutted he's not able to play. Another year, another non-GB winner at Wimbledon......

 

[melock]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

He lacks the talent. Not the desire or the heart. He's not half the tennis player Federer or Nadal is, yet he's ranked in the top 3. Yep, he obviously has no heart. Jesus.

It's just my opinion. Roddick is a pretty damn good player and I think he could play with those guys if all he did was play tennis and train. Maybe he does now, but a few years ago he was too busy filming commercials while Federer was on the court fine-tuning his game.

He'll never play with them. He doesn't have the natural talent. Has nothing to do with the amount of time he practices, his commercials or banging Mandy Moore. He's not a natural tennis player. Federer and Nadal are.

Roddick is a damn good player, but Federer and Nadal are all-time greats, quite possibly the greatest grass court and the greatest clay court players of all-time.

See the difference?

Federer is an all-time great, but not yet for Nadal. Being amazing on one surface and good on the others don't make you an all-time great . Even if he won 8-10 French Opens in a row he still wouldn't be an all-time great if he couldn't win the Aussie, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

It just seemed to me that Roddick could have been a multiple Grand Slam champion except for the French, where he's too slow to play well on, had he focused on tennis and not "other" things.

Once again just how I see things.

 

[standman]

I like Serena in the women's draw, fitness is not a factor at Wimbledon and her serve wins her plenty of free points. You have to go with Fed in the men's draw. Roddick plays well on grass, but I still think he lacks the return to beat Federer on grass.

And the desire, heart and talent.

He lacks the talent. Not the desire or the heart. He's not half the tennis player Federer or Nadal is, yet he's ranked in the top 3. Yep, he obviously has no heart. Jesus.

It's just my opinion. Roddick is a pretty damn good player and I think he could play with those guys if all he did was play tennis and train. Maybe he does now, but a few years ago he was too busy filming commercials while Federer was on the court fine-tuning his game.

He'll never play with them. He doesn't have the natural talent. Has nothing to do with the amount of time he practices, his commercials or banging Mandy Moore. He's not a natural tennis player. Federer and Nadal are.

Roddick is a damn good player, but Federer and Nadal are all-time greats, quite possibly the greatest grass court and the greatest clay court players of all-time.

See the difference?

Federer is an all-time great, but not yet for Nadal. Being amazing on one surface and good on the others don't make you an all-time great . Even if he won 8-10 French Opens in a row he still wouldn't be an all-time great if he couldn't win the Aussie, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open.

It just seemed to me that Roddick could have been a multiple Grand Slam champion except for the French, where he's too slow to play well on, had he focused on tennis and not "other" things.

Once again just how I see things.

Sorry, Roddick is a great personality (as post McEnroe-Connors players go) and ambassador for the game, but he's not even close to Federer when it comes to true talent. I remember when Federer was coming up and tennis people in the know would make a point of stopping to see his matches because he already had the best hands in the game since McEnroe. When his head caught up to his talent it was all over.

Roddick has a big serve (though not as consistent and big as Sampras) and he is the best we've got in this country. He may come out and win one or two more majors, but as long as Federer has his head right with ball it's going to be damn near impossible to do it consistently. At least Roddick has one major to his credit, there are a lot of guys in this era that won't be able to say that.

 

[Mayfly]

If I had to bet in Vegas on this one, I would take the field rather than Federer. I think Federer is going to lose, but just don't know to who.

 

[Cansportschick]

Women's side: taking Venus or Serena Williams (leaning towards Venus)
Men's: Federer seems like the odds on favourite but something's telling me he may not win this year.
However, that being said Nadal and Roddick have yet to prove themselves on grass by winning it, so I pick Federer.

We know one thing for sure, a Canadian will not win a women's or men's title. :