Wimbledon 2011 - The Contenders

The Men

The Favourites:

Nadal (Seeded 1) – He hasn’t lost at Wimbledon since 2007, having won in 2008 and 2010, and injured in 2009, a remarkable record for a so called “clay-court specialist”.

Despite a relatively average first week at the French, Nadal cruised through the second week to glory. He dispatched both Soderling and Murray in 3 sets with minimal fuss, and then bar a slight hiccup eased past Federer in the final. With his recent success at the French, further triumph was predicted at Queens. However, a rejuvenated Tsonga put pay to Rafa in the quarters. This wasn’t the ideal grass court preparation he had envisioned, but decent nonetheless.

Verdict: He remains the man to beat.

Djokovic (Seeded 2) – He has reached the semis at Wimbledon twice, 2007 and 2010, yet has never really appeared totally comfortable with the grass at SW19.

The man to beat all of 2011, with a truly astonishing unbeaten run which was only beaten by the greatest of all time, Federer, a fitting end. Following the defeat, he pulled out of Queens with a mixture of fatigue and injury, far from the Wimbledon preparation he would have chosen. This being said, he reached superhuman levels during the early months of the year and has surely already surpassed even his own wildest dreams with a winning streak of 42 matches.

Verdict: If he can recapture his form from the American hard court season on the green grass, tough to see how he can be beaten.

Federer (Seeded 3) – 6 Wimbledon titles and quite simply the greatest tennis player to have ever graced the Planet.

Federer has been written off countless times for the past 18 months, “too old” and “past it” being frequently said. Most would agree he has been in a slow decline of recent times, not a rapid decline that the Press would have had you believe. Yet we saw glimpses of the Federer of old at the French, his racquet was his wand again, his forehand was out of this world for the majority of the tournament, his serve cleaned the lines more times than I care count. He beat Djokovic in the semis, took a set off Nadal in the final and should have been two sets up, two of the hardest feats in tennis at the present time.

Verdict: If the Federer from the French Open turns up, we may be seeing him hold the most famous trophy in tennis above his head for the 7^th time.

The Strong Contenders

Murray (Seeded 4) – Undoubtedly the 4^th best player in the world, but quite a way off being in the top 3. Murray sits in limbo in the current state of affairs.

Murray is a good grass court player, especially these days now the courts a much slower, proven by winning Queens for the 2^nd time last week. He does possess all the weapons needed to win Grand Slams, but he often fails to utilise them.

Verdict: Will make the semi finals bar a freak result but won’t be putting his name on the trophy.

Soderling (Seeded 5) – Big Rob, a player no one wants to draw.

The big serving Swede was my tip for Wimbledon last year but was ousted in 4 sets by Nadal in the quarter finals. Again I would suggest he could make a dive deep into the latter rounds, however, his mental ability has been questioned when it comes to playing other top players.

Verdict: A banker for the quarter finals, potential semi finalist.

The Outside Bet

Milos Raonic (Seeded 31) – The “wonderkid”.

Much has been written about Raonic, a 20 year old from Canada who is well known for serving bombs. Tipped for the top by many, Wimbledon 2011 may be slightly too soon but watch out for his name in the very near future.

Verdict: Defeat by Nadal in the 3^rd round.

Freddie’s One to Watch

Grigor Dimitriov (Unseeded) – Better than Federer?

Coach Peter Lundgren described Dimitriov as better than Federer at his age, a huge tag to place on someone so young, yet the similarities are there for all to see, an elegant one handed backhand, a forehand that he bases his game around and a serve which he can hit all 4 corners with varying degrees of spin with. We may have to wait a couple of years to see Dimitriov really put his mark on the top of the tennis world, but along with Raonic, he is the future of tennis.

Verdict: Defeat in the 2^nd round.

Winner – Rafael Nadal

Runner Up – Roger Federer

The Women

The Favourites:

Na Li (Seeded 3) – Comes into on the back of her triumph in France.

Unfancied at the French, surely got to be one of the title contenders at SW19. Fiercely competitive, mentally strong, hard flat groundstrokes, surely a winning combination on the grass. Will be interesting to see how she adapts her game from the clay.

Verdict: Expect her to equal or better her two previous quarter final appearances at Wimbledon.

Maria Sharapova (Seeded 5) – A model competitor and true champion, can Maria regain her crown?

Has recovered from her extensive injuries, most notably the career threatening shoulder injury. She is starting to regain the form that took her to number 1 in the world, and along with her immense ability to fight to the last ball, it stands her in good stead for Wimbledon.

Verdict: A semi final appearance at worst, and possibly a good shout for the tournament outright.

Serena Williams (Seeded 7) – Back from a life threatening illness, but you still can’t write her off.

On her day, she is unbeatable. Has played very little tennis, a couple of scratchy wins at Eastbourne are unlikely to have filled her with confidence, but she will just be pleased to be back on the court.

Verdict: A quarter final spot at worst, expect her to dump out a top 10’er or two.

Strong Contenders

Caroline Wozniaki (Seeded 1) - Holds the top spot in the women’s game, still without a Grand slam.

Seems to win plenty of smaller tournaments without really making the grade at the four majors. She will need to win a grand slam title to fully justify her world number one ranking. She has the ability but does she have what it takes mentally.

Verdict: A quarter final, however to see her going back home with the title appears to be unlikely.

Vera Zvonareva (Seeded 2) – Slowly worked her way to the top of the game after overcoming her mental fragilities.

She hits hard and flat and moves exceptionally well, and now her head is screwed on correctly, she has the weapons to pose anyone a challenge. Having made the final last year she has the experience to rely upon as well.

Verdict: A semi final and maybe one better.

Venus Williams (Seeded 23) – On her game she can beat anybody and she has vast experience of the back end of Grand Slams.

Like her sister, Venus has played very little tennis, but Wimbledon brings out the best in her. Expect to see some inconsistent tennis, but good enough to win several rounds.

Verdict: A place in the last eight. It may be too much to expect more, but one can never write her off.

The Outside Bet

Daniela Hantuchova (Seeded 25) – Starting to become more renowned for her tennis than her beauty.

She has started to put together strings of good performances at various tournaments, most recently Eastbourne. Has always been capable of a good match at a tournament but has never found the consistency that her ability has deserved.

Verdict: A possible semi final appearance providing she avoids her nemesis’s in the William’s sisters!

Freddie’s One to Watch

Andrea Petkovic (Seeded 11) – A feisty German who has started to make a name for herself, and her dance.

Has a big game, she has beaten big names in the past and shows no sign of stopping this form. Formidable off both sides with athleticism to match. Definitely going to conquer the top 5 at some point in her career.

Verdict: A quarter final and possibly a semi final.

Winner – Maria Sharapova

Runner Up – Vera Zvonareva

The Start of a New Era?

Until last Saturday, tennis hadn’t seen an Asian grand slam winner. Li Na, born in Wuhen, Hubei, China, changed this by winning the French Open and has changed the face of Asian tennis forever. Up until now we’ve seen the occasional Asian player threaten the world’s elite group of players, Zheng Jie in the women’s game and Paradorn Srichapan briefly entering the world’s top ten in the men’s game. However, given Asia’s vast population, one may have expected a greater number of players hitting the headlines in the world game.

In Asia and in China in particular, particular attention has been paid to all racket sports except tennis. Asia has practically ruled the worlds of Badminton and Table Tennis for a good while now and many had predicted that it was only a matter of time before tennis was added to this list. It has taken longer than many thought, but have we now reached this time?

Having worked directly with several Asian families, what is absolutely evident is the vital attribute in life, to continually strive to become the best. This facet is without doubt the key to becoming top of any sport. To become the best, one must never settle for anything except perfection, but can anything be completely perfect? Is a 150mph serve out wide the best one can achieve, why not 151mph with more spin, more deception and better technique?

It is well documented that the work ethic within Asian families is particularly fierce, not a moment is spared when it comes to training, most notably when their offspring is involved. This work ethic is ideal if one is to try and produce the next global superstar.

Seeing this endeavour leaves me with no doubt whatsoever that we shall soon an influx of Asian players in both the men’s and women top 50.

People have often suggested that a lack of physical prowess may hinder the development of top tennis athletes within Asia. I would like to dismiss these sentiments as nonsense. China has developed top hurdlers and top basketball players, all of whom possess the so called “required physical attributes” to become a top tennis player, and there is no reason why men or women such as these won’t in the future be pursuing a career in tennis.

Michael Berrer - A gentleman or a choker?

To reach the third round of a Grand Slam is undoubtedly an achievement not to be taken lightly, especially when you have defeated "tennis wonderkid" Milos Raonic and previous Grand Slam finalist Arnaud Clement on the way.

Michael Berrer a German tennis “journeyman” raised an eyebrow or two when he took out Raonic and turned a head or two when he beat Clement on his home turf. Andy Murray can't have been expecting to face Berrer in the third round given the draw, and may well have been quietly pleased when he found out he was due to face Berrer.

Since turning pro in 1999, Berrer has hardly caused shockwaves within the tennis world. He reached a career high ranking of 42 in the world last year, but this slipped as 2010 progressed and 2011 started. He has never won a singles ATP tournament to this day/

To face Murray in the third round at the French Open would have been the highlight of Berrer's career. With a large crowd and television audience Berrer was sure to want to make an impression.

Murray took the first set with such ease that left the crowd wondering how Berrer made it to round three. Midway through the second set Murray nastily turned his ankle chasing down a short forehand. It was heavily strapped for the remainder of the match. Murray was clearly struggling to move and thus had adopted a “win or bust” strategy.

What followed, in my opinion, was astonishing.

Murray playing with his "win or bust" mentality closed out the second set, and then waltzed through the third to book his place in the fourth round.

With Murray clearly barely able to change direction, the obvious thing it seemed, for Berrer to do would be to hit a combination of drop shots, lobs, short angles and off pace balls, yet throughout the set and a half following Murray's injury, Berrer barely mustered any of the above. He continued with his big hitting through the middle of the court straight towards Murray. As the already bemused French Crowd looked on, they must have wondered what was going through Berrer's mind. Did he really want to win?

In the post match press conference Berrer was quizzed about his tactics, the seemingly lack of intent to exploit Murray's obvious inability to move swiftly around the court. Berrer explained that he felt he "couldn't" play on Murray's injury and maybe it was this lack of ruthlessness that had stopped him climbing the tennis ladder further.

To me, this whole episode shows that Berrer lacks the mental game to ever really make waves within the game.


When you enter a competition of any sort, one must assume that whoever your opponent or opponents are, they feel that they can operate at the level of the competition. If one is to injure themselves during an event, surely one can feel, without guilt, to play upon his or her injury. To me, it is the same as playing upon an opponent’s weakness.

However, many would argue (as my housemate does) that it is ungentlemanly to target an injury. Personally I can see no reason not to. Do you need this ruthless streak to reach the top of a sport or is it possible to remain a complete gentleman and reach the top of a sport? Can you be ruthless and a gentleman?

If Michael Berrer had played on Murray’s injured ankle and won, how would the British press have reacted? Would they have slated Berrer or would they have simply stated that Murray can learn from his ruthless streak?

These are my thoughts on a debate that is bound to go on for years without ever reaching a conclusion.