Roger Federer, current world no.3, will be targeting an
unprecedented 8th Wimbledon title ten years after he won his
first. For a number of reasons I am
excited for a number of reasons this year at the all-white grand slam. All the top 4 players are there without
exception. Djokovic, Murray, Federer,
Ferrer and Nadal. Only 4 rankings but 5
players! Due to an algebraic quirk, the equation that spews out the ranking
system at Wimbledon has now ranked Ferrer ahead of Nadal. A lot of hue and cry has been made in the media
about the comedy of this particular act.
Having said that, I also think Ferrer fully deserves this ranking. At 31 Ferrer is playing the tennis of his
life and as he said, this is his last chance of getting the best results of his
career on grass.
Talking of age, 31
seems like the golden number- Serena Williams, Federer, Ferrer, are all 31 and two of them are defending
champions while the third is enjoying the highest ranking of his life at no.4,
one place ahead of compatriot Nadal. Then there is Berdych and Tsonga lurking
dangerously close to the surface of the top 5 and are capable of pulling off an
early upset. Berdych’s recent clashes
with Federer have all ended in his favour. Del
Potro Richard Gasquet and Stanislas
Wawrinka are at 8, 9 and 10 respectively.
I feel Wawrinka has the potential to reach the quarters and then the
semis. I love watching him play,
probably at par with Djokovic because one can learn a lot by watching him. He is the only player apart from Gasquet and
Federer to practice the single-fisted backhand, his volleys are superb and
generally he is not content to hammer from ball upon ball from the baseline. Should
that happen and then per chance the opponent attack his back hand, he will
simply whip the racket and swat the ball
very deep either down the line or across the court. Unlike many of the top 10 players, most
notably Murray, he does more than keep the ball in play from the baseline, he
will mix his shots, vary the tempo, risk a volley and most importantly fearlessly
leave the baseline.
The men’s tennis has been consistent and the top 4 rankings
have been dividing the spoils of 4 grand slams between them. The lower ranked
players have also been consistently been nipping at their heels and the slightest
weakness will have them jump at the higher seeds.
What happening with the top 10 women? Plenty apparently…off
court. Serena Williams has been bringing
a lot of mouth to the table aka press conferences. The rape remark storm had barely died down when she made another comment about Sharapova going out with ‘the guy with the
black heart’ (ref. Grigor Dimitrov) and ‘not being invited to the coolest
parties’. Who cares! Why in spite of
sweeping all tournaments in her way and also swatting players like flies,
Williams makes such juvenile remarks is beyond my understanding. She has a certain stature is 31 years of age,
has more than 10 years of pro play under her belt and ditto those many years of
tour experience. She has stumbled and
learnt, been injured and written off more times than she cared and she has come
back…and how. Yet she behaves like a teenager mentioning ‘coolest parties’.
Why
Serena, why? She collects her French Open trophy like a little girl who skips
her way to the desired object, she giggles, pouts and pirouettes. It’s
frankly disturbing. But Williams
is no 1 and the hot favourite to win the grass affair. Sharapova and Azarenka are ferociously mewing
at her heels. But I have realized that something
like black magic happens to the opponents when they play Williams, they crumble
before the game even begins, they play strangely, make errors, and hand
Williams the match; such is her power (playing power not black magic). Serena’s appearance on the court is
intimidating. Her stares, fist pumps do
the damage psychologically and her cheetah- like movements on the court take
care of the best played shots. Her
confidence and menace is terrifying. The only thing I can hope for is score
more competitive than a tame 6-4, 6-4.
Of the rest of top 10, I consider only Petra
Kvitova, Sara Errani and Li Na who have great game and will put up a fight. I will just mention without commenting on Radwanska,
erstwhile no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, Angelique Kerber and Maria Kirilenko.
Outside of top 10 are so many bright stars that behave like comets. Sam Stosur for one is the brightest of them
all. This stupendously fit Australian
has taken on Williams before and knows her in all her strength and ugliness and
she has won. But one doesn’t hear of Stosur beyond round 3 or even 3 these
days. Sabine Lisicki has spunk and is
not bogged down by pressure of higher rankings and then there is Elena Vesnina
fresh from her victory at Eastbourne and the American Jamie Hampton who was the
finalist at the Aegon International Title.
Oops the clock is ticking…only 6 hours to go.
