Future Tennis Stars

Centre Court - 1:00 pm Start
Roger Federer (SUI)[1] v. Dominik Hrbaty (SVK)
Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[1] v. Rossana De los rios (PAR)
Novak Djokovic (SRB)[3] v. Michael Berrer (GER)

Court 1 - 1:00 pm Start
Kaia Kanepi (EST) v. Serena Williams (USA)[6]
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)[20] v. Robin Haase (NED)
Frank Dancevic (CAN) v. David Nalbandian (ARG)[7]

Court 2 - 12:00 noon Start
Marcos Baghdatis (CYP)[10] v. Steve Darcis (BEL)
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[4] v. Mathilde Johansson (FRA)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) v. David Ferrer (ESP)[5]
Marion Bartoli (FRA)[11] v. Sabine Katharin Lisicki (GER)

Court 3 - 12:00 noon Start
Samantha Stosur (AUS) v. Ioana Raluca Olaru (ROU)
Robby Ginepri (USA) v. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI)[15]
Stephanie Dubois (CAN) v. Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)[8]
Michael Llodra (FRA)[32] v. Mario Ancic (CRO)

Court 4 - 12:00 noon Start
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) v. Elena Vesnina (RUS)
Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) v. Igor Kunitsyn (RUS)
Igor Andreev (RUS) v. Jiri Vanek (CZE)
Camille Pin (FRA) v. Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE)

Court 5 - 12:00 noon Start
Virginie Razzano (FRA)[27] v. Evgeniya Rodina (RUS)
Akgul Amanmuradova (UZB) v. Pauline Parmentier (FRA)
Dudi Sela (ISR) v. Olivier Rochus (BEL)
KJ Hippensteel (USA)/Tripp Phillips (USA) v. Stephen Huss (AUS)/Ross Hutchins (GBR)

Court 6 - 12:00 noon Start
Thomas Johansson (SWE) v. Vincent Spadea (USA)
Patty Schnyder (SUI)[12] v. Casey Dellacqua (AUS)
Marc Gicquel (FRA) v. Kei Nishikori (JPN)
Zi Yan (CHN) v. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)

Court 7 - 12:00 noon Start
Feliciano Lopez (ESP)[31] v. Brian Dabul (ARG)
Florent Serra (FRA) v. Yen-Hsun Lu (TPE)
Milagros Sequera (VEN) v. Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP)
Monica Niculescu (ROU) v. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK)

Court 8 - 12:00 noon Start
Klara Zakopalova (CZE) v. Urszula Radwanska (POL)
Albert Montanes (ESP) v. Carlos Berlocq (ARG)
Victor Hanescu (ROU) v. Alejandro Falla (COL)
Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) v. Petra Kvitova (CZE)

Court 9 - 12:00 noon Start
Roko Karanusic (CRO) v. Luis Horna (PER)
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) v. Na Li (CHN)
Yvonne Meusburger (AUT) v. Edina Gallovits (ROU)
Hyung-Taik Lee (KOR) v. Philipp Petzschner (GER)

Court 10 - 12:00 noon Start
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB)/Viktor Troicki (SRB) v. Harel Levy (ISR)/Jim Thomas (USA)
Lucie Hradecka (CZE)/Renata Voracova (CZE) v. Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[6]/Shahar Peer (ISR)[6]
Eric Butorac (USA)/Ashley Fisher (AUS) v. Yves Allegro (SUI)/Sebastian Prieto (ARG)
Klaudia Jans (POL)/Mervana Jugic-Salkic (BIH) v. Carly Gullickson (USA)/Vladimira Uhlirova (CZE)

Court 11 - 12:00 noon Start
Elena Baltacha (GBR) v. Angelique Kerber (GER)
Alex Bogdanovic (GBR) v. Simone Bolelli (ITA)
Marat Safin (RUS) v. Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[29] v. Ashley Harkleroad (USA)

Court 14 - 12:00 noon Start
Nathalie Dechy (FRA) v. Meng Yuan (CHN)
Tomas Berdych (CZE)[11] v. Evgeny Korolev (RUS)
Marcos Daniel (BRA) v. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)[13]
Francesca Schiavone (ITA)[20] v. Tamira Paszek (AUT)

Court 15 - 12:00 noon Start
Jie Zheng (CHN) v. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[30]
Alize Cornet (FRA)[17] v. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS)
Filippo Volandri (ITA) v. Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Scott Lipsky (USA)/David Martin (USA) v. Jonathan Erlich (ISR)[3]/Andy Ram (ISR)[3]

Court 16 - 12:00 noon Start
Tobias Kamke (GER) v. Andreas Seppi (ITA)[29]
Bethanie Mattek (USA) v. Severine Bremond (FRA)
Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) v. Pavel Snobel (CZE)
Marta Domachowska (POL) v. Jill Craybas (USA)

Court 17 - 12:00 noon Start
Robin Soderling (SWE) v. Kevin Kim (USA)
Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) v. Rika Fujiwara (JPN)
Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) v. Fernando Verdasco (ESP)[22]

Court 18 - 12:00 noon Start
Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP)[21] v. Sam Querrey (USA)
Vera Dushevina (RUS) v. Maria Kirilenko (RUS)[19]
Chris Guccione (AUS) v. Gael Monfils (FRA)[30]
Melanie South (GBR) v. Alona Bondarenko (UKR)[28]

Court 19 - 12:00 noon Start
Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) v. Nicole Vaidisova (CZE)[18]
Alexander Peya (AUT) v. Mischa Zverev (GER)
Simon Stadler (GER) v. Ivo Karlovic (CRO)[18]

TBA - 5:00 pm Start
Iveta Benesova (CZE) v. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)[14]
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) v. Agnes Szavay (HUN)[15]
Michail Elgin (RUS)/Alexandre Kudryavtsev (RUS) v. Marcelo Melo (BRA)[12]/Andre Sa (BRA)[12]

The talk going into Wimbledon is that either Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic will walk away with the title and with good reason. However, without any warmup events under their belt, how ready will they be? Ivanovic pulled out of warmups citing fatigue, will she be ready mentally to take her second Slam? I don’t think this will come down to who wins Wimbledon, but who survives.

Looking at the favourites, Ana Ivanovic clearly has the game to take the title. However she hasn’t played well on grass, having never reached a final in any grass event. Last year, she was nearly upset by Nicole Vaidisova (little chance of that happening this year) before losing in the semifinals. After winning the French, her confidence should be high even though she will most likely have to wait until the US Open before hauling in another Slam.

Maria Sharapova is the most likely of all players to bring the title home. She definately has the game and having been injured for most of last year, she has the desire. Since winning the title in 2004, she reached the semis in ‘05 and ‘06. She’s 20-3 since she won the title. If anyone is a favourite, it’s her. Still, she’s in the bottom half of the draw, away from Ivanovic. She could be tested by Azarenka in the fourth round and she will still have to go up against Davenport or Safina in the quarters. In the semifinals, she could face Venus Williams or Jelena Jankovic. Williams is a 4 time champion and Jankovic is no slouch on grass having beated Sharapova last year in a warmup.

As for the other two favourites (according to ESPN anyway) are Venus and Serena Williams. You can count me out of that conversation. They are too up and down to seriously pick for a major title anymore. Lately, no one else seems more likely to either blow someone off the court or be blown off. They could win a title without dropping a set then win only 4 games their next match. If you’re going to bet on them, don’t bet big. Serena came out of nowhere last year to take the Australian Open then Venus fought off two potential upsets to take Wimbledon a year ago.

For Serena, in her quarter, she could have trouble with Agnieszka Radwanska, Svetlana Kuznetsova or Alona Bondarenko in the quarterfinals. With the way she played in Paris, she could have trouble with Kaia Kanepi in the first round.

For Venus, she should have a clear path to the quarters where she could play Daniela Hantuchova. Keep in mind she was nearly sent packing last year by Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round and Akiko Morigami in the third. Like her sister, she is just as likely to lose to Sania Mirza as she is to double bagel Jelena Jankovic.

Which brings us to the second (?) seed, Jelena Jankovic.  For the first time, she is seeded higher than third but playing at a Slam where she has never gone past the fourth round will be interesting. It’s unlikely that she will advance to the finals without playing a warmup and nursing a sore arm. Still, getting to the quarters shouldn’t be a problem. Afterall she has won a title on grass and has reached a few finals in warmups in the past so she knows how to adjust. Caroline Wozniacki will be waiting in the third round which will be very interesting. If Jankovic isn’t on her game, she will be upset and kiss any chance of becoming the new No. 1 goodbye. After that it’s Venus in the quarters and Sharapova in the semis and Ivanovic in the finals. Talk about a rough draw. If it’s Venus in the quarters, it may be over.

Dark Horses
Agnieszka Radwanska
Alona Bondarenko
Kateryna Bondarenko
Victoria Azarenka
Dinara Safina

The first round match you don’t want to miss…
Mauresmo vs. Harkleroad. Former champ vs. Miss August. The outcome won’t have an impact on the rest of the draw but if Harkleroad is healthy, Mauresmo could be out early.

First round upsets
Zuzana Ondraskova over Nicole Vaidisova or Katie O’brien over Shahar Peer, take your pick. Neither Vaidisova or Peer are playing well so I wouldn’t exactly call it an upset.

Predictions
Fourth Round (just to make it interesting)
Ivanovic vs. Szavay
Stosur vs. Chakvetadze
Kuznetsova vs. Radwanska
Kirielnko vs. S. Williams
Davenport vs. Safina
Azarenka vs. Sharapova
V. Williams vs. Hantuchova
Tanasugarn vs. Jankovic

Quarterfinals
Ivanovic vs. Stosur
Radwanska vs. S. Williams
Safina vs. Sharapova
V. Williams vs. Jankovic

Semifinals
Ivanovic vs. S. Williams
Sharapova vs. V. Williams

Finals
Sharapova over Ivanovic in straight sets

If you are betting against Roger Federer repeating, again, as Wimbledon champion, you do so at your own risk.

So many are expecting, and I suspect desperately want to see Federer fall flat on his face. Why would they want the best player and best ambassador that tennis has ever had go out early? Perhaps they are tired of talking about how great Federer is. Maybe they just want to see someone else be the top player. I don’t care what the reason is, it just isn’t going to happen.

Federer (and I’ll say it again for the millionth time) started the year with mono, an illness that kept Mario Ancic off the tour for 6 months last year. He still managed to reach the semis in Melbourne and still didn’t play his best until the clay court season was underway. As much as I and a lot of others wanted Federer to win in Paris, it wasn’t going to happen and everyone knew it. Still he reached the finals in Monte Carlo and Hamburg and had leads on Nadal.

That blowout loss to Nadal in Paris is a non-factor. Lopsided loses like that don’t factor into a champion’s psyche. Had the match been a 5 hour marathon with Federer holding match points, I would feel differently about his chances at Wimbledon. How did Federer react to the loss? By winning Halle (again) without dropping serve. He may not have faced a top 10 opponent but still, to win a title without dropping serve should give a pretty good indication about what will happen starting Monday.

As for Rafael Nadal, it will be a very interesting fortnight for him. So many are saying he should be No. 1 based on his play (hilarious) or that he is the biggest threat to Federer this year (again, hilarious). Let’s face it, Nadal is a great player, for about 4 months. From Monte Carlo (late April) to Wimbledon (early July), he’s the second best player. The other 8 months, he gets blitzed by Davydenko, Seppi, Youzhney and other non-noteable players. There is no reason to think that Nadal won’t falter early. He will face either John Isner or Ernests Gulbis in the second round. In the words of Scooby Doo: Ruh roh. Nadal’s path includes others like dark horse Nicolas Kiefer, Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet and Mikhail Youzhny. That’s just to get out of his quarter. If he does get out, he could face Andy Roddick or Nikolay Davydenko who blitzed him in the finals of Miami. I have the feeling Nadal packed only enough clothes for 1 week, not 2.

As for the other pretender contender, Novak Djokovic, taking jabs at Federer when your own accomplishments barely fill a couple of paragraphs is just not smart. You beat a mono-stricken Federer in Melbourne. Still, he took you through three very tough sets before you won 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). No no, you say that with pride. Don’t be ashamed that a sick Federer almost took you out. How did you follow that up? You lost in the second round in Marseille to Gilles Simon, then to Andy Roddick in Dubai. You followed up your win in Indian Wells with a humiliating loss to Kevin Anderson in Miami. A note to Novak: champions don’t run their mouth about other players, they tend to follow up wins in big tournaments with, well, wins in big tournaments. You need to work on that.

Novak retired (surprisingly) while losing to Federer in Monte Carlo. He didn’t face a top 20 opponent en route to the Rome title. Novak is very much the third ranked player and is yet to be a serious threat to Nadal, let alone Federer.

Still, Novak has a pretty clear path to the fourth round with the only big player he could face is Marat Safin who I would say will take a set off Novak. After that it’s Stanislas Wawrinka who again, could take a set but not much else. It’s the quarterfinal where Novak will either rise to the occasion or come up with some excuse to pull out of the match. He could face 2006 semifinalist and 2007 quarterfinalist Marcos Baghdatis, former finalist David Nalbandian who Novak routed in Queen’s or hard serving Ivo Karlovic. Since Novak admits he doesn’t move well on grass, he may not even make it to Federer.

Dark Horses

Andy Roddick
Nicolas Kiefer
Tommy Haas
Ivo Karlovic
Marcos Baghdatis

The first round match you don’t want to miss…
Gasquet vs. Fish. Gasquet has shown life of late but this should be interesting, I would say Gasquet in 5.

Predictions
Quarterfinals
Federer vs. Ancic
Djokovic vs. Karlovic
Roddick vs. Davydenko
Nadal vs. Gasquet

Semifinals
Federer vs. Karlovic
Roddick vs. Nadal

Finals
Federer over Nadal in 4 sets