Wimbledon 2010: Roger aims to match Pete, Rafa's back.

At a time when all eyes are set in South Africa at the football world cup, the hype surrounding Wimbledon may have taken a back seat. Still, the grass court tournament remains the mecca for all tennis players and die hard fans. With less than a week left, tennis returns to Wimbledon with all eyes on twin titans Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. While Roger is aiming to match Pete’s record of 7 Wimbledon titles Rafa on the other hand returns to Wimbledon after withdrawing from last year’s event due to a knee injury

Roger Federer : Quest for the 7th Wimbledon

Recent History:

Looking at the last 6 or 7 years, Roger Federer is clearly the favourite with six crowns in the last seven years. Roddick and Nadal are the only two to reach the finals in the last 5 years or so. While Nadal is the only man to beat Federer in this time period in 2008, Roddick lost in a marathon 30 game final set where Federer was able to break the big serving American just once in the whole match. Looking at Rafa’s past record in Wimbledon, he has lost just 2 out of the last 21 matches at Wimbledon with both his losses coming at the hand of Swiss in the finals at 2007 and 08.

Though things have gradually become tougher for Roger Federer, his Wimbledon form and 16 grand slam wins clearly makes him the favourite to win this time and equal Pete Sampras’ record of 7 Wimbledon wins. Form factor:

Looking at the current form of players, Roger Federer loss at Halle at the hand of Hewitt was a big shock as it was only the 2^nd loss for the maestro at grass since 2003. Though the Swiss has not won a tournament since winning the Australian open, he has consistently shown that when it comes to grand slams he is “The Big daddy”.

On the other hand, new no 1 Rafael Nadal returns to Wimbledon this year after an undefeated clay court season. Though he lost at Queens, the Spaniard cannot be taken lightly as he is the only man to defeat Roger at a Wimbledon final. The only big question for the world no 1 is the fitness issue, given that he was not fully fit at the Queens which resulted in an early loss.

Scotland’s Andy Murray hasn’t been in the best of form as well. He lost to Mardy Fish in the Third Round at Queen’s, has been struggling with a knee injury and hasn’t looked in top form since losing to Federer at the Australian Open this year. With most of the attention on the England football team, he may perhaps play more freely this year with less eyes on him.

Sam Querrey and Lyetton Hewitt are players to watch out for with their triumphs and Queens and Halle respectively. The big serving world number 21 has consistently defeated top seeds but somehow has not been able to make a mark in big tournaments. On the other hand former champion Lyetton Hewitt is full of confidence after beating Roger at Halle. Djokovic and Soderling are others who cannot be ignored despite their poor outings in the past at Wimbledon.

Seedings

Despite being the world no 1, Rafa has been seeded second and Roger at the top. Though this won’t make much of a difference as both of them top their respective half and the odds for a Federer-Nadal final is high.

Others in the top 10 are Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Andy Murray (Great Britain), Andy Roddick (USA), Robin Soderling (Sweden), Nikolay Davydenko (Russia), Fernando Verdasco (Spain), David Ferrer (Spain), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France). Hewitt has been the biggest gainer with the seedings as he is seeded 15th although ranked 26 in the world.

Predictions

Though Nadal is hard to ignore, I am going for a Federer-Roddick final, i.e rematch of last year, with Roddick taking revenge this time around. Remember this is my personal opinion and readers are free to give their own predictions.

Even though its Fifa time, fans all around the world cannot afford to miss the greatest extravaganza of tennis. Whoever wins the title, Wimbledon as always will be never anything less than a great spectacle.