2010 Wimbledon's Bizarre Week Before Its Opening!
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Article By: Rumer Certeza Photos: Zumapress |
It begins with second top seed Swiss Roger Federer bowing in surprising defeat at the hands of Australian Lleyton Hewit, at their match on grass.
Hewitt, 29, who was Wimbledon's 2002 champ, triumphed over Federer, who constantly handed the Australian fifteen losses in their previous meetings.
Meanwhile, World's numero uno Rafael Nadal, also lost to fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez at the quarterfinal, at the Queen's Club in London.
Not only that, Federer and the Spanish ace were joined by other big names who suffered the same unbelievable fates, such as Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic in what turned out to be quite an imperfect week of preparation for the real deal in Wimbledon.
Nadal was joined by Hewitt as being the only player to have defeated Federer on grass, since Croatia's Mario Ancic accomplished the same feat in 2002 at the All England Club.
The Spaniard also ended his 24-winning streak, with also 14 straight victories on grass as he lost to Feliciano Lopez.
Yet it all boils down to number one and two, with Federer having the most stinging defeat to Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals, due to the fact that long time rival Nadal is gunning for a fifth Roland Garros title, regaining his number one spot. Federer isn't exactly comfy at number two, even with more Grand Slam titles than anybody else.
So the key players to watch come the big opener, would still be Federer and Nadal, as well as the Williams sisters on center stage.
Wimbledon 2010 will commence on June 21, to be covered by Catch presenter Alan Wilkins with tennis expert Vijay Armitrag on STAR Sports.
Hope my man Andy Roddick shapes up!
TIGER WOODS NEEDS MIRACLE TO WIN US OPEN, SO WHO WILL?
Tiger Woods seems like yesterday's headline news. So who'll step up to bag this year's US Open title?
Pebble Beach. It was a decade ago, that a former champ effortlessly swung his way to an amazing victory, by a mind-boggling 15 shots. That made his opponents rethink their career path.
And a decade later, the once winningest Tiger Woods finds himself in their shoes, plagued with questions on whether he should hang up those clubs and look for another career. Like indoor sports? (I deserve to be shot for this!)
So what's keeping the Tiger from regaining his long lost form?
Injuries? Controversies? Simple. Tiger himself, according to Jesper Parnevik.
This golfer was responsible for introducing a baby sitter Elin to the star who would one day become his wife. I mean, ex-wife.
And it's cold hard truth. The only one who could stop Tiger is Tiger.
In every competition, Woods remains the crowd favorite, and it's also appropriate that he be favored in this 100th U.S. Open as well, to bring home the bacon. But things have changed.
So who has the balls to step up and fill in the shoes of the washed-up golfing sensation?
Try 21-year-old Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, who says that U.S. Opens are all about patience. The kid has balls.
And to back it up, his victory at Quail Hollow earlier this year was nothing more than amazing. Sure, he's never played the real Pebble Beach before. Only the video game.
McIlroy jokes, "It's a lot easier on the Playstation."
In fact, he was one of the young spectators in the 2000 U.S. Open when Tiger was the undisputed champ.
Or lets go a little older, like say 40-year-old Phil Mickelson, who collected three victories here on the regular PGA tour.
Mickelson has bagged the Masters title thrice and even has a PGA title. He's finished second five times at the U.S. Open. Yet, the British Open proved to be an obstacle for him, where he needed a par on the final hole to win and a bogey to force a playoff but made a double instead.
But despite the age factor, it doesn't show, as he's swinging the ball better than ever.
Or if you still want to go up the age ladder, why don't you sample 60-year-old Tom Watson.
Or maybe we should just stick to good old Tiger? Only a miracle would answer that.
