Never,Sunday,review,first,week sports Never on Sunday: A review of first week of Wimbledon 2008
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The outcome of the men's draw promised a showdown of Federer vs.Djokovic and Roddick vs. Nadal. The first and second seeds survived,however, their predicted opponents had already packed their luggage.Let's see how the draw has played down.In the first small section of the draw involving the Mighty Federer,there are many tough players such as Hrbaty, Soderling, Hewitt, Bolelliand Gonzalez. However, rounds by rounds, he walks pass each opponent instyle. In the first three rounds, he committed only 7 rare breakpointswhere his opponents convert twice. His toughest test so far will comein fourth round, where he meets Hewitt, the last tennis player beforeFederer to capture the title, back to 2002. After that, Federer hasproduced a great run to capture 5 consecutive Wimbledon titles (from2003 to 2007). He is heading for his six title here.Lleyton Hewitt, after his first tough round against R. Hasse where hewon in five sets, has found his form back, winning the next two matchesin straigh sets. The next match against Federer will bring backmemories, sweet and sour. Hewitt was always the favourite in theirmatch ups before 2003 when he captured 7 victories out of 9 matches.The coin flipped after that, with Federer to win 11 times later. In aninterview two years ago, when Federer was asked who is his favoritechoice for an exhibition match, he said Hewitt and explained thatHewitt's style suits his game.Fernando Gonzalez is one of the seeds that suffered early exit. In hissecond round again rising Italian Bolelli, he lost in 4 tight sets.Silently and effectively, Verdasco beat Kohlschreiber, O. Rochus andBerdych to book a place in the fourth round against Mario Ancic,unseeded player, who defeated David Ferrer in third round. The factthat Ancic was not seeded does not reflect enough his quality but badluck. He struggled with mono and injuries and could not put his impacton court. He is also the last player to beat Federer on grass(Wimbledon 2002).The biggest disappointment of the tournament comes from Djokovic, thethird seed. He lost in straight sets against Safin, who has gained hisform lately. No more psychologic talk from the Serbian to boost hisconfidence and to eliminate the aura of Federer, something he has beendoing since 2007. Now he can spend this free time to work on hisfitness, again. Wawrinka still proves the great form of late that earnhim a place in top ten ranking. He will meet Safin in 4th round match.Marcos Baghdatis is finding the form that used to take him to the finalof Australian Open in 2006. He booked a place in the 4th round withFeliciano Lopez. I still remember Lopez with a great game to breakFederer's serve and take the first set in their match at US Open 2007.The other side of the draw sees another shocking, but predictable lossof Roddick against Serbian Tipsarevic in 2nd round. Tiprasevic is knownas a consitent player with great forehand and backhand. Roddick,according to me, is a player relying heavily on his first serve. Hisforehand and backhand are average. Not like other elite players, oncethe serve does not work, they still have backup plans with forehand,backhand, volley...In the third quarter of the draw, no seed survived, while in the fourthquarter, French talent Gasquet will meet England favourite Murray, andNadal will meet Youzhny. Nadal is the only 2008 Grandslam champion thatremains in competition. In both men's and women's draws, Djokovic(Australian Open), Sharapova (Australian Open) and Ivanovic (FrenchOpen) had suffered early losses.My prediction for the quarter finals:Federer vs. VerdascoSafin vs. BaghdatisTipsarevic vs. ClementMurray vs. NadalSemis:Federer vs. SafinTipsarevic vs. NadalFinals:Federer vs. NadalChampion: Federer Article Tags: Australian Open
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