Ladies' Singles Preview - 網球

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Ladies' Singles Preview

Friday, 22 June, 2007

The most notable aspect of the women's draw for the 121st Championships is
the throwing together of world number one and top seed Justine Henin into the
same section as two-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who is seeded
seventh. The two met at the same stage of the French Open earlier this month,
Henin winning in straight sets for the loss of seven games before going on to
take the Roland Garros title for the fourth time in five years.

However, the 25-year-old Belgian has got no closer to the Wimbledon title
than two appearances as runner-up, in 2001 when she lost to Serena's sister,
Venus, and last year when she was beaten by Amelie Mauresmo.

Henin's start should be an undemanding one, against an Argentinian qualifier
Jorgelina Cravero, with a possible fourth round confrontation with the 15th
seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland.

In theory there could be an all-Williams final, as there was in both 2002 and
2003, since Venus is in the bottom half of the draw as 23rd seed, facing the
possibility of a fourth round clash with the second seed and 2004 champion,
Maria Sharapova.

Mauresmo's hopes of defending her title have not been improved by illness and
injury blighting much of this season, and she is seeded no higher than fourth
as a result, also in the lower section of the draw. Mauresmo begins against
the American Jamea Jackson but could need to get past some formidable eastern
European opposition in the Czech Nicole Vaidisova (seeded 14th), and either
the Russian Nadia Petrova (11) or the French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic of
Serbia (6) to progress to the semi-final stages.

The other top ten Serb, Jelena Jankovic, seeded third and a firm betting
choice of many to take the title, starts against the British number one and
wild card, Anne Keothavong. There is the intriguing possibility of a
quarter-final for Jankovic against the resurgent Martina Hingis, a Wimbledon
champion ten years ago.

Hingis is one of five former champions in the 2007 field, the others being
the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, Sharapova and Mauresmo. With the
possible exception of Venus, who has struggled to find form after a wrist
injury, any of the others must be regarded as a strong contender. Having won
the Australian Open without anything much in the way of preparation, Serena
is another heavy betting favourite.

But everything, it would seem, hinges on that prospective quarter-final
against Henin in a line-up which features 17 Russian women, compared with 11
from the United States, the nation which dominated at Wimbledon until so
recently.

Written by Ronald Atkin

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頭號種子的好處是，preview的篇幅變多
由於有個好籤表，所以大致來說
八強沒有意外的話又是冠軍前哨戰，雖然草地高手很多

反正今天momo的復甦，最該擔心的不會是我們，下半部人多著呢～

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