Wimbledon - Countdown: Men to watch - 網球 Tennis

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18062008/58/wimbledon-countdown-men-watch.html

Who has the best bet of dethroning five-time defending champion Roger Federer
at Wimbledon? Eurosport Yahoo! looks at the runners and riders.

Five down, two to go: Roger Federer

Having matched Bjorn Borg's record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and
broken the Swede's mark with 59 consecutive wins and counting on grass,
Federer's targets on the surface are becoming limited. Only Pete Sampras and
his seven All England trophies stand in the Swiss legend's way of becoming
the most accomplished man to ever to step on centre court at SW19. Federer
has struggled in 2008 more than at any time since becoming the number one
player in the world four years ago, with notable failures to his two main
rivals (see below) in Melbourne and Paris. But until the master is defeated
again in Southwest London, tennis' sweetest prize will still belong to its
greatest player.

Coming closer every day: Rafael Nadal

The Spanish clay court king and perennial world number two to Federer's
number one, Rafael Nadal has come heart-wrenchingly close to the Swiss for
two successive years at the All England Club. Last year's five-set epic will
go down as one of the finest finals ever played there, one in which Federer's
mastery of the surface proved simply too great. Still, Nadal has a couple of
big reasons to be encouraged. The first was his brilliant victory over Novak
Djokovic in the Queen's Club final, where the 22-year-old Mallorcan claimed
his first grass court title. The second, and perhaps psychologically most
important, was his embarrassing demolition of Federer in the Roland Garros
final.

The other champion: Novak Djokovic

Since the 2005 French Open only one man other than Federer or Nadal has
actually claimed one of the 13 Grand Slam titles that have been at play. That
man, of course, is the 21-year-old Serbian, who became his nation's first
major champion by winning the Australian Open trophy at the start of the year
after stunning Federer in the semi-finals. A last four appearance at
Wimbledon along with a runner-up showing at Queen's bode well for the ATP
Tour's third star, but Djokovic has not shown the same I can and will beat
anybody in the world confidence on grass that he has demonstrated on clay and
hard courts.

"Come on Andy!": Andy Murray

The 21-year-old Scot is either the man to continue in the tradition of Tim
Henman, coming painfully close to bringing home the spoils year after year at
Wimbledon, or he will be the first man since Fred Perry to claim a Grand Slam
triumph for Great Britain. The best bet is that he is the latter, but that
said spoils will not be coming home this year. Murray, yet to reach a Grand
Slam quarter-final, has been terribly inconsistent this season, and the
thumb, groin, and neck injuries that forced him to withdraw from the Queen's
Club quarter-finals could have a lingering impact at SW19.

Once upon a time: Andy Roddick

Before there was Djokovic, and before there was Nadal, one man had the
misfortune of having his heart broken every year by Roger Federer at the All
England Club. The American number one, whom Federer surpassed as world number
one more than four years ago, has suffered 15 defeats at the hands of the
Swiss maestro, including six in the last three rounds of Grand Slams, three
in major finals, and two in Wimbledon finals. But there is hope for the
big-serving American yet. Roddick beat the top seeded Federer for only the
second time in his career in the Miami quarter-finals in April.

Gunning for top trio: David Nalbandian

The 26-year-old former Wimbledon runner-up has recovered brilliantly from his
rankings plunge in the middle of last year, and is starting again to look
like a Grand Slam contender. Nalbandian shined at the end of 2007 beating
Federer and Nadal twice each in back-to-back Masters tournaments, and also
earning a win over Djokovic in the same time span. He hasn't translated that
success this year though, crashing out in the third round at the Oz Open and
second round at Roland Garros. Still, Nalbandian will be very encouraged by
his semi-finals appearance at Queen's Club if he does not get too discouraged
by the 6-1 6-0 scoreline against Djokovic. The Argentine is the most likely
player to upset one of the big three.

A Frenchman in London: Richard Gasquet

The French number one skipped Roland Garros with an injury, but Gasquet would
not have likely been a contender in Paris had he played. With his sparkling
serve and massive backhand, the world number nine is much better suited for
Wimbledon where he shocked Roddick on the way to a first-ever Grand Slam
semi-finals appearance in a 4-6 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(3) 8-6 classic last year. A
quarter-finals showing at Queen's was an improvement from last year, and he
has clearly taken a liking to playing in London.

The ex-champion: Lleyton Hewitt

The only man left on the ATP Tour who knows what it's like to kiss the
Wimbledon trophy other than Roger Federer, Hewitt has slipped greatly since
his 2003 triumph at the All England Club. The former world number one started
working with ex-Federer coach and Australian compatriot Tony Roche last year
in order to get his ranking back on track, but the progress has been slow. A
quarter-finals showing at Queen's Club, a tournament he's won four times, is
an improvement from last year but still likely discouraging. Hewitt could go
far at Wimbledon, though, if he gets the right draw.

The potential star: Marcos Baghdatis

Baghdatis was the bright shining star of the ATP Tour just two years ago, the
20-year-old kid who was going to start to challenge Nadal and Federer and
bring new competitive balance to men's tennis. Of course that kid ended up
being Novak Djokovic instead, arriving on Tour a year after Baghdatis slowly
started to descend the rankings. Still, the former Oz Open finalist has a
following in London, where he reached the semi-finals in 2006, and is always
a threat on grass. He has started working with former Federer and Marat Safin
coach Peter Lundgren in preparation for this year's All England Club.

Still waiting: Tomas Berdych

Another young player with supposedly all the potential in the world, Berdych
has yet to live up to his prospects since stunning Federer on his way to the
quarter-finals at the Athens Olympics in 2004. The 22-year-old Czech number
one has shined best on this surface in the past, winning the Halle title last
year and pushing Federer to three sets in the final there two years ago. His
greatest hope in 2008 is probably to match his career-best quarter-finals
appearance at Wimbledon from one season ago.

The rest: Other potential quarter-finalists include the last man to beat
Federer on grass Mario Ancic, Czech danger man Radek Stepanek, big-serving
Croatian duo Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Ljubicic, surprise French Open
semi-finalist Gael Monfils, former world number two Tommy Haas, Finnish
number one Jarkko Nieminen, American number two James Blake, and world number
nine Stanislas Wawrinka.


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