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text-decoration:none; } img {border:none;} The Sport Review: “Who can
rain on the Rafa-and-Roger Wimbledon parade?” plus 2 more- Who can rain on the Rafa-and-Roger Wimbledon parade? - Joe Cole is key to England’s fortunes, says John Terry - Who can break the Williams’ Wimbledon stranglehold? Who can rain on the Rafa-and-Roger Wimbledon parade? Posted: 20 Jun 2010 11:36 AM PDT Where to begin with a rivalry that has captured the imagination with every step through its 20 meetings on the tennis stage? It is no accident that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have shared the top two ATP rankings for more than five years—give or take three months at the start of 2010. In that time, they have only met in semi-finals or finals and, since 2006, have been the last men standing in seven Grand Slam finals and in eight Masters finals. At Wimbledon, Federer has appeared in the last seven finals and against Nadal in three of them. And Federer's only loss was to Nadal in the near-iconic 2008 final. The stakes this time round, though, are higher than ever. Federer lost his top ranking to Nadal with his French Open title. To stand a chance of regaining No.1 this year, he needs to defend the Wimbledon title. Nadal was unable to play last year so this, in effect, is the defence of his title. There is, however, a different flavour to this year's event. Federer has suffered a succession of defeats since his victory in Australia, and to players who have always suffered at his hands: Marcos Baghdatis, Tomas Berdych, Ernests Gulbis, Albert Montanes, Robin Soderling and, only last week, Lleyton Hewitt. Federer talks an upbeat game, and rightly so. His grass game is one of the finest of the Open era. But his aura is slightly tarnished, and that is dangerous. Nadal, conversely, is enjoying one of his finest ever streaks: three straight Masters titles followed by the French Open. He has come back from injury with a retooled, smarter game, a better serve, more variety, more incisive attack and, if it's possible, better defence. Can anyone, even Federer, deny him his favourite title? The draw looks pretty favourable, and even more so now that the first seed in his segment, the dangerous Gulbis, has withdrawn. Nadal could meet James Blake in the second round, but the now-unseeded American, once such a dangerous attacking player, is sadly lacking in form. A rather larger challenge waits in the fourth round, where Nadal could face John Isner, who has no record on grass, or Mikhail Youzhny. The latter has had a good year so far, but he has lost to the Spaniard at the fourth round stage in both 2007 and 2008, and this year's Nadal is a different and tougher prospect. It's in the quarterfinals that the fun may begin. Soderling will almost certainly out-play David Ferrer—who has never got beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon—for a chance to wreak revenge on his Roland Garros loss to Nadal. His big serve and ground game, particularly if it's warm and dry, will be tough, but Nadal's defence, and superior mobility and touch around the net, should see him through. His reward may be Andy Murray, but the Great British hope has his own tricky draw to negotiate. It should be plain sailing until the fourth round, where he could meet last week's Queens winner, Sam Querrey. As an aside, the American has an interesting hurdle in his first round: Sergiy Stakhovsky has just won the Unicef Open in the Netherlands without dropping a set. That one could be fireworks. In the quarters, Murray is likely to face—and should beat—Fernando Verdasco or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, for a place against Nadal. Murray ought to see this as a relatively benign draw. Federer, who has beaten him in two Slam finals, Roddick, who beat him here last year, and a resurgent Hewitt are in the other half. Meanwhile, Murray has beaten Nadal in their last two Slam meetings. The stars may be in alignment. And so to Federer. His biggest early challenge is Feliciano Lopez, who has an ideal grass court game, but he retired with injury this week in Eastbourne. The other early danger is Jurgen Melzer, who's enjoying some good form, but cannot manipulate the grass like Federer. Other pitfalls ahead of the semis? Berdych has both the power game and some ability on grass, but he has to get past Stan Wawrinka and then Nikolay Davydenko, who's playing his first major tournament since March. Neither is at their best on grass, however, and it's just possible that a sleeper like Denis Istomin, who made waves both at Queens and at Eastbourne, could be the surprise quarter-finalist. Federer then meets the survivor of possibly the toughest quarter, topped by Novak Djokovic. The No.3 seed could meet the dangerous Gael Monfils or the Halle-winning, Federer-defeating Hewitt in the fourth round. By the quarters, it may be three-time Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, but he will have to beat another dangerous sleeper, Mardy Fish: a slimmer, faster, fitter and more confident player than he's ever been, and with just the game for grass. So calling who Federer might meet ahead of Nadal is tricky but, on balance, it may be a rematch of last year's final against Roddick. So the Andys versus the big R’s. And no one ought to bet their house on the Andys not prevailing this time. What odds on a British winner, then? - Andy Murray seeded fourth at this year’s Wimbledon - Roger Federer could lose top ranking after Soderling defeat - Soderling and Berdych: Big men are first to French semis Joe Cole is key to England’s fortunes, says John Terry Posted: 20 Jun 2010 04:08 AM PDT John Terry says England’s performance against Algeria was “totally unacceptable” and believes Joe Cole could be the man to change Fabio Capello’s side’s fortunes. “We realise that our last game (against Algeria) was totally unacceptable,” Terry told a press conference. “The manager said after the game that we played without any passion at all. I think first and foremost you need to have that (passion) and I don’t think any player had that the other night. “I’m sure on Wednesday (against Slovenia) everyone will have the fire in their belly.” Terry, 29, went on to say he thinks former Chelsea team-mate Joe Cole, along with Wayne Rooney, is the key to unlocking stubborn back lines. “If he’s called upon, Joe would do a great job,” continued Terry. “With Chelsea he was a great boost for us coming back from his injury. Joe is one of those players who gives everything and always makes himself available. “I personally think that him and Wayne (Rooney) are the only two in the side who can really open things up and be the key to breaking down defences.” The Chelsea captain went on to defend Fabio Capello’s tactical decisions, but hinted that the team would not be afraid of confronting the Italian manager if they feel there are problems. “We shouldn’t be criticising the manager,” he said. “It takes a lot of responsibility to be the England manager. We’re here, we’re fully behind him and we know we’ve got his support as well,” he said. “If we feel there is a problem, there’s no point keeping it in. Whether we have an argument with the manager or us expressing our opinions upsets him, everyone needs to get off their chest exactly how they are feeling.” Looking ahead to England’s final Group C game against Slovenia, Terry insisted that the players would give their all, knowing that only a win will guarantee qualification to the last 16. “(Not qualifying) would be unacceptable,” he said. “I’d be the first one out of the dressing room holding my hands up, but until that minute comes I’m going to keep myself and the lads upbeat. “It’s not acceptable the way we played, but we’re still upbeat and we go into our last game looking to top the group and that’s the main thing keeping us going at the moment. “We just need to go out there and think ‘sod it’. We’ve got one more game that will make or break our tournament. “It’s been three or four weeks away from my family, but I’ve come here to win this tournament—I don’t want to go home on Wednesday.” - England need revitalising ahead of Slovenia clash - Video: Wayne Rooney lashes out at booing England fans - I didn’t make mistakes, insists Capello after US draw Who can break the Williams’ Wimbledon stranglehold? Posted: 20 Jun 2010 03:14 AM PDT The Williams sisters have eight Wimbledon singles titles between them As surely as day follows night, there are Venus and Serena Williams topping the seedings and splitting the draw for this year's Wimbledon. And make no mistake, they are the women to beat because of their record on grass. For a decade, at least one of them has played every single Wimbledon final but one, and in eight of those ten years, a Williams has won. No one else has had a look-in. The Williams know how to play the game off court as well as on, with perfect pace and preparation. They have played fewer events than any woman in the top 40 barring the three who have been off the Tour: Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova. The Williams march to their own tune, and ahead of Wimbledon it is no different: neither has played a single match on grass. Yet they seem destined to meet each other once again on finals day on second Saturday. Are there any who can defy the odds? In Serena's half, her first interesting opponent comes in the shape of Sharapova in the fourth round. It is hard to believe that the statuesque Russian won Wimbledon way back in 2004, aged just 17—after beating Serena. With shoulder surgery behind her, she is showing signs of reaching something like her old form and made the final on Birmingham's grass last week. If she finds consistency, she may be ready to take Wimbledon by storm once more. The quarters could throw up Agnieszka Radwanska who has reached that stage in the last two Wimbledons. She lost at Eastbourne to Victoria Azarenka, but if she is injury free she has the potential to shine on the grass. In the semi-finals it could be Azarenka, though she too struggled with injury in reaching the Eastbourne finals. A more likely opponent at this stage is No.3 seed Caroline Wozniacki. The Danish teenager has improved with each of her three Wimbledons, though as defending champion, she lost in Eastbourne to Aravane Rezai. The rising French star, Rezai, has raced up the rankings since last autumn, and won her first Premier title in Madrid a month ago. Her all-court game suits the grass, and she reached the semi-finals in Birmingham last week. However, she was forced to retire at Eastbourne, and that may play into the hands of another much-improved woman, Sam Stosur. The strong Australian has used her fine doubles game to carve out some major singles successes, not least reaching the final of the French Open. She had some good wins at Eastbourne this week and, with her big forehand and heavy swinging serve, she may pose the biggest threat to Serena if she makes it to the semifinals. And what about big sister, Venus? Well there are some interesting possibilities early on. She is unlikely to be troubled by the seeds in her eighth of the draw, but sitting amongst them is former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic The Serb has been showing signs of a return from her tennis wilderness, taking some big scalps in Rome and fighting a tight battle against Jelena Jankovic in Madrid. She has ability on grass too—she was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2007 and a fourth-rounder last year. The London grass could just stoke her confidence. Venus could then face some classy and in-form serve-volleyers in the quarters. Francesca Schiavone, who turns 30 next week, is fresh from her biggest win at Roland Garros. The Italian is riding a wave of confidence and have the perfect game for grass. They could meet in the fourth round—potentially one of the matches of Wimbledon—so Venus will have to face just one. After that, the chances are that Venus will meet a Belgian for, like history repeating, Henin and Clijsters are drawn in the same segment. Both showed good form in different grass events this week, and Henin won in Holland. She has made no secret of how much she wants to win Wimbledon, and she has the all-court game and varied stroke play to do so. If she beats Clijsters and then another Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer, she "only" has to beat Venus and then her sister. It is a tall order, but if she manages it, the moment would undoubtedly echo the one that inspired her to come back and try: Roger Federer at Roland Garros last year. But the safe money? Venus to beat Serena in the final. - Is Women’s Tennis finally about to bounce back? - Andy Murray seeded fourth at this year’s Wimbledon - Reigning champion Kuznetsova loses out in Paris You are subscribed to email updates from The Sport Review To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 -- Posted By Mas Item Arekjowo to Bwinsport | Gila Bola at 6/21/2010 12:49:00 AM -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Gugukluhayat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/gugukluhayat?hl=en.
