Grand Slam Tennis Tours Blog By Jeremy
Monday, July 5 - 2010
WIMBLEDON REVIEW
I don’t want to brag, but I will…Before the weekend I picked Serena Williams to beat Zvonoreva (not a shocker), Nadal to beat Murray (again, not a shocker), Berdych to beat Djokovic (a bit of a surprise), and the Nadal/Murray winner to defeat the Berdych/Djokovic winner. As you all know, I was correct on all accounts. I guess you could make the argument that none of my picks were exactly risky ones (especially since I wasn’t gambling on them, since that is illegal), but considering how badly I performed during the French Open and most of Wimbledon, I feel pretty darned good!
Now that I’m off my high horse, can we all admit it was a relatively lackluster final weekend? Out of these four singles matches, not a single one was exciting. Was there great tennis? Of course…but when it comes to final weekend matches I’m looking for drama. Or maybe I’ve just been spoiled by the past few years. Federer vs. Nadal (times 3), Federer vs. Roddick (my favorite tennis match ever), and a few Williams vs. Williams battles.
Oh, and as for day one at the Newport Hall of Fame Tournament, it was hot…really, really hot. Since writing this is actually dehydrating me further, I’m going to leave you with some links:
Great piece on Jamaican Dustin Brown from the New York Times a couple weeks ago. I saw him play, and win, at Newport today (where it was really, really hot).
64 tidbits about the top 64 players from Ravi Ubha of ESPN.com
Jon Wertheim’s Wimbledon wrap-up.
Bruce Jenkin’s thoughts on a dominating, and healthy, Rafael Nadal.
Breaking news…Serena has a pretty decent serve. And by pretty decent, I mean better than any other female who has ever hit a serve.
Peter Bodo on the Men’s final.
Thursday, July 1 - 2010
WEEKEND PREVIEW
Since I’ve been so accurate with my predictions so far, why not continue (for those scoring at home, that means if you are gambling on the following matches, don’t listen to anything I have to say)…
Serena Williams vs. Vera Zvonareva – I’d like to just write “Serena,” and leave it at that, but I don’t get paid the big bucks for nothing. Bottom line is I just can’t see the Russian winning this match. It’s her first ever slam final, and she is going up against a buzzsaw who has won 12 Grand Slams, including 3 Wimbledon titles. Zvonaravea is playing well enough where I could see her getting off to a quick start and maybe even taking the first set, but once Serena survives that, it should be lights out and another Williams Wimbledon.
Tomas Berdych vs. Novak Djokovic – My heart says Berdych, and so does my head. Berdych, who had never made a Grand Slam semifinal until Paris last month, has now made a second in a row and looks poised to make his first final. Nothing against Djokovic, but the fact remains he hasn’t exactly proven himself this fortnight. Hewitt is far and away the best player he had to beat, and I just think Berdych is playing better ball right now.
Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray – My heart says the Brit, but my head says Rafa. I would love for Murray to even have the chance to play for the title in front of the London crowd, I just think Nadal is too tough. Even after Soderling jumped out to a huge lead in their quarterfinal match, Nadal was just too mentally and physically strong. Though I should point out that Murray has actually looked the stronger of the two, dropping only one set (to Tsonga) throughout the event so far, whereas Nadal has already been pushed to the limit twice.
Men’s Final – Since I’ll most likely get at least one semifinal pick wrong, I’ll skip the fruitless exercise of doing a full preview…I’ll leave it with this – the winner of the Nadal/Murray semifinal is winning Wimbledon.
Happy 4th, Happy Wimbledon finals weekend…I’ll be back next week with a live report from Day 1 of Newport!