Wimbledon 2010: First round about to begin – Roger Federer may lose
Summer is a busy time in the lives of tennis players; there are just a few weeks to switch from the red dirt surface to grass. In order to gain momentum and gauge their performances, players head to Halle and Queens to see what they are made up from. These two tournaments may not be as prestigious as the Wimbledon Championship itself, but they hold great importance in the eyes of not just the players but the fans and critics as well. They are seen as a yardstick by which performances at Wimbledon are usually predicted. Over the years, these two tournaments have produced winners as per expectations, but this year the tide seems to have changed.
Halle has been Roger Federer’s playground since 2002. He never lost the tournament since then but Lleyton Hewitt came out with different plans for him for 2010. The Australian was looking to gain some form before Wimbledon, and he did just that. Hewitt finally broke his losing streak against Federer after almost seven years. What was evident from the Halle final was Hewitt’s confidence level. Hewitt used his weapon of prolonging rallies with sheer class, forcing the error from the Swiss.
Previously, Hewitt was forced to play aggressive tennis as Federer was on top of Hewitt’s rallies and Hewitt’s ground strokes did not seem to unnerve the Swiss. The tables turned this year, as Federer was under constant pressure and Hewitt took complete advantage of Federer’s mistimed shots. The loss came as a shock to Federer who had beaten Hewitt fifteen times on the trot prior to this match and was hopeful of going into his favourite tournament on a high. It seems this loss may lead to Federer losing some momentum, whereas Hewitt is all set to gain from his win. Due to his poor ranking, Hewitt has almost always been drawn against top players in the early rounds of grand slam tournament around the world, thus leading to his early exits. The situation may be different now that he has moved up six spots to number twenty six in the world, thus lessening his chances of facing either Federer or Nadal in the early rounds. Hewitt is known for his skills on grass and he would be looking to better his performance at Wimbledon this year after a morale boosting win. On the other hand, Federer would be looking to put this match behind him and concentrate on regaining his momentum at Wimbledon.
The same fate was witnessed at Queen’s, where the winners list usually includes the likes of Roddick, Murray and Nadal. Ironically the last time Nadal won at Queen’s, he went on the snatch the Wimbledon crown from Federer. But this year, it was none of these usual suspects who etched his name on the trophy. To everyone’s surprise, it was a relatively unknown American by the name of Sam Querry. As he saw seeds crash out of the tournament, he capitalized on the tournament of his life. Querry beat his fellow American Mardy Fish and captured his first ever grass court title. The twenty-two-year old American has been edging his way up in the men’s circle, by adding a grass court title to his kitty of a clay and asphalt court title. Little was expected out of Querry, who defying all odds won an all important tournament in the run up to Wimbledon. He now would be looking to go past his best of a second round appearance at Wimbledon.
Queen’s club proved to be unlucky for French Open champion Rafael Nadal this year as he lost to Feliciano Lopez in the quarter finals, but he was not the only seed to fall in Queens, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were shown the door. But now that the warm-up tournaments have come to a close, some players would look back and learn from their mistakes whereas others would be ride into Wimbledon on a high; all in search of the prestigious Wimbledon crown.
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