Wimbledon 2006

[rene]

Tomorrow start the most important Tennis Tourney - Wimbledon.

Website:http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html
Liveticker:http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/ibmre...coreboard.html
Live Radio: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/interactive/radio/

1 Day preview from wimbledon.org

n the earnest hope that they may be granted some of that World Cup weather, Wimbledon's thoroughbreds are fidgeting in the starting stalls, so it's time to raise the tapes on the finest classic in the tennis business. Being traditionalists, but by no means stick-in-the-muds, the All England Club will be presenting their usual Centre Court hors d'oeuvre, served up these days at 1.30pm precisely, as our champion and everybody else's number one, Roger Federer, marches forth to commence the defence of a title he has already captured three years in succession.

It is also a tradition to feel a touch sorry for the unfortunate chap whose name has come out alongside the champion's, but any sympathetic noises should be stilled, since the man Federer must beat in order to crack Bjorn Borg's grass court sequence of 41 victories, Richard Gasquet, declares he is well able to take care of himself. Having won the Nottingham title on Saturday for the second straight time, the 20-year-old Frenchman proudly declared himself "the Federer of Nottingham."

Not content with that, the youngster who clocked up one of the four wins that were achieved against the super Swiss in the whole of 2005, and who ran him very close indeed in a tight three-setter at Halle a dozen days ago, opined that he has a small chance of an apple-cart upset "because Roger could be nervous." That may sound a touch cheeky, but the great man himself has conceded that there will be a flutter or two as he embarks in pursuit of the championship that could elevate him alongside such Open era greats as Borg and Pete Sampras as a four-straight champion.

Federer certainly won't be fretting about shattering Borg's 41 since, a bit surprisingly, he claims not to take much note of such marks, even a high altitude one like this. The opponent and the tournament are what counts, he maintains. Gasquet qualifies as familiar opposition, the fifth time they have gazed at each other across the net. The one which Gasquet will recall most fondly was at Monte Carflo in the spring of last season, when he edged the Alp aside in a tense third-set tiebreak. There will, without doubt, be a few muted cries of "Allez France" as Gasquet crosses the threshold of the sport's cathedral, but glory for le tricolore would rate very high on Richter Scales, particularly Federer's.

Assuming, as we are entitled to, that Roger the Magnificent will not stumble, it is Tim Henman he is likely to face in the second round, always providing the British number three can repeat what he did here three years ago by defeating Sweden's Robin Soderling. It is a fair assumption, since Henman, though taking to the grass bereft of a ranking for the first time in a decade, is in prime form and reporting no creaks from his back. The match is accorded second spot on Court One.

The Centre Court filling for the men's matches sandwich is granted to a familiar face, though not a Wimbledon champion yet, in Justine Henin-Hardenne. The third-seeded Henin-Hardenne, fresh from conquering Eastbourne and racking up her third Grand Slam triumph in four years on the clay of Roland Garros, is likely to be tried but not unduly tested by Meng Yuan, a Wimbledon debutant from the fast-multiplying squad of Chinese women being groomed for the big time before the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Meng is 20 and comes from Hu Nan, though she now lives in Hong Kong. She has played only one previous Grand Slam, having qualified for the Australian Open in January and got to the second round. She also made it into the third round of Indian Wells as a qualifier.

Belgium's other top contending lady and the tournament's second seed, Kim Clijsters, kicks off Court One proceedings against one of the host of "ovas" and "evas" in the women's line-up. Kim's "eva" is Vera Zvonareva, a Moscow lass of 21 summers who dusted off the grass court cobwebs in some style by winning the Birmingham tournament eight days ago, the fourth singles title of her career. Vera may not end up winning but if so she won't be able to put it down to lack of time on the turf.

There is sure to be a warm welcome on Court Two for the returning Martina Hingis, whose second career this year has been such a resounding success. Indeed, the lady who won Wimbledon in 1997 as a 16-year-old and is tilting for a second honour here at the grand old age of 25, won the Italian Open last month and will fancy her chances of creating a little mayhem deep into the tournament. Its reputation for dramatic upsets notwithstanding, Court Two should not provide the setting for what would be the highlight of her life so far for the Hingis opposition, Olga Savchuk, an 18-year-old Ukrainian, who pushed as far as the third round of this year's Australian Open as a qualifier and is, of course, another Wimbledon debutante.

Fresh from his triumph on Dutch grass at s'Hertogenbosch on Saturday, Mario Ancic is also out on Court Two, matched with Spain's Nicolas Almagro. The weekend's triumph provided further proof that the tall Croatian known as Super Mario and Little Goran (after his hero, Ivanisevic) is one of the top threats to Federer's hegemony. Almagro is a clay court specialist, but a fine one in the tradition of his compatriot Rafael Nadal, so he will be hoping to extend the lanky Ancic.

[CJ Mars]

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html

FULL DRAW ABOVE

The tennis gods have been incredibly cruel on Roger Federer in the draw for Wimbeldon as he seeks to win a 4th consecutive title. Like at Halle recently he has a number of harder than expected games on the horizon and a lot earlier than expected. The fact that Wimbeldon is seeded based on overall rankings and not the specialised grass ratings means that highly ranked players overall like for example Davydenko that are terrible on grass (W1 L10) kept apart from other seeds early and that players low on the ranks overall but dangerous on grass (Ivo Karlovic for example) can be very dangerous. To my mind a quote of 4/7 overall is no value as the effects of some highly attritional and tight games early might blunt the Swiss man’s challenge. Far better in my view to look for an e/w shout in one of the weaker quarters.

1st Quarter

In Federer’s quarter the winners of both last weeks grass events (Ancic and Gasquet) lurk. Gasquet is up first as tough an opener as it could get for the Swiss. Assumeing he cross this a second round meeting with Henman a third round meeting with Haas/Berdych and a 4th round with “Super Mario” Ancic or the other Croat big hitter the giant Karlovic await. Not what he would have wished. Haas pushed Federer very hard in Halle but he won’t have home support and is very injury prone. Henman once a troubleing opponent for Fed has probably shot his bolt and while Karlovic’s big serve is a plus he retired in the Stella Artois and form is poor generally. Realistically the main danger in the quarter is Ancic fresh of a great French Open for a non clay courter and a very solid win on grass in Holland. He should be able to see off countryman Karlovic in the second round (although the H to H is worryingly 3:1 in Karlovics favor) and the other seeds in his half (Robredo , Srichphan and Monfils) have issues of form (Srichaphan), surface (Robredo) and injury (Monfils) to make me swerve. Fed has won the last 3 (Ancic won the sole grass meeting way back in 2002) but I’m willing to chance Ancic here with the possibility that some of the potential earlier speed bumps have taken the momentum from the Fed Express. I got 30 way back on Ancic. 24 is still available on Betfair.

Ancic and Fedrer for the quarter final

2nd Quarter

A weak quarter here. Nalbandian and Blake are the real dangermen here but there are questions over Nalbandian’s fitness and Blake’s record here (never beyond second round). The price on Nalbandian is actually quite attractive at 34s given the weak quarter but is probably a reflection of injury concerns. The section is so weak howver that I really can’t see who will threaten them. The grass specialist Mirnyi and Bjorkman will be more concerned with their doubles progress , Spadea is injured and Ferrero seems a spent force. If I had to pick a dark horse here to make the quarters it would probably be Italian Braccali who has some decent results on grass. As it is hard to see beyond the big two.

Nalbandian and Blake.

3rd Quarter

Lleyton Hewitt is edgeing back towards form with a very solid win in the Stella Artois on grass recently. Without Federer it is probable that he would have more than the single Wimbeldon win to his name. His 73-15 all time grass record is up there with any modern players and he is still a fierce competitior who will chase down everything. Few dangers lurk in the quarter. A third round meeting with Ollie Rochus is likely (assumeing the latter can dispose of the winner of Safin / Rusedski) something that should not be beyond the Aussie. The bottom part of the quarter looks trickier with Andy Murray back to some sort of form and Roddick, Bagdatis and Grosjean all having claims to make the last 8. His form is poor but you’d still have to fancy Roddick here given his overall Wimbeldon record. Murray is too prone to meltdown, Bagdhatis’s grass credentials aren’t proven and Roddick is 7-1 against Grosjean in the H to H (includeing 4 on grass where). Having said all that Roddick has retired injured twice in the last 6 games and at a price of 20s as against the Frenchman’s 150 I’m willing to take a chance on Grosjean for the quarters

Grosjean and Hewitt

4th Quarter

The weakest quarter of all and one that will surely have Nadal thinking that this might be the year he can go beyond his best performance of the third round in 2003. he is however suffering from a possible shoulder injury and the reality is that he is a career 5-4 on grass and determination might just not be enough here to make any meaningful impression on the event. I’m actually going to be laying him at 1.11 in the first round against British wildcard Bogdanovich who plays a lot on grass and who has some decent Challenger results on the surface in England. The quarter is really very weak with clay courters such as Gaudio and Davydenko among the seeds. Its actually so weak I’m going to give a sentimental nod to Andre Agassi playing in his final event here. He’s old , he has a bad back but Ivanesevic showed how far grasscourt smarts can go when he finally won in 2002 and with the double AA goes off at a mouth watering 250/1 he is good for a sentimental tenner for me. Ginepri is struggling with form and Mardy Fish while on a comeback of sorts is still a long way away from the form of two years ago. In the top ½ Ljubcic is the big seed but his first round opponent Felicano Lopez is a threat on grass and might have enough to make the last 8 with a favourable draw.

Lopez and Agassi

Recommended Bets

Mario Ancic -2 Units E/w 24/1 (Expekt)
Hewitt 14/1 – 5 Units (Betfair)
Grosjean 150/1 0.5 Unit (Betfair)
Agassi 250/1 0.25 Units e/w (Tote Sport)

[CJ Mars]

Seome for tomorrow. All betfair prices unless indicated.

Federer-Gasquet

An opener Federer could have done without. Gasquet is fresh from his second ATP grass win in Nottingham. Took a set off Federer on gras in Halle recently and in their 4 meetings has only been beaten in straight sets once. Federer was sluggish in Halle dropping sets in 4 of the 5 games and he might be more vulnerable than usual.

Lay Federer 3-0 @ 1.66 (1.50 Units Risked)

Henman – Soderling

Henman has started Wimbeldon slowly in 5 of the last 7 occasions winning 3-2 once and 3-1 4 times in his opening games. He beat Soderling 3-0 in 2003 in the third round but the Swede has progressed and Henman regressed in the intervening years. Experience should swing it for Henman here but I think he will be vulnerable to at least dropping a set here against Soderling who pushed Gasquet very hard in the semis in Nottingham last week.

Henman 3-1 0.75 @ 3.75 (Stan James)
Henman 3-2 0.25 Units @ 6.6

Philipousos-Mathieu

Very rare that you can put Aussie has been up as a potential bet of the day but that’s what I’d have him as today. Tennis seems secondary to him these days but his SW19 record is very solid. He’s exited first round only once in 9 efforts and he is 20-6 in his last 6 appearances with a second round exit to Safin last year being no disgrace. Mathieu is simply very poor on grass as a 3-9 record would attest. Last outing was a straight sets defeat to the equally poor on grass Vanek and I’ve gone heavy on Phili here.

Philiposuso 2.5 Units @ 1.63

Wang-Marach

Marach 4 grass games (all Wimbeldon) – 4 first qual rd exist in straight sets. Wang nothing special but had enough to beat Bjorkman and Davydenko recently and took a set of Tursnov in the Stella Artois.

Wang 2 Units @ 1.37

Melzer-Mahut

Melzer 2-1 on the H to H (1 on grass) and has some decent results on grass. Mahut in better form in last month or two but his Slam form is absolutely abysmal (never beyond 1st round in 19 starts ). Melzer should have the nous to win this.

Melzer 2 Units @ 1.80

Kunitysn-Monfils

Simply because Monfils possibly carrying an injury. The very definition of speculative

Lay Monfils @ 1.22 vs Kunitysn (0.25 Units Risked)

Sanguinetti-Kim

Not sure how Kim priced as favourite here. He’s had the benefit of a warm up in the three qualifiers but the opposition was hardly threatening. Sanguinetti’s form is poor but he’s a better player in my view and this is a toin coss.

Sanguinetti 1 Unit @ 2.2

Novak-Vliegan

Vliegen 6-9 on grass a 1.48 shot ? I don’t think so. Novak still can bite as his recent run to a semi final in Austria in clay showed and he lost a very tight game on grass in Holland to Berdych last week so his game can’t be all that bad. In a similar run of form last year coming up to Wimbeldon Novak made the third round and he is worth a small nibble.

Novak 0.75 Units @ 3.05

[GaNgStA kEeKs]

Cracking stuff CJ.

Wimbledon alredy? :loon

Seems just yesterday we had the french open on. Will have some of the lay 3-0 Federer i think, not even going to bother chancing Henman.

Good luck mate

[edtkh]

CJ, why don't you start a thread for Wimbledon instead of just its first round matches? On to Day 1...

30pts Federer-Srichaphan-Karlovic-Waske-Vliegen (3.17 @ Ladbrokes)

Federer is to grass what Nadal is to clay - can't see Gasquet beating the King of Grass regardless of how close he claims to have mastered Federer's game at Halle a fortnight ago.

Vliegen at 1.40 to beat an ageing Novak is really licence to steal - the Belgian is an up-and-coming player who has improved in leaps and bounds on this surface over the years. The Czech, on the other hand, has done nothing special and is already in the twilight of his career.

Likewise, Srichaphan and Karlovic are both mismatches - Calleri has no pedigree on this surface and even the inconsistent Thai should prove too much for him, while the big-serving Croat should relish taking on the rather limited(on grass at least) Swiss.

Lastly, I think Waske at 1.40 is reasonable enough. While Waske and Galvani both spend large chunks of their season at the Challenger level, Waske has got a weapon in his arsenal which is indispensable at Wimbledon against the mediocre player - a big serve.

Cheers & Good Luck!

Starting Bank : 100.00pts
Current Bank : 100.00pts
Current Profit/Loss : 0.00pts

[CJ Mars]

CJ, why don't you start a thread for Wimbledon instead of just its first round matches?

Komp edited the title for some reason. It would be better if we kept all the posts in a single thread IMO. Maybe someone coudl edit the thread title back please?

[edinlichtie]

right edtkh, had a bit of your acca @ 3.22 centrebet , good luck!

also took a bit of phillipousis

[keemanan]

What you want it as CJ?

[A.M.P]

Top work boys. Can we have times of play posted up as I ain't got a clue about Tennis. However, I'm going to take some of the bets mentioned on this thread by those that obviously do (Henman win 3-1,3-2 and the lay of Fedrer if it aint started already..).

[ForzaLazio]

Monday ORDER OF PLAY

Court Two (1200 start)
O Savchuk Ukr v M HINGIS Swi 12 WS
T ROBREDO Sp 11 v S Greul Ger MS
N Almagro Sp v M ANCIC Cro 7 MS
S KUZN'OVA Rus 5 v R Oprandi It WS

Court Three (1200 start)
D HANT'VA Svk 15 v M Camerin It WS
P MATHIEU Fr 32 v M Phil'ussis Aus MS
P SCHNYDER Swi 8 v A Serra Zan'i It WS
JC FERRER Sp 25 v F Vicente Sp MS


SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles
MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles
WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles






Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court Four (1200 start) F Dancevic Can v R STEPANEK Cz 14 MS H Sromova Cze v V Ruano P Sp WS A CHAK'ZE Rus 30 v Z Yan Chn WS R Karanusic Cro v R Schuettler Ger MS Court Five (1200 start) I Karlovic Cro v S Wawrinka Swi MS V Razzano Fr v N LI Chn 27 WS M Tu US v V Bardina Rus WS A Portas Sp v A Clement Fr MS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court Six (1200 start) K Flipkens Bel v J Jackson US WS T HAAS Ger 20 v J Vanek Cz MS A Molik Aus v YJ Chan Tpe WS W Arthurs Aus v F Santoro Fr MS Court Seven (1200 start) X Malisse Bel v B Dorsch Ger MS A Radwanska Pol v V Azarenka Blr WS O Marach Aut v YT Wang Tpe MS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court Eight (1200 start) N Mahut Fr v J Melzer Aut MS A Nakamura Jpn v E Bychkova Rus WS M Sucha Svk v K SREB'IK Slo 21 WS J Hernych Cze v T BERDYCH Cze 13 MS Court Nine (1200 start) J Zheng Chn v I Benesova Cze WS S Galvani It v A Waske Ger MS M Sanchez Sp v E Vesnina Rus WS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court 11 (1200 start) V Dushevina Rus v A Morigami Jpn WS B Becker Ger v JI Chela Arg MS C Castano Col v T Tanasugarn Tha WS P Starace It v M Youzhny Rus MS Court 13 (1200 start) A SUGI'MA Jpn 18 v N Cavaday GB WS A GROEN'D Ger 13 v T Pironkova Bul WS T JOH'SON Swe 12 v J Bjorkman Swe MS I Kunitsyn Rus v G MONFILS Fr 22 MS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court 14 (1200 start) S ARVID'N Swe 28 v E Birnerova Cze WS M Mirnyi Blr v R Ramirez-H Sp MS D Sanguinetti It v K Kim US MS I Lisjak Cro v K Bondarenko Ukr WS Court 15 (1200 start) J Novak Cze v K VLIEGEN Bel 30 MS P Goldsstein US v N Djokovic SeM MS K Peschke Cze v K Brandi PuR WS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court 17 (1200 start) E Laine Fin v G DULKO Arg 31 WS D Bracciali It v D HRBATY Svk 21 MS C Berlocq Arg v R Bloomfield GB MS Court 18 (1200 start) P SRIC'AN Tha 29 v A Calleri Arg MS V Spadea US v F VERDASCO Sp 28 MS S Asagoe Jpn v M KIRIL'O Rus 17 WS M BARTOLI Fr 24 v C Pin Fr WS SEEDS in CAPS XD=Mixed doubles MS=Men's singles WD=Women's doubles WS=Women's singles MD=Men's doubles


Monday ORDER OF PLAY Court 19 (1200 start) V Kutuzova Ukr v L Osterloh US WS T Garbin It v K O'Brien GB WS F Serra Fr v L Dlouhy Cze MS A Yakimova Blr v S Bremond Fr WS Court tba (not before 1700) K Sprem Cro v A Keothavong GB WS K Koukalova Cze v N VAID'VA Cze 10 WS

[CJ Mars]

What you want it as CJ?

Thinks its been (re)edited Keema thanks I'm confused

[A.M.P]

Cheers. Beat me to it as I just got it off the BBC. I take it rain is delaying things as per usual.

[A.M.P]

Centre Court (1300 start)
R FEDERER Swi 1 v R Gasquet Fr MS
M Yuan Chn v J HENIN-H Bel 3 WS
D NALB'IAN Arg 3 v W Moodie SA MS

Court One (1300 start)
V Zvonareva Rus v K CLIJ'RS Bel 2 WS
R Soderling Swe v T Henman GB MS
K Pless Den v J BLAKE US 8 MS

[Hippy Dave]

Mayer to beat Vik @ 1.39 looks like a nice give away, Mayer decent on this surface, Vik has shown nothing. A nice price to get us started. Considered Sanguinetti to CJ, just based on his big serve and Kim being a side to side player, not suited to the surface, but can't bring myself to back Sanguinetti, who's always going to lose more matches than he wins.

[A.M.P]

Well, Henman lost the first set and I followed CJ's tip of 3-1, 3-2 yesterday so fingers crossed he'll huff and puff his way to a win. I notice that he's unseeded this year. Would it be a major surprise if he went out first round?