*Official* Tennis Thread

[Neil Pickup]

Originally Posted by broncoman

he made the final 2 years ago, and that field was stronger then than it is now.
the only thing that worries me about him is his ability to come back after such a bad loss to Gaudio in the SF in Paris.

Was a very fortunate draw IIRC, and then he got creamed.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Neil Pickup

Was a very fortunate draw IIRC, and then he got creamed.

hes a much better player now than he was back then, i mean hes in the worlds top 5, has made a grand slam final on the surface, a pretty weak draw, he can win it for sure.

[Neil Pickup]

R1 - David Sanchez (Spa) - 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5
R2 - Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) - 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
R3 - George Bastl (Swi) - 6-2 6-2 6-2
R4 - Wayne Arthurs (Aus) - 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (9-7)
QF - Nicolas Lapentti 22 (Ecu) 6-4 6-4 4-6 4-6 6-4
SF - Xavier Malisse 27 (Bel) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 1-6 2-6 6-2
F - Lleyton Hewitt 1 (Aus) 1-6 3-6 2-6

2003 saw him beat Voltchkov, Sa and Kucera before running into Henman.

[Simon]

that draw isnt as easy as it looks, u never want to play a guy like wayne arthurs at wimbledon, grass courts help the huge servers. Malisse is a dangerous floater in every grand slam draw, the top seeds always want to avoid him early on, Lapentti has made a grand slam semi final and bastl knocked Sampras out that year i believe. a bit harder than it looked.

even last yeah he beat a former wimbledon SF in voltchkov before eventually losing.

and hes obviously some hope being the 5th favourite with mosr bookies.

[Mister Wright]

Originally Posted by Neil Pickup

R1 - David Sanchez (Spa) - 6-4 6-3 4-6 7-5
R2 - Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fra) - 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3
R3 - George Bastl (Swi) - 6-2 6-2 6-2
R4 - Wayne Arthurs (Aus) - 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 7-6 (9-7)
QF - Nicolas Lapentti 22 (Ecu) 6-4 6-4 4-6 4-6 6-4
SF - Xavier Malisse 27 (Bel) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 1-6 2-6 6-2
F - Lleyton Hewitt 1 (Aus) 1-6 3-6 2-6

2003 saw him beat Voltchkov, Sa and Kucera before running into Henman.

That would be a fair enough argument if Nalbandien like most first time runner-ups just faded away. But after that performance at Wimbledon he has done extremely well, especially in Grad Slams, I think he made the semis at last year's US Open and the French Open the year before I think he made it to the second week.

I like he's style, I think he is a fine player.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Mister Wright

That would be a fair enough argument if Nalbandien like most first time runner-ups just faded away. But after that performance at Wimbledon he has done extremely well, especially in Grad Slams, I think he made the semis at last year's US Open and the French Open the year before I think he made it to the second week.

I like he's style, I think he is a fine player.

made the semi finals this year at the french kyle, in fact hes made the quarter finals of all 4 slams at least once in in the last 3 years. there arent too many going around with that kind of recent record.

[Mister Wright]

Originally Posted by broncoman

made the semi finals this year at the french kyle, in fact hes made the quarter finals of all 4 slams at least once in in the last 3 years. there arent too many going around with that kind of recent record.

It is very rare for a South American to be strong on all surfaces, especially considering clay is probably not his best surface.

[Simon]

the draw has just come out for the mens and im not happy!

Haas has Nalbandian, novak, henman, hrbaty and philipoussis in his quarter, very tough, ill still say he will make the semis and to top it off, my favourite dangerous floater is a possible second round match up!

my semi final match ups are
Hewitt v Grojean
Haas/Henman v Schuettler

[Mister Wright]

I have a feeling the winner may come out of that top quater. There are some quality players there. Federer, Safin, Hewitt, Srichaphan, Ivanisevic (that's 3 former champions & one other Grand Slam winner along with a big name beater). Hewitt could play Goran in round 3 & Safin round 4, then Federer QF, that's a tough draw!

Grojean should get through the second quater, only Arthurs & Ferrero are the main challengers, perhaps Bjorkman.

Quarter 3 is strong aswell with Henman, Poo, Gonzalez, Hass, Blake & Nalbandien. Henman v Poo in round 4 shapes as the wouthwaterer there (if Poo can get past the frist round).

Roddick should have Quarter 4 all wrapped up, Schuttler, Rusedski & Enqvist the main contenders there.

So my semis would be:

Hewitt/Federer v Grojean
Henman/Poo v Roddick

[Simon]

Goran will go round 1, i cant see him beating Youzhny, i mean its world 33 against 415!

[Mister Wright]

Originally Posted by broncoman

Goran will go round 1, i cant see him beating Youzhny, i mean its world 33 against 415!

Perhaps, but the thing about Wimbledon, even if you are terribly out of form, the change in surface helps the grass specialists. Goran came out of nowhere to win in 2000. I can't see him winning here, but he can pull off a few upsets.

[Simon]

maybe, but highly unlikely, youzhny is too solid, has made the 4th round twice here.

and didnt goran win in 2001?

[Mister Wright]

Originally Posted by broncoman

maybe, but highly unlikely, youzhny is too solid, has made the 4th round twice here.

and didnt goran win in 2001?

No 2001 was Hewitt, I remember clearly, because there was talk about how he left New York on one of the last planes before the September 11 attacks & that was the year after Goran won.

2003 - Federer
2002 - can't remember
2001 - Hewitt
2000 - Goran
1999 - Sampras

[Mister Wright]

Originally Posted by broncoman

maybe, but highly unlikely, youzhny is too solid, has made the 4th round twice here.

and didnt goran win in 2001?

No you're right I just checked the Roll of honour no wonder I couldn't remember the 2002 winner.

[Simon]

nope it was definately 2001, Hewitt won the US open in 2001 and that was his first grand slam. he then won wimbledon in 2002, beat nalbandian in the final of course