Andy Murray could be frustrated at Wimbledon after receiving a tough draw
Stephen Ludgate
Tennis Correspondent
With Wimbledon getting under way yesterday at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, you can be sure that the TV listings and tabloids will be dominated by tennis for the next two weeks. It’s the oldest and most prestigious of the four grand slams and it creates a buzz that none of the others can rival. Like every year, all hopes will be pinned on the home favourite Andy Murray, however it’s widely expected that it will be another fortnight to forget for British number one and world number four. Having disappointingly fallen at the quarter final stage of the French Open last month, where he lost to David Ferrer 6-4 6-7 6-3 6-2 in match where he was outclassed, Murray will hope to put up a much stronger challenge for the Wimbledon title.
Murray’s ability to compete with the world’s best players on clay is questionable but his game style is suited to grass which gives him the perfect opportunity to break his grand slam duck at the SW19 venue. He will have his work cut out this year though as he’s been dealt a nightmare draw for the tournament. He also comes into the tournament in terrible grass court form, losing in the first round at Queens Club and losing both of his other warm up games. He will begin his campaign today on centre court against former world number three, Nikolay Davydenko. Although Davydenko is far from his previous best he will still present a stiff challenge in the first round and is one of the toughest opponents Murray could have faced.
If Murray progresses to round two he will most likely face grass court specialist Ivo Karlovic, who has a very good record at the Championships. The 6’10’’ Croat has a good record on grass and reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2009. Kevin Anderson is Murray’s likely third round opponent, a man who took Thomas Berdych to five sets in the French Open last month and could provide another big test for Murray. Looking to the fourth round, Murray’s likely opponent is Richard Gausquet and he could then face David Ferrer in the quarter final – a rematch of Murray’s quarter in Paris. If Murray repeats his feat of reching the semi’s, as he has done for the last three years, he will most likely face Nadal, the man who has beaten him in the last two Wimbledon semi-finals.
Nadal will arrive in London full of confidence after retaining his crown in Paris, 13 days earlier. By doing this he also avenged his defeat by Djokovic in the three previous grand slam finals and prevented Djokovic from holding all four grand slams at the one time. He would have been the first man to do this since Rod Laver back in 1969, where he completed a calendar grand slam. Nadal won 6-4 6-3 2-6 7-5 in a rain delayed final which was completed on the Monday. At one stage Djokovic won 8 games straight to take the match to a fourth set until it was suspended till Monday after Nadal’s protests about the deteriorating weather conditions. Although losing in the second round in Halle, Nadal will be fresh for Wimbledon and will be firm favourite to reach the final.
Djokovic and Federer find themselves on the same side of the draw this year and both progressed comfortably to the second round yesterday. Federer was particularly impressive in his 6-1 6-1 6-1 demolition of Albert Ramos. On the women’s side, Sharapova advanced comfortably yesterday with a straight sets win as did Kim Clijsters and Anestasia Radwanska. Venus Williams was the big casualty on the ladies side, losing 6-1 6-3 to Elena Vesnina.
