Wimbledon Men's Preview

The 2007 Championships at Wimbledon are upon us and the major theme of the men's event is Roger Federer's quest for a fifth consecutive title to equal the Open Era mark set by Bjorn Borg. Federer is a huge favorite to capture title number five and seemingly no one stands in his way. The Swiss' dominance on grass is well chronicled, and the lack of a competitive tune-up event shouldn't worry him. There just aren't any men who can play on grass well enough to beat him.

One player who certainly won't be standing in Federer's way is Britain's Andy Murray who had to withdraw from The Championships with a lingering wrist injury. This is a double-blow for the tournament as Murray is not only a top player – he was seeded eighth – but he was also a strong rooting interest for the British public. While Tim Henman is still playing, his days of challenging for the title are in the past. The young Scot was Britain's best hope and with him out of the competition, the local fans will have no home-grown players with title aspirations to cheer for since 1995.

So can anyone trouble the Swiss Master at Wimbledon? The answer is a fairly definitive “no”, but let's take a look at the top eight seeds to see if a challenger lies among them.

James Blake (9)
The 27 year-old American has played at Wimbledon six times with a best result of the third round in 2006. While his game is well suited to fast courts, his grass court results are inconsistent. Blake will be disappointed that he is on Federer's side of the draw rather than second seeded Rafael Nadal. Blake has had his way with Nadal on quick courts and would likely welcome a shot at the Spaniard on the lawns of Wimbledon. Instead, a potential fourth round match with Chilean Fernando Gonzalez looms and then a quarterfinal versus the world's number one. At the very most, the road will end there.

Tomas Berdych (7)
The 2007 Gerry Weber Open champion should bring great confidence into this year' Wimbledon. He went through the field at Halle, Germany without dropping a set. In 2006, he achieved a career best fourth round result at Wimbledon and has a favorable draw this time around. However, don't be surprised to see him in a tricky match-up with hard serving Aussie Wayne Arthurs in the fourth round. If he can survive that, a possible quarterfinal date with Rafael Nadal awaits. The young Czech has the talent, and perhaps more importantly, the right draw to get through to his first Wimbledon final. If he can make it that far, he'll have to control his nerves to give Federer a run for his money.

Nikolay Davydenko (6)
There's not much to say about Nikolay Davydenko's prospects at Wimbledon other than he has none. He's played the event 5 times and has only won once. He plays a fellow Russian in the first round and if he can somehow survive that match, he'll play the winner of a match between two men who know how to play on grass – Alex Bogdanovic of Great Britain and Chris Guccione of Australia. That spells Game Over for Davydenko.

Fernando Gonzalez (5)
The world's sixth ranked player has had decent results on grass, but nothing to suggest that he can challenge for the Wimbledon crown. He has a difficult first round match with Robby Ginepri and then possibly an encounter with hard serving American, Sam Querrey. It will be quite a feat if Gonzalez can advance to the quarterfinal to meet his doom versus Federer.

Novak Djokovic (4)
In Paris, the young Serbian advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal, but don't expect a repeat in London. If he comes through his first three matches, a troubling encounter with 16th seed Lleyton Hewitt awaits. Based on Djokovic's career grass court results, one can't see him defeating the Australian veteran on this surface. Like many of his counterparts, Novak will be happy to move to the hard court season.

Andy Roddick (3)
Andy Roddick is one of the few top players that feels comfortable on grass and he'll be looking to put the disappointment of a third round loss to Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2006 behind him. Coming off a confidence boosting fourth title victory at Queen's Club last week, Roddick will be slightly disappointed that he's been drawn in the same half as Federer. However, Murray's withdrawal has vacated Roddick's quarter of the draw of another top seed, and has left 12th seeded Richard Gasquet as the next highest challenger. Beyond that, 15th seeded Ivan Ljubicic appears to be the only hurdle between the Texan and a semifinal date with Federer. Can Andy break through against Federer when it really matters? It says here that he can't. While Roddick's serve is a formidable weapon, his backhand and net game aren't polished enough to avoid being exploited by the Swiss Master. Roddick's tournament ends in the semifinal.

Rafael Nadal (2)
Many say that Rafael Nadal's run to the Wimbledon final in 2006 was a fluke. The draw fell perfectly for him they say. Well, some of that may be true, but when assessing Rafa's chances in 2007, it would be wise not to discount the young Spaniard too quickly. With such a short grass court season, there are fewer and fewer players who know how to play on the surface thus enabling Nadal to be on equal footing with his opponents. The fact that the All England Club has made the courts play similar to hard courts also works in Nadal's favor as he can expect truer bounces than perhaps some years ago when the courts were a bit softer.

However, it will be difficult for Nadal to repeat as Wimbledon finalist. He has an intriguing first round clash with Mardy Fish of the United States. Nadal defeated the hard serving Fish at Queen's Club in 2006, but Fish was still recovering from injury. The greatest danger to Rafa in his half is Tomas Berdych. Berdych holds a 3-2 advantage in head-to-head and has never lost to Nadal on a non-clay surface. They haven't played before on grass, but the surface favors Berdych's “first strike” style of tennis which he has used against Nadal successfully in the past.

Roger Federer (1)
After reading the above, it's no secret that Roger Federer will in all likelihood win Wimbledon for the fifth straight time.

Predictions
Semifinals
Federer defeats Roddick
Berdych defeats Hewitt

Final
Federer defeats Berdych