Wimbledon Announces Seedings, Federer Placed Ahead of Nadal

Mardy Fish is not seeded so it will be interesting to see where he ends up in the draw. He could very well play a seed in the 1st round. If he plays the way he did at Queens there are a bunch of guys in those 32 seeds he could beat. He could push some of the top guys as well if he draws them in the 1st round.

June 16th, 2010 at 10:19 am

Agree on Mardy. He could be an early spoiler.

How cool would it be if he beats Andy again in an early round?

June 16th, 2010 at 11:01 am

That would suck for Andy. He had a tough 1st round at the FO too.

June 16th, 2010 at 12:12 pm

In the article’s reference to Isner, shouldn’t it say he hasn’t much GRASS experience, not clay?

June 16th, 2010 at 1:19 pm

On another forum one of Nadal’s fans was upset saying he (Nadal) still isn’t getting the respect he deserves because he’s #1 right now – not Roger. Also, that same fan said Roger should step down on playing the first match at Center court and let Rafa play it because he (Rafa) couldn’t defend his title last year and never had the opportunity to step out on Center Court for the opening match.

Frankly I don’t agree with this fan on either count, but what do you guys think? Comments?

June 16th, 2010 at 2:02 pm

Fot,
as far as I am concerned, the rules are the rules, it’s unfortunate that Rafa couldn’t have the glory of stepping on court first last year, but there are worse things that can happen.

Rafa is not bothered by the semantics, it’s irrelevant who steps out first and who is §1 seed, at the end of the day, they are both seeded to get to the final, and the best man will win no matter what.

When Serena came back from injury couple of years ago at OZ, she was §80 something in the world, and was well down the pecking order, but she won the title.

June 16th, 2010 at 2:38 pm

FoT,

I read the first post but did not see the second one. Please give a link if you can.

Wimbledon has a separate seeding system and Rafa did not play last year, so he loses points (75% of whatever). I for one do not care at all if he is seeded 1 or 2.

And the custom is that the champion from the year before opens the tournament, which is Federer. I do not think any rational Rafa fan would dispute that.

June 16th, 2010 at 2:44 pm

Fot, surely that fan whining about Nadal being disrespected by Wimbledon organizers is so blinded by his/her love for Nadal that he/she decided not to take into account the Wimbledon traditions which Zola has kindly provided above.

June 16th, 2010 at 2:57 pm

Rules are rules. They all have to play by them :)

June 16th, 2010 at 3:21 pm

Here is the actual post, and the link for more:
Posted by Fangorina 06/16/2010 at 10:48 AM
I love Wimbledon, but the seeding committee just inexplicably insulted Rafa by demoting him to the number 2 seed, even though he is the number 1 ranked player and was in 3 straight finals until being unable to defend last year. “While the seeding positions of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are reversed from their current rankings, there is no practical effect since they remain the leading seeds in their respective halves of the draw,” Wimbledon referee Andrew Jarrett said. So it has no practical effect except to insult Rafael Nadal. I think Roger could really show his great good sportsmanship by asking the AELTC to let Rafa play the opening match as champion since Roger got to do it last year when Rafa could not play. How petty is the seeding committee? gag.

http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2010/06/howdy-just-refreshing-your-drinks-and-straightening-up-the-furniture.html

June 16th, 2010 at 3:23 pm

FoT,
So this is from Bodo’s website. How many comments are there ? I imagine more than a thousand! Finding one with such content should not seem strange. I can bet I can find many posts insulting Rafa even here!

I would ignore such comments. I would have protested the seedings if they were done randomly. But theWimbledon officials are following a set of rules and that is fine by me. As for Roger not playing the opening match, that is pure nonsense. Sure if Federer ever makes such an offer to Rafa ( which I doubt), it would be an ultimate sign of sportsmanship but if he should not be expected or demanded to do so. Last year’s champion plays the opening match. Period.

June 16th, 2010 at 3:30 pm

Yea, zola, there are thousands but really a lot of them are “pro-Nadal”. I just thought that was ‘weird’ that they wanted Roger to give up his opening match. If, for some reason Roger couldn’t play, I still don’t think the Wimbledon committee would let Rafa open up. I think that honor would go to Roddick (as the runner-up).

As for as the seedings – I don’t think it makes a big difference between being either #1 or #2. I think it makes a big difference if you are #1 or #2 in the ATP ranking, and with the formula, you’re dropped down to #3 or #4. THAT makes a big difference when you get down to the SF spots. Didn’t that happen to Hewitt one year? He was ranked #2 but the Wimbledon committee moved him down to #3? Or something like that. And he was upset. Which I don’t blame him. But with Roger and Rafa being #1 & #2 – to me, that’s not a big difference as they couldn’t play each other until the final anyway.

June 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm

FoT,
There are fans on both sides that can make extremem comments. I can post many commnts from federer fans ( Tim for example?) that are not really rational. I would not generalize that to all Fed fans.

Rafa said in an interview and I agree that 1 or 2 does not make a difference. They are still on different halves. It is not like they are in the same quarters.

I do care more about the draw. To me seedings 1 or 2 is irrelevant!

———————-

nice article from Ubha on ESPN about dark horses in Wimbledon:

http://espn.go.com/sports/tennis/blog/_/name/espntennis/id/5289223/count-out-these-underdogs

June 16th, 2010 at 3:41 pm

Yea, Zola, I know about Tim! lol!

I actually think being seeded #2 helps Nadal. He’s the person who never really ‘wants’ to be ‘the favorite’, no? lol!

June 16th, 2010 at 4:05 pm

I think Rafa is sincere when he says he doesn’t care if he is seeded 1 or 2 and he does not feel any pressure either way. But it does not mean he will give up what is his. If he is number 1, he is numner 1. If Wimbledon has a formula to seed him as number 2, then so be it. no big deal.he goes to wimbledon as number 2 seed, but number 1 in the world.

I think fans make a bigger fuss about things than the players. Rafa and Fed get along very well and respect each other and I like that.

June 16th, 2010 at 7:16 pm

@Zola,

Me thinks you are exactly right! :) BTW, enjoyed reading the back and forth from you and Fot, that is what a “sane” discussion is about, from both sides :). Kudos to you both…

June 16th, 2010 at 9:24 pm

So gulbis who is ranked 29 misses being seeded at wimbledon. bummer contador.

June 16th, 2010 at 9:26 pm

OOps..just saw Gulbis. I missed him earlier. he is seeded. Sorry.

June 16th, 2010 at 9:30 pm

Fot,

I wouldn’t take to much of seriousness into the poster, like Zola says there are extremists out there, and we have are share :), but for sure it’s not you or Zola :)

I did however read Bodo’s article, backed with Pros’ interviews, and facts, and got my attention going again about how the surface has changed to the advantage of a Clay Courters now. They hardly never showed up with an impact at Wimby except for maybe a Borg prior 2001. Balls bouncing high was NEVER a Wimby tradition, it played dramatically different, like the British Open in Golf, an deservedly so!

And now like I said before they might as well paint the court any color but green, doesn’t matter anymore…..Just watch any match prior 2001 and you will see..

June 16th, 2010 at 9:38 pm

Kimmi & Contador,

Look at it another way….ahhhh the dark horse. I think it is the reverse. A seed will face “wild thing” and think ” Oh Sh*t! :)

June 16th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

skeez – sure. gulbis is a big dark horse. any seed would want to avoid him early.

but i m glad he is seeded though. at least he is guaranteed a third round encounter with top seeds. gulbis short term goal this season was hoping to be seeded in GS. so far so good. need a better perfomance at wimbledon.

June 16th, 2010 at 10:51 pm

LOL! skeezer “wild thing” is a great nick for gulbie!

wild thing, do-do-do-doooo…..i think i love you…..who sang that?

i am having a heart attack already, really hoping wild thing is mentally and physically ready to at least make some waves, bring some excitement with him and go deeeeeep : )

he was knocked outta the french so early.

been waiting for him to play at boodles, Kimmi. nole has not played either. it’s just an exho, but i wake up every morning early before work to see if somebody is livestreaming a nole or gulbie match. they are both supposedly there. hm, i wonder if nole is mostly golfing, the pictures of the golf course look gorgeous. more there than tennis, it appears. c’mon gulbie! ajde nole! the boodles

meanwhile, yay gilles simon! he has the tape off his knees and he at least made the quarterfinal at eastbourne. dolgo and santiago giraldo are doing well too. not that anyone is terribly interested…

zola thanks for the dark horse link. haven’t read it yet but will now.

June 16th, 2010 at 11:10 pm

conty – talking about giraldo, i saw he beat troicki today. and look at me thinking he is a clay guy, we have to watch him some more.

boodles, lol still laughing at the name. mmmh havent looked what is happening over there. djoko is probably satisfied with a doubles win at queens. who would blame him..that was some perfomance.

got impressed with somebody “wild” (real name btw). playing at eastborn. a young english guy. ranked 300 something. is making a name for himself over there, made few upsets so far. tomorrow he plays dolgo. so, i am hoping for the young english guys to continue this fantastic run. murray needs some help..ya know!

June 16th, 2010 at 11:28 pm

haha conty & skeez. i must admit it took me a while to figure out that ‘wild thing” is gulbis. lol. yeah, he is wild for sure :)

June 16th, 2010 at 11:45 pm

News Break! News Break! Really, take a friggin laughing break!

LIVE….from WTF! Network.

Skeeze reporting here…..

Due to the boring week of “if”s” “ands” “But” “Butts” “My #2 is bigger than your #1” and “My #1 is bigger than your #2” and “Does all this really matter and to whom?” and “I want to sleep with Rafa all the time” and “Fed is always in my dreams” and ” Skeezer is the best” ( uh that is a truism :-) ) WTF! Network has interrupted this discussion to bring you the following important newsbreak:

Gulbis releases song autobiography….

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/tone_loc/wild_thing.html….

According to anonymous resources, Gulbis has released his Bio in lyrics to Tone-Loc, famed rap artist. As usual we cannot confirm or deny sources but it seems like a good story, so, keeping our heralded tradition, we kinda sorta stand by the story…..WTF?

Skeeze out for WTF! Network…..

June 17th, 2010 at 12:13 am

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/t/tone_loc/wild_thing.html

(No periods after……html)

June 17th, 2010 at 12:17 am

Wimbledon seeding method explained: Why Federer ranked No. 1
http://tinyurl.com/2g4tdd7

June 17th, 2010 at 12:55 am

skeeze: although of course they have slowed down Wimbles, regrettably IMHO, movement on clay and grass (hard?)seems to me to be quite different. I’ve watched Andy on clay and he seems to get to the ball at slightly the wrong time. Conversely Djko, who moves so well on clay, looks clumsy on grass. When it gets damp, we discussed this, it gets very, very different I guess. Clay must get heavier and slower, grass quicker. God knows what that roof does! But I remember Andy, against Warinka, last year saying it was quite different and, again, slower. I suppose these tiny changes to us mortals mean massive differences to the pros!

June 17th, 2010 at 1:03 am

kimmi: it’s James Ward, coached by Greg Rusedski, got a wild card to Wimbles. Beat Deliciano and now Rainer. The guy with the totally unspellable name will be harder target I fancy.

June 17th, 2010 at 1:27 am

http://tennistalk.com/en/blog/Cheryl_Murray/20100614/The_Roger_Federer_mystique

Nice article about Federer.

June 17th, 2010 at 3:27 am

Oops kimmi my bad. Ward hasn’t got a wildcard, it’s a James Baker, a Scot, so there are no Englishmen in the main draw at Wimbledon for the first time ever!

June 17th, 2010 at 4:14 am

Sorry for being a little off-topic here, but I seriously think that Hewitt has under-achieved and so has Safin (not to mention Nalbandian, may be he’s the biggest under-achiever of the last decade or two). To an extent Tsonga’s also a big big under-achiever, considering the sick level of play that he can sometimes attain, kinda breathtaking.

And what a great and AMAZING player Guga was, probably the most artistic and aesthetically pleasing FO champion to watch (apart from Laver), his shots were just exquisite! FO champions are generally not that much treat to watch as they mostly do retrieving/ball-chasing/running all over or whatever you say that, but Guga was a welcome exception. Strange how he couln’t win a non-clay slam, may be due to the tough tough competition of his time, it’d have been nice if he could win one. Nevertheless, Guga’s to me still a great champion. :)

May be this post expresses my emotions about the under-achievers. Dunno why thou. :/

————————————————–

BTW, I watched the Halle final and it was amazing, great play from Hewitt, the most comforting thing about him was that his movement seemed to have been back for that match, no wonder he could outplay Federer. And Fed was also not playing too bad, he’s capable of playing way worse than that. But all credit to Hewitt, he beat Fed playing decent, if not his best. I know Hewitt can play much better than that, even though some may come out refuting this. Hopefully none would enjoy an easy path in thw WIM, let none get injured, let all stay healthy, let all the guys starting from Fed to Rafa, Hewitt to Rod, Muzza to Nole, Tsonga to Cilic, Soderling to Querrey, Gasquet and even the Gulbiss, Verdys, Querreys and Davydenkos of the world go ALL OUT to give their best!
Let this be one of the most tense WIMs in tennis history so that I can relax and watch gleefully. :D ;)

Let all the tension build and it end up with either Roddick(1st preference) or Murray or Hewitt (sorry Fed, ya can wait) holding the WIM trophy so that WIM 2010 can be one of the happiest WIMs in my life. WIM 08 was an ABSOLUTE heartbreak for me and WIM 10 wasn’t my happiest WIM either (due to the inhumanly cruel loss of Roddick). So I don’t want further heartbreaks this year at WIM. Let this WIM got to the relatively humble trophy cases of Rod or Hewitt or Murray or someone else. Enough of the Fed-Rafa hegemony, they need to be shown the door by the other players. :D
I SERIOUSLY WANT A NEW WIMBLEDON CHAMPION THIS YEAR. Sorry guys, for this. ;)

GO GUYS, ROCK THE WIMBY!
BRING IT ON GUYS, BRING IT ON!

June 17th, 2010 at 5:34 am

Nadal too must wait until next year’s WIM. ;)

June 17th, 2010 at 5:36 am

Well, another sane – sometimes :P – Rafa fan here who has absolutely noooo problems with the seeding. In fact, I really respect Wimbledon for having its own seeding rules and not blindly following the rankings. Shouldn’t ALL tournaments do that?

@HUH. Wow. I thought I was the only Hewitt fan on the planet :) * waves * But do you really think 2 Grand Slams and World No 1 is an underachievement for him? For somebody like Safin, I’d say absolutely, but I think Hewitt has done pretty well for himself with what he has. I DO agree, though, that it’s wonderful to see him back, and I hope he goes deep at Wimby. And, at least now I know someone else will be yelling “C’MON Rusty!” along with me :)

June 17th, 2010 at 6:37 am

This is a travesty. Nadal is ranked #1 and defeated Federer the last time they played on centre court head to head on grass. Federer comes to Wimbledon on a losing streak and Nadal on a winning streak.

I shouldn’t be shocked, though. Federer always gets more respect than Nadal does, even when it is not earned.

I hope Nadal kicks butt at Wimbledon, and Federer loses early. Egg in your face, Wimbledon committee.

June 17th, 2010 at 8:05 am

Tanya,

why are you are blaming Roger Federer for a rule that has been around for years.

And no way, does Roger not deserve to be seeded number 1. It makes no difference to the rankings in terms of Roger being in a completely different half to rafa. Either way they would not face each other, as it were, until the final.

If you have a problem with this, then contact the AELTC at wimbledon.

Your last paragraph – it’s just not going to happen and you know it. Federer will go on and win the tournament that means the most to him.

A bit of sportsmanship here Tanya. Stop blaming federer for everything where nadal is concerned. Egg in your face back.

June 17th, 2010 at 8:57 am

For all the incredible wins at Wimbledon that Roger has brought, it is only right and respectful that he should be seeded no.1.

Right decision.

June 17th, 2010 at 8:58 am

Hey Lenny! Shout out to you. :) :P

Yeah, I’m a HUGE Hewitt fan. :D
When I was growing up Pete and Hewitt were my guys above all others. I was a crazy fan of Hewitt until Fed and Roddick came up, never really cared about Safin actually. I loved the costume of Hewitt, he became no.1 at the age of 20, he was a kid then and I always got glued to TV when he played tennis. I think Hewitt’s a very talented player. Too bad his injuries hampered his resume, otherwise I think he coulda won some more slams. I very much consider him an underachiever just as Safin, of course I may be wrong, but my opinion regarding Hewitt under-achieving wouldn’t change coz I have seen that when focussed, injury-free and on top of his game, it has always been pretty darn tough for anyone to beat him, he just refuses to go away without fighting. This WIM I m gonna root for him alongside Rod and Muzza. And I would not forget to yell- C’MON!!! for him. ;)

Exactly as ya say:

C’MON RUSTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

June 17th, 2010 at 10:01 am

It’s so typical of some jealous and nasty Nadal fans to wish the early exit of Fed from every tournament. It’s too retarded of them to blame Fed for every supposed injustice to their guy. The grudge against Fed is so sickening! Rotten eggs’ omelette for them.

June 17th, 2010 at 10:08 am

It has nothing to do with being jealous or nasty. It’s about fairness and justice.

Let’s do a hypothetical. If Nadal had played Wimblden last year and won it but failed to win the French this year and Federer won that. Say Nadal is still ranked #1 and Federer is #2, I don’t think the seeding committee would still seed Nadal #1. They would then use the excuse that Federer is ranked #1 on the South African rankings to warrent it despite Nadal having a better grass court record. Make no mistake, the Wimbledon seeding committee is very pro Federer.

Nadal is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.

Federer is being protected by the Wimbledon elite cronnies.

June 17th, 2010 at 10:36 am

aww-cry me a river tanya. Stop complaining about it. Whatever happens,happens.

June 17th, 2010 at 10:51 am

Tanya, what the heck are cronnies? I’m going to keep away from Wimbledon and district – they sound nasty!
By the way, Azarenka has just beaten Clijsters at Eastbourne.

June 17th, 2010 at 11:06 am

Tanya Harding….the name describes it all.

June 17th, 2010 at 11:11 am

Hey, tomorrow the draw comes out! Yea! We need it. Something ELSE to talk about :)

June 17th, 2010 at 11:12 am

We love you Rafael!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.rfbarnet.org.uk/TimWightman/rafael_nadal.jpg

June 17th, 2010 at 11:25 am

Roger has destroyed the hopes of so many good players, who withered without blossoming. But for him, players like Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt would have achieved much more. And then came Rafa alongside imperious Roger , and the hopes of a few more have been dashed, though not terminally. Djokovic could have been multiple winner and Andy Murray should have been initiated in the G.S winners’ league. Before greatness could have been in sight for them, younger players have come to steal the limelight. Accident of date of birth!!!

June 17th, 2010 at 11:40 am

I’m praying for a Nadal/Roddick final. The Federer fanatics are ridiculous in here. Some of you act like he’s some kind of God like being. It’s really kind of sickening and sad to read.

He’s the most pampered spoiled players on tour. No doubt he’ll be wearing his signature white Wimbledon coat with gold emblems.

I’ll take the gritty hard work ethics of Andy Roddick and Nadal over hoity toity Roger any day.

June 17th, 2010 at 12:27 pm

@TY
time to look in the mirror about calling posters out being “fanatical”.

June 17th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

I think it’s Roger’s fault that I ran out of coffee today. I also blame him for every single thing that goes wrong in the world…

Come on Tanya – take some responsibility.

Federer can only give us great tennis. You have the option NOT to watch him, but you’ll be the one missing out.

Go Roger!

June 17th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

Can’t wait to see Federer with his signature white Wimbledon coat with gold emblems. An outfit that befits a god. Tanya_Harding, it is time for you to genuflect before him. You have been worshiping a false god.

June 17th, 2010 at 12:58 pm

fed better be playing on the opening day. I’m camping for two days to see him in the opener. Have very little interest in seeing Nadal. Without doubt Fed plays the the more attractive game. Nadal needs to get his toilet tissue brand changed.

June 17th, 2010 at 1:21 pm

Madmax:

I think we should allow the Rafa fanatics to bark here. They’d automatically go into their shells like cowards when they see Rafa in trouble again. So sad there were just a couple of Rafa fans to give +ve vibes to Rafa during his tough times last year. But now that Rafa’s swept the clay season, the sissy Nadal fans’re again out BIG TIME to give slogans against Fed. Unfortunate for an admirable guy like Rafa to have such jealous, nasty, maniac and opportunistic fans. I bet Rafa would be surprised to have such maniacs as his fans. I am pretty darn sure that Rafa is much willing to welcome constructive criticism by people instead of sick idolising by the lunatic and bizarre anti-Feds who take joy in calling themselves Rafa fans. That’s probably the only reason why despite beating Fed so many times, Rafa still listens to uncle Tony when he asks Rafa to watch the videos of Fed, study and analyse Fed’s game and even learn from it a few things for the sake of further all-round improvement of his own game. Uncle Tony isn’t for one moment a sycophant like the Rafa fanatics, that’s why he has inculcated the belief in Rafa that despite being a kind of Federer-beater, he’s still inferior to Fed. Thus uncle Tony emphasised upon the need of improving Rafa’s serve, ground game and other areas through hard work and constant efforts(much of this being done while studying Fed’s game) and Rafa’s becoming a better and better player. Rafa is also an intelligent guy unlike the foolish Nadalomaniacs and thus acknowledges the superiority of Fed and thrives to narrow the gap between him and Fed, thanks to his perseverance and broadmindedness. But some foolish Nadalomaniacs simply won’t get it and would continue to drool in their delusional world imagining the organisation of a world war against Rafa by Fed and the rest of the world. So lolz at such Rafanatics! ;)

June 17th, 2010 at 1:24 pm

It’s funny to see some idiots calling Fed as ‘the pampered one’ when their own faves are the most pampered ones having coaches, violating time-rules, doing rituals and taking privileged medical time-outs, bathroom breaks, massages and stuff while trailing in a match just to disrupt the opponent’s momentum. Hell, they even have their coach yelling at them instructing them how to play, most importantly and unfortunately in the middle of the matches! Not only that, the faves of those idiots cast an angry look at the referees on being warned that they’re violating rules and resort to all sorts of gamemanship to win matches. They are also taught PR stunts, they have papers after papers of dialogues/speeches written for them so that they can cite them during the press conferences/interviews and thereby sound humble and nice each and every time; so much for the hard-working and independent ones! Even their speech is scrutinised by the people around them and utmost care is taken of by their uncle-cum-coaches to make sure that public relation is not affected and every possible attempt is made to ensure nominations for popularity contests. Thus to be precise, the faves of these idiots are spoon-fed and guided about everything starting from training to speaking and what not! Now that’s called PAMPERED!
Not to even mention, the whining about the half-million dollar watches to be worn at the FO! Gimme a break!!!

June 17th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Funny to see the drama queens claiming that Fed has no work ethic, lol!

June 17th, 2010 at 1:54 pm

“madmax Says:

For all the incredible wins at Wimbledon that Roger has brought, it is only right and respectful that he should be seeded no.1.

Right decision.”

THANKS MAXI, FOR BEING THE VOICE OF REASON.

June 17th, 2010 at 1:56 pm

“Polo Says:

Can’t wait to see Federer with his signature white Wimbledon coat with gold emblems. An outfit that befits a god. Tanya_Harding, it is time for you to genuflect before him. You have been worshiping a false god.”

Polo:

Ya won the ‘Tennis-X verse of the day’ award, lol! ;)

June 17th, 2010 at 2:11 pm

Huh (and MadMax) – surely Fed is seeded No 1 because he is the defending champion? Nothing more complicated than that.

June 17th, 2010 at 2:27 pm

No. 2 seeded player won Wimbledon and French Open double in 2008 and 2009. Looks like the seeding shuffle will work out in Nadal’s favor and he will make it 2008,2009 and 2010.

June 17th, 2010 at 3:03 pm

You know who is really “the pampered one”? It is that guy who wears Pampers that keeps getting displaced thus necessitating his constant tugging at the seat of his pants. Nadal, is The Pampered One. Hehehe!

June 17th, 2010 at 3:24 pm

Thanks Colin. ;)

June 17th, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Was watchin Sampras-Kuerten Lisboa 2000 you tube clip. Wanna say I have not seen anyone as emotionless in defeat as probably Pete, speaks volume about his colossal mental strength. :)

June 17th, 2010 at 3:37 pm

Funny posts guys. Some good old fashioned trash talking.

Can’t wait to see the draw tomorrow. Karlovic and Stepanek withdrew so they are adding Hanescu and one other soon to be named player as the 31 and 32 seeds.

June 17th, 2010 at 3:39 pm

Have never been a big Agassi fan, but after watching him beat Becker in you tube clip in 1992 WIM, gotta say Agassi is fantastic and may have under-achieved. How early I forget greats like Agassi? :/
What to speak of Agassi returns? Best ever…
And in terms of groundstrokes, he’s surely better than Nadal.
Agassi is a darn great player too.

June 17th, 2010 at 3:45 pm

I like both Karlovic for his serve and Stepanek for his standard volley game.

June 17th, 2010 at 3:46 pm

@montecarlo,

That was a good one also :)

June 17th, 2010 at 5:35 pm

This is good :). Trash talkin in good fun and bad taste, lol! Where did TY go?

June 17th, 2010 at 5:42 pm

Agassi won a total of 8 grand slams. Nadal will surely pass that. It is very silly to say Agassi’s ground strokes are greater than Nadal’s.

Nadal has won 5 French opens on a surface dominated by ground strokes. Agassi won only once. That makes Nadal the better ground stroker.

Agassi was a decent little player but Nadal is a giant.

June 17th, 2010 at 5:50 pm

Tanya_Harding Says:
“This is a travesty. Nadal is ranked #1 and defeated Federer the last time they played on centre court head to head on grass. Federer comes to Wimbledon on a losing streak and Nadal on a winning streak.”

Tanya, if memory serves correctly – both Roger and Nadal comes to Wimbledon on a losing streak! lol! Roger lost in the final in Halle to Hewitt; Nadal lost in Queens to Lopez.

And again, people who have a problem with Roger being seeded #1, go back and read through some of the post that shows the formula Wimbledon has used for YEARS (not just this year). It has nothing to do with “Roger being protected” or “Nadal being shuned”. It’s a straight formula nothing more, nothing less.

Sorry to hear about the latest withdrawals (Ivo, Gasquet, etc.)

June 17th, 2010 at 6:11 pm

TY,

Your not taking into consideration Agassi’s return game. Rafa can’t hit a flat serve, Agassi would dominate. Agassi by far the better groundstroker on HC. Not sillier, factual. Rafa is a decent little serve, but Agassi’s far more penetrating :)

June 17th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Sorry I meant TH :)

June 17th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

Fot,

Dr. Ivo out? He coulda been a contender :( Dang!

June 17th, 2010 at 6:16 pm

did Dr.Ivo reached a qtr final last year? too bad.

what is wrong with gasquet? I heard about stepanek but not gasquet…Poor guy. he started to play well too and grass suit his game :(

June 17th, 2010 at 6:24 pm

skeezerweezer,

Maybe on a hard court Agassi’s strokes could hurt Nadal a little, but Nadal is quicker. Didn’t Nadal beat Agassi head to head on a hard court? Wasn’t it in Canada a few years ago. If that is true, your theory is out the window.

On clay, Nadal would dominate and destroy Agassi, no way Agassi would even win a set against Nadal’s high top spin shots. Agassi flatter strokes just couldn’t penetrate enough and both serves would be made irrelevant.

The more defensive grass courts would favor Nadal too. Agassi is just lucky Nadal didn’t play during his time or he would have no French Open title.

When will people face facts, we are witnessing in Nadal, the greatest player who has ever lived. He just doesn’t have the titles yet to prove it but he will.

June 17th, 2010 at 6:32 pm

Contador – some noted results and rumours from BOODLES

D. Brown (JAM) df F. Verdasco (ESP) 6-4, 3-6, 13-11

whats up with hotsauce?

OK, the rumours is that gulbie pulled out of BOODLES and could be in doubt for wimbledon. Apparently will wait till the last minute to see if he plays or not :(

June 17th, 2010 at 6:39 pm

TH,

I think your right about beating Agassi but he ( Agassi ) was fading fast at the time, the retirement party was coming soon. It would be cool to see them both play in their prime, as I think Agassi would not let the ball get high on him as he was awesome at taking the ball on the rise. I agree I think Rafa would kill him ( and name anybody ) on the Clay, but the HC & Grass might have been more of competitive match than you think….no?

Agassi may of not been the greatest of all time but he was #1 most popularly loved guy during his tennis years, and kept the popularity of the sport going almost singlehandedly. He was one of those guys that had the talent to beat anybody ( which he did ) and lose to a nobody ( which he did ). Then he wrote that book :(….lol

June 17th, 2010 at 6:44 pm

skeezerweezer,

I just checked. He beat him at Wimbledon in straight sets (2006). That was Agassi’s last year, I believe. In Canada (2005).

Agassi would definitely have his best chance against Nadal on hard courts (U.S Open or AO). That would have been an epic ground stroke war. You are right, Agassi could take the ball early before the spin would take effect and crush a ball in the corner. Just wonder who would wear down who being both equally fit.

Interesting debate, but my man is Nadal. I must stick by him, win or lose. You are a Federer fan I take it. If they meet we will have words again:)

June 17th, 2010 at 6:58 pm

tanya says – “When will people face facts, we are witnessing in Nadal, the greatest player who has ever lived. He just doesn’t have the titles yet to prove it but he will.”

Sorry, I think Murray is the greatest. he just does not have the titles to prove it. I think once he wins his first GS, we will witness the gretest player ever lived.

June 17th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

TH,

Absolutely, let’s make a pact though…..no whining or excuses, the better man wins :) ( like we’re assuming they’ll make it through the draw,, HA!

June 17th, 2010 at 7:24 pm

@Kimmi,

Ooooo a little trash talkin from Kimmi? I like it! You go girl :) Bring it!

June 17th, 2010 at 7:26 pm

TH & Kimmi are you a bit thick? Nadal the greatest player of all time and Nadal much better than aggassi?? Your probably a couple of dozy people who watch a bit of sport, in this case tennis and then assumme your opinions have some value. It’s like Ronald McDonald commenting on fine dinning. Bloody funny though.

June 17th, 2010 at 7:31 pm

Tanya,

Unless Nadal goes slamless the rest of his career he will pass by Agassi in the hall of fame pecking order.

As for the hard court argument, a H2H record against one player does not determine who is the better hard court player. It was amazing that a 35 year old Agassi was still competing so well against the likes of Fed and Rafa. Final judgment won’t come until Nadal retires, but right now Agassi’s hard court resume is far superior. If Nadal ends his career with 2 USOs, 4 AOs and 2 TMCs then he will be on par with Agassi’s hard court prowess. The most likely scenario is Nadal will be a better grass and clay court player by a wide margin, but his hard court legacy will not be as good as Agassi.

June 17th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

Mr T – Can you read? There is nowhere that I said nadal is the greatest or better than agassi (arguably). My posts says murray is the greatest…thats what i think, its all about opinion :-)

Skeezer – no trash talking from me, I just think people get it. just wait till Murray get the titles. :-)

June 17th, 2010 at 7:39 pm

s/b ..I just think people DON’T get it….

June 17th, 2010 at 7:41 pm

Agassi had to deal with an in-prime Sampras in his prime years. Otherwise he would have won more. There is no one who is in their prime now,who is better than Sampras. Its like Nalbandian,Ferrero,Hewitt had to deal with an in-prime Federer during their prime years. Feel sorry for them(at least Murray,Djokovic and Delpo have an out of prime Federer to deal with). So you just cant say that Nadal would have owned Agassi or is better than him. Just look at Nadals record on hard against Nikolay Davydenko,who plays a lite version of Agassi’s game.

June 17th, 2010 at 7:46 pm

Mr T,

Please don’t be rude. We are entitled to our opinions, just as you. I think Kimmi is being a smart butt. Nadal has won 7 grand slam titles and has the all time record of master series 1000 wins (greater than Federer or Agassi). He is still just 24 years old.

There is merit for his greatness claims. Nadal probably will win at least 2 or 3 more French Opens. Along the way he may pick a U.S Open, another Wimbledon and an AO title. By the time he’s finished he could be well in to the teens with grand slam wins. Maybe a bit short of Federer but with his other wins including H2H, arguements can be made on his behalf for GOAT.

At the moment, this is all speculation but the high degree of probablility is there given what we know now. Murray hasn’t broken through yet and doesn’t have the game or mental toughness to be an all time great player. Nadal does.

Do I beleive Nadal will overtake Federer in grand slam singles titles, no but he will get close. When that time comes the Federer nation will be quaking in their boots with worry. Just a crazy girl’s opinion here.

June 17th, 2010 at 7:49 pm

So when does the draw come out tomorrow, PST?

June 17th, 2010 at 8:27 pm

skeez – from wimbledon site “The Draw will take place from 10.00am on Friday 18 June 2010. The men’s singles draw will be available shortly afterwards.

That will be from 5 am ET. 2 am PST?

COOL! bring it on. shammmmoooon :)

June 17th, 2010 at 8:34 pm

Thanks Kimmi! 2 AM? The Skeeze will be snoring and counting tennis balls over the net at that time……guess I will wake up to everyones “Oh crap” or “yeah baby!” or “WTF?” :)

June 17th, 2010 at 8:45 pm

lol skeez, I have a feeling there will be a few WTF? ha!

June 17th, 2010 at 8:49 pm

Colin Says:
Huh (and MadMax) – surely Fed is seeded No 1 because he is the defending champion? Nothing more complicated than that.

June 17th, 2010 at 2:27 pm

Early morning to ya colin!

There is more to it than this. I posted a while back about the formula and why fed would be seeded no. 1 about 3/4 weeks ago. There is, exclusive only to wimbledon tournament, what is known as the “past champions rule”. This is different to the “defending champion” that you have mentioned above – rather than me going through it all again and boring everyone(!), get onto the AELTC website and it will explain it all to you.

TH, I dont know how you can compare a masters series event to a grand slam. 18 masters is some feat for nadal, admittedly, but he is 1 ahead of agassi (and obviously unless agassi decides to make a major comeback at the age of 40? – that will always be the case, and 2 ahead of fed – but come on! 16 grand slams to 7 – is just way beyond the realms of a masters tournament. Remember also that when you talk about “greatest”, rafa – greatest on clay AFTER borg, but certainly not greater than federer. No way. No multi slams on grass, not one hard court slam, there really can be no comparison.

June 17th, 2010 at 10:37 pm

Agassi is a much better stroke maker than Nadal, end of story. Agassi doesn’t have the number of slams to prove it, thanks to his injuries, drugs and Pistol Pete(who was a year younger than Agassi, unlike Rafa who’s 5 yeard younger than Fed, so has got the advantage BIG TIME against Fed), but that doesn’t mean Nadal is a better player than Agassi on Hard Courts or grass. Agassi won the WIM in the OLD grass which is totally different from the present WIM grass in the sense that it was many times faster than the present grass(definitely the fastest courts in bistory) and had FAR less bounce than the current WIM courts. On that kind of grass Agassi could win WIM beating Becker enroute. And I’m not even going to Agassi’s impressive resume on the democratic hard courts, the kind of resume which Nadal fans can only dream of. Most great players play their best on HCs, and Agassi was one of the best hard courters in the history, if his record is any indication. That itself cements Agassi as a true legend and giant. Agassi as a HC player is leaps and bounds above Nadal just like Nadal is leaps and bounds above Agassi on a clay court. But what separates Agassi form Nadal is that on clay there’ve always been only like a couple of players in each decade who have been successful, but on hard courts, almost each and every talented player excels, the list of successful players on HCs is endless; this makes Agassi’s splendid success on HC that much more impressive as a whole while judging him. And not to mention the even the HCs of that time were way faster than the fastest court of the present time and the bounce was also much lesser and that made life very difficult for the baseliners. I doubt that Nadal would get a single HC slam on the previous surfaces. But Agassi being the great stroke maker that he was, he got many slams on those super fast courts. So in general,

June 18th, 2010 at 12:27 am

Huh Says:

Agassi is a much better stroke maker than Nadal, end of story. Agassi doesn’t have the number of slams to prove it, thanks to his injuries, drugs and Pistol Pete(who was a year younger than Agassi, unlike Rafa who’s 5 years younger than Fed, so has got the advantage BIG TIME against Fed), but that doesn’t mean Nadal is a better player than Agassi on Hard Courts or grass. Exactly the reverse. Agassi won the WIM in the OLD grass which is totally different from the present WIM grass in the sense that it was many times faster than the present grass(definitely the fastest courts in bistory) and had FAR less bounce than the current WIM courts. On that kind of grass Agassi could win WIM beating Becker enroute. And Agassi has also one more time reached the WIM final. And I’m not even going to Agassi’s impressive resume on the democratic hard courts, the kind of resume which Nadal fans can only dream of. Most great players play their best on HCs, and Agassi was one of the best hard courters in the history, if his record is any indication. That itself cements Agassi as a true legend and giant. Agassi as a HC player is leaps and bounds above Nadal just like Nadal is leaps and bounds above Agassi on a clay court. But what separates Agassi form Nadal is that on clay there’ve always been only like a couple of players in each decade who have been successful, but on hard courts, almost each and every talented player excels, the list of successful players on HCs is endless; this makes Agassi’s splendid success on HC that much more impressive as a whole while judging him. And not to mention that even the HCs of Agassi’s time were way faster than the fastest courts of the present time and the bounce was also much lesser and that made life very difficult for the baseliners. I doubt that Nadal would get a single HC slam on the previous surfaces. But Agassi being the great stroke maker that he was, he got many slams on those super fast courts. So honestly speaking, Agassi is a better player than Nadal on all surfaces except clay. So what if Agassi is not the greatest? Neither is Nadal.

June 18th, 2010 at 12:32 am

Let Nadal win the US first and then may be we can again reassess him.

June 18th, 2010 at 12:33 am

I mean let Nadal win the USO first.

June 18th, 2010 at 12:33 am

Is the Australian Open that irrelevant? Agassi’s best slam just happened to be the AO, a slam which Nadal has won beating another 4-time AO champ, Federer.

It’s also a little contradictory to mention the age gap between Fed and Nadal considering Agassi won 5 of his 8 slams at/after the age of 29, which happens to be Federer’s approaching age.

I think it’s really hard to assume Nadal will win an AO here and a USO there. Even 2-3 more FO’s might never happen. Roughly 3 years ago, most people couldn’t see anyone other than Federer winning the 3 slams not played on clay until he was retired. Who would’ve thought he’d only win one AO over the last 3 years. Or that he’d lose both a Wimbledon final and a USO final in 5 sets to guys who few thought would’ve ever broken through (there was a time when no one thought Nadal could challenge outside of clay).

Based on age and skill (and mentality), Nadal has plenty of slams left in him on all surfaces. But there’s no guarantee. Aside from injuries, other players could have a say. Del Po could come back, Soderling could start reaching finals at slams besides the FO, let’s not forget Murray, Cilic, and Djokovic. Hell, there could be a guy ranked outside the top 200 right now who’s about to burst onto the scene. It’s too easy to speculate, and a little ridiculous to argue based on speculations.

June 18th, 2010 at 12:43 am

kimmi: nearly fell off my chair reading your comment at 7.00pm re Andy! Atta Girl! And Come On, the one, the only Mr. Andrew Murray!! And why I wonder, did Skeezer think you were “trash talking,” does he think Andy is a dunce?

June 18th, 2010 at 1:26 am

“Roughly 3 years ago, most people couldn’t see anyone other than Federer winning the 3 slams not played on clay until he was retired. Who would’ve thought he’d only win one AO over the last 3 years. Or that he’d lose both a Wimbledon final and a USO final in 5 sets to guys who few thought would’ve ever broken through (there was a time when no one thought Nadal could challenge outside of clay).”

Ben:

Believe me or not, but after Fed winning the TMC 07 in an utterly dominating fashion, I was among the very few who thought that Fed’s domination at slams was going to end very soon. The way Fed was playing in 2007 was scary, though Fed’s played even better during 2004-06, I still thought, dunno why, but I can say my gut feeling was that such a great year like 2007 pointed to the imminent decline coz after the zenith cometh the nadir and that was precisely what happened.

I became scared of Fed’s fall from grace looking at how great 2007 went for Fed, particularly considering the fact that it was in 2007 itself when Fed was questioned for the first time as he lost matches to guys like Canas & others and went titleless from AO end upto Hamburg. But Fed silenced the critics in a pretty manner by adding the WIM, USO and TMC in 2007. The critics shut their mouth totally, not just that they even made a u-turn and started claiming that Fed can win all the slams except FO even when he’s playing with one leg or moving on crutches. Now when you force the critics to eat their words and also to praise you after dismissing you, that should be considered a great achievement for everybody (as was the case with Fed then), hence I call 2007 a great year for Fed although that was not the year when Fed as well as he used to from 2004-06. Nevertheless, all of this was too weird for me to not get worried about Fed coz you know, it’s only natural that your downfall comes when you least expect it. 2008 was thought to be the year when Fed would pass Pete’s tally, but I was apprehending trouble for Fed, and I was proved unpleasantly correct by Nole and Rafa in that year. Fed was thoroughly vanquished that year. You must have seen that Fed’s own monster gobbled him up.

I predicted the destruction of Fed’s monopoly on non-clay slams in the same manner as I did sense trouble for Nadal in 2009 FO, this also coz none was expecting Nadal to lose then. I also thought that Nadal might have a historic year in 2008 coz upto the clay season Rafa had suffered miserable losses at the hands of a few guys. It was only natural for the law of averages to work in Rafa’s favour and give him the success in 2008 and he got it! It was same as the law of averages has been working against Fed since 2008 beginning, don’t you think so? I trusted the law of nature and law of average to catch up with Fed very soon way back(i.e. 07 itself). I’m not lying about this.

June 18th, 2010 at 2:06 am

Margot,

No way I think Andy is a dounce. I was just surprised to see the Kimmi bust out and make a comment like that. Kudos for her. I actually saw Andy in person live at his first ATP win in San Jose, ca, and he was awesome. Topspin & slice, on both wings and a big serve, great tactical play, this was no Henman. I am just as disappointed as you that he hasn’t been battling for #1 by now…oh well….give him some time I guess :)

June 18th, 2010 at 2:13 am

This shouldn’t be about whether Rafa or Roger are seeded 1 or 2 (even though I also think Rafa should have been seeded no.1). This should be more about the actual (ridiculous?)”formula” the Wimbledon seeding committee uses. Why would Roddick, who was in the Wimbledon final three times (incl. last year) and won Queens four times, only be the no.5, whereas Djokovic and Murray, who have done nothing major on grass in a consistent fashion (except for Murray’s win at Queens last year), are seeded 3 and 4. That doesn’t sound like an objective approach and/or a consisten ‘formula’. It sounds more like protecting Murray from running into Roger or Rafa prior to the semis.

June 18th, 2010 at 2:21 am

Ben:

AO is not irrelevant and I also never called it irrelevant, particularly considering the fact that Nadal has not won USO. Why Nadal needs to win the USO, if you ask me, then I’m gonna say that if Nadal is to be accepted as Versatile he has to win titles not just in the FO or even in the slow and high bouncing WIM and AO, he has also to win the titles on the currently fastest surfaces like the ones that are the HCs at Miami/Cincinnati/USO coz if we’re to compare Nadal with Agassi, then Nadal needs to be eligible for that by winning the title int he fastest surfaces of the recent times(even though it’s needless to say that the surfaces of today are nowhere as fast as the surfaces of the Pete or pre-Pete era. If Nadal can’t win title on the current USO surface, it’s just not possible to think that he could have won a title or two in the formerly lightning fast WIM/US/even AO surfaces. It’s a fact. And this makes that much more difficult for Rafa as a stroke maker to be compared to Agassi (He won 1992 WIM & also USO, multiple AO titles on those surfaces and even reached finals in WIM/US more than once. What has Nadal done?).

June 18th, 2010 at 2:34 am

Gotta say, until proved wrong, that Agassi was more versatile and a better stroke maker than Nadal. Live with it.

June 18th, 2010 at 2:36 am

You really can’t fathom Agassi’s greatness unless you think of the match that Agassi played against Fed in the 2005 USO final, that despite havimng played a super-gruelling 5 set match vs a young Blake just the previous day and he did not get even 24 hrs rest before facing Fed in the final, not to mention Agassi was groaning and rolling with pain and survived the semi in spite of having taken multiple pain killer injections. And Agassi still gave Fed a hell of a fight in that final, that’s immensely impressive for a 35 year old Agassi to have courageously endured such an ordeal vs Blake and Fed. What does it say about Agassi? What does it say about his endurance, his courage, his competitiveness, his class? I doubt that even Fed would be able to play so great at the age of 35 having a damaged back, undergoing excruciating pain and all that? I’m even more unsure about Nadal on this matter. Must be enough for you to get the answer.

June 18th, 2010 at 3:27 am

Ben,

I meant the USOpen – hard court – should have been clearer. It was 3 am here in the UK! give me a break! I think my other arguments though were valid ones. You cannot compare “greatest” on grass” unless you are comparing fed/samprass or rafa being “greatest” on hard court – he’s only won one! and yes, of course that is brilliant, but not in the realm of the achievements of Federer on these two courts Ben, I dont know how you can argue that?

June 18th, 2010 at 3:48 am

Morning everyone, this is a more decent time for me!

Ben pronin:

“It’s too easy to speculate, and a little ridiculous to argue based on speculations”.

June 18th, 2010 at 12:43 am

Ben, this is what WE ALL do every day! which is why it is so enjoyable.

Speaking of Agassi, one thing that always stuck in my mind when he wrote his autobio was the following statement when he talked about Samprass:

‘Our rivalry has been one of the lodestars of my career. Losing to Pete has caused me enormous pain, but in the long run it’s also made me more resilient.

If I’d beaten Pete more often or if he’d come along in a different generation, I’d have a better record, and I might go down as a better player, but I’d be less’.

The draw is out at 10 am UK time, but I won’t be able to check until 11.10am today –

For me, Federer still shows tactical brilliance, structural ingenuity and an abiding wonderment to his shots, I don’t particularly care that he isn’t as consistent on average, but I do care about him showing the world that come wimbledon, he is still the one to beat!

I really hope he pulls it together for the greatest show on earth!

Go Federer!

June 18th, 2010 at 4:07 am

God, I was watching the highlights of Nadal-Lopez match. Those two were playing the daddy level tennis of even Rafa-Verdy AO 09 semi. Scary tennis by both. Both were just kinda dropping virtual missiles and atom bombs at each other. :/

June 18th, 2010 at 4:50 am

Daddy vollies and daddy ball whacking in that Nadal-Lo match. Rafa at WIM would be ominous for all others this year.

June 18th, 2010 at 4:54 am

@Huh
that fed vs agassi match is one of my all time favourite matches. Agassi is the most important opponent Fed has played in his carer imo. (i will explain if you want to know more) Agassi was great,pushing an in prime Federer despite the fact he was 35 and injured. Federer wouldnt be pushed that much by ANYONE at the USO until 09,when he was out of his prime. Agassi also said after that match that Federer was the best player he ever faced-which is a huge comment coming from him as he played alongside quite a few all time greats.

June 18th, 2010 at 4:55 am

Rafa’s likely to chew everybody alive in this WIM, although I am still hopin for a Rod/Muzza/Hewitt win above everything else.

June 18th, 2010 at 4:55 am

Hi Thomas!

Thanks for agreeing with me. And yes, Agassi indeed fought Fed like crazy in that USO final. Although I must tell you I am not a big fan of Agassi, but the guy was something. He was a GREAT tennis player. US tennis at this point needs a guy like Agassi for the needed boost.

And have you seen Nadal-Lo match?
Nadal’s FH is looking the deadliest I’ve ever seen from him. Everybody needs to avoid that FH if they want to have good chances against him or the match’d be over very soon for them. Nadal’s looking unstoppable at the moment, good for him.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:01 am

Yeah Thomas:

Please tell what you want to, I’m very keen to know something more about Agassi.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:04 am

Nadal’s volleying also was fantastic! His FH was untouchable. I still can’t believe he lost at Queens to Lo, must have been some luck for Lo or may be courage.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:06 am

Nadal’s running FH was truly insane in that match1 Still wondering why he lost thou.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:07 am

Now I know after seeing the match that Nadal stopped running as well as he could have after falling for the second time. I think Nadal got scared of injuring himself after that and gave up making those insane greats and inexplicably good running FHs, may be he did not go for too much.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:11 am

Nadal was sick and so was Lopez. I hate tennis.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:12 am

@Henry

If you’d actually bothered to LOOK at the formula, and if you have even the most basic grasp of mathematics, you’d know why. It takes into account BOTH, the ATP rankings AND grasscourt performances.

On an off-topic sidenote: The moment I heard what Agassi said of Federer, it put to rest ALL speculation of whether Pete or Fed is the greater player. It’s rarely possible to compare players from different eras, but Agassi’s ridiculous longevity at the top of the game has given him that opportunity. He played both, Sampras AND Federer, in their respective primes, and considers Fed the greatest. End of discussion, IMO.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:50 am

Draws are announced, Federer gets Joker, Nadal gets Murray.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:55 am

Draw has begun. Men’s doubles just done. Ladies’ doubles next. So will be a while before the singles start. Can listen live here: http://2010.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2010-06-18/201006181276850942412.html Or follow @Wimbledon on twitter

June 18th, 2010 at 6:01 am

Oops. Ignore. Singles done already

June 18th, 2010 at 6:03 am

The game is back as the games are about to begin..
the seeds are out..
now the draws are out too..
and payback time now..
nadal gets the tough draw instead of fed..
fed may face djoker in Sf, otherwise nothing tough..
However, if murray does not decide to get hot, or gulbis does not decide to pull off a shocker, its very much a fed-nadal cracker in finals..
Oh ya, there is sodalime also, but on grass he ain’t gonna do anything..

June 18th, 2010 at 7:16 am

One of the headlines about the draw says Federer got a tough draw. Then I looked at the names. Theoretically, Federer should not have any problem with any of them. Roddick is on his side. The way Federer has been giving souvenirs to guys he “owns”, Roddick seems destined to have his this time. Good luck to Roddick. I hope he finally gets his Wimbledon.

June 18th, 2010 at 7:18 am

Lenny:

No need to get nasty. As a matter of fact I did look (for many years) at what you consider the Wimbledon seeding ‘formula’, hence my question whether it’s a riduculous formula. My point is: we have an ATP/World ranking. So, why customize for a Wimbledon seeding. What if the USO, AO and RG would do the same?

June 18th, 2010 at 7:27 am

henry..
how many events are played on grass every year??
hard courts have nearly 40 played on it, while clay has roughly 20 events on it.. grass has a total of 6, out of which a top 50 player would play in 3 at the most..
so FO, AO & USO does not need a separate ranking system, while wimbledon needs..
the purpose of seeding is to make sure the best players in a particular tournament goes through and meets in later rounds, thus making the competition more exciting..
now at wimbledon, how can you decide proper seedings if you look at only ATP ranking points, in which players have majority of their points through clay and hard events and hardly anything through grass??
so, a formula is needed that does give importance to grass events too

June 18th, 2010 at 7:36 am

Skeeezer – shammmooooooon. draw is out. WTF? Love the Muzza draw. Just the way I wanted him to be. but wait..I skimmed it very quickly. have to make sure where are the Fish and the Berdych of this world.

Federer..not bad qtr :)

GO MUZZA

GO Federer

June 18th, 2010 at 7:39 am

Hewitt, Berdych and Roddick are in Fed’s side, he could get either Djoko or Roddick in the semis, it is a loaded draw.
Nadal has Murray in semis but can face Gulbis, Blake, Isner/Youzhny and Soderling before semis, tough road he has to play all of them in a row.

Murrays’s draw is a cakewalk for him, he is a lock in semis.

June 18th, 2010 at 9:35 am

The top half has much more grass court players than bottom, which hahe a lot of spaniards.

June 18th, 2010 at 9:38 am

Looks like the Queens’ Fish will be playing Halle’s Hewitt if they get through there first round matches. Cracks me up Fed plays Falla, AGAIN, lol. Murray looks good. C’mon Muzza!
Overall, me thinks they did a good job with the draw. They never come out they way some people want, but the Wimby officials have a great reputation with it,

June 18th, 2010 at 9:53 am

@Henry

Apologies. Didn’t need to be “nasty”. Just frustrated with all the whining about the seedings when they’re completely justified. We Rafa fans – yes, while I love them both, I’m a far bigger RAFA fan – get a bad enough rap as it is. Anyhoo, if you read …da game’s response, he/she answers your question perfectly.

June 18th, 2010 at 10:16 am

correction: didn’t MEAN to be nasty

June 18th, 2010 at 10:17 am

Thanks Lenny and Da Game for trying to clarify, but it still doesn’t make sense to me. Check out the Women’s seeds who are all according to the WTA ranking. Doesn’t seem consistent, wouldn’t you agree? And why on earth would Roddick be seeded lower than Djokovic and Murray. His grass results at both Wimbledon and Queen’s have been far more impressive and consistent than Djokovic’ and Murray’s. That’s why I am convinced this whole ‘formula’-thing has nothing to do with an actual true and objective formula.
And Da Game: you know as well as I do that most top 25 players only play between 18-25 tournaments. Roddick, for example, only plays max two or three clay events prior to RG, but is seeded in Paris according to ATP rankings. Anyway, let’s just stop here as Wimbledon will always want to do things differently anyway – just for the sake of doing it differently.

June 18th, 2010 at 10:35 am

so 3 tournaments in 18-25 tournaments still account for 10-15 %

June 18th, 2010 at 10:54 am

Huh, let’s not forget Nadal was 2 points from beating Federer in Miami.

As far as I’m concerned, Nadal is already better than Borg on clay.

I don’t disagree about Agassi being a better ball striker than Nadal, Agassi is the best ball striker ever.

Madmax, I don’t know what greatest on grass argument your talking about.

Huh, whether or not you foresaw his decline doesn’t mean mostly no one else saw it.

June 18th, 2010 at 11:03 am

“Ben Pronin Says:

Huh, let’s not forget Nadal was 2 points from beating Federer in Miami.”

The same can also be said about Rafa. Fed too has been a lot of times in almost winning position only for Nadal to run away with the victory. That you’ve 100 match points doesn’t mean anything unless you end up as the winner.

You also said:
“Huh, whether or not you foresaw his decline doesn’t mean mostly no one else saw it.”

But sorry I don’t get it. Care to be clearer about it?

June 18th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

Lenny/Henry – ( are you for real?!),there is a UK comedian called Lenny Henry – !!!

Anyway, Wimbledon have entered into a contract with ATP – and this only applies to wimbledon and not the other slam venues, OZ, USO, FO – honestly guys, rather than arguing about it – google it! The information is all there – you just have to accept that this is an age old rule exclusive to wimby – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Federer seeded No.1 at wimbledon for the next 6 years!

June 18th, 2010 at 1:18 pm

“I wouldn’t be surprised to see Federer seeded No.1 at wimbledon for the next 6 years!”

Maxi – According to the formula you posted, federer can only be seeded # 1 if his current ranking and his 2 yrs previous results allows it. If he falls down the ranking in the coming years he wont have enough points to be seeded # 1. So, your point above wont be true otherwise. I thought I should clarify this one with u.

June 18th, 2010 at 5:39 pm

Henry: I agree with your rationale on the Wimbledon seeding. That tournament, even though it supposedly has a formula to which its allegedly adheres, does deviate from the norm, and in reality, is very unfair to some players.

I remember last year they had Sharapova playing on Centre court, and Venus Williams playing on the Graveyard. Also, they gave Sharapova special seeding privileges. Why? because she’s a cash cow, pure and simple.

IMO, Roddick should be given a better seeding, especially in view of the fact that he was a finalist in ’09 and has been very consistent reaching finals, SFs, and QFs, throughout the years, as opposed to the Nos. 3 and 4 seeds. However, many will disagree and unfortunately, that’s the way the cookie crumbles for Andy Roddick.

June 18th, 2010 at 7:11 pm

Following the rationale of the Wimbledon seeding committee and taking into consideration Roddick’s record and comparing it with the rest of the field, he should have been seeded at least 4. Or maybe even 3. Djokovic and Murray do not have the grass credentials that Roddick has.

June 18th, 2010 at 7:36 pm

Polo, I would have settled for even a No. 4 seeding for Roddick, as there’s very little difference between a 3 or 4 seeding, IMO.

June 18th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

Von & Polo: I completely agree with you and that’s why I reacted in the first place (my post Jun 18th, 2:21 am). I have been following this whole “objective” seeding issue from close by for many years and my point/conclusion is that there is no rationale on the Wimbledon seeding committee’s end. Every year they deviate from their own ‘norms’ as they see fit. So, they should either follow their own ‘formula’ in consistent fashion or stick to ATP/WTA ranking order.

June 19th, 2010 at 3:59 am

Kimmi,

Morning.

You forget the past champions rule – I suppose you could say it is a rule based on respect to any player who has played at wimbledon and won over the last x amount of years – (it has nothing to do with disrespecting rafa or roddick or hewitt) as some posters are implying, I would put roddick and hewitt on a par with rafa on grass – sorry but I would – simply because of their past successes on grass.

This exclusive contract with the ATP only applies to wimbledon because of a number of things –

firstly, it is a short season – 6 weeks.
secondly, I (along with a few others) posted the formula some time ago. I’m not going to post it again.

Thirdly, (and I suppose most importantly, though in the wrong order), it is based on Tradition. This is the whole point. TRADITION. You can’t get away from it in the UK –

History/Monarchy/Tradition – it is all intertwined at wimbledon. Remember it’s the oldest tournament out of all the slams – since 1877 I think.

Wimbledon has spent over 41 million pounds over the last 2 years upgrading grass courts/building extra seating/ and allowing other TV companies to broadcast from their venue as well as providing extensive facilities for players, the media, broadcasters. Last year, they even built a museum just outside the practise areas! History all the way!

– it is the premier tournament out of all the slams, and even though the USO holds the largest seating (American compatriots, put me right here please if I am a 1,000 seats out!), but the arthur ashe stadium has something like 23,000 seats available and though the largest in the world does not have the zing that wimbledon has. (no disrespect intended).

– even the players say that Wimbledon is THE premier tournament and is THE one tournament they would choose to win out of all four.

You could talk about the seedings rule being unfair, but then there is something that lifts wimbledon apart from the other slams. It is that whole historic atmosphere of past champions and the smell of freshly cut grass, the drinking of Pimms, Royal patronage, strawberries and cream and our annual visitor – RAIN!

Yes, I can see that some would argue it’s a stuffy rule, stuffy procedure, but then if you like tradition and you like the more “staid” approach, then the past champions rule is something to be respected. The AELTC is inhabited by “older gentleman who love the history element of wimbledon, so if the past champions rule is going to change, then they will have to go with it!

It could also be argued that the strict rule of wearing white only should also be banned, but I think this only adds to the whole prestigious nature of the tournament.

Kimmi, I’d have to look at what the AELTC did when Samprass was champ and how they treated his past successes in terms of this rule, so I will get back to you on that one later on in the day, but have to go and do some work now.

Cheers :)

June 19th, 2010 at 7:46 am

Kimmi,

The formula is:

• Take ESP points at 14 June 2010
• Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournaments in the past 12 months
• Add 75% points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.

three bits of information found on website: aside from the above formula,

the Committee seeds the top players and pairs on the basis of their rankings.

However, the Committee does also change the seedings due to a player’s previous grass court performance.

Grass and clay surfaces offer advantages to many “specialists” and disadvantages to to players whose game doesn’t suit that surface.

Federer is a 6 time Wimbledon champion, he is also the defending champion and has defeated Nadal twice before at Wimbledon. He should be the top seed.

Yes Nadal has won Wimbledon once before and made the finals two other times, but he is ultimately the second favorite on that surface (meaning he should be seeded second).

The only argument with the men’s seedings should be who should be seeded higher, Nadal or Roddick. Roddick should be the third seed because his results on grass and Wimbledon have been superior to that of the players ranked above him except Federer and Nadal. He is a three time finalist and last year’s finalist as well and won the Queens Club tournament 4 times.

Lleyton Hewitt should also be seeded much higher than his current ranking since he is a previous Wimbledon champion, also a 4 time Queens club champion and just took out Roger Federer at Halle on grass.

Kimmi, it was the “discretion” bit I was referring to, that the committee can change the seedings due to a player’s previous grass court performance” I was referring to as opposed to the actual formula – when I said fed would be seeded no. 1 for the next 6 years, I was equating it with his previous 6 wins and comparing those wins on grass to past champion, samprass – all I could find so far about samprass was his 7 grass final wins at wimby, and that he had never lost a final at wimbledon.

But I do take your point – thanks -.

June 19th, 2010 at 9:15 am

I agree with Von and Polo. What has Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic done lately on the tour or in past years at Wimbledon to warrent such a high seeding?

If the Wimbledon committee is going to deviate from the exact rankings and use a Grass court common sense formula then Roddick should be seeded 3. He is the 3rd most likely player (behind Federer and Nadal) to perhaps, reach the finals.

They should hire me to do the seedings, then everything would make perfect sense.

Tanya appointed seeding queen. Has a nice ring.

June 19th, 2010 at 9:34 am

tanya good one lol

June 19th, 2010 at 11:03 am

The commentators on ESPN, both agreed with me that Nadal should be seeded #1 at Wimbledon.

Some of you bloggers here, need to post less and use more common sense.

Nadal is ranked #1 for a reason, beat Federer last time on grass at Wimbledon. Grass plays like clay these days. The Wimbledon committee is using this silly grass formula to justify getting their buddy Fed #1 even though it does not refect reality.

It’s OK Rafa, you will make them look foolish in the end.

June 21st, 2010 at 8:33 am

Tanya_, I agree with you. Rafa will make the Wimbledon seeding committee foolish in the end. They deserve to fall flat on their seedy seeding faces.

June 21st, 2010 at 8:49 am