Monday, June 22, 2009

The Championships, Wimbledon - 2009 (Preview)

I'm sorry I'm pretty late in publishing on this, will cover day today updates in time :)

Wimbledon is the oldest of the tennis tournament (since 1877) , and only grand slam to be played in grass. This is the 3rd grand slam of the year and is played from late June to early July. The draw looks like this

Men's
Singles - 128
Doubles - 64
Invitational Doubles - 8 pairs (round robin)
Sr. Invitational Doubles - 8 pairs (round robin)
Wheel Chair Doubles - 4 pairs (round robin)

Women's
Singles - 128
Doubles - 64
Invitational Doubles - 8 pairs (round robin)
Wheel Chair Doubles - 4 pairs (round robin) - Event introduced from this year
Mixed Double's - 64

Juniors
Boy's Singles - 64
Girl's Singles - 64
Boy's Doubles - 64
Girl's Doubles - 64

Wimbledon is generally interrupted by rain, but this year a retractable roof is in place in the Centre Court. This roof was inaugurated on 17th May 2009.

Seeding in Wimbledon is done different, its based on last year's performance and past 12 month's performance of the player.

Defending Champions

Event Type

Name

Country

Men’s Singles

Rafael Nadal

Spain

Women’s Singles

Venus Williams

USA

Men’s Doubles

Daniel Nestor /

Nenand Zimonjic

Canada

Serbia

Women’s Doubles

Serena Williams /

Venus Williams

USA

USA

Mixed Doubles

Bob Bryan /

Samantha Stosur

USA

Australia

Boys Singles

Grigor Dimitrov

Bulgaria

Girls Singles

Laura Robson

United Kingdom

Boys Doubles

Cheng-peng Hsieh /

Tsung-hua Yang

Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei

Girls Doubles

Polona Hercog /

Jessica Moore

Slovenia

Australia

Men's Invitational

Donald Johnson /

Jared Palmer

USA

USA

Women's Invitational

Jana Navotona /

Kathy Rinaldi

Czech Republic

USA

Wheelchair Men's

Robin Ammerlan /

Ronald Vink

Netherlands

Netherlands

Senior Men's Invitational

Ken Flatch /

Robert Seguso

USA

USA

Nadal has opted out of this years tournament, which means there will be no top seeded player in the draw. Roger Federer would be looking for his 6th title, and also break Pete Sampras record of 14 Grand Slam titles. Andy Murray is the local favourite and would be vying for the title with a good warm up tournament at Queen's Club which he won. Novak Djokovic had a tough tournament at Halle where he struggled to reach the finals and eventually losing to Tommy Haas. Others who would be looking to have their hands on the trophy would be Andy Roddick, Juan Martin del Potro. Grigor Dimitrov who is last year junior champion is a person for a look out in this championship.

William sisters will be strong contenders for this year’s title, provided they are fit. The Russian girls would be the giving a tough fight. The women's draw is not as predictable as men's as no one plays pretty consistent.


- data from www.wimbledon.org & www.atpworldtour.com