Even a mediocre Federer looks good in grass

First topic message reminder :

Falla has troubled Fed in grass even at the past so todays match was no different very close and unlucky to lose in 2 tie breakers, but to whatever I observed Fed still looks a prospect in grass and even his mediocre levels can trouble an opponent playing a very high level Tennis.

This puts Fed's prospect at Wimbledon a bit tricky, not many great grass court player in the current era, most top level players are all attrition Tennis players who play similar style on all surfaces, Murray will be a real challenge provided he applies himself in it.

So I will put it this way if draw favors him, say like Andy/Rafa in the same draw and if Fed applies himself and focus hard he could again go long distance and give himself a shot at the title.

His tough path will be as follows

Falla in 1st or 2nd round
Gulbis/Raonic/Isner/Tsonga in 3rd or 4th round
Berdych in QF
Andy in Semis
Nadal in Finals

if he avoids the above names then he can   , but given all we all know what happened last year   so Federer you better focus.

@Nax.. does Nadal have back issues?

hope not, why?

I think there were noises coming from the camp after RG that the back wasn't quite right, no? Not sure if that situation has changed though. Let's hope so, it wouldn't be right to not have Nadal fully fit for Wimbledon, especially with doubts over Ferrer as well.

nadal is fit, he himself admitted so before halle

For Nadal hatahs upcoming Wimbledon could be a nightmare, I have a strong suspicion he gonna lift his 3rd Wimby crown, really not many players left to stop him.

The current upcoming Wimbledon could be the worst in terms of quality yet could be full of drama, None of the top 4 is in form and all are vulnerable, so who better than Rafa to capitalize on it.

Halle loss was pretty targeted and Rafa can win matches just by shear will.

HawkEye is right, I would love to see Fed- Rafa square off in the semi's thou.

such optimistic view is something I need after spain´s performance in the worldcup
but I doubt it

Well nax nadal doesn't have a tired Swiss cheese defence or a useless front man soo he's better set than the footy

One thing I have noticed among Nadal fans and supporters (including members of my own family!) that they always say he is not going to win a particular tournament. My advice is...stop it! It's quite annoying!

My favourites to win Wimbledon are-

1) Nadal - He is determined to erase all memories of the the last two years and reaffirm he is at the summit of mens tennis. Halle cannot be taken seriously. I think he showed up to tick a box as he cannot keep making excuses for not showing up every year. He may not play lights out tennis but he can win slams playing at 80% of his level.

2) Murray - He has good grass court results and is the defending champion. He feels comfortable on grass and he can grind out a win as he did last year vs Verdasco and vs Kholschreiber on clay last month. Also, he has the crowd support to lift him. Unfortunately, no title defence should he face Nadal at whatever stage.

3)Djokovic - Not the best on grass but has won this before so no real pressure. The only obstable in his way to the title is Murray and Nadal as I think they are far better on grass. He has a chance but if he is troubled by fatigue as he was during the last few days of the FO he has no chance against the above. Nadal can dismiss him and Murray's two slams came vs him so there is belief there.

4)Federer - Too much inconsistency and lapses in concentration. Serve sometimes lets him down big time like when serving for a set. His returns were woeful in Halle although when he did get going halfway through the matches he went from ridiculous to sublime hence inconsistency. He cannot wait till half the match is over to get fired up against the above 3 guys. I would have put Federer maybe at No 5 on this list because there are some guys who can really cause him problems. If he has to play Tsonga, Dmitrov, Berdych he will struggle. That said the world number 100 and something can knock him out first round so its anyone's guess what he might do! I think a huge shock would be him winning this not going out in the early round!

Well FWIW FedsFan, William Hill feel pretty much the same way as you do - although with a slightly different order. As of today, they offer the following :

Djokovic 7/4
Murray 3/1
Nadal 9/2
Federer 6/1

After that there's Wawrinka at 16/1, Dimitrov 20/1 and Berdych 33/1

All others range somewhere between 50/1 and 500/1

Bit odd to criticise Nadal fans for playing down his prospects and then install him as favourite based on nothing more than a perceived determination to do better than his awful results in the last 2 years.

I think its very hard to call a favourite. Personally, I would have Novak as narrow favourite over Murray/Fed with Rafa a bit further back. Essentially Id have the same odds as the bookies but with Fed and Rafa swapping.

naxroy wrote:such optimistic view is something I need after spain´s performance in the worldcup
but I doubt it

OT, but Spain, despite knowing what they needed to do, resorted to a physical confrontation, rather than play to their own strengths of controlling the midfield and blitzing attacks. I have never seen such an inept attacking strategy from Bosque's boys.

@Falzy.. tired defence? And show up for the world cup? I can understand Cameroon with 10-men having an excuse against Croatia, but Spain, and that too after a 5-1 beating?

It would be fantastic to see Holland win, but Germany may have say in it. Belgium was very impressive as well.

Whatever the reason, their defence was damn awful