Who you got to win it all?

I'm gonna go with Sharapova and Djokovic this year

I like Sharapova as well, and if Roger can play like he did against Djokovic, I wouldn't bet against him. I think Novak will have a great tournament there, though.

And I've all but given up on Andy to go very deep in slams now, but I hope he at least makes it past the first week.

Andy may not ever win another tournament. His game sucks right now, for many various reasons. He should be way more controlling of points, but his backhand sucks and keeps him from doing that. His serve isn't a weapon anymore because he cant hit the flat one as consistently as he needs to. The rest of the tour caught up to him, and caught onto his one dimensional game.

He's an embarrassment for American tennis. But at least he has Brooklyn Decker!

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He's an embarrassment for American tennis.

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That's a bit harsh. He's a former world #1, US Open champ, and was in the top 10 for nearly a decade. I don't think that's embarrassing.

He lost 16-14 in the 5th set at the 09 Wimbledon final in which he gave the best player ever on his best surface and in his prime all that he could handle. He has also answered the bell for Davis Cup every time he has been needed and has matured from kind of a punk into a real gentleman and classy representative of US tennis.

I'll take him 7 days a week over James Blake, who is a loafer and a tank. He puts on a smile for the camera and is a smart enough guy to market himself well but when he played Lester Cook years ago in Houston, I have hardly ever seen poorer sportsmanship by a player of his level. I have also seen him quit many times. At least Roddick fights hard. This year in Houston the entourage in Blake's box looked like a bunch of potheads in their mid 30s. It's no wonder that running with that crew he hasn't amounted to much.

I think all of your criticisms of Roddick are accurate, but also overly harsh. His backhand isn't the best on tour but doesn't suck. He won at Memphis a few months ago beating Del Potro and Hewitt along the way. On his way to beating Isner (who is the REAL one-trick pony of US tennis) 7-5, 6-2 he was 3 for 3 on break points and won nearly half of the points on Isner's serve. You don't do those things with a backhand that sucks.

As for his serve, the stats say otherwise. He is 8th on the tour this year in aces with less matches played than anyone ahead of him. He's tied for 14th in first serve percentage and tied for 3rd in percentage of first-service points won. He's even tied for 6th in percentage of second service points won!!!

Beyond that, he's 2nd in percentage of break points saved, which means he is clutch. And all of these stats are from his worst year ever as a pro in a long time.

His main problem is that he's nearly 30 and slowing down. He was never the most physically gifted guy out there and getting older isn't helping that. He's not getting better off the ground and he's not getting quicker. He doesn't have the type of game that either Sampras or Agassi had where you can be effective into your 30s. I also don't get the sense that he's the student of the game that those guys were. He gives a witty interview but let's face it he didn't miss out on a career as a rocket scientist.

I do think he has done the most with the tools that he has and I for one am very proud of him.



[This message has been edited by Harry Dunne (edited 6/5/2011 5:10p).]

Dunne +1

I hope Clijsters for her first Wimbledon title and I'm going with Federer.

For the men, I really don't see Nadal losing. Fed might be able to get him in the final or semis, but Nadal is just better than him if they're both playing healthy and at their best level. It's also gonna be interesting to see how Djokovic does at Wimbledon. Grass is his worst surface.

For the women, who knows. It seems like every slam semifinals is just a fresh set of 4 Russian or Eastern European women going at it. I guess I'll take Sharapova.

Can't wait! Wimbledon is just a few short weeks away! I'm hoping ESPN2's coverage will start earlier than 11 am for this tournament.

My point about Roddick is, when is the last time he was a true, consistent threat in the game?

I will take back the embarrassment to America comment, he has always answered the call for Davis cup. I just think that if he had stuck with Jimmy Connors as his coach, or someone who would have made him be more aggressive and hit the ball (the way Djokovic, Fed, Rafa do), he would have had better results. The way he uses his backhand is what bothers me. He uses the slice way too much, and at the wrong times. Can't tell you how many times I've seen him hit a MONSTER serve, kick or flat, and have his opponent out of position, and slice a backhand off the return. He played very aggressive in his early days, and has gone away from it. He missed out on a lot of his potential, in my opinion, when he started being passive on the court, instead of actually hitting the ball, and forcing his opponents to hit a tough shot.

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Can't tell you how many times I've seen him hit a MONSTER serve, kick or flat, and have his opponent out of position, and slice a backhand off the return.

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That much is true and gets on my nerves too. Not sure if I'm right, but I attribute that to him being more fit and being more confident about staying in points and not having to win the point with that next shot. Ironically, I think that like you say he had more success when he played shorter points and just went for it.

Rafa although Fed showed signs of life in the French. I'd love to see Fed win it but I just don't see him winning another slam.

I think he's still got one more Wimbledon in him. He would have had those first two sets on Rafa on grass. The weird thing is how terrible he was both in the semis and finals on break point.

Nadal

Harry what was blake doing to Cook during their match?