When this year’s Wimbledon kicks off in two days, tennis’ best player will be absent. Yes, ladies and gentleman, 78th-ranked Potito Starace of Italy has decided he is in no condition to defend his honor this time around.
Obviously, the man I’m really talking about is Rafael Nadal, who becomes only the second men’s champion in 35 years to decline to defend his Wimbledon title. After losing exhibition matches earlier this week to Lleyton Hewitt and Stanislas Wawrinka, Nadal decided his knees were too damaged to put up a worthy performance at the only grass-court Grand Slam. But the truth is his knees have been damaged for a while. When Nadal lost in the French Open quarterfinals to Robin Soderling (a capable player, but one who had never before even been a to Grand Slam quarterfinal), tennis fans knew there was something wrong with the gifted Spaniard. The fact that Soderling was later defeated by Federer in straight sets in the finals further added to the speculation.
Of course, this leave’s the door wide open for Roger Federer to not only capture a record-setting 15th career Grand Slam, but also reclaim the No.1 ranking, which he previously held for 237 weeks. I’m expecting Federer to win at Wimbledon, particularly because he is well-rested and prefers grass over any surface. Fed’s previously won the tournament fives times, almost taking his sixth last year before losing to Nadal.
Many knew this would happen, that Nadal’s all-or-nothing style of play would eventually catch up with him. We just never knew when. Still, while a partially battered Nadal might be able to beat a completely healthy Federer, nobody on the ATP should get the best of Federer if he plays like he did at the French Open. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, and Fernando Verdasco all have a chance at going deep into the tournament, but as far as making the finals goes, I’d put my money on Murray. He won the last grass-court tournament at the Queen’s Club and seems to handle that surface well. The guy gets better tournament by tournament and lost last year in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. Without Nadal, the most exciting finals we can hope for at this point is Murray vs. Federer.
