Pete Sampras and Roger Federer’s dominance, bad news for Andy Murray

Five statistics about what went down at Wimbledon

1. Between them, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer have won 13 of the last 17 men’s singles titles at Wimbledon.

2. Andy Roddick becomes the second American man to lose three finals, following in the footsteps of former coach Jimmy Connors, who lost four.

3. Bad news for Andy Murray - not since Sampras’ first triumph in 1993 has a losing semi-finalist won the following year. Surprisingly, three of the last five

Posted: July 6th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

It should be a thrilling day of quarter-finals at Wimbledon

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There were no surprises yesterday as the top four women’s seeds reached the semis (we thought Azarenka might pull off a shock before remembering she was facing a Williams sister at Wimbledon). The men’s quarter-final draw couldn’t be better though: Federer v Karlovic sees the enduring grass master face the in-form King of Aces, Djokovic v Haas is a repeat of the Halle final, Roddick v Hewitt sees two of the decade’s finest grass court players handed another chance to shine and then there’s Murray v Ferrero, the weakest of the line-up but with huge public interest. Here are three stats on each match:

Tommy Haas (24) v Novak Djokovic (4)
» Djokovic has a 2-1 head-to-head record with Haas but the German beat him in the final at Halle on grass last month.
» This is the furthest Haas has ever got at Wimbledon, continuing a trend where each of the last seven Halle winners have reached the last eight. He has reached three Grand Slam semis but all in Australia.
» Djokovic has won 13 of his last 15 quarter-finals and has reached the last four of six of the last seven tournaments he’s entered.

Lleyton Hewitt v Andy Roddick (6)
» Both men have won 27 career titles, reached four Grand Slam finals and won at Queen’s four times. Therefore it’s no surprise that they are almost inseparable head-to-head, with Hewitt holding a 6-5 advantage.
» Roddick has the advantage on grass though having won their two previous

Posted: July 1st, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | 1 Comment

Stanislas Wawrinka may face more round of 16 heartache

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After a Wimbledon-less Sunday, things get very exciting today as every single man and woman left in the single’s tournaments will be in action. Here are three stats about each of what we consider today’s four main matches:

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Andy Murray v Stanislas Wawrinka
» Murray has a 4-3 head-to-head record against Wawrinka and has won four of their last five clashes. They have never met on grass.
» The world number three has won all three of the duo’s meetings at the round of 16. Wawrinka has exited five of his last eight tournaments at that stage, with four of those losses coming against players ranked in the top five.
» The Swiss 24-year-old hasn’t reached the last eight of a Grand Slam in 17 career attempts, whereas Murray has done so in three of his last four.

Robin Soderling v Roger Federer
» Soderling and Federer have met ten times and the world number two has

Posted: June 29th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Murray has a chance to make a statement against Gulbis

Five stats about the world number three’s second round match

After an underwhelming performance against Robert Kendrick in the first round, Andy Murray needs to make a statement to prove that he really is a genuine contender to win Wimbledon. A straight-sets victory over Ernests Gulbis tomorrow would do just that:

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» The Latvian has lost just two of his first 22 Grand Slam matches in straight sets. That compares favourably with the records of Roger Federer (five) and Rafael Nadal (four) while breaking through and is on a par with Murray and Novak Djokovic.

» Gulbis was the only man besides Federer to take a set off Nadal last year at Wimbledon - winning the opener of their second-round match 7-5 to become the only man to hold a set lead over the Spaniard at SW19 in 2008.

Posted: June 24th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Queen’s finalist James Blake out on day one at Wimbledon

Runner-up’s early exit puts Andy Murray’s triumph into context

It was with a degree of eggshell treading that we suggested last week that Andy Murray’s victory at Queen’s didn’t significantly boost his chances of winning Wimbledon.

Our feeling was that with Novak Djokovic opting to play in Halle and Andy Roddick and Gael Monfils pulling out with injuries, Murray didn’t beat anybody too noteworthy en route to the trophy.

Posted: June 23rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Stats about the six leading contenders to win Wimbledon

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Hint: It’s everybody in the picture above except Davydenko and Simon

After waiting for an eternity to see Roger Federer dethroned and a new champion crowned, Rafael Nadal’s withdrawal with injury guarantees that there will once again be a changing of the guard at Wimbledon. Here are some statistics about the six men that the bookmakers consider the frontrunners:

Roger Federer
Best Wimbledon Performance: Winner (2003, 2004, 2005, ‘06, ‘07)
Grass Court Win Rate (prior to Wimbledon 2009): 87%
The world number two was unbeaten in 65 matches on grass prior to last year’s final defeat to Nadal and is quite rightly favourite to regain his title in the Spaniard’s absence. However, coming back from losing the previous year’s final is difficult, with Nadal the only person in the last 18 years to have done so, and nobody since Rod Laver in 1962 has completed a French Open-Wimbledon double at the first time of asking (Bjorn Borg and Nadal both have but not in the year of their first win at Roland Garros).

Andy Murray
Best Wimbledon Performance: Quarter-finals (2008)
Grass Court Win Rate: 78%

Posted: June 23rd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment