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

Fernando Gonzalez will offer Andy Murray his first real test

Previews of today’s four French Open quarter-final matches

Considering Andy Murray had only previously won two matches at Roland Garros, his path to the quarter-finals this year has been surprisingly straight-forward. With Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic eliminated, this is being viewed as a great chance for him to break his Grand Slam duck but today’s last eight clash with Fernando Gonzalez is unlikely to be a walkover:

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Robin Soderling v Nikolay Davydenko
Soderling recorded one of the most historic victories in French Open history by eliminating the previously unbeaten Nadal in the last round but building on that success could prove a tough task. The last two men to knock the world number one out of a Grand Slam - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Australia last year and Murray at Flushing Meadows - were beaten in the next round. This is the first time the Swede has got this far in a Grand Slam whereas Davydenko has reached the semi-finals twice before at Roland Garros alone. Intriguingly, Soderling has won their two previous meetings on clay though.

Andy Murray v Fernando Gonzalez
Murray have never met Gonzalez on clay before but will need to be at his best because the Chilean is enjoying a fantastic season on the surface. Gonzalez has reached the final four in all three of the clay tournaments he has entered

Posted: June 2nd, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Nadal takes over as favourite after easing past Gonzalez

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Andy Murray may be gone but the Australian Open men’s betting is still really tight ahead of the quarter-finals. Rafael Nadal has leapfrogged Roger Federer after crushing 2007 finalist Fernando Gonzalez but his toughest tests are yet to come:

Nadal [2.48] has yet to reach the final of a hard court Grand Slam. The world number one has yet to drop a set but could be tested properly in his quarter-final with Gilles Simon, who beat the Spaniard in Madrid three months ago.

Federer [3.45] needed five sets to overcome Tomas Berdych in the fourth round but three years ago he did the same against Tommy Haas before winning tournament. There has however only been one four-time champion since 1962 and that was Andre Agassi.

Novak Djokovic [8.6] is fairly distant considering he is the reigning champion although not since Jim Courier in 1993 has a first-time winner retained his crown.

Six of the last seven losing finalists have been eliminated prior to the quarter-finals the following year but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga [10.5] is eager to show that last year wasn’t a fluke. The last runner-up to make the final eight the following year was Marat Safin in 2005 and he went on to win it.

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Posted: January 26th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment