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

Victoria Azarenka is capable of shocking Serena Williams

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It’s ladies day today at Wimbledon as all four women’s quarter-finals take place. Here are three stats about each encounter:

Dinara Safina (1) v Sabine Lisicki
» The pair have only met once before, with Lisicki beating Safina in three sets at last year’s Australian Open.
» The bad news for the German is that only one unseeded woman has reached the last four in the last eight years - Jie Zheng last year.
» The world number one has won eight of her last nine quarter-final matches.

Victoria Azarenka (8) v Serena Williams (2)
» Serena holds the 2-1 head-to-head advantage but Azarenka has shown she can hang with the ten-time Grand Slam champion this year.
» At the Australian Open she won the first set before retiring in the second

Posted: June 30th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add 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

Serena and Venus bid to win their eighth title in ten years

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Photo Credit: Fiona Hanson/PA Wire

Between them, the Williams sisters have won seven of the last nine ladies’ singles titles at Wimbledon, reaching the final a further four times and winning the ladies’ doubles three times for good measure. With Maria Sharapova already out and Dinara Safina fresh from bottling yet another Grand Slam final at Roland Garros last month, it looks like they could be left fighting each other again. Here’s a look at the five favourites in the betting:

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Serena Williams
Serena is the most successful active women’s tennis player with ten Grand Slams but she hasn’t won Wimbledon since 2003, a Grand Slam drought only topped by her seven year (and counting) wait for a second French Open title. The woman named second seed has only won Wimbledon twice in the last 16 years but they were on both of the occasions that a Williams sister held that position - Venus in 2001 and Serena in 2002. There have been just five occasions in the Open Era where the losing lady has come back to win the following year and the last to do so was Jana Novotna 11 years ago.

Venus Williams
Venus has dominated Wimbledon this decade, reaching seven finals and winning five - including three of the last four - but has a fair way to go before rivalling Martina Navratilova (nine) and Steffi Graf (seven) as SW19’s greatest Open Era champion. She hasn’t been in great form recently, winning

Posted: June 25th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

The Williams sisters are favourites but Serena looks the more likely winner

Here are the contenders to Maria Sharapova’s relinquished crown

chickendinner’s Danny Harris has run the rule over all of the leading challengers for this year’s Australian Open. Reigning champion Maria Sharapova won’t be there to defend her title and Serena Williams looks likely to be the one to take advantage:

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Jelena Jankovic (1)
Despite being ranked top in the world, Jankovic has never won a Grand Slam and her only final appearance in one was at last year’s US Open. Jankovic has lost to second ranked Serena Williams in both finals she has played her in. A Serbian has never won the women’s tournament.

Serena Williams (2)
The Williams sisters have beaten each other nine times each although Serena has six final wins over her sister compared to three by Venus. Serena has won the Australian Open every other year for the last six years and last won it in 2007 which dictates that she is due another win this year. Serena has nine Grand Slam wins with five coming against her sister.

Dinara Safina (3)

Posted: January 17th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment