Federer could do some damage this year
When the All England Lawn Tennis Club committee announced the singles seeds for Wimbledon this year, the first four names on the 32-man list were all familiar ones. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal occupied the top spots – the first time since the 2014 Championships that the glorified ‘big four’ have all found themselves named as the top seeds at a Grand Slam.
This, combined with Federer and Nadal dominating the ATP Tour as if they were playing in their 200507 era pomp, has led many to believe that this year’s Wimbledon will be something of a glorious throwback; one final chance to see four legends of the sport collide on grass while still operating at their absolute physical peak. Federer in particular, could do some damage this year.
Murray is the top seed and defending champion but, on current form, arguably looks the least likely of the four to reverse his fortunes in time to become the first British man since Fred Perry to win three Wimbledon titles.
Not only has his form been lacklustre since his Herculean ascent to the top of the ATP rankings at the end of 2016 – with shock early exits at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Queen’s in particular – but the 30-year-old has also been afflicted by a series of health problems.
He is not the only one feeling the strain. Two-time champion Nadal – who looked so imperious on terre battue less than three weeks ago – has struggled since obliterating Stan Wawrinka in three sets to complete La Decima, and has a poor recent record at The Championships. “There has been a while since I don’t play very good Wimbledon,” he remarked after his landmark win at Roland Garros.
If Murray and both have questions hanging over their fitness, Djokovic has more intangible issues on his mind. While his form heading into the French Open had been middling, his performances in Paris were downright mystifying. There were flashes of brilliance – most notably in his three-set win over the in-form Albert Ramos Viñolas – but some real stinkers, too.
He was taken to five sets by Diego Schwartzman, a player who had never previously been beyond the second round of a Slam, before completely collapsing in a dismal 7- 6, 6-3, 6-0 defeat to 23-yearold Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals.
And then there is Roger. The bookmakers’ favourite is clearly the in-form contender, having swept aside Alexander Zverev in less than an hour to win his ninth Halle title last weekend, but was forced into skipping the entire clay-court season in an attempt to maintain his fitness after winning in Indian Wells and Miami.
At the age of 35, he’s not entirely immune from the odd shock result, either. His grass-court season began in pretty disastrous fashion with a loss to 39-year-old Tommy Haas at the Stuttgart Open, and he was also humbled by the Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy in Dubai, towards the beginning of the season. THE INDIEPENDENT