Little break

Little break

Saturday, 23 June 2007

Wimbledon ROUND 1

Yes girls (and boys..), the mother of all tournaments is going to start this Monday! Marat is seeded 26th and will play Rik De Voest (South-Africa, a qualifier) in the first round. Marat will most likely play this match on Monday, because he's in the same part of the draw as the former Wimbledon Champion, Federer.

Marat has never met De Voest on a tournament before. Rik De Voest is ranked 126 in the world an his highest ranking was 101 in August, 2006. Of course Marat should be able to beat this guy, but no one knows it with Marat!

Marat won with 75(5) 64 75!!! Yeah! Go Marat:)!!!




--> check out World Time Clock for times (or http://www.timeanddate.com/ )!

For the draw: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html

Then another tiny little thing.. The Fed Express (Federer) will be waiting for Marat in round 3! But again, you never know with Marat! He could even beat this guy but could also lose in the first or second round.. But all hopes are on Marat, let's pray!

Preview:

No stopping Fed Express
June 23, 2007 - 4:03PM

Former US Open and Australian Open winner Marat Safin will be waiting to ambush him in the third round but Roger Federer is still regarded by his peers as a runaway favourite to claim a fifth straight Wimbledon title on July 8.
Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman, who was swept aside by Federer in last year's semi-final, believes the Swiss maestro still has too many weapons in his grass-court armoury for anyone to knock him off his throne this year.
"Roger has been so dominant the last couple of years, at the moment I'm not sure who is the one to do it," the 35-year-old admitted.
"Obviously we all need a little help in that he does not play at his best because when he is playing his best tennis he is unbeatable on grass."
After the disappointment of his French Open defeat by Rafael Nadal, Federer opted to skip his usual warm-up tournament at Halle in Germany and there have been suggestions that he will not be going into this year's Championships in the best frame of mind.
"He's had a tougher year than normal," acknowledged Bjorkman.
"He's had a few let downs this year, obviously it gives all the players a little extra confidence that he can be beaten."
But the Swede balances that hope with an acceptance that Federer is probably a greater talent than Pete Sampras, Boris Becker or any of the other legends he has faced in his long career.
"He plays with such variety and speed," he said. "You know you have to work really hard to win the games. In my semi-final last year it was not about winning, unfortunately it was about fighting for my game because of the way he played.
"I haven't had that feeling against anyone else I have played before. You always felt you could stay with them even though they were fantastic players.
"I think he has the whole package. Pete (Sampras) was an unbelievable player and a great champion but you still felt you could hold a couple of service games because he was not returning unbelievably well all of the time.
"With Roger, it's different because he is so good all the time so if you're a little off he will put pressure on you straightaway in your service games and at the same time is very solid in his own."
Federer should have no trouble ensuring that Russia's Teimuraz Gabashvili becomes his 29th consecutive victim on the lawns of the All England club when he plays his first round match on Monday.
But he faces a potentially difficult encounter in the third round, where he could come up against the erratic but hugely-talented Safin.