ARTICLES:
Rafael Nadal may be the No. 1 player in the world, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the No. 1 seed at Wimbledon. The All England Club doesn’t merely adhere to the ATP Tour rankings to determine the 32 seeds. Instead, Wimbledon uses a formula — which is applied only for the men — that rewards players for their grass-court achievements.
- Djokovic set to be top seed at Wimbledon (via The Tennis Space)
So here’s what will happen. Novak Djokovic will be elevated to No 1 seed above Nadal and Andy Murray, the defending champion, will be moved up to No. 3 thanks to his victory last year and reaching the final the year before. Roger Federer will be No 4 and then the next four spots will be Stan Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer and Milos Raonic.
- Brown dethrones the tennis king (via Gerry Weber Open)
“I can’t really talk about how I played because I just didn’t play at all,” he said. He’s going to take a break from tennis for a few days. “This game’s done nothing for my Wimbledon preparations,” he added.
- Nadal Upset By ‘Dangerous’ Brown In Halle (via ATP World Tour)
“And at the same time, as I said yesterday, the transition from clay to grass is difficult, especially when you arrive a little bit tired and not at 100 per cent. But I tried my best.”
- Who’s the Clay Goat? (via tennis.com)
The only thing that Evert’s later years tells us is this: Decline happens to the best, and it will happen to Nadal someday as well. Maybe that’s why Chrissie, in her tweet this week, told Rafa to enjoy his big win, with three exclamation points. She knows that, even for clay-goats, utter dominance doesn’t last forever.
- Tennis world still awaiting follow up to Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal’s classic 2008 final (via The Indenpendent)
Make no mistake, Federer and Nadal are each well capable of making amends in title-winning fashion this year at Wimbledon. Nadal is fresh off winning the French Open for a ninth time.
- Is Rafael Nadal the best because Roger Federer comes from a weak era? The debate rages (via Oregon Live)
The most salient point in the Roger-or-Rafa debate might come from Peter123, who writes that “Federer had non-prime Nadal 2005-2007, and Nadal also had non-prime Federer 2008 or 2010 whichever onwards, so that evens out.”
VIDEOS:
I was wondering what the reasoning was behind the draw in Winbledon. I do not remember this situation from previous years. I guess my bias is that I am a Rafa fan and when I look at his draw, it looks much more challenging than the other top three seeds. I am watching Murray right now, bored out of mind. I think I’ll go garden. I’d rather pick weeds than watch poor Andy or his scary mother.
Wishing Rafa all the best in Wimbledon! I still can’t fathom the existence of Rafa haters. Rafa has so much quality both as person and tennis player. No matter what, he is making history. All the way with you Rafa.
If any of you want to check these player stats for yourselves, Wikipedia is the place to go. Just Google the Wikipedia page for each player, then page down to the “grand slam tournament performance timeline” section. The Wikipedia page also includes almost every stat available for each player. Enjoy. VAMOS!!! And VAMOS!!! again, since I forgot to say it in my previous comment.
Rafael, please don’t worry on which surface you are playing. Just go there and give it your all. Let the others speculate and debate about ranks and seeds. I’m sure these don’t matter to you. You can do it, be it grass or any other surface. Remember, you won twice before. Black out all that happened during the last two years and go there fresh in mind, body and spirit. I’m sure you will be holding the trophy this year and taking a bite off it. Best of luck and as they say in Hindi in India “HALLA BOL”.
Douglas Perry of OREGONLIVE/The Oregonian is a longtime Federer worshiper & Rafa hater. I know this because I’ve been reading his column for years. His contention that Djokovic & Murray are NOT better players than Hewiit, Safin & Roddick were is absolutely comical.
In 60 slam appearances thus far, Hewitt has won the title twice; was runner-up 2 other times; lost in the semis 4 times; lost in the quarters 7 times. In 45 of his 60 slam appearances, Hewitt lost in the 4th round or earlier. That means that Hewitt was not only losing to Federer, but was losing to many other players as well. The career slam stats for Roddick and Safin tell a similar story of frequent early round losses and rare later round success, which means they too were not only losing to Federer, but were losing to many far lesser players as well.
Compare that to Djokovic & Murray. In 38 slam appearances thus far, Djokovic has won the title 6 times; was runner-up 7 times; lost in the semis 9 times; lost in the quarters 6 times. In 10 of his 38 slam appearances, Djokovic lost in the 4th round or earlier. In 33 slam appearances thus far, Murray has won the title twice; was runner-up 5 times; lost in the semis 7 times; lost in the quarters 5 times. In 14 of his 33 slam appearances, Murray lost in the 4th round or earlier.
In both absolute numbers and percentage numbers(ESPECIALLY in percentage numbers), Djokovic and Murray HAVE FAR OUTPERFORMED Hewitt, Safin & Roddick at the slams, and have done so despite having to contend with both Federer AND Rafa throughout their careers(thus far), whereas Hewitt, Safin & Roddick did NOT have to contend with Rafa for a significant portion of their careers because of the age difference.
Douglass Perry has once again shown that he will say anything – no matter how ridiculous – to defend his INDEFENSIBLE claim that “Federer is the GOAT.” As I’ve proven over & over & over again, Rafa is the GOAT, and I think Mr. Perry knows that, even if his pride won’t allow him to publicly admit it.
Oh well! All England have their rules and rightfully Rafa is ranked # 1 at the ATP rankings, rafa don’t care where they put him to play or what # he’s ranked he just have passion for tennis and will play regardless of ranking and I won’t be surprised to see him win Wimbledon and then what? Murray is #1 even if he lose very stupid!
I don’t think Rafa worries too much about rankings and seedings, when you consider that he never sees himself as one of the top players in the world, and doesn’t focus on winning this tournament or the other, he focuses on being well prepared, physically fit, well and happy, and the rest falls into place. Let’s see what the good old English at Wimbledon are going to dish out this year in terms of good ‘grass court conditions’ remember how most top players were slipping and falling, which incurred many injuries let’s see how much things have improved….Rafa good luck to you in this years WIMBLEDON would be fantastic to see you progress through to the finals, and yes even WIN IT, you deserve too vamos Rafa
Il y a des coutumes à Wimbledon !!!
Yep they are protecting Murray for he will not repeat is Wimbledon titles and then there’s always the crybaby the joker guy. it does not matter number 2 or number 3 that is perfectly fine rasa is a humble man and it does not bother him. What kills is who’s holding the trophy above their head on the last day good luck Rafa may our Lord be with you
Well it’s okay grass court formula ha rubbish rafa you’ll be OK just expect the unexpected like u did the French and you’ll make it through just know the rafans will always be with u
I can not believe it, here we go again … again the total lack of respect for the number one in the world.
What ever you people decided and tell to the world this man RAFA NADAL is making history and that´s important to all. Politics and envy is not a good pair. VAMOS RAFA
Wimbledon is wanting to protect Murry from going out maybe in the quarters. I hate the way these treat Rafa as though his hard work dosent count. Never mind they can’t stop Rafa he will prevail. Vaaammmos Rafa you the Champ!!