Nadal: Federer the favourite

Andy Murray’s serene progress to the French Open quarter-finals has not persuaded deposed champion Rafael Nadal the British number one is ready to lift the Roland Garros crown.

There will be a new name on the trophy this year following Nadal’s shock defeat by Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the fourth round, leaving the door ajar for Murray.

But the Spaniard believes there are other candidates more likely to be his successor, saying; “(Roger) Federer is the favourite, in my opinion. That would be great. He’s tried to win it for many years and he was very unfortunate to lose three finals and one semi-final (all to Nadal).”

He added: “If one guy deserves it, it’s him. There is also (Nikolay) Davydenko. (Juan Martin) Del Potro is there I think. We will see.”

Murray’s name was conspicuous by its absence but the Scot certainly has a great chance now.

The third seed set up a quarter-final meeting with Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez thanks to Sunday’s straight-sets win over Marin Cilic.

Gonzalez, the 12th seed, earned his place in the last eight by hitting 50 winners in a 6-2 6-4 6-2 victory over beleaguered 30th seed Victor Hanescu.

Murray became the third British man, after Roger Taylor in 1973 and Tim Henman in 2004, to reach this stage at Roland Garros.

“Every time you do something like that, it’s nice,” said Murray. Tim obviously made the semis here so it would nice to try and match that. I always felt I could play well on clay.”

Hewitt to join Nadal at Queen’s

Four-time champion Lleyton Hewitt and former world number one Marat Safin are among the latest players to confirm they will play at Queen’s Club in June.

They will join world number one Rafael Nadal, Britain’s Andy Murray, and four-time champion Andy Roddick at the Aegon Championships from 8-14 June.

Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in last year’s final before going on to win his first Wimbledon title. Nadal arrived in London last year on the back of his fourth successive French Open title and swiftly made the transition to grass, becoming the first player ever to win at Roland Garros, Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in the same year.

Venus Williams vs Serena Williams

Venus Williams vs Serena Williams 2005 Miami 2nd Set Part 7/7

2009 Wimbledon Championships Schedule of Play

Start Dates	Event	Court
Monday 22 June	Men’s & Ladies’ Singles Start	All Courts
Tuesday 23 June	Men’s & Ladies’ Doubles Start	All Courts
Wednesday 24 June
Thursday 25 June	Mixed Doubles Start	All Courts
Friday 26 June
Saturday 27 June	Boy’s and Girl’s Singles start Veteran’s Invitational Doubles start	Courts 2-19 Courts 2-19
Monday 29 June	Boy’s and Girl’s Doubles start	Courts 2-19
Tuesday 30 June	Ladies’ Singles Quarter Finals	Centre Court & Court No. 1
Wednesday 1 July	Men’s Singles Quarter Finals	Centre Court & Court No. 1
Thursday 2 July	Ladies’ Singles Semi Finals Championships Doubles Semi Finals	Centre Court Centre Court or Court No.1
Friday 3 July	Men’s singles Semi Finals Championships Doubles Semi Finals	Centre Court Centre court or Court No.1
Saturday 4 July	Gentlemen’s Wheelchair Doubles start Ladies’ Singles Final Men’s Doubles Final Ladies Doubles Final	Courts 2-19 Centre Court Centre Court Centre Court
Sunday 5 July	Men’s Singles Final Mixed Doubles Final	Centre Court Centre Court

Keep your 2009 Wimbledon Championships schedule handy for when you place your bets for this year’s Grand Slam event.Get you Wimbledon tickets now!!!

Wimbledon Championships Travel Guide

It is advisable to use public transport wherever possible as the area is known to become impossibly congested at the time of the tournament, and parking is at a premium.

Suggested modes of transport for your Wimbledon Championships travel are:

• By Tram – A tram service runs every 10 to 15 minutes during the day, Monday to Saturday from East Croydon to Wimbledon. In the early mornings, evenings and on Sundays the trams run at half-hour intervals. For all the latest information, times and prices click here.
• By Train – Wimbledon Station is serviced regularly by South West Trains, and visitors from Central London can travel from London Waterloo. Other long distance trains also make a stop at Wimbledon but primarily between 10am and 12.30pm and between 7pm and 9pm. There is a regular shuttle bus which operates between the club and Wimbledon Station. For the latest timetable of South West Trains click here.
• By Tube – Wimbledon is serviced by the District Line of the London Underground. Trains leave Earls Court every four minutes.
• By Bus – London General Buses run special buses during the tournament which link Southfield Station and the centre of Wimbledon with the club. There are also special links from Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner and Victoria to the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. For daily availability and times click here.
• By Car – The easiest way to get to Wimbledon is via the M25. Then take the J9 or J10 exit and use the A3 northbound to the A219 – Tibbet’s Corner in Putney. Then it is as easy as following the AA signs directly to the venue. Please be aware that there is limited parking on-site and no parking is allowed around the venue. Offenders will have their cars towed. Morden Park does offer parking and there is a free shuttle bus to the club.
• Parking – There are five car parks in Wimbledon: Wimbledon Station in Alexandra Road, Worple Road next to Sainsbury’s supermarket, Centre Court shopping centre in Queens Road, Hartfield Road and Russel Road adjacent to Wimbledon Theatre. In Raynes Park there is a car park in Coombe Lane, next to the railway station and in Morden there are four options to choose from: Kenley Road car park, seven minutes walk to Morden Station, Morden Underground car park in Kenley Road, Safeway’s car park in London Road and the York Close car park, also off London Road.

Wimbledon 2008 Champions

The 122nd Championships came to the most magnificent of conclusions in near-darkness on Centre Court as Spain’s Rafael Nadal brought the five-time champion Roger Federer crashing to earth in the longest, and quite possibly the finest, men’s final in the history of The All England Club.

Nadal’s 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 victory took 4 hours and 48 minutes of actual playing time but occupied all of the afternoon and most of the evening because of two rain delays.

It was the 22-year-old Nadal, rather than Federer, who fell prone on the turf as flash bulbs went off in the gloom, in joyous celebration of capturing the title he has always said means more to him than any other. Nadal is only the second Spaniard, after Manolo Santana in 1966, to become Wimbledon’s Gentlemen’s Singles Champion, and it was fitting that Santana should witness this historic occasion from the Royal Box.

For instance, the sun shone throughout the women’s final on the previous day in the third contest between the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, in the past seven years. Serena had won in 2002 and 2003 but this time Venus was the victor, and deservedly so. The defending champion clocked up her fifth Wimbledon victory of the century – five in nine years, a truly marvelous accomplishment, which she emphasised in her 7-5, 6-4 win by shattering the Wimbledon women’s speed record with a serve of 129mph.

Nadal vs. Federer – Wimbledon 2008

ATP recognizes Federer and Nadal with various awards

Although we’re nearly four months into the 2009 schedule, the ATP Tour has just announced the awards for the 2008 season. Obviously, fans aren’t clamoring at the doors of ATP headquarters demanding to know the results – it’s just a bit odd considering how much more quickly a sport like Major League Baseball does it.

As expected, Rafael Nadal was chosen as player of the year while Roger Federer was recognized as the “favorite player” and given the Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award.

Roger Federer earned the ATP Tour’s Stefan Edberg sportsmanship award for a record fifth consecutive year, and he was chosen the favorite player for the sixth year in a row in a poll of fans on Wednesday.

Top-ranked Rafael Nadal was chosen player of the year, and first-year pair Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia was selected doubles team of the year.
James Blake of the United States won the Arthur Ashe humanitarian of the year award for his charitable efforts, and Rainer Schuettler of Germany was chosen comeback player of the year. France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was chosen most improved, and Japan’s Kei Nishikori won newcomer of the year.

Far be it from a guy who just earned his fifth consecutive sportsmanship award to take offense, but I hope the fact the Nadal was chosen as player of the year is eating Federer up inside. Maybe then he can make the slight adjustments to his game so he can begin beating Nadal. They’re so minute that I would need to explain them on a 3-D graphic of a tennis court using Nadal and Federer as avatars, drawn to scale. We don’t have that kind of funding here at Scores Report, so let’s just say Fed needs to improve the accuracy of his ground strokes in an effort to tire Nadal out rather then vice versa. We’ll just leave it at that for now.