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Predictions tough for naming Wimbledon men`s winner
London, June 20: Lleyton Hewitt`s stunning Wimbledon triumph last year ended two decades of serve and volley dominance at the grasscourt slam and it may be some years before that trend returns.
London, June 20: Lleyton Hewitt's stunning Wimbledon triumph last year ended two decades of serve and volley dominance at the grasscourt slam and it may be some years before that trend returns.
Gone are the days when Pete Sampras was king and you could select a men's winner from a list of maybe three or four players.
The American seven-times winner will no doubt be a curious armchair fan at home in Beverly Hills this year, while among the other grasscourt specialists, god has stopped listening to injury-prone Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Rafter is enjoying family life in Bermuda and Richard Krajicek quit the sport yesterday.
Roger Federer is the only one of this year's top four seeds who can be considered a serve-volleyer while four-times semi-finalist Tim Henman is down in 10th spot after playing catch-up from shoulder surgery.
Tipping a winner is further complicated by the fact that top seed Hewitt enters the tournament fighting for form and by the suspicion that world number one Andre Agassi, seeded two, could be blown away by the game's new breed of big hitters.
Agassi, crushed in the second round last year by Thai Paradorn Srichaphan and overwhelmed at the recent Stella Artois Championships by Andy Roddick, will still start as many people's favourite, however.
''He's fitter and stronger and probably just as fast as he was in his teenage years,'' Agassi's coach Darren Cahill told reporters this week.
''He has a serious love of the game and you can't teach that,'' added the Australian of the 33-year-old Agassi, who won the title in 1992. ''He enjoys going out and testing himself every day and seeing if he can become a better player every day.''
The same sentiments could be spoken of Hewitt -- 11 years Agassi's junior. The tenacious Australian has many similarities to Agassi, not least his service returning, while, as Sampras once said ''He has the best wheels in the game.''
Hewitt, who beat David Nalbandian to claim his second grand slam title last year, recently split from coach Jason Stoltenberg and looked badly out of sorts at Queen's club. But cahill expects his compatriot to come out firing from day one at Wimbledon.
''He's going to be a tough guy to beat, no question about that,'' said Cahill. ''I would love to see a final between Andre and Lleyton, I think everyone would love to see that.''
Bureau Report
Gone are the days when Pete Sampras was king and you could select a men's winner from a list of maybe three or four players.
The American seven-times winner will no doubt be a curious armchair fan at home in Beverly Hills this year, while among the other grasscourt specialists, god has stopped listening to injury-prone Goran Ivanisevic, Pat Rafter is enjoying family life in Bermuda and Richard Krajicek quit the sport yesterday.
Roger Federer is the only one of this year's top four seeds who can be considered a serve-volleyer while four-times semi-finalist Tim Henman is down in 10th spot after playing catch-up from shoulder surgery.
Tipping a winner is further complicated by the fact that top seed Hewitt enters the tournament fighting for form and by the suspicion that world number one Andre Agassi, seeded two, could be blown away by the game's new breed of big hitters.
Agassi, crushed in the second round last year by Thai Paradorn Srichaphan and overwhelmed at the recent Stella Artois Championships by Andy Roddick, will still start as many people's favourite, however.
''He's fitter and stronger and probably just as fast as he was in his teenage years,'' Agassi's coach Darren Cahill told reporters this week.
''He has a serious love of the game and you can't teach that,'' added the Australian of the 33-year-old Agassi, who won the title in 1992. ''He enjoys going out and testing himself every day and seeing if he can become a better player every day.''
The same sentiments could be spoken of Hewitt -- 11 years Agassi's junior. The tenacious Australian has many similarities to Agassi, not least his service returning, while, as Sampras once said ''He has the best wheels in the game.''
Hewitt, who beat David Nalbandian to claim his second grand slam title last year, recently split from coach Jason Stoltenberg and looked badly out of sorts at Queen's club. But cahill expects his compatriot to come out firing from day one at Wimbledon.
''He's going to be a tough guy to beat, no question about that,'' said Cahill. ''I would love to see a final between Andre and Lleyton, I think everyone would love to see that.''
Bureau Report