Wimbledon picks

I'm going to go out on a limb and pick.....



TIM HENMAN.
07 WIMBLEDON CHAMPION.


or maybe Roger Federer in an old school jacket.
defeating a Spaniard with wedgies and capris.
I see a shirtless Serbian in the semis (hopefully, even though Novak's draw is terrible)
And a lot of big American serves in the semis.

Justine Henin
defeating the taller Williams (and the one that I like better)
Serena in the semis, probably with earrings longer than her skirt (I don't like Serena much)
and....Mauresmo.

Federer def. Nadal. Roddick, Djokovic.
Henin def. Venus Williams. Serena, Mauresmo (or Vaidisova. )

i think the serbians should make a good showing again with some confidence from their french successes.

spain should do better than they're expected to. don't discount rafael nadal, although I know everyone doesn't think that he can recap his success from last year, i definitely think he can. i see spain doing pretty well; lopez should do ok, if he can keep from getting distracted, and he has such a winsome personality that he attracts fans wherever he goes. moya should lose to henman.

and hopefully the americans can do better than they did in paris. not a high challenge; i'm not sure how they could do worse, unless they all come to an executive decision to withdraw all together. unlucky for fish to play nadal in the first round, though.

seriously, does anyone at tennis magazine even watch tennis? I know they went to press too early to note that Murray isn't playing, but still. Some of their picks are terrible. Vaidisova's brain is still muddy sometimes, and I'll eat my own racket if Gonzalez reaches the quarters. I know no one thinks Nadal will make the finals, but I think Nadal has such mental focus that he grows his arms with his mind. It won't be easy or pretty, but he'll get there.


maybe a fourth-round surprise will await Federer. karma's a bitch.



thirty.love1@gmail.com

Players formerly known as Champions (now ranked between 20 - 10000000) : Juan Carlos Ferrero

Sometimes I see Juan Carlos Ferrero on the last court practicing, and I remember that he had always been quiet but his hype and fan base hadn't been. Jon Wertheim at si.com talked about seeing him unheralded on court 18. I saw that too, and couldn't help but remember that he had once reached at least the semis at the French for four years in a row (including at his debut). In 2003, he became number one, reached the Aussie quarters after the Sydney final, he reached the fourth round of Wimbledon (losing in five sets to Grosjean, not bad for a "clay-courter,") He also won two Masters titles and reached the US Open final, where I was even surprised to see him walking after how much tennis he played to get that far.

So he had a dream year with so much potential, and now he's sorta wandering around the top 20. (And note that he hasn't won a title since 2003.) It seemed to fall into nothing out of nowhere: 0-3 in the Masters Cup. He seemed to rebound in Australia and Rotterdam.

And then the deadly disease: chicken pox.

It does sound a little pathetic, I think, no offense to JCF or anything. It would be one thing trace a demise back to say, the plague or anthrax. We didn't laugh when Tommy Haas dealt with his family's motorcycle accident or when Guga Kuerten hurt his hip. But the chicken pox? I had that, and sat in a tub of tomato juice and watched television for a couple weeks. George fucking Washington had pockmarks and then he became president. But Ferrero got it and flunked out of tennis.

The pox among other things too, I'm sure. But I just think its funny to talk about his deadly battle with the plague and disease and starvation. Ooops, I mean his fight against the POX.

But he was good, and I think he could have been the second coming of the Guga Messiah. But then Rafael Nadal showed up and Spain left him behind to quietly practice unheralded and alone.

I still support him. I think he deserves it, just for being an all-round good guy. I've seen him be really kind and patient fans, and didn't he once make out with Alex Corretja?


EDIT: i want to thank the person that shot and took the time to put this on the internet.















thirty.love1@gmail.com