TENNIS in DEPTH.

Predicting who will win any tennis tournament is at best a risky move, maybe bordering on folly, but this years US Open is looking more and more like a cinch for Mr. Federer. How can you bet against a guy who has won the title 5 times in a row, a guy who won both the French and Wimbledon titles, and a guy who demolished the competition just last week?

Winning any Grand Slam takes a special talent, seven gruelling matches one after the other, matches for the lesser players that can make or break them, and matches that are played under the scrutiny of thousands of biased tennis fans, the press, the TV, and the world at large. It’s not a time to have an ‘off’ day, or the time to run into a ‘hot’ player playing over his or her head.

Of all the players in the 2009 US Open there are only a handful who have experienced a Grand Slam victory, and just two players who have dominated the Slams in recent years. Unfortunately one of them is working his way back into form after a 2 month absence, and nothing short of a miracle will put him on the podium at the end of the second week.

So where could a serious challenge come from, if not from Rafael Nadal?

Roddick, Murray and Del Potro are the names at the top of this list. I discount Del Potro’s chances because of his inexperience and his poor record against Federer.

We have the two Andys. Roddick the home town favourite, and a previous winner. The unlucky loser at Wimbledon who is having his best year on tour, and who would love to get a measure of revenge. Then there is Murray, who seems to have bamboozled his way into the minds of all the experts as the next #1 player. For almost a year he had Federer’s number, but that was a different Federer than the one who has reemerged. Murray is not ready yet to lift the crown from Roger’s head.

The odds are not good, but a bet on Federer is like money in the bank!

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