Wimbledon -Day 1 Picks and News and a little Gossip

The grandest grandslam of them all kicks off today.I'll be keeping Daily posts over the fortnight .I'm sure as the championship unfolds we are in for high drama, laughs and tears.May the best Male or Female win!

Today's Picks

MEN
Roger Federer(SUI)[1] vs. Alejandro Falla(COL) -Roger will kick off the tournament and also kick Falla out of the tournament. Dam! someone has to play Roger 1st Round.

Novak Djokovic(SRB)[3] vs. Olivier Rochus(BEL) - Now this will be a good Match.Rochus has had a win recently over Djoker( hardcourt)....If hes in one of those moods Rochus can win.

Kevin Anderson(RSA) vs. Nikolay Davydenko(RUS)[7] - Never back Davydenko at Wimbledon! He has not been back that long and Anderson is 6'7 and built for grass.!However last event Anderson retired with a shoulder injury. Heads or Tails!

Rajeev Ram(USA) vs. Andy Roddick(USA)[5] - Roddick all the way ,will be interested to see his form.

Mardy Fish(USA) vs. Bernard Tomic(AUS) - Another great match up will the experience of Fish be too good for Tomic the youngster.You would think Fish but will go with the Aussie.

Maximo Gonzalez(ARG) vs. Lleyton Hewitt(AUS)[15] -C'MON!!!! I know he pixxxs a few off especially New Zealanders but there will be more C'MON'S to come.

Gael Monfils(FRA)[21] vs. Leonardo Mayer(ARG) Who knows with Monfils , fitness cloud but should get through.

Peter Luczak(AUS) vs. Tommy Robredo(ESP)[30] - I think Luczak will take out the 30th seed.Robredo as been terrible in his past few matches.

Ilija Bozoljac(SRB) vs. Nicolas Massu(CHI) - I am going for the qualifyer he has won three matches to get here and Massu hasnt played any of the Grass court lead ups.


Ramon Delgado(PAR) vs. Teimuraz Gabashvili(RUS) -This will be close , Delgado lost 2nd round of qualy's ....Gabashvili coming off a great Roland Garros but no Grass court Form.The russian to come out on top.

Igor Kunitsyn(RUS) vs. Viktor Troicki(SRB) -Troiki leads head to head so will go with that.

Juan Ignacio Chela(ARG) vs. Taylor Dent(USA)- A few years ago I would have no hesitation picking Dent. He has come through qualifying so should have the edge on grass.

Michal Przysiezny(POL) vs. Ivan Ljubicic(CRO)[17] - Ljubicic!

Michael Llodra(FRA) vs. Jesse Witten(USA) - With Mauresmo in his corner Llodra.

Karol Beck(SVK) vs. Santiago Ventura(ESP) -Beck

Igor Andreev(RUS) vs. Daniel Brands(GER) - Going for the German has some grass court form.

Eduardo Schwank(ARG) vs. Evgeny Korolev(KAZ) - Korolev

Horacio Zeballos(ARG) vs. Yen-Hsun Lu(TPE)

Dmitry Tursunov(RUS) vs. Rainer Schuettler(GER) - Another good match up .Could go either way.

Marin Cilic(CRO)[11] vs. Florian Mayer(GER) - You would think Cilic

Tomas Berdych(CZE)[12] vs. Andrey Golubev(KAZ) - Berdych ....he beat Hewitt in an exhibition last week so I think form is good.

Feliciano Lopez(ESP)[22] vs. Jesse Levine(USA) - Lopez , but wont
be easy

Philipp Kohlschreiber(GER)[29] vs. Potito Starace(ITA)

Paolo Lorenzi(ITA) vs. Albert Montanes(ESP)[28] - Going to be brave here Lorenzi and he leads Head to Head 1-0 and at least has played a lead up event.

Ryan Sweeting(USA) vs. Benjamin Becker(GER)

Brendan Evans(USA) vs. Jesse Huta Galung(NED)

Janko Tipsarevic(SRB) vs. Arnaud Clement(FRA) Never bet on Tipsarevic ...but seeing Im not betting money on him will pick him to win.

Ricardas Berankis(LTU) vs. Carsten Ball(AUS) - go the Aussie

Marsel Ilhan(TUR) vs. Marcos Daniel(BRA)

Dustin Brown(JAM) vs. Jurgen Melzer(AUT)[16]

Denis Istomin(UZB) vs. Stanislas Wawrinka(SUI)[20] - Could be an upset here but will go with the seed.

Victor Hanescu(ROU)[31] vs. Andrey Kuznetsov(RUS) Will go for another upset here.

LADIES

Laura Robson(GBR) vs. Jelena Jankovic(SRB)[4] - You have to go with Jelena but the crowd will be pulling for Robson!Will be closer than what Jelena thinks.

Rossana De Los Rios(PAR) vs. Venus Williams(USA)[2]

Kim Clijsters(BEL)[8] vs. Maria Elena Camerin(ITA)

Francesca Schiavone(ITA)[5] vs. Vera Dushevina(RUS)

Tatjana Malek(GER) vs. Nadia Petrova(RUS)[12]


Regina Kulikova(RUS) vs. Melanie South(GBR)

Alisa Kleybanova(RUS)[26] vs. Sandra Zahlavova(CZE)

Tsvetana Pironkova(BUL) vs. Anna Lapushchenkova(RUS) - Pironkova leads head to head 2-0

Stefanie Voegele(SUI) vs. Maria Kirilenko(RUS)[27]

Kateryna Bondarenko(UKR)[34] vs. Greta Arn(HUN)

Polona Hercog(SLO) vs. Yaroslava Shvedova(KAZ)

Sania Mirza(IND) vs. Angelique Kerber(GER) - Another toss of the coin, the Germans have been firing so will go that way.

Yung-Jan Chan(TPE) vs. Patty Schnyder(SUI)

Sofia Arvidsson(SWE) vs. Alla Kudryavtseva(RUS)


Eleni Daniilidou(GRE) vs. Aleksandra Wozniak(CAN)

Ekaterina Makarova(RUS) vs. Agnes Szavay(HUN)

Lucie Hradecka(CZE) vs. Varvara Lepchenko)(USA - Toss the coin again USA

Petra Martic(CRO) vs. Elena Baltacha(GBR)

Justine Henin(BEL)[17] vs. Anastasija Sevastova(LAT)

Noppawan Lertcheewakarn(THA) vs. Andrea Hlavackova(CZE)

Yanina Wickmayer(BEL)[15] vs. Alison Riske(USA)

Shenay Perry(USA) vs. Anastasiya Yakimova(BLR) - what a draw both came through qualifying!.Could go either way .Perry beat Erakovic( nz) 2nd round.

Renata Voracova(CZE) vs. Jarmila Groth(AUS) - hope the Aussie has an on day!

Karolina Sprem(CRO) vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands(USA) A TOIN COSS FOR SURE!

Zuzana Kucova(SVK) vs. Alicia Molik(AUS) - RETIRE ALICIA

Stephanie Dubois(CAN) vs. Kirsten Flipkens(BEL)

Julia Goerges(GER) vs. Marion Bartoli(FRA)[11]

Anna-Lena Groenefeld(GER) vs. Melanie Oudin(USA)[33]

Nuria Llagostera Vives(ESP) vs. Vera Zvonareva(RUS)[21]

Kristina Barrois(GER) vs. Mariya Koryttseva(UKR)

Shahar Peer(ISR)[13] vs. Ana Ivanovic(SRB) - WILL never tip
Ivanovic!

Alona Bondarenko(UKR)[28] vs. Katie O'Brien(GBR)

Wow thats it!!!!!!

CONTEST!!!!!

Ok readers lets play a Mini Wimbledon . You need to pick a winner in either the Mens or the Womens draw ,you cant swap once you chose the genre in future selections.You need to put forward a winner from the days play!Now to stay in the competition your selection needs to win.The catch is you can not pick that player again if you progress.So choosing Fed or Nadal early for example will probably catch you out in the end! So my pick today is in the Men's and thats where I have to pick from in the future ......is Philipp Kohlschreiber(GER)[29].Now to enter all you have to do is leave your selection in the comment section of this post with a nick next to your selection if you post anonymous like Philipp Kohlschreiber(GER)[29](fed express) and that is to recognize you in future rounds!!Entry's have to be in an hour before 1st matches are scheduled for each day!

So You want to be a World Class Tennis Player

This is my first in a series of "So you want to be a World Class Tennis Player".I have been running a poll on what is the key ingredient to make you a top Pro!One of the choices was have a crazy tennis parent.Now History shows that this works so let's look at this , get rid of the "u beaut tennis academies, the high tech training programs ,and replace them with an over the top crazy parent!I mean when you think about it tennis patterns and tactics are reasonably simple,there's a few basic strokes ie serve, forehand and backhand, volleys are not used that much these days and Mum and Dad could pick up one of the many instructional video's available.Ok there's a few tips to get you on the road but one important ingredient is that you need obsessive devotion to getting to the top , you have to eat ,sleep and drink tennis and when your at the bathroom you had better keep your thoughts attuned to when you are going to hit that next tennis ball!And guess what?Someone who can keep you focused on this is Mum Or Dad they are only too willing to lend support and drive the program for you.



Can you have a normal youthful childhood, Birthday parties,going to beach with your friends,proms,parties , family holidays ha ha forget it the closest family holiday your going to get is Mum or Dad entering you in another tournament interstate or overseas.Or maybe if you get lucky they will send you to another country to train and live.Just in New Zealand I have heard from parents how they have taken a second mortgage to pay for their child's tennis.A huge financial investment with no real Statistics for success for a country like New Zealand and nine times out of ten will most likely be a poor investment if you are looking at making money.I will discuss location as an issue in a later post. Now the Williams sister's are a success and its thanks to their father Richard yes the obsessive parent!So as the story goes , their father, Richard, upon learning of the lucre that women's tennis offered, decided to make his next two kids into tennis pros. That his wife, Oracene, didn't want any more children was a minor obstacle—he simply hid her birth-control pills. He taught himself the game, coaching his proteges on rotten courts where their sessions were sometimes interrupted by gunfire before shipping them to a Florida tennis academy for refinement. While his girls racked up Grand Slams (17 singles titles and counting), he made headlines with his histrionic antics at tournaments, erratic ramblings, and general weirdness—he insisted on meeting his daughters' first hitting coach at a public car wash because he believed the FBI had bugged his car and house.And now the rest is history!

It seems that obsessive and demanding parents do come into the news for all the wrong reasons.Dogmatic Damir Dokic ,he himself nearly won a grand slam getting himself ejected from three out of four grand slam tournaments, he's threatened to kidnap daughter Jelena Dokic and drop a nuclear bomb on Australia.But hey come on Jelena Had her best ranking when he was in control!


And what about Yuri Sharapova who had his degree of "craziness" was caught making a throat-slitting gesture from the stand that Anastasia Myskina refused to play in the Federation Cup if her countrywoman was named to the Russian team.Read that story here
And Maria has had grand slam success , so I guess another win,win story for the Crazed parent syndrome.What about Mary Pierce's father Jim Pierce screamed, "Kill the bitch!" during one of his daughter Mary's matches.Stefano Capriati, Mike Agassi, and Roland Jaeger were all trained as boxers and in some instances i guess were "punch drunk" in some of their methods.But again their children met with success!


And the list goes on if you have a crazy tennis parent story please leave as a comment on this article and I will publish it, I could keep going and this is just the international examples , boy have I seen some Parents lose it at a local junior tournaments that have resulted in Car Park showdowns with the opponents parents.

What i guess I'm trying to say is be realistic of course there are many success full parents and players that create little drama , not everyone will go onto win Wimbledon or be ranked in the top 100 even and if your from a country like New Zealand more probably not , however it does take a certain obsessiveness if you like to call it that to become a World Class tennis player. It takes total Focus,sacrifice and dedication from both child and parents.The underlying feature here is that your child has to want it ! if they do then as a parent provide what ever support they need.