Mornin' folks. Here we are in the men's quarterfinals. The soundtrack is provided by your favorite "oldies" station, what with Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas and Lleyton Hewitt still in the hunt for the title. Which of these three men has the best chance to survive today's weeding out?
That's a pretty tough call to make, mainly because two of those three (Ferrero and Hewitt) are former Grand Slam champions and No. 1 ranked players. At this stage of Wimbledon, there's a special premium on experience, because the prize just a week ago was shrouded in mist and impossible to discern. Anybody thinking final or My Big Moment until this round would be crazy in a way that successful players are not. Now that the mist has cleared and that symbolic trophy is easily seen, at least in the mind's eye, each man's got to be pretty jacked up but also prone to experience a slightly queasy feeling: Hey, can I really win this thing?
Hewitt has won here, and while Ferrero has not, both of them can answer that question in the affirmative. What you have to like about Ferrero, as he prepares to lock frames with Andy Murray, is that he's never been Wimbledon-obsessed. That will lift significant pressure off his shoulders. It's not that Ferrero takes this tournament lightly, or is indifferent to his results here. It's just that the word "Wimbledon" doesn't quite have the same magical ring in his ears. It's a major, maybe it's the major, but it's not like he grew up hoping to win here more than anywhere else, or modeled his game, conduct, or view of the tennis universe on same platform as a Rod Laver, Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras or even Goran Ivanisevic.
Ferrero's sensibility isn't universal, even among players with similar portfolios: let's remember that Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg, Ivanisevic and many other Wimbledon icons also grew up on clay, and while part of their success at this event was predicated on their chosen style of play, a good bit of it also was fueled by natural affinity and affection. The real key to success at Wimbledon isn't based in technique or strategy (that's more evident today than ever before because of the way the game has changed).
The secret, or a big component in it, is wanting to win Wimbledon badly enough, because that desire shapes you for the job in quiet ways (among other things, it will make you think about how best to adapt your style of play to grass). And because the character of this tournament is unique, even among majors, those who yield to and embrace the mystique are the ones most likely to flourish here.
Ferrero is, to use the fashionable word, the "outlier" in this crowd. He's no Sergi Bruguera (that multiple Roland Garros champ had a career 4-4 record at Wimbledon, and simply blew off playing here for five years running), but Ferrero can cause plenty of headaches and problems for any opponent. Murray has too many tools, though, and he's borne the pressure of a British subject in with a chance at Wimbledon extremely well.
Hewitt, despite his Australian heritage and the success he's enjoyed here (he won in '02), doesn't exactly have a Nadal- or Federer-esque love for this place either. Have you ever heard Hewitt wax poetic about Wimbledon? He hasn't, and it isn't just because there's only one poet allowed per family in Australia (Lleyton's wife, Bec Cartwright, has that honor in the Hewitt household). Hewitt just doesn't have that aesthetic gene you need to truly appreciate the place. In his world, "It's alright, mate" is about as close as you can get to pouring out your soul in tribute the glory and wonder of any experience or place.
That leaves Tommy Haas, hard-luck Haas, as I like to call him these days. Haas's big challenge is breaking out of his role as a middle-of-the-pack player, given to the occasional hot streak that generates headlines. But he has a way of cooling off exactly when people are beginning to ask, can Haas really do it? His record here has been distinguished by its lack of glory - or debasement. It's hard to envision him making a big statement at this stage in his career, but that escape from Marin Cilic may have made him more dangerous.
Given all this, as well as the match-up each of these three aging warriors faces, you have to give Hewitt a slight nod over Ferrero or Haas as a potential upset maker. It also doesn't hurt his cause that he's playing the lowest ranked of the seeds (Andy Roddick, No. 6).
-- Pete
-- As at 11am TW time, we're moving to an overflow. Andrew