"I pick Rafael Nadal as winner and my second choice is Novak Djokovic, my third is Roger.”
This is five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg’s prediction for the upcoming Championships at SW19 (the zipcode for the The All England Tennis and Croquet Club, in London, England).
Who’s going to argue with Borg?
“Roger” is Roger Federer. He has not lost on grass since 2002, when he was upset by Mario Ancic in the Wimbledon first round, and could break Borg’s record of five consecutive wins here this year.
He has won 59 matches since that loss, claimed 10 titles on the green surface, an open era record he shares with Pete Sampras, including 5 in Halle, Germany, where he won again last week without being broken once (he won in Doha, Qatar without dropping his serves in 2005).
Despite Federer’s remarkable record on grass, Borg believes that Djokovic will upset him in the semifinals two weeks from today, before losing to four-time French Open champion Nadal in the final.
Nadal claimed the Artois Championships, a grass-court Wimbledon tuneup, played at the Queen’s Club in London, England, last week.
He became the first Spaniard in 36 years to win a grass-court tournament since Andres Gimeno won at Eastbourne in 1972 and the first player to win Roland Garros and the London Grass Court Championships in the same year since Ilie Nastase captured both titles in 1973.
Nadal recorded wins over Ivo Karlovic (three tie-breaks) in the quarterfinals, Andy Roddick in the semis and Novak Djokovic in the final in London.
"If he survives the first couple of rounds this year, I pick him to win Wimbledon," Borg said about Nadal's chance after the French Open final.
With a potential second-round match against Ernests Gulbis or John Isner, two tall, powerful and effective “service machines”, Nadal could be challenged early. But after that, until Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick in the semis, Nadal could cruise through the draw.
Gasquet came back from two sets down to upset Roddick in last year’s quarterfinals at SW19. Roddick reached the final twice here, in 2004 and 2005.
Once again, who’s going to argue with Borg?