Grass Court Season?

Yes, now that Roland Garros is finished the tennis world will switch over to a surface that seems to be the polar opposite of the red dirt. This surface is none other than grass, something that no player grows up playing on and most players only play on a few times per year. The 2006 grass court season brings about a few good questions regarding a few good players, well a few good players and one biatch. The biggest question this year has to be will Roger Federer rebound from a tough loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final. Since it is Federer we have to give it to him and make him the easy favorite for Wimbledon this year, but a man can only take so much and after getting beat down by the Spaniard for a fifth straight time Federer may be vulnerable mentally.

Another question partaining to the two time Roland Garros champion Nadal is can he win big on a surface other than clay? I would say that many fans have mixed feelings about this topic, some saying that Nadal can adjust to the hard court style but may lack the talents required in order to succeed on the grass. Of course Nadal has already proven himself several times on hardcourts, winning last year's AMS Toronto and AMS Madrid titles and this year's Dubai title, all on hard courts. Despite his tournament win's Nadal has yet to become a threat for the majors that take place on faster surfaces, his best showing being a semifinal run at last year's Australian Open. Quite possibly the fastest surface of all is grass, a surface that Nadal is the least comfortable on. Personally I think that if Nadal has a good run at Wimbledon it will not be this year, but his work ethic and desire to win big on the lawns of Wimbledon are very respectable and may definitely lead to his success in England in the future.

Many American fans may be asking themselves when they will get another grand slam champion, with Andy Roddick losing early in the past few majors and with the only other American hopeful being James Blake. Most tennis fans know that Roddick has seen his fair share of success in England, making it to the last 2 finals before being sent home by 3 time winner Roger Federer. This year is a big test for Roddick, he has performed so poorly in the past few months and is in need of a decent run at Wimbledon if he wishes to stay inside the top 10. After dominating the sport behind Federer, the former world number 1 and current world number 5 has yet to win a tournament this year and seems to be struggling to compete with the new members of the ATP elite. That all being said I firmly believe that Americans are going to look to James Blake to make it far in this year's Wimbledon. Blake has had a great year and despite losing early in Roland Garros he managed to take down a clay court specialist Nicolas Almagro before being defeated at the hands of Gael Monfils. I think Blake has a solid shot at this year's Wimbledon because he is such a great all around player, he has the big serve and even bigger forehand that suits the faster grass court surface. Blake is also in possession of an underrated one handed backhand that he has improved upon so much leading into this breakout season.

One last point that I will make is the beauty of the short interval between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Although it puts the players at somewhat of a disadvantage, I am pretty pumped that there is so much tennis in such a short amount of time. Much more coming in the near future.