I’m sorry but I had to write that headline after today’s results ended a rather odd first week of the grass court season that saw many favorites get bounced early while the defending Wimbledon champion, after cruising in early rounds, lost only his second ever grass court match to the Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt. Meanwhile on the heels of the entertaining World Cup match yesterday that ended in a tie between England and the United States, it was another Yankee, this time from California, who hoisted up the massive Queen’s Club trophy in London and with it raised hopes that an American will yet again win the sport’s biggest title in only a few weeks.
I didn’t get a chance to watch today’s match between Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt which ended with the Australian finally earning a win over Federer after fifteen previous attempts. Even though some said Federer looked patchy, which if you think about his recent pre Grand Slam results is nothing new, Hewitt to his credit probably summed up the 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 win best by saying, “Roger is a hell of an opponent and everybody knows how good he is on grass. His record speaks for itself and I just got lucky.” Despite this modesty, it’s a tremendous win for the former Wimbledon champion who continues to plug away at his game despite several recent knee and hip surgeries and the march of time that’s seen younger players pass him by in the rankings. Federer could be slightly worried about his chances at Wimbledon now, but considering he got to the finals of Halle while most of his top five compatriots literally stumbled early at Queens, I still think he’s the favorite.
Speaking of Queens, that early stumbling around by the big names there definitely helped out Sam Querrey who didn’t face a seeded player all week on his way to taking his third title of the year with a 7-6, 7-5 win over Mardy Fish. Despite some big serving from both guys, it looked like Fish let the moment get to him a bit after he had to chance the serve out the second set at 5-3 but couldn’t close it out. Querrey, who got tons of media flack, for his candid burnout talk in Paris, looked refreshed and very agile on the grass. For someone who’s only gotten to the second round twice at the All-England Club, Querrey sure showed today that no one will want to play him in the early rounds this year.
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