21/06/2011 21:10 CEST - WIMBLEDON

Grey skies in Wimbledon

wimbledon2

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The long drought that left the best gardens in London, as well as the local citizenry, looking more than a little dried out, is over.

The city, and Wimbledon on its outskirts, is once again under intermittently grey skies as the All England Club on Monday begins its annual grass-court tribute to tennis with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at the forefront of the men's tournament and with the women's event happily buoyed by the return of the Williams sisters.

How long Venus and Serena last in this tournament with rust dripping off their 30- and near-30-something bodies is a legitimate question, but there is another American in this extravaganza whose future is in question.

How much more gusto is there in Andy Roddick, who turns 29 on Aug. 30? The aces aren't coming nearly as thick and fast off his heavy first serves and with every annoying injury one wonders if he's into the inevitable slippage.

He had good but not great preparation for this tournament at Queens Club two weeks ago, where he won three matches against top-50 players before going out in the semis, and not brilliantly, to Andy Murray.

But, hey, this is Wimbledon, where he has been a finalist, where he knows what it takes to maneuver his way through two weeks of rain delays and inspired opponents. His draw makes him look good right through to the round of 16, where he'll probably face Gael Monfils. If he gets through that, Murray should be waiting in the quarters. Life only gets harder.

In the more global view, the majority of eyes will be on Nadal and Djokovic, seeded one-two and with the No. 1 ranking at stake in this tournament.

Nadal has potential early problems with big-serving Milos Raonic a likely third-round match. Nadal is not going to lose to anyone who wants to duke it out from the baseline with him. But the big servers, like Raonic and possibly Mardy Fish in the quarters, are a major problem.

Nevertheless, he profits from having three other suspects in the other half of the draw -- Djokovic, Roger Federer and Robin Soderling. Nadal, as defending champion, will initiate play Monday against little Michael Russell of Houston. Djokovic opens against erratic Frenchman Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday while Federer plays Mikhail Kukushkin, the Russian who takes money from Kazakhstan to fly their flag at tournaments. Soderling draws Philipp Petzschner of Germany.

Djokovic reached the final four in 2007 and again last year, but after 41 consecutive wins into this season, no one is going to be surprised if he wins Wimbledon. It was Federer who stopped his winning streak in the semis of the French Open, but there's no hint that The Djoker is anything less than supremely confident at Wimbledon, even though he played no warm-up grass tournaments.

As for Federer, he is in obvious decline, but at a Slam where the points are shorter and he doesn't have to deal so much with fatigue, he can still win. He has three problems to deal with. First, no grass-court preparation because of a groin injury; second, he has to get through either Djokovic or Soderling to reach the final; and, third, the loss of confidence which comes with an inability to win big events over the last two years, whether at the Slams or the ATP 1000s.

This has not been a memorable season for the WTA Tour, which is trying to re-identify itself with the Williams sisters absent for so long with injury or illness and with the remaining top players failing to make any wide-ranging publicity impact on the public.

There is No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, who has good looks, personality and an excellent game, but who would be a lot more interesting if she could win her first major.

There is No. 2 Vera Zvonareva, but she hasn't caught on as a personality.

There is Sam Stosur, who is now a perennial top-10 and as athletic as Venus and Serena, but every time you think she's found consistency, she suffers a perplexing upset.

But the Williamses are here now and on opposite sides of the draw, which means TV viewers get a Williams every day, as long as they last.

Serena begins against dangerous Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai and I expect the even more dangerous Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli will be waiting in the round of 16.

Venus gets the heavy hitting Akgul Amanmuradova in the opener and Jelena Jankovic is a probable third-round opponent. It's extremely unlikely that one of the sisters will win this tournament and about 50-50 that neither makes it to the second week.

There are nine U.S. players in the men's tournament, 11 in the women's. Only one American man, Ryan Harrison, got through qualifying into the main draw, and Harrison was a lucky loser.
Two American women qualified -- Irina Falconi and Alexa Glatch.

Charles Bricker can be reached at nflwriterr@aol.com
 

Charles Bricker