Tournament Dates: 21st June 2010 - 4th July 2010

Before Wimbledon even opened it's gates to the public, the announcement that Rafael Nadal was not to take part sent shock waves through tennis fans everywhere.

The draw took place on Friday and of course Nadal was top seed to defend his crown but just a few hours later the news came that he had withdrew from the tournament due to on going knee problems. This put to rest any hopes we had of a repeat of the Federer/ Nadal 2008 final when we were treated to such a thriller that many of us still remember and will remember for years to come.

The draw went into caos, but it was later announced that Juan Martin del Potro will fill Nadals spot and America's James Blake will fill Del Potro's spot. Nicolas Kiefer will now be 33rd seed and the luckiest player so far this year has to be Thiago Alves who fills Kiefer's position.

Andy Murray was in line to meet Nadal in the semi's should he have had a clean passage, he now takes the title of the highest ranked player in the top half of the draw, his thoughts must now be that his chances of a first Grand Slam victory are his for the taking.

He recently achieved what no British player has been able to do in seventy one years, he won the Wimbledon warm up Queens tournament. Murray's best effort at Wimbledon was last year when he made it to the quarter finals, his hope of progressing further were ended by Nadal.

Perhaps Murray's biggest worry this year to reach the final has to be last years semi finalist Marat Safin who he could meet in the last sixteen and if he manages to get through that he will then potentially have to meet Simon Gillles who is seeded seventh.

Then of course, should he get to the final there is Federer to deal with who seems to have got his game back after a dip, he won the French Open this year and now has the full set of Grand Slam titles to his name. He is bidding to win Wimbledon for the sixth time this year and there can be no doubt about his determination, hunger and fitness to achieve this.

Novak Djokovic has got to be Federer's greatest threat to prevent a shot at the title, Federer is set to meet him in the semi finals but with his recent win the pressure is off Federer whereas the pressure will be on Murray to deliver.

There is along way to go, but the prospect of a Murray/Federer final is a real possibility, Murray is a rare player in that he does have a winning edge over head to head stats with Federer taking six matches to two, infact Federer has not won any of the last four meetings.

The only thing that is certain so far about Wimbledon 2009 is that we wont be watching a repeat of last years final but dont let that dampen your spirits, there is hope of a Federer/Murray final and that of course will bring it's own pressure's and drama's and who knows it could even beat that epic fifth set of Rafael Nadal's win over Roger Federer last year, well we can only hope......

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