Wimbledon - Reed: Serena is world's best player

Eurosport - Wed, 01 Jul 12:59:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! blogger Simon Reed believes that Serena Williams is the best player in the world and sees her as the favourite for the Wimbledon title.

TENNIS 2009 Wimbledon Serena Williams - 0

Serena is playing some of the best tennis I've seen her play for a couple of years, in particular the first set against Victoria Azarenka in their quarter-final.

I think that Serena is the best player in the world by some way, but there is also something about grass that seems to bring the best out of Venus.

She is ideally suited to grass, and it's fantastic to watch. Her movement around the court is so good that she's on to everything quickly so she forces errors from her opponents, and her ground-strokes are consistently of high quality. She's just amazingly tough to beat.

Grass is so different to any other surface. Venus just has the knack for grass. Serena has the knack for everything, and when she's on her game it's just so difficult for the others.

I think that another final between the two Williams sisters is almost inevitable, given the way things have gone so far.

Agnieszka Radwanska went into her match against Venus comfortably the underdog as Venus beat her in Italy just a couple of months ago.

Venus moves so much better on grass than Dinara Safina, who she meets in the semi-finals, and I'd be surprised if the world number one even takes a set off her.

It seems as though Elena Dementieva is once again destined to be the bridesmaid and not the bride this year. The Russian just seems to lack the nerve for the big occasion, and a semi-final against Serena is certainly one of those.

Perhaps she will go into the match feeling that she has got nothing to lose, as Serena has the head-to-head advantage over her, although she did lose to Dementieva in the Olympic Games quarter-finals, a tournament the Russian went on to win. But the way Serena played today, she is the overwhelming favourite to win again.

I think Roger Federer could be run close by Ivo Karlovic on Centre Court when the men's quarter-finals get underway on Wednesday. Federer will really have to be on his game as the big-serving Croat will be tough even for the five-times champion to break. I can see a lot of tie-breaks in that match, and if Karlovic can take one of those breakers then he could give Federer a scare. It will be a tough match for Federer, but I can see him winning in four sets.

I think Andy Murray's reaction following his dramatic five-set fourth round win over Stanislas Wawrinka could go one of two ways; The late finish could prove to be a draining experience for him, both emotionally and physically, but on the other hand he tested himself when he wasn't playing brilliantly, and I thought there would be a moment or two in this tournament when Murray would struggle to find his form and put a lot of pressure on himself, but I thought he came through really well.

I think Murray will beat Juan Carlos Ferrero, who I don't think has the kind of game that will worry him. The kind of players who give Murray trouble are the ones who can really belt the ball at him, and Ferrero is not of that type. He's a very experienced player, he's a very thoughtful player, but I still see Murray winning, though he may drop a set.

Simon Reed / Eurosport

Comment 29 - 48 of 108

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  1. #12 yes bring on the legssss!!!

    From sascha, on Tue 30 Jun 11:23PM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Let's talk about the British, they created­ aparthied, import 45 million African slaves. Murder­ the 5 million Native Americans and 8 million Aboriginal­ killed 20 million Indians. The Klan are really Brits,­ the most racist redneck states in the US are really­ British people. Where they lynched black people for­ sport. Now here comes two gorgeous African American­ women, so how I can't see the British liking them.­ Just look at the british track record on dealing with­ non whites. I really do not care what these people­ think or say I leave them to God.

    From , on Tue 30 Jun 11:15PM

  3. "lfdias3" This is about Serena, Serena is­ the best player period

    From , on Tue 30 Jun 11:02PM

  4. Well done girls from the USA. I thought Oudin played­ exceptionally well but lack the experience to go beyond­ one week wonders. it showed on Murray when he went all­ the way with warinka. Now the stage is clear. The­ williamses are hitting back and no one to stop them.­ The two Russians against two Afro-Americans; call this­ world war 111- The stage is there for the nerves to­ flow- predictable results two non GSlamers against­ seasoned Slamers- Wonderful height these women­ tennis-pretenders Azarenka and Lisicki have been­ subjects of big debate recently following their wta­ triumphs over the williamses. Now was the rekoning time­ but again straight sets wins for Serena. The deabte who­ is the greatest score was settled with total­ anihilation of Azarenka

    From Augustine A, on Tue 30 Jun 10:40PM

  5. Has anyone noticed that there are only 43 of us­ commenting on the womens game at wimbledon Jeez how­ boring ,sorry but i best go to another site ,so long­ and good luck to Susan Boyle.

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 10:38PM

  6. i love eurosport international very much,but hate them­ right now inmensly for not showing wimbledon, as i only­ recieve eurosport int in my­ region.shhhhhhhhhhhhittttttttttttttt

    From Eromosele, on Tue 30 Jun 10:37PM

  7. Well done Reed... everyone Knows that Williams sisters­ are the best on grass!but I think Dementieva is able to­ reach the final;

    About Murray, Be carefull about­ Ferrero he´s a great player and is in great shape;

    I­ will put a coin on Ferrero

    From lfdias3, on Tue 30 Jun 10:31PM

  8. Serena and Buckets now there is a connection!!!!

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 10:27PM

  9. laughing at the english losers getting excited about a­ little girl ( robson)
    she is aussie but they dont like­ to mention that and does anybody else think she has a­ face like a bowl of jellied eels

    From stefi grafs ex, on Tue 30 Jun 10:25PM

  10. Susan Boyle to win Britain's got tennis.xxx

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 10:19PM

  11. whats andy murray got to do with this article you bunch­ of muppets

    From dazza, on Tue 30 Jun 10:17PM

  12. What the Williams sisters have in bucketfuls is­ 'SELF-BELIEF' - if they could market it, other­ players would be queuing up for it in droves!!!! ­ Serena has not always been in the best of condition and­ both she and Venus can be made to look awkward by an­ enterprising opponent, but they know how to win. ­ Unfortunately, I've seen no Wimbledon coverage­ (here in Turkey it's the one slam that's not­ shown) so my remarks are based on performance history­ & reading match reports on the Wimbledon website. ­ In my opinion, one of the Williams sisters will be­ lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish at the end of the­ fortnight - Dinara , regardless of her tremendous­ efforts over the past year, is still too mentally­ fragile to close it out and Elena Dementieva despite­ having the purest groundstrokes of all the top class­ women, has that 'dicky' serve to contend with.

    From Moya, on Tue 30 Jun 10:11PM

  13. The 2 Williams sisters vs any bloke on the circuit now­ that would be interesting.

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 10:06PM

  14. samm wasnt pushed out,he was found in a vommit

    From raji, on Tue 30 Jun 10:04PM

  15. Susan Boyle is missing.........Last seen playing tennis­ under the name of Andy Murray.

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 9:57PM

  16. Great, darcy h. And the women tennis players themselves­ know they does not deserve at all their earnings. In­ fact their trainer are male, with no exceptions. Why­ women tennis trainer should earn much less money then­ their male colleague?

    From mais_siam, on Tue 30 Jun 9:55PM

  17. serena is great yes...by the way i think murray is too­ lil to play roger at this moment...he s got no chances

    From manos, on Tue 30 Jun 9:55PM

  18. 6 /2 6/ 1 is that all the so called women can do. have­ you noticed the empty seats when the women are playing­ Why do they get the same money as the men when it is­ obvious they are only there for their entertainment­ value. Who would go and watch a bunch of girls playing­ any sport. Give me Federer,Murray,Nadal etc please let­ the girls set up their own tournament and no bugger­ would turn up to watch,oh scoff but It's true. Did­ you see the England Ladies cricket T20 no one there ­ .Anyway the wife has just called so must go..

    From darcy h, on Tue 30 Jun 9:49PM
  19. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    SERENA HAS BIGGER MUSCLES THAN ANY MALE PLAYER,IF THEY­ TEST HER SHE WOULD GET CAUGHT.
    SERENA=PRODUCT OF DOPING

    From rafascrackingup, on Tue 30 Jun 9:41PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Well, I don't think it's totally fair for the­ others when these two play. I mean just look at them!­ How can a woman serve with 200 km/h??? That's just­ not possible. I think the stimulants they give them in­ the US are really some stuff we might never hear of. No­ woman in the world can have the arms of Serena. I mean­ her arm are as big as my leg!!! That's not what­ I'm calling normal.

    From Petko G, on Tue 30 Jun 9:30PM
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