Wimbledon 2011 - Men's Preview by Thomas Rooney

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Winning the Australian Open, French Open and US Open is a magnificent feat for any tennis player, but the pinnacle of the sport has to be securing the title at Wimbledon. It is the home of the sport.

So, when the 2011 tournament gets underway on 20th June, there will be many fighting it out to be successful. If you are going to get to the latter stages of any tournament in the world, you would choose Wimbledon.

To step out in front of a jubilant Centre Court crowd and compete on the famous green grass of SW19 is the dream for tennis players all over the world. It doesn't get much better.

There are of course a group of players that are looking to do more than take in the experience though. There are players that are looking to go all the way in the tournament and secure the biggest prize in tennis.

With reference to 2011, reigning champion Rafael Nadal is the early favourite. Having missed the 2009 tournament through injury, he bounced back last year defeating Tomáš Berdych in the final to secure his second Wimbledon title.

With two title wins in three years, the Spaniard is looking to wrestle the Wimbledon crown from the current King of SW19, Roger Federer. Between 2003 and 2007 Federer was unstoppable at his second home, but his only win since then came in 2009 when Nadal was ruled out through injury.

This is why Federer is a major contender again this year. He is a born winner and will want to prove that he can still cut it amongst the new generation of players dominating men's tennis.

Even if the 16-time major winner is not quite the player he was five years ago, Wimbledon is the tournament where he can still walk all over his opponent. He is at his best on grass and will be expected to progress to the semi-finals at the very least.

Looking beyond the two front runners, no tournament can be discussed at the moment without mentioning the incredibly talented Novak Djokovic. He has been the form players of 2011 with 37 matches unbeaten at the time of writing.

With victory at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, the Serbian now has a taste for major wins and despite never making it to the Wimbledon final to date, he has to be considered as a realistic contender this year.

As does Britain's own Andy Murray who is currently a top price of 9/1 with Victor Chandler. Backed by the enthusiastic home crowd, the Scotsman has his best chance of winning a major tournament.

With two semi-final appearances in 2009 and 2010, he would love to go one step further and make the final.

Then, you would be brave to bet against him. What an incredible occasion it would be for British tennis and for the ever improving Murray.

He would have learned a lot from his final defeat at the Australian Open earlier this year and if he was to get one match away from glory again, he would give it absolutely everything with the home crowd perhaps helping him over the line.

Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Murray are certainly the men to beat at Wimbledon 2011, but there are others to consider including Robin Soderling, Tomas Berdych and the big-hitting former US Open Champion Juan Martin Del Potro.

If you fancy an outside bet, David Nalbandian always seems to perform well at Wimbledon and who can forget John Isner after his marathon match with Nicolas Mahut last year?

Overall, it is set to be another fantastic two weeks in the tennis calendar. There are favourites for success, but it is extremely competitive amongst the elite.

Then there will no doubt be plenty of sub-plots as players from all over the world compete in the greatest tennis tournament of all.

Bring it on!

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