Check the facts that you really need
to know about this year's Wimbledon
contenders.
ROGER
FEDEREZ
Odds: 4/6 Also known as
- Fed Express.
Wimbledon high
- Confirmed his genius by winning
his first Grand Slam title at the All
England Club in 2003.
Wimbledon low
- He might want to forget crying like
a girl during the subsequent on-court
interview with the BBC's Sue Barker.
In the players'
box - Miroslava 'Mirka' Vavrinec
- his agent and girlfriend of five years.
Vavrinec was a professional tennis player
ranked 76th in the world but her career
was ended by a foot injury.
Tears or tantrums?
- Unless Sue Barker gets to him again,
Federer is far too cool.
Look out for
- ... him losing. Federer has
not been beaten on grass since 2002.
He has only lost three times this year
- spookily, both his Grand Slam conquerors
(Safin at the Australian Open and Nadal
at the French) were celebrating their
birthdays on the day they played the
world number one.
ANDY
RODDICK
Odds: 9/2 Also known as
- A-Rod, Hot Rod.
Wimbledon high
- Roddick looked set to upset Federer
in last year's final after a barrage
of power-hitting bagged him the first
set but a rain delay halted his momentum
and he faded.
Wimbledon low
- In a "Weakest Link" Wimbledon
special, Roddick was asked 'what name
for a female sheep is also a letter
of the alphabet?' Roddick thought long
and hard before replying "Baaah".
In the players'
box - Roddick split with pop
star/actress Mandy Moore last year so
there's unlikely to be much glamour
in the players' box - unless you count
his coach Dean Goldfine.
Tears or tantrums?
- He's a bundle of pent-up energy
on court, but he doesn't usually blow
his stack. He seems to have learnt his
lesson after calling an umpire an "absolute
moron" at the 2001 US Open.
Look out for
- ...him at a U2 concert. He's going
to see the Irish supergroup while he's
over in the UK.
LLEYTON
HEWITT
Odds: 10/1 Also known as
- Rusty, Rocky...or Satan Hewitt to
the Australian press.
Wimbledon high
- Hewitt did what fellow Aussie Pat
Rafter was unable to with victory in
2002 and celebrated with "a few
beers and a few mates".
Wimbledon low
- The following year, he was
the victim of one of the biggest upsets
in the tournament's history when he
lost in the first round to man mountain
Ivo Karlovic.
In the players'
box - No Kim Clijsters this year
after tennis' dream team split in November.
In her place steps Hewitt's pregnant
fiancee Bec Cartwright - star of Home
and Away and recently named "Sexiest
woman in Australia and New Zealand"
by FHM magazine.
Tears or tantrums?
- Jimmy Connors was an angel compared
to Hewitt. From calling the umpire a
"spastic" at the 2001 French
Open to getting involved in a race dispute
at the US Open five months later, from
winding up the Australian press to his
long-running argument with the ATP.....
this man loves a scrap.
Look out for
- ...his cry of 'Come aaaaaawn,
Rock' - a reference to fictional boxer
Rocky, Hewitt's hero.
RAFAEL
NADAL
Odds: 12/1 Also known as
- Rafa, El Nino, El Prodigio.
Wimbledon high
- He's only played once, but
he reached the third round in 2003,
knocking out Mario Ancic along the way.
Wimbledon low
- Give him time.
In the players'
box - Coach is his uncle Toni.
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia turned
out to watch Nadal win the French Open
this year - and young Rafa gave them
a hug after sealing victory.
Tears or tantrums?
- None - life is too sweet for the Mallorcan
teen dream.
Look out for
- ...his three-quarter length
trousers and sleeveless shirt. How will
the All England Club cope?
MARAT
SAFIN
Odds: 16/1 Also known as
- "Headless Horseman"
- so called by veteran American journalist/commentator
Bud Collins because of the Russian's
unpredictability.
Wimbledon high
- Er...
Wimbledon low
- Hard to pick one, but how about last
year's first-round defeat to obscure
Russian Dmitry Tursunov?
In the players'
box - Former Russian president
Boris Yeltsin is a big fan and even
mixed it with the ordinary folk on Court
Two last year to see him in action.
On his run to the 2002 Aussie Open final,
Safin was supported by a bevy of blonde
admirers, nicknamed the Safinettes.
Tears or tantrums?
- Safin is justifiably proud of his
record for breaking racquets. He estimates
he has destroyed over 300 in his career.
Look out for
- ...him turning up. After last year's
horror show, a sulking Safin said: "I
hate this. I give up on Wimbledon."
