http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18062008/58/wimbledon-countdown-men-watch.html Who has the best bet of dethroning five-time defending champion Roger Federer at Wimbledon? Eurosport Yahoo! looks at the runners and riders. Five down, two to go: Roger Federer Having matched Bjorn Borg's record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and broken the Swede's mark with 59 consecutive wins and counting on grass, Federer's targets on the surface are becoming limited. Only Pete Sampras and his seven All England trophies stand in the Swiss legend's way of becoming the most accomplished man to ever to step on centre court at SW19. Federer has struggled in 2008 more than at any time since becoming the number one player in the world four years ago, with notable failures to his two main rivals (see below) in Melbourne and Paris. But until the master is defeated again in Southwest London, tennis' sweetest prize will still belong to its greatest player. Coming closer every day: Rafael Nadal The Spanish clay court king and perennial world number two to Federer's number one, Rafael Nadal has come heart-wrenchingly close to the Swiss for two successive years at the All England Club. Last year's five-set epic will go down as one of the finest finals ever played there, one in which Federer's mastery of the surface proved simply too great. Still, Nadal has a couple of big reasons to be encouraged. The first was his brilliant victory over Novak Djokovic in the Queen's Club final, where the 22-year-old Mallorcan claimed his first grass court title. The second, and perhaps psychologically most important, was his embarrassing demolition of Federer in the Roland Garros final. The other champion: Novak Djokovic Since the 2005 French Open only one man other than Federer or Nadal has actually claimed one of the 13 Grand Slam titles that have been at play. That man, of course, is the 21-year-old Serbian, who became his nation's first major champion by winning the Australian Open trophy at the start of the year after stunning Federer in the semi-finals. A last four appearance at Wimbledon along with a runner-up showing at Queen's bode well for the ATP Tour's third star, but Djokovic has not shown the same I can and will beat anybody in the world confidence on grass that he has demonstrated on clay and hard courts. "Come on Andy!": Andy Murray The 21-year-old Scot is either the man to continue in the tradition of Tim Henman, coming painfully close to bringing home the spoils year after year at Wimbledon, or he will be the first man since Fred Perry to claim a Grand Slam triumph for Great Britain. The best bet is that he is the latter, but that said spoils will not be coming home this year. Murray, yet to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final, has been terribly inconsistent this season, and the thumb, groin, and neck injuries that forced him to withdraw from the Queen's Club quarter-finals could have a lingering impact at SW19. Once upon a time: Andy Roddick Before there was Djokovic, and before there was Nadal, one man had the misfortune of having his heart broken every year by Roger Federer at the All England Club. The American number one, whom Federer surpassed as world number one more than four years ago, has suffered 15 defeats at the hands of the Swiss maestro, including six in the last three rounds of Grand Slams, three in major finals, and two in Wimbledon finals. But there is hope for the big-serving American yet. Roddick beat the top seeded Federer for only the second time in his career in the Miami quarter-finals in April. Gunning for top trio: David Nalbandian The 26-year-old former Wimbledon runner-up has recovered brilliantly from his rankings plunge in the middle of last year, and is starting again to look like a Grand Slam contender. Nalbandian shined at the end of 2007 beating Federer and Nadal twice each in back-to-back Masters tournaments, and also earning a win over Djokovic in the same time span. He hasn't translated that success this year though, crashing out in the third round at the Oz Open and second round at Roland Garros. Still, Nalbandian will be very encouraged by his semi-finals appearance at Queen's Club if he does not get too discouraged by the 6-1 6-0 scoreline against Djokovic. The Argentine is the most likely player to upset one of the big three. A Frenchman in London: Richard Gasquet The French number one skipped Roland Garros with an injury, but Gasquet would not have likely been a contender in Paris had he played. With his sparkling serve and massive backhand, the world number nine is much better suited for Wimbledon where he shocked Roddick on the way to a first-ever Grand Slam semi-finals appearance in a 4-6 4-6 7-6(2) 7-6(3) 8-6 classic last year. A quarter-finals showing at Queen's was an improvement from last year, and he has clearly taken a liking to playing in London. The ex-champion: Lleyton Hewitt The only man left on the ATP Tour who knows what it's like to kiss the Wimbledon trophy other than Roger Federer, Hewitt has slipped greatly since his 2003 triumph at the All England Club. The former world number one started working with ex-Federer coach and Australian compatriot Tony Roche last year in order to get his ranking back on track, but the progress has been slow. A quarter-finals showing at Queen's Club, a tournament he's won four times, is an improvement from last year but still likely discouraging. Hewitt could go far at Wimbledon, though, if he gets the right draw. The potential star: Marcos Baghdatis Baghdatis was the bright shining star of the ATP Tour just two years ago, the 20-year-old kid who was going to start to challenge Nadal and Federer and bring new competitive balance to men's tennis. Of course that kid ended up being Novak Djokovic instead, arriving on Tour a year after Baghdatis slowly started to descend the rankings. Still, the former Oz Open finalist has a following in London, where he reached the semi-finals in 2006, and is always a threat on grass. He has started working with former Federer and Marat Safin coach Peter Lundgren in preparation for this year's All England Club. Still waiting: Tomas Berdych Another young player with supposedly all the potential in the world, Berdych has yet to live up to his prospects since stunning Federer on his way to the quarter-finals at the Athens Olympics in 2004. The 22-year-old Czech number one has shined best on this surface in the past, winning the Halle title last year and pushing Federer to three sets in the final there two years ago. His greatest hope in 2008 is probably to match his career-best quarter-finals appearance at Wimbledon from one season ago. The rest: Other potential quarter-finalists include the last man to beat Federer on grass Mario Ancic, Czech danger man Radek Stepanek, big-serving Croatian duo Ivo Karlovic and Ivan Ljubicic, surprise French Open semi-finalist Gael Monfils, former world number two Tommy Haas, Finnish number one Jarkko Nieminen, American number two James Blake, and world number nine Stanislas Wawrinka. --

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