Wimbledon Day 2: De Schepper

Curtain Call

Player: Kenny De Schepper
Age: 24
Nation: France
Current Ranking: 234
Today's Result: lost to Olivier Rochus (Belgium) in five sets


Photo via Mens Tennis Forums

De Schepper is another qualifier in his first Slam main draw. His opponent today, the 5' 6" Rochus, is one of my favorites. At 30, he may not have a lot of Wimbledons left.


Golden Squid Report

Greta Arn - Unfortunately, she had to pull out of the tournament with a right knee injury. She had third round points to defend from last year so her ranking will take a hit. Arn is 32. One hopes this is not the beginning of the end.


My Tennis Fantasy

A comment from Timmy regarding my Day 1 post, in which I noted that I selected the top 5 for the Fantasy Tennis Tour:

History is history, something from the past, which many people worship. That is a mistake, look at the current results, not have these top 5 seeds have achieved, but what can they do and how dangerous are they.

Fair enough. Perhaps I should explain that in the Fantasy Tennis Tour, one is limited in the number of times one can select a certain player over the course of the year. Therefore, it behooves one to save the best players for the highest-paying tournaments. As such, my selections of Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Murray and Soderling for Wimbledon are part of a broader strategy.

I do think surface comfort is an essential consideration in making picks for any tournament. One of the great things about the world's current top 5, though, is that all are strong on all surfaces - part of why they're camped out at the top of the rankings, no doubt. The Big 3 have all been pretty solid this year and it's no stretch to imagine all will make it at least to the semis. Murray, while not in quite as strong form as those above him, can be trusted to do his darnedest to get to that stage, too. Assuming those four all make it, I can get maximum points for the tournament if I can also select one more quarterfinalist. Soderling, who deserves better than the flash-in-the-pan treatment he gets from the press, is the safest bet in my mind.