2008 Wimbledon Championships: Men’s Singles Preview

The 2008 All-England Wimbledon tennis championships, the third Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, and the major one on grass, starts today, June 23.

Roger Federer

The most exciting contest in the men's singles of this premier competition in the tennis calendar is likely to be between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

World No 2, Nadal, wants to prove himself on grass, while Federer, World No 1, needs to re-assert his dominance after a series of disappointing performances so far in 2008.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal has proved in recent tournaments that he is ready to replace Federer as World No 1 -- but knows he needs to repeat that form on grass.

Even though Federer is on a 40 year record of 59 consecutive victories on grass and has won the title at Wimbledon Championships for the past five years, many people think the title this year will be belong to Nadal.

The 22-year-old Spaniard has lost the last two Wimbledon finals in 2006 and 2007 to Federer but swept him aside to win the French Open two weeks ago, and also beat Serbian No 3 seed Novak Djobovic at the Queen's Club last week – his first championship win on grass and proof, say some, that Nadal has the potential to win a major grass tournament.

Federer comes to Wimbledon on the back of a win at the Halle Open in Germany -- and if he wins again would equal the record established by William Renshaw, the champion in 1881-86, as the only man to win six Wimbledon titles on the trot.

Andy Roddick, the 2004 and 2005 Wimbledon champion, said the possibility of a Federer win at Wimbledon this year was slim. However, Roddick, a former Wimbledon finalist and this year's No six seed, when asked if Federer could secure the title this time, said: "I find that to be one of the most ridiculous questions I've ever answered in my life. You know, he has won it five times. I'm not sure what else he has to do."

Third-seed Djokovic lost to Nadal in the semifinals at Wimbledon last year but won the year's first Grand Slam title -- the 2008 Australia Open – so must remain a threat.

Although there are high expectations of Nadal, he prefers to keep a low profile: "I just want to thank (former Swedish world champion) Bjorn Borg for he believed that I'll win this year. It's much easier to defeat Federer now than several years ago. However, he didn't lose a set in Halle -- 59 matches without losing. Come on." said Nadal.

Federer prefers to keep the same low key profile before Wimbledon. "It's maybe a time where some people talk a little bit too much,'' he joked. However, when asked about his chances of winning at Wimbledon, he said: "I haven't lost in such a long time on grass. Obviously my confidence is really, really high. Other players are around to really challenge me. That only motivates me. So it should be an interesting Wimbledon this year."

The actions starts on June 23 and is scheduled to end Sunday, July 6.