Serve & Volley Naresh Kumar

At the end of a windy, sun-lit first week when seeded players fell like autumn leaves, only 16 gentlemen and 16 ladies are left in the Wimbledon draw. Amongst the casualties were Ana Ivanovic (No. 1), Maria Sharapova in the ladies and Novak Djokovic (No. 3), Nikolay Davydenko (No. 4), Andy Roddick (No. 6), and David Nalbandian (No. 7) amongst the men.

For the ladies’ event, it was a double blow as it brought down the standard of play and swept away the two most glamorous ladies in the tournament. The men’s event, due to the great depth of talent, has not suffered much.

The fall of Djokovic at the hands of Marat Safin has heightened the uncertainty in Roger Federer’s half of the draw. Safin, a holder of two Grand Slam titles, is easily the most dangerous floater in any Grand Slam draw. He has great power, tremendous reach and a complete game.

If Safin can rein in his volatile temper he can beat anybody. Dubbed as ‘a serial racket smasher’, Safin has to control himself for his next two matches for a crack at Federer in the semi-finals.

Federer has had a perfect first week. He has not dropped a set in four matches and seems to have regained his touch and composure after his defeat in Paris. Federer now plays the formidable 6 foot 5 inch Croat, Mario Ancic in the quarter finals. Ominously, Ancic is the last man to beat Federer on grass.

Rafael Nadal has come though the lower half of the draw with flying colours. His matches against Andreas Beck of Germany, Ernests Gulbis of Lativia and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany were very well contested and must have helped Nadal to move towards his peak form on grass. Playing against him must be like trying to run up and down an escalator that you can’t switch off. You must be prepared to see your best winning shots returned with stunning surreal winners time and again. Nadal’s intimidating physical presence accurately described as ‘aggressor without hostility’ is always there like a threatening storm cloud.

Kiefer came full of German resolve, and matched Nadal shot for shot for just one set after which he succumbed tamely. To beat Nadal, Federer has to sustain his highest standard of play for the whole match. His mental and physical strengths must not be allowed to wane. Cautious percentage play will not work. To win, Federer will have to go for broke. Nadal has a very tough quarter final.

He plays the Russian Mikhail Youzhny and then the winner of Richard Gasquet and Andy Murray. If Nadal arrives at the final without injury, it will be very difficult for Federer to beat him.

The ladies are having a sub-standard year. The Williams sisters, who have won six of the last eight Wimbledon titles, are in different halves and are likely to meet in the finals as they did in 2003. Reigning champion Venus, now 28 years old, had her usual wobbles in the early rounds but is improving with every match. Serena, at 26, is now close to her powerful best.

Ivanovic, could not adjust to the grass courts and made a pathetic, teary exit. Sharapova’s game is one-dimensional. She has no defence to fall back on when her power game is not working.

An avalanche of double faults sealed her doom. But she is by no means a spent force. The maximum decibel count on Sharapova’s grunting levels was an amazing 103.2 decibels, which is louder than a motorcycle!

But depth in the women’s game has improved considerably and unlike earlier years, the early rounds were of good quality and well contested.