So much to watch, so little time! This is going to be a fantastic weekend of sport. In the World Cup, you have the third place match between Germany and Portugal, then there is the Final between France and Italy the following day. Germany should dispose of the Portuguese, and I believe that Oliver Kahn is going to have a great game in goals. I have previously spoken about the final, and I still believe that France is going to come away with the victory in what should be a great end to a fantastic World Cup. Look for Zidane to win the Golden Ball as the most outstanding player in the tournament.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, both men’s and women’s finals at Wimbledon will be played during World Cup action - it would be nice to have picture-in-picture, but I don’t - so it will be a tough choice between watching the third place match and the women’s final tomorrow between Amelie Mauresmo and Justine Henin-Hardenne. This is a replay of this year’s controversial Australian Open final, when Henin-Hardenne retired when she was down 6-1 2-0, complaining of stomach pains - or as I like to call them ’sore loser symptoms.’ I know that is a bit harsh, but you should (short of a major injury) NEVER retire in the final of a grand slam, especially when you are getting beaten the way she was. It leaves a bad taste in supporters’ mouths, and it certainly did that for me. I’ll be hoping Mauresmo can come through for her second grand slam title, but this time it would be nice for Henin-Hardenne to take her much deserved beating with a bit of grace and let Mauresmo enjoy her time in the spotlight.

It was Mauresmo consolling Henin-Hardenne, instead of enjoying her victory

In the men’s final, it’s a rematch of the French Open final - Federer vs Nadal, the two top ranked players in the world. I read a great article at si.com yesterday about their rivalry in which Federer states that he would love to play Nadal on grass. Federer went on to say that “I’ve lost so many times against him on his favorite surface; I’ve gotten so, so close. Obviously I’d like to play him here four or five times, but grass is such a short season. I’m lucky enough my strength is also on clay, on hard court, indoor: That’s what he’s still working on. That’s also why I’m by far the No. 1 player in the world.” Although what Federer says it true, he has to be worried about facing Nadal on grass. Federer has lost 6 times to Nadal in 7 matches, and in the one match he did win, he had to came back from down 2 sets and 4-1 in the third to win. Nadal was not expected to make it to the final at Wimbledon - although he is quite capable on hard courts and is the world’s premier clay courter, he has never proven anything on grass. It’s for this reason that Federer has to be concerned. Wimbledon is Federer’s baby, rarely has he been challenged on the grass courts in the past 3 years since he made his climb to the top of the sport. If he loses to Nadal in the final of his favourite tournament, I don’t know how he will recover. I think this has all the ingredients to be one of the classic Wimbledon finals. I think Nadal is going to really trouble Federer in the final, especially if the young Spaniard can win the first set. With this being said, I still expect Federer to win, but it won’t be a dominating victory.

Defeat is something Federer has not been used to in recent years

Back in Australia, the Bledisloe Cup gets underway this weekend. New Zealand currently hold the cup, but the Aussies will be looking to win it back after losing it to the Kiwis 3 years ago. The Wallabies have been in pretty good form, but the All Blacks have been playing just as well. It should be a great game, and as soon as I see it I’ll write an update on it!

The Bledisloe Cup

This entry was posted on Friday, July 7th, 2006 at 11:44 am and is filed under Rugby Union, Soccer, Tennis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.