As we did for the French Open, this week's "Champs & Chumps" previews this year's Wimbledon. We look at the likely candidates and some of the players not making the trip to the All England Club this time around.
Lleyton Hewitt
Champ: Hewitt enters another Grand Slam as the #1 seed and by many, including bookies and his countryman Patrick Rafter, as the prohibitive favorite. Hewitt is coming off his third consecutive title at Queens and fourth grass title overall.
Chump: Despite his success in Wimbledon warmup tournaments, the Aussie has yet to get beyond the fourth round at the All England Club. Hewitt was dealt one of the more difficult first round matches (vs. Jonas Bjorkman). His path does not get any easier in the later
rounds with Nicolas Escude, a quarterfinalist last year, in the 4th round and Federer in the quarters, Tim Henman in the semis with Agassi, Sampras and Safin filling out the bottom the half of the draw.
Pete Sampras
Champ: Sampras and Wimbledon go together like strawberries and cream. The Wimbledon seeding committee bumped Sampras up a big six spots to seed him into the quarterfinals - the move should help Sampras gain some confidence.
Chump: With Sampras approaching the two year anniversary of his last tournament, even Sampras appeared glum after falling to Nicolas Kiefer last week in Halle. Sampras was also taken to task by Queens tournament officials for skipping their tournament for Halle, stating that Sampras was merely looking for an easier draw.
Sampras is certainly vulnerable to an early round upset but should at least return to the quarterfinals where a bevy of challenges await in Marat Safin or even Todd Martin.
Andre Agassi
Champ: Can anyone ever count out Agassi who seems to be getting better with age. We will not know what type of grass-court shape Agassi is in as he has once again eschewed any warmup touranments - but Agassi's road is fairly clear in the early stages of the tournament.
Chump: While Agassi's experience may get him into the later rounds, his quarter of the draw is filled with players (Kafelnikov, Roddick, Enqvist, Rusedski, Philippoussis) who can give him trouble if they are on their games.
Tim Henman
Champ: Perennial Wimbledon semifinalist Henman, will once again be the center of attention at the All England Club. Seeded 4th, expectations will be high. With his first two matches vs. qualifiers, Henman's route to the semis seems almost a sure thing with only Australian Open champ, Thomas Johannson, sticking out as a minor challenge.
Chump: With the weight of England on his shoulders, Henman has shown he can handle the pressure - sort of. "Our Tim" certainly sets the All England Club on fire, but seems destined to never to hold up the Cup on the final Sunday.
No Shows
For the first time in my memory a Grand Slam will be without its previous year's champion and finalist - Goran Ivanisevic and Patrick Rafter will be missed from this year's tournament. Not surprisingly a collection of clay courters are also MIA - with Gustavo Kuerten, French Open champion Albert Costa, Alex Corretja, and Carlos Moya.
Although citing a skin infection, Corretja's withdrawal once again appears to point towards a boycott of the event. Corretja was not one of the 32 seeds despite making the cut on the ATP's entry-ranking system and defeating Sampras during in Davis Cup played on the grass courts of Houston. Also withdrawing was Tommy Haas who has returned
to the US after both his parents were seriously injured in a motorcycle accident earlier this month.
Venus Williams
Champ: Venus Williams will be going for the Wimbledon trifecta and little seems to be standing in her way. A physically questionable Clijsters potentially awaits in the quarters with her foe in last year's final, Justine Henin, perhaps a semifinal matchup.
Chump: Little "chump" worthy about Venus and Wimbledon, with the possible exception of the return of Ricard Williams back on the grounds of a Slam to stir the media pot.
Serena Williams
Champ: With the sisters now 1 & 2 in the rankings, for the first time going into a Slam they did not have to wonder about where they would potentially fall against each other in the draw. With the focus on a final Saturday meeting, Serena should maintain her focus. Having Capriait's number these day on the courts and with last year's stomach ache fiasco a distant memory, a Sister Slam III is an easy bet.
Chump: With Venus and Serena perhaps expected to meet in the finals perhaps the pressure will be too much - or perhaps the biggest challenge will be coming up with an outfit that is "predominantly" white.
Jennifer Capriati
Champ: With her bad days behind her, Capriati is a model of consistency in reaching the later rounds of the Slams these days. With the top seeds in her quarter being Frenchwomen Sandrine Testud and Amelie Mauresmo - Capriati should once again find herself in the final four.
Chump: The chinks in Capriati's armor have started to show this year. Since rising to #1 in the rankings, there was only one way to go. With her recent nemesis, Serena Williams, as a likely semifinal opponent Capriati will have to pull out something new from her bag to capture her fourth Slam at this year's Wimbledon.
Monica Seles
Champ: Seles is deeply ensconsed as a sentimental favorite. But there is probably no one on the planet, including Seles herself, that sees the American capturing the one Grand Slam title that has eluded her.
Chump: The Wimbledon seeding committee rarely tinkers with the seeds vs. rankings with the ladies (although Lisa Raymond was bumped up to the Top 16 this year) - and if there was ever a case where the could have this year it was with Seles. There are definitely credible arguments to have placed Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and even Jelena Dokic ahead of Seles in the seedings.
No Shows
Not unlike the men's competition, and more than any other Slam, the absence of Martina Hingis and Lindsay Davenport definitely plows a hole into this year's women's draw. Both are still recovering from surgeries, although Davenport originally planned to begin her comeback this week in Eastbourne. Also missing Wimbledon for the first time since 1987 (yikes!), is Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Sanchez Vicario cited exhaustion for her reason for withdrawing but the signs seem to be pointing towards full-time
retirement for the former #1.
You may read previous Mr. Ed columns by clicking
here.