Advantage Marat

Ahhhhh, the wonderful weeks of Wimbledon are here. This year has turned out to be something special. Venus and Serena are once again facing each other on the world's primiere tennis stage. I concede that the two of them never play their best tennis when competing against one another, but I was beginning to fear that I would never see it happen again. Both of them have now reached the age where most female tennis players start seriously thinking about retirement. Yet, they've pulled it off at least one last time for those of us who have followed their careers from way back when.

And on the men's side, things are shaping up with a few nice twists in the semi-finals. It's no surprise that Federer and Nadal made it this far. It is somewhat of a surprise that Schüttler did, even though his chances of making it into the final are low, low, lower. Then there's that other guy -- Safin. He's probably one of the few men on circuit who could give Federer and Nadal some trouble. Sure, he's erratic. You never know whether he's going to leave the court as a train wreck or as a giant killer. On the few occasions where he manages to get his mind and body on the court at the same time, neither Fed, nor Rafa, nor Joki can get pass him. He's got the game, the skill, the talent, the power, and the height to thump them all. Rarely do all of those parameters fall neatly into place, but when they do, Safin puts on a show that no one else can equal. The Fed-Rafa rivalry is always spellbinding, and I will definitely watch it if the two of them end up in the final. But if Safin can keep it together until the end, me and the entire tennis world will get to see just how amazing a sport it can actually be. Deuce.