Wimbledon Final Preview

For the third time in three years Rafael Nadal will try to take the Wimbledon crown off Roger Federer. Should be a cracking contest, let's suggest some supplements for the punters...

BEER:

Stella Artois. The beer of choice for the Championships. Elegant, yet understated. Or something like that...doesn't seem either elegant or understated after half a carton though...

SNACKS:

Going with Arnott's Crimpy Chicken Shapes to be dunked into Copperpot's French Onion Dip. This may well be followed with some Bulla Creamy Classics Mint Choc Chip ice-cream around the time of the third set. And, depending on the level of messiness/number of sets, there is always a chance of a cab run through the 24 hour Macca's drive-thru...

EXCUSE TO GET OUT OF WORK MONDAY MORNING:

Fortunately for me I have my brother's bucks party this weekend so that's as easy an excuse as you can get. No-one expects you to be fully recovered from such an occasion by the following Monday. Alternatively you could try what a guy from my work does when he's trying to cover his ass; he speaks a mixture of Chinese and English, "Chinglish" if you will. It makes no sense whatsoever and aims to try and confound the bosses with bullshit. If you are smart, you haven't mentioned to your boss that you're a tennis fan and have possibly even dropped a few of "Oh, is Wimbledon on? I don't really get into tennis much," during the last fortnight. Thus you are able to take a seemingly legitimate sickie.

Nadal leads the head to head 11-6. As I said before, Federer has won their two matches on grass at the last two Wimbledon finals. In the 2006 final, Federer won in four sets. 2007 was much tougher, a five setter as Nadal showed marked improvement on the grass. I see even greater improvement in his grasscourt wares this year and his depth of shot and ability to find the lines will bother Federer once again. It will be interesting to see how Federer starts the match given his thrashing at the hands of Nadal in the French Open final just weeks ago.

I'm tipping Nadal to win but am certainly not writing off Federer. Federer will need a positive start if he's going to win a sixth straight title. Ultimately I think the tide is turning at the top of the world rankings in men's tennis but we'll know more on that after tonight. Enjoy what could be a classic.