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It's now or never for Henman This semifinal match is the biggest of Henman's career. He has to beat Lleyton Hewitt. If he wants to win a major, he must win this match.
Xavier Malisse (27), Belgium, vs. David Nalbandian (28), Argentina
I didn't predict him beating Richard Krajicek to reach his first semifinal. But what Malisse's been able to do in this tournament is nothing short of amazing. He's beaten two of the best grass-courters in the world in back-to-back matches: Greg Rusedski and Krajicek. So without question, going into the semifinal, he's the favorite. He should win this match. It's amazing that the 27 and 28th seeds are playing each other to reach their first Grand Slam final. I don't think they should be seeding more than 16 players, but that's another debate.
Once a player has reached the semifinal of a major, they have proved worthy of being one of the last four standing. But you can never, no matter who it is -- count them out. So don't count Nalbandian out. Anything can happen in the next three days. We might have the most unlikely champion the tournament has ever seen.
Lleyton Hewitt (1), Australia, vs. Tim Henman (4), Britain Now he plays Tim Henman, who if he doesn't win this year's Wimbledon, he won't win Wimbledon in his career. It's so difficult to win a major, and he has been so close at Wimbledon. This is his fourth appearance in the semifinals, each previous time losing to the eventual champion. At some point, he's going to have to elevate his game and play the match of his life to make that next step to the final. He wasn't able to do it against Pete Sampras or Goran Ivanisevic. In years past, when Henman made the semifinals at Wimbledon, he was always playing really good tennis, but once he got up against Sampras or Ivanisevic they were able to take him down. He wasn't able to elevate his game to a level to take out those two. This year is different, he isn't playing as well as he has in previous years, but he is getting through. That's important because there's nothing better for your confidence than winning. So don't hold it against him because he's not playing his best tennis. However, he's going to have to play his best against Lleyton Hewitt, who beat him a week and a half ago in the finals of Queen's. I think this match is going the distance. It will be the best match Wimbledon has seen in 2002. The winner of this match will win Wimbledon. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories |
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