The Road to Wimbledon: A Chance to Master the Grass

Rafael Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 title last weekend and the world No. 1 appears to be well on course to win the French Open title, for a record fifth successive time.

The clay-court season lasts for almost two months, and with three Masters events on the surface the world's elite have the opportunity to get acclimatized to the conditions and to hone their skills against the best players in the world.

Having Masters 1000 events on clay prior to the French Open is not only important for the players, it is great for the fans too.  Between 2006 and 2008 it was Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer who competed in six out of nine finals of the Masters events on clay and the same two players have faced each other in the French Open finals in each of those three years.

A great rivalry such as the one between Federer and Nadal is what makes the sport grow and keeps the interest in this great game higher than ever.  And by having events leading up to the majors, in which all the great players are competing, you create the chance for such wonderful rivalries to form.

There are also two Masters 1000 events in North America prior to the US Open.  And while Federer did not win either event, but did win the Open in 2008, those two tournaments are great barometers of form prior to the final Grand Slam of the year.

That brings us to Wimbledon, the only major event that is played on grass. Between the French Open and Wimbledon there are only two weeks and the majority of the world's top 10 only find themselves competing in one grass-court tournament prior to Wimbledon.

Last year Nadal played at Queens and won the tournament for the first time, while that same week Federer won a grass-court tournament in Halle.  Clearly their form leading into Wimbledon suggested that Nadal and Federer were the men to beat, as did the fact that they had gone head to head in the previous two Wimbledon finals. However, if they both win a title prior to the prestigious tournament at SW19 but yet don't play each other, then just who is the man to beat?

In one sense you could argue that the Wimbledon favorite is a mystery, thus piquing the interest for fans.  But I am a firm believer that it is rivalries which help our sport and make it flourish.

I appreciate that the tennis calendar is already very congested.  Therefore I would like to see the tournament at Queens—formerly the Stella Artois Tennis Championship, which is so rich in history and tradition—given the status of a mandatory Masters 1000 event.

Let's see the best players in the world given the chance to master grass before they face the ultimate challenge.