Eleven hours and five minutes. Such a record-breaking feat from Isner and Mahut shouldn’t be expected at this year’s Wimbledon. However, exhilarating twists and turns will not evade Summer 2011. This will be a summer to remember.
>> US Open (Golf), June 16-19: Go back a couple of years. Tiger Woods has just won his fourteenth major title after generating a back-nine surge on day three at Torrey Pines to make up five strokes in six holes… all on a buckling knee. Will we see that Tiger once more?
We now approach the 111th US Open Championship, transpiring at Congressional Country Club in Maryland. The course includes a narrow 636-yard par 5 that fields two deep ridges on the green, making a score of par quite admirable. The course holds the US Open for just the third time in the tournament’s history and the first time since Ernie Els championed the course back in 1997, so this isn’t Pebble Beach or Bethpage or any other course that Woods has seen success. He will stand on unfamiliar ground come mid-June, especially considering that this could be his first tournament back from knee and Achilles injuries. If victorious, Woods will end his losing streak that began in November 2009, and he’ll reemerge in the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings (he is currently twelfth).
Besides Woods, favorites for the tournament include Graeme McDowell, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy and American Phil Mickelson. McDowell won last year’s event at Pebble Beach, Westwood currently holds the world’s top ranking, and McIlroy, had it not been for a full-fledged, fourth-round collapse at Augusta, would’ve won the Masters. Mickelson tied for fourth last year and seems due for a major championship.
However, I will go out on a limb here. Tiger Woods will win the US Open this year. He finished fourth at both this year’s Masters and at last year’s US Open and has shown glimpses of the Tiger of old over the past six months.
Certainly it will be a struggle and it would not surprise me if he’s even out of contention entering the final round. But I can guarantee that he will at least play with a drive and a passion that we haven’t seen since he won this event three years ago.
>> Wimbledon, June 20-July 3: Federer over Nadal, five sets. Nadal over Federer, five sets. Federer over Roddick, five sets (30-game fifth set). And although Nadal beat Berdych in straight sets last year, this tournament never ceases to amaze tennis fans around the globe. This year should be no different.
Djokovic has emerged to replace Federer and develop his own sensational rivalry with Nadal. Djokovic, as of June 2, was riding a 43-match winning streak and won the Australian Open with only a single set dropped. More so, he has beaten Nadal the past four times they’ve played.
As for my prediction, I think Djokovic will defeat Nadal in a thrilling match to take the Grand Slam championship and become the World No. 1 (if he hasn’t earned the top spot already).
>> NBA Draft, June 23:
Here are my predictions for the 2011 NBA Draft:
1. Cleveland Cavaliers:
PG Kyrie Irving, Duke
2. Minnesota Timberwolves:
F Derrick Williams, Arizona
3. Utah Jazz:
G Brandon Knight, Kentucky
4. Cleveland Cavaliers:
F/C Enes Kanter, Turkey
5. Toronto Raptors:
C Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania
6. Washington Wizards:
Jan Vesely, Czech Republic
7. Sacramento Kings:
Kemba Walker, Connecticut
8. Detroit Pistons:
Bismack Biyombo, Congo
9. Charlotte Bobcats:
Marcus Morris, Kansas
10. Milwaukee Bucks:
Alec Burks, Colorado
11. Golden State Warriors:
Tristan Thompson, Texas
12. Utah Jazz:
Jimmer Fredette, BYU
13. Phoenix Suns:
Markieff Morris, Kansas
14. Houston Rockets:
Kawhi Leonard, San Diego
State
