WELL, I must say I'm a little disappointed in the dearth of cheques and cold, hard cash which failed to land on my desk after the French Open at Roland Garros earlier this month.

After all, you dear and frugal readers should have wiped out several local betting houses after I gave you - free of charge - the winners Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin in this very space before the clay-court slam began.

All I expected was a little token of appreciation but nooooo, you greedy people decided to keep all the loot for yourselves - cho.

I hate to get too bitter or 'boasie' here but does your bank or building society give you that much bang for your buck? Nah, sah!

Financial sport forecast

Anyway, with my knack for Financial Sport Forecasting (FSF), it can only be a matter of time before some of the prudent people in the world of finance snap me up. Dehring, Bunting, Golding and Tym has a nice ring, don't you think?

Anyways, whilst I await that life-changing call, the blast on grass - Wimbledon - looms on Monday.

To stay in form and further boost my stocks (tee, hee, likkle pun), I will now dispense more free FSF, but I warn you, this gig can't go on forever.

Okay, the easy part at SW19 first; Roger Federer looks virtually impossible to beat and should claim a record-equalling fifth straight title.

Only the legendary Bjorn Borg in the past 100 years has achieved that feat and there's really nobody standing in the way of Swiss master Federer from drawing level.

His conqueror in Paris, Nadal, made the final at Wimbledon last year but don't expect the same heroics this time around. Hard-serving American Andy Roddick loves the fast surface and should journey deep into the second week, along with the likes of former champion Lleyton Hewitt, Marcos Baghdatis, Nikolay Davydenko, Tomas Berdych and exciting, young Serb Novak Djokovic.

David Nalbandian, who has had some keen tussles with Federer through the years, and enigmatic American James Blake, who has flown under the radar this year, are dangerous floaters, but no player has the tools to blunt Federer on his pet surface.

Basically, only injury or a shocking decline in form can stop him.

The women's competition appears far more open with defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, Henin, the Williams sisters - Serena and Venus, Serbs Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova having legitimate claims on the fastest of surfaces.

Also, don't go to sleep on No. 9 seed Martina Hingis who could be hiding in the grass waiting to ambush a top player or two.

If I was sure the Williams girls were fit and match-ready they would be my co-favourites, but I'm not.

Finished products

I'm also still not convinced about Mauresmo's big-match psyche and, as talented as the Serb duo and Ruskie Kuznetsova may be, they are not the finished products yet.

That leaves Henin and the queen of squeals, Sharapova.

Like the Williamses, Sharapova has too much power for most of her foes but her game is prone to collapses and Henin is the best women's counter-puncher in the sport.

Wimbledon has not treated the Belgian kindly in the past but the time is right for her to complete her Grand Slam résumé.

So there you have it, Roger and Justin will dance the first dance at the Wimbledon ball.

Now, go out there and bus' a few more betting shops - and don't forget who sent ya!

tym.glaser@gleanerjm.com