The Final Four

by Savannah

No aces and 15 double faults wins a Wimbledon quarterfinal? Pathetic.

@craighickman on Twitter

The WTA should be proud. The top four seeds all made it to the semi finals. Three of the matches went pretty much as expected.

Elena Dementieva made short work of outer court exile Francesca Sciavone winning in two sets 6-2 and 6-2.

Venus Williams continued her dominant on court play dispatching Aggie Radwanska in straights as well 6-1 and 6-2 overcoming a second set hiccup to move into the semi's.

In a very highly anticipated rematch Serena Williams came out with all guns blazing and blew Victoria Azarenka off the court before she could figure out what hit her. Victoria regrouped somewhat in the second set managing to break Serena but regaining her focus Serena pushed the threat aside and went on to win 6-2, 6-3.

While I'm sure the WTA is happy it's top ranked player made it to the semi's of the years third Grand Slam no one who vaguely understands tennis could be happy with the match that was played today. The comment posted earlier today on Twitter by Craig says it all. It was a horrid match and one that John McEnroe rightly snarked on during Serena's match.

Orders of Play for Wednesday 1 July 2009

Singles

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22] 105 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 128
2. Andy Murray (GBR) [3] 33 vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 53

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73 vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4] 96
2. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3 vs Andy Roddick (USA) [6] 32

Doubles

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs
Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Vania King (USA) [12] 25
2. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Mark Knowles (BAH) [4] 17 vs
Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25
3. Kristina Barrois (GER) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 38 vs
Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3] 48
4. Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) [5] 49 vs
Mark Knowles (BAH) and Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) [9] 56

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37 vs James Blake (USA) and Mardy Fish (USA) 47
2. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 51 vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [2] 64

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) [1] 1 vs
Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) [11] 9
2. Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [4] 17 vs
Christopher Kas (GER) and Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) [16] 24
3. Mike Bryan (USA) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) [6] 33 vs
Jamie Murray (GBR) and Liezel Huber (USA) 38

Juniors

COURT 5 - 11.00 AM START

1. Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) 35 vs Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 GS
2. Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 20 vs Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 GS
3. Christina Mathis (AUT) and Sachia Vickery (USA) 31 vs
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) and Silvia Njiric (CRO) [2] 32 GD
4. Khunpak Issara (THA) and Natchanok Saenyaukhot (THA) 15 vs
Daria Gavrilova (RUS) and Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) [5] 16 GD
5. Alessandro Bega (ITA) and Emanuele Molina (ITA) 13 vs Pierre-
Hugues Herbert (FRA) and Kevin Krawietz (GER) 14 BD

COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START

1. Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 vs Beatrice Capra (USA) 29 GS
2. Camila Silva (CHI) [10] 9 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
3. Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 vs Harry Fowler (USA) 61 BS
4. Beatrice Capra (USA) and Martina Trevisan (ITA) 19 vs
Katarena Paliivets (CAN) and Chanel Simmonds (RSA) 20 GD
5. Marin Draganja (CRO) and Dino Marcan (CRO) 23 vs
Facundo Arguello (ARG) and Julen Uriguen (GUA) [3] 24 BD

COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START

1. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) 34 vs Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 BS
2. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Yana Buchina (RUS) 55 GS
3. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Filip Horansky (SVK) 21 BS
4. Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) and Yana Buchina (RUS) 11 vs
Brooke Bolender (USA) and Alexandra Cercone (USA) 12 GD
5. Tamara Curovic (SRB) and Alexandra Krunic (SRB) 23 vs
Timea Babos (HUN) and Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) [3] 24 GD

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

2. Tom Farquharson (GBR) 44 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS
3. Daniel Berta (SWE) [1] 1 vs Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 BS
4. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) and David Souto (VEN) 7 vs
Jordan Kelly-Houston (NZL) and Ben McLachlan (NZL) 8 BD
5. Nicola George (GBR) and Jennifer Ren (GBR) 29 vs
Quirine Lemoine (NED) and Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 30 GD

COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START

1. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Akiko Omae (JPN) 6 GS
2. Jordan Cox (USA) 28 vs Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 29 BS
3. Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 11 vs Devin Britton (USA) 15 BS
4. Federico Gaio (ITA) and Francesco Picco (ITA) 15 vs
Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) and Dominik Schulz (GER) [7] 16 BD
5. Devin Britton (USA) and Jordan Cox (USA) 21 vs
Harry Fowler (USA) and Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 22 BD

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

2. Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 vs Laura Robson (GBR) [2] 64 GS
3. Peter Fleming (USA) and Guillermo Vilas (ARG) 18 vs
Joakim Nystrom (SWE) and Mats Wilander (SWE) 20 OD
4. Laura Robson (GBR) and Sloane Stephens (USA) [1] 1 vs
Samantha Vickers (GBR) and Lisa Whybourn (GBR) 2 GD

COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START

1. Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) [13] 41 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
2. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 vs Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) 55 BS
3. Mitchell Frank (USA) and Sudarwa Sitaram (IND) 31 vs
Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) and Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) [2] 32 BD
4. Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) and Sally Peers (AUS) 7 vs
Richel Hogenkamp (NED) and Lesley Kerkhove (NED) [7] 8 GD
5. Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) and Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN) [6] 17 vs
Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 18 BD

End Notes

Three Wimbledon Players Diagnosed with Swine Flu


Michael Mertinak

Filip Polasek

Three Wimbledon players are believed to have caught swine flu, it has emerged.

The revelation comes after four ballboys and girls were told earlier this week to stay away from the tournament as they are suffering 'flu-like' symptoms.

Organisers say the virus poses no threat to the tournament and that the incidence of cases 'is entirely in line with the wider London community'.

But the remaining players will be anxious about catching swine flu in the enclosed and cloistered environment of Wimbledon.

The three, who are all believed to be getting better, are closely inter-connected. They are world number 29 doubles player Michal Mertinak, his fellow Slovakian, world number 22 Filip Polasek, and 25th-ranked American Travis Parrott.

Travis Parrot
(...)
Andy Murray said after his win against Stan Wawrinka on Monday that he had been unaware of the risk of swine flu at Wimbledon.

He said that he had not seen the letter sent by the All England Tennis Club to all players and had been unaware that four ball boys and girls had been affected.
Source

Seen and Heard Wimbledon Day 7

by Savannah

Today was the day Wimbledon entered the 21st century. Tennis fans got to raise the roof as a passing shower allowed the AELTC to close the roof on Centre Court. The historic event happened during the match between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo. Did it affect the match? In my humble opinion it did. Dinara came back from the long break relaxed and played confident assured tennis, the way she usually does after a chance to consult with her coach. Amelie on the other hand returned tighter than a drum and despite going up 3-0 Amelie lost the final set. To be clear coaching is allowed during the 45 minutes or so it takes to close the roof and get the air conditioning set up. It's just a shame that Dinara can't make it through a match without hand holding from her coach.

The same can be said of Caroline Wozniacki who looked like she was playing her first pro match as she went down to defeat at the hands of Sabine Lisicki. There were a couple of racquet throws made by Caro but the match is going to be remembered for the "bump" between Caroline and Sabine.

I missed it because I had started watching another match after it became obvious that Lisicki was going to win. Bad timing on my part. Both young women look so much alike it must've been like looking into a mirror. There was no hair pulling but Caroline apparently said something to the chair umpire.


The other drama today took place during the match between Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic. After Venus beat her like she stole something in the first set Ana called for the trainer after one game. Deeming herself unfit to play Ana retired. It was obviously not an easy decision for her to make.

Lets hope she gets well soon.
Wonder of wonders. One of the outer court babes is going to play on a show court after she's been exiled to the outer courts the entire tournament.

In a match that probably sent the WTA Glamour Police up the wall Francesca Schiavone played Virginie Razzano on Court 18 defeating Razzano in straight sets. Fran is having a great run right now and it's good to see.
Another woman having a good tournament while flying under the radar is Elena Dementieva. Tomorrows match between the two should be very interesting.

Aggie Radwanska out smarted American teenager Melanie Oudin ending the teen's miracle run. I called her crafty yesterday. I repeat that today.

Anytime I find myself agreeing with Tracy Austin I wonder if I need to get counseling but she made a point today during the match between Nadia Petrova and Victoria Azarenka that proved to be prescient. After losing a tightly contested first set Petrova dominated the second set 6-2. As soon as the set was over Petrova scampered off to the bathroom. Austin said she didn't think that was the right thing for Petrova to do and that by leaving the court Petrova was ceding the momentum back to Azarenka who was clearly on the ropes. Once the third set began a rejuvenated Victoria Azarenka took it to Nadia who by the end of the set had no legs left. Why is it that when she's not working with an American announcer she makes sense?

Singles Order of Play 6/30/2009

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] 1 vs Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26
2. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] 97 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33 vs Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] 49
2. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 74 vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96

Doubles Order of Play

CENTRE - SHOW COURT

3. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) [5] 16

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT

3. Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [8] 49 vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

2. Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25 vs
Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Horia Tecau (ROU) 29
3. Andre Sa (BRA) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) [11] 9 vs
Robert Lindstedt (SWE) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [7] 16

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT

2. Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Andy Ram (ISR) [7] 33 vs
Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37 T/F 2/6 7/6(3) 6/7(5) 7/6(2) 2/2
3. Igor Andreev (RUS) and Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 22 vs
Christopher Kas (GER) and Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) [16] 24
4. Stephen Huss (AUS) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [12] 25 vs Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Nadia Petrova (RUS) [8] 32

Junior Order of Play

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

4. Sally Peers (AUS) 62 vs Laura Robson (GBR) [2] 64 GS

COURT 5 - 11.00 AM START

1. Arthur De Greef (BEL) 42 vs Tom Farquharson (GBR) 44 BS
2. Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 53 vs Yana Buchina (RUS) 55 GS
3. Ana Bogdan (ROU) [3] 17 vs Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 20 GS
4. Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) and Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) 27 vs
Miyabi Inoue (JPN) and Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 28 GD
5. Isabella Holland (AUS) and Christina McHale (USA) 21 vs
Vaszilisza Bulgakova (HUN) and Chantal Skamlova (SVK) 22 GD

COURT 6 - 11.00 AM START

1. Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) [13] 41 vs Ilinca Stoica (ROU) 44 GS
2. Daniel Berta (SWE) [1] 1 vs David Thomson (GBR) 4 BS
3. Martina Trevisan (ITA) 21 vs Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 GS
4. Sandro Ehrat (SUI) and Dominik Wirlend (AUT) 11 vs
Ahmed El Menshawy (GBR) and Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 12 BD
5. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) and Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) [4] 9 vs
Ana Bogdan (ROU) and Malou Ejdesgaard (DEN) 10 GD

COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START

1. Stephanie Cornish (GBR) 37 vs Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 GS
2. Sebastian Lavie (NZL) 13 vs Devin Britton (USA) 15 BS
3. David Souto (VEN) [11] 25 vs Jordan Cox (USA) 28 BS
4. Daniel Berta (SWE) and Radim Urbanek (CZE) [8] 25 vs
Tom Farquharson (GBR) and Stefan Sterland-Markovic (GBR) 26 BD
5. Filip Horansky (SVK) and Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 3 vs
David Thomson (GBR) and Mathew Thomson (GBR) 4 BD

COURT 8 - 11.00 AM START

1. Valeria Solovieva (RUS) 26 vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 GS
2. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) 20 BS
3. Gianni Mina (FRA) [6] 49 vs Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 BS
4. Valeria Solovieva (RUS) and Maryna Zanevska (UKR) [8] 17 vs
Stephanie Cornish (GBR) and Hannah James (GBR) 18 GD
5. Andrea Collarini (ARG) and Agustin Velotti (ARG) [1] 1 vs
Liam Broady (GBR) and Stanislav Poplavskyy (UKR) 2 BD

COURT 11 - 11.00 AM START

1. Beatrice Capra (USA) 29 vs Tamara Curovic (SRB) 31 GS
2. Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 14 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
3. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Sachia Vickery (USA) 3 GS
4. Lewis Burton (GBR) and George Morgan (GBR) 5 vs Guilherme Clezar (BRA) and Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY) 6 BD

COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START

1. Sudarwa Sitaram (IND) 46 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS
2. Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 29 vs Federico Gaio (ITA) 31 BS
3. Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 vs Stanislav Poplavskyy (UKR) 60 BS
4. Evan King (USA) and Denis Kudla (USA) [4] 9 vs Francis
Casey Alcantara (PHI) and Nikala Scholtz (RSA) 10 BD
5. Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) and Alejandra Granillo (MEX) 3 vs
Jana Cepelova (SVK) and Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 4 GD

COURT 14 - 11.00 AM START

1. Richard Gabb (GBR) 38 vs Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 BS
2. Harry Fowler (USA) 61 vs Ashley Hewitt (GBR) 63 BS
3. Camila Silva (CHI) [10] 9 vs Alexandra Walker (GBR) 12 GS
4. Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas (GER) and Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 27 vs Richard Gabb (GBR) and Ashley Hewitt (GBR) 28 BD
5. Lucy Brown (GBR) and Elisha Gabb (GBR) 13 vs
Nicole Gibbs (USA) and Camila Silva (CHI) 14 GD

COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START

1. Lesley Kerkhove (NED) 34 vs Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) 35 GS
2. Julien Obry (FRA) [10] 9 vs Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 11 BS
3. Chanel Simmonds (RSA) [14] 57 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 GS
4. Julien Obry (FRA) and Adrien Puget (FRA) 19 vs Alastair Barnes (GBR) and Oliver Golding (GBR) 20 BD
5. Nicola George (GBR) and Jennifer Ren (GBR) 29 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) and Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 30 GD

COURT 17 - 11.00 AM START

1. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) 34 vs Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 35 BS
Not before 12.00 noon
2. Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 7 vs
Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) [13] 8 BS T/F 6/4 6/7(3) 9/9
3. Akiko Omae (JPN) 6 vs Daria Gavrilova (RUS) [15] 8 GS
4. Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 vs
Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 7 or Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) [13] 8 BS
5. Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) and Akiko Omae (JPN) 5 vs
Luksika Kumkhum (THA) and Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA) 6 GD

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT

4. Magda Linette (POL) and Heather Watson (GBR) [6] 25 vs
Polina Leykina (RUS) and Anna Arina Marenko (RUS) 26 GD

COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START

1. Nastja Kolar (SLO) 46 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
2. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 51 GS
3. Filip Horansky (SVK) 21 vs Tennys Sandgren (USA) [15] 24 BS
4. Kevin Krawietz (GER) 53 vs Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) 55 BS
5. Sebastian Lavie (NZL) and Riki McLachlan (NZL) 29 vs
Tennys Sandgren (USA) and Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 30 BD

The surprises on the mens side didn't involve stare downs or tears. No one should even pretend to be surprised that Robin Soderling lost in straight sets to the Monogram. The worshipful will say Soderling "pushed" their idol to two tiebreaks and that it was only the greatness of the Monogram that got him through. Whatever.

Stan Wawrinka came out of the gate with guns blazing and took it to Andy Murray in the first set of their match winning it 6-2. After that Wawrinka went on walkabout and Murray took the next two sets. It seemed like the match would be over in four sets but Wawrinka brought himself back to Centre Court and won the fourth set. I was watching without sound by then so I was spared the mewling of the ESPN talking heads. Murray didn't break though and easily won the fifth set 6-3.

That's it for the new jacks. The other men through to the next round are Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas, Ivo Karlovic, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt, all members of the previous class of players. Wait, I forgot, Novak Djokovic made it through as well.

Will the Andy's meet in the semis? Will Haas continue his great play? Is Dr. Ivo a wild card in the mix? Stay tuned for the next chapter of "As The Ball Bounces" coming to you right here.

End Notes

The photographers are obsessed with showing us pictures of the spouses of ATP players. For some reason they think we really care about Kim Sears, Bec Cartwright, et al. Well some of you may be curious about what they're up to so I'll give you what you want. Enjoy.

Miroslava Vavrinec

Kim Sears

Brooklyn Decker

Wonder why we never see Mrs. Ivo Karlovic?

Watching Aggie Radwanska outwit young Melanie I found myself thinking about Martina Hingis and how she used to do that to her opponents.
She's not as obnoxious as "Chucky" was on court though and when she's allowed to play her way she's formidable in this the age of hit hard and harder tennis.

i like how the players, on their own, have revived the habit of walking off court together when the match is over. It's a nice touch and emphasizes that once the match is over they go back to being themselves.

If the Queen has reason to show up on Sunday it's going to be epic no? She hasn't attended in 32 years.

They Actually Admit It

by Savannah

To my knowledge it's not a day traditionally given over to practical jokes so I have to assume this article is legit.
Emily Andrews and Colin Fernandez filed this report about which women get chosen to appear on Centre Court at tradition bound Wimbledon. I'm posting the pictures that accompanied the article along with the captions because even as jaded as I am I can't believe TPTB admitted what goes into their decision regarding the women players. Amazing.

The bolded section is my doing not the authors.

Babe, set and match: How looks count for more than talent when they decide which girls will play on Centre Court
By EMILY ANDREWS and COLIN FERNANDEZ
Last updated at 12:32 AM on 29th June 2009


When it comes to choosing which women play on Centre Court, good looks count for more than big shots.

While a succession of easy-on-the-eye unknowns have appeared in Wimbledon's prime arena, the top women's seeds have been relegated to lesser courts.

The unseeded world No 45, Gisela Dulko, during last week's Battle of the Babes

And last night the All England Club admitted that physical attractiveness is taken into consideration.

Spokesman Johnny Perkins said: 'Good looks are a factor.'

World No 59 Maria Kirilenko of Russia

In the men's tournament, five-times winner Roger Federer and British hope Andy Murray invariably play on Centre.

But on Friday, after Federer left the court, the next match was Victoria Azarenka of Belarus against Romania's Sorana Cirstea.

While both 19-year-olds have top form in the glamour department, Miss Cirstea was seeded 28 while Miss Azarenka, who won, is ranked and seeded eighth.

That same day, second seed Serena Williams was relegated to the new No 2 Court for her win over Italian Roberta Vinci.

No 28 seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania

The fact that many seats remained empty for the Cirstea-Azarenka clash implies that the knowledgeable SW19 crowd were underwhelmed by the tennis on offer.

Which would suggest that attractive players are placed on Centre to titillate the BBC television audience, some of whom care more for a pretty face than a powerful forehand.

A BBC source said: 'It's the Wimbledon play committee, not us who decides on the order of play.

'But obviously it's advantageous to us if there are good-looking women players on Centre Court.

'No one has heard of many of the women now, so if they are pretty it definitely gives them an edge.

'Our preference would always be a Brit or a babe as this always delivers high viewing figures.'

On Wednesday, Centre delivered exactly that - the so-called Battle of the Babes between unseeded Gisela Dulko (world ranking 45) and unseeded Maria Sharapova (ranking 60).


No 5 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia

Then on Thursday ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki defeated Russian Maria Kirilenko, 59 in the world, on Centre while No 1 seed Dinara Safina was downgraded to an outer court.

Miss Safina, 23, said: 'I mean of course it's not fair, but then I'm not doing the schedule.'

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, 24, was also annoyed.


No 1 seed Dinara Safina of Russia

The fifth seed, who was knocked out on Saturday on No 1 Court, said: 'It's weird. If you look at the schedule, it's not only about me. It's about Dinara on Court No 2, Venus (Williams) on Court No 1 and the girls who are not very highly seeded they play on Centre.

'I respect them. They're great players for sure. But this is what's weird for me; what's their strategy, what's their plan of making the schedule?

'This is what surprises me a little bit.'

Twice champion Serena Williams even got lost on the way to No 2 Court on Friday.

She was nearly ten minutes late for her match.


No 2 seed Serena Williams of the U.S.

Johnny Perkins said court selection is 'a great big mixture of where the players are in the draw, who they're playing, what their ranking is.

But at the end of the day, box-office appeal has to be taken into consideration.

'It's not a coincidence that those (on Centre Court) are attractive.'

I hope all of you who think people like me were blowing smoke about the focus of the WTA under Larry Scott will now admit that you were wrong. And to an extent so was I. I never knew about the "Battle of the Babes" alluded to in this article. I just knew that neither player had any business on Centre Court and said so. I guess the WTA doesn't care about empty seats for it's product. That anyone would say no one has heard of Venus Williams or Serena Williams is a joke. If the casual fan hasn't heard of Dinara Safina or Svetlana Kuznetsova that is the fault of the tour.

I wonder if any of the talking heads have the cojones to talk about this article and it's implications.

Reflections on a Middle Sunday

by Savannah


The powers that be at Wimbledon decree a day of rest on the first Sunday of the tournament. In the past this was done for religious reasons and while I'm sure the good folks at St Mary's church on the grounds of the AELTC would love to see a few players in the pews, especially since it was made public that they were allowing people to park in their cemetery, I somehow suspect that most of the players still in contention are on the practice courts.
@Jim Courier tweets the following re practice time at Wimbledon.

Found out that current situation is 30 mins/day for seeds 1-16. 30 mins every other day for seeds 17-32. 30 mins 1 time for non-seeds.

It's a good time for those of us who blog to look back on the week that was on the sacred tennis ground that is Wimbledon. Were there surprises? Yes there were. Cupcake draws? Please. Let's see what the men and women were up to last week.

If you don't have ESPN360 it's time to bug the shit out of your ISP provider to get it because if you don't have it you missed the match of the week between Juan Carlos Ferrero and Fernando Gonzalez. This was not a clay court match on grass. It was a grass court match with shots that made you leap out of you seat (or off of your computer chair) in awe and wonder. It was seeing Juan Carlos say to himself that he was not going to lose and then not losing. It was Fernando using his big forehand to try and intimidate Juan Carlos. It was a match of two veterans pulling out all the stops and yesterday Juan Carlos was the one left standing.

The match lasted until after 9p London time but neither ESPN or NBC saw fit to air any of it. ESPN stuck with the match between Andy Murray and Victor Troicki, a match in name only since Troicki vs Murray is a bad match up for Troicki and Murray was doing what he wanted when he wanted from the first ball toss. As for NBC all claims they want to make to being the Wimbledon network went out the window when they aired the complete Andy Roddick match that had taken place earlier in the day. This is the same network that aired golf's US Open live on Monday disrupting their daytime schedule folks. Do you have any idea how much advertising money is invested in daytime television ladies and gentlemen? Yet when it comes to tennis they air a match that only casual tennis fans didn't know was long over.

I understand that there are situations where people can't see the matches live online and don't scoreboard watch and that many of them were happy to see the Roddick match. It just wasn't gripping tennis. Yes Andy dropped a set and it's still interesting to see the new and improved Andy Roddick play his way into the second week but really people. Why is tennis held to a three hour window while golf is given free rein of the airwaves? I'm sure the programming geeks at NBC were happy to have a match they could put into their alloted space. I'm sure fans with no other recourse were happy to see some tennis. It's just that Gonzalez vs Ferrero was the better, and more compelling match and would've brought more fans to the sport. I could speculate as to why this match was not deemed worthy but I won't go there, at least not today.

The other match of the week was also a men's match. Veteran player Tommy Haas gave tennis fans a glimpse of what could have been in his career if not for injury. In a best of five set match that saw the fifth set spill over from Friday into Saturday Haas won the deciding set 10-8 over Marin Cilic, one of the up and coming players on the ATP tour. Haas had played a lot of tennis coming into Wimbledon and I really thought he'd be too tired to get through to the second week. I was wrong. This match also had everything, great shot making, great thinking, and great attitude from both men. Since I spent most of the day on the computer I don't know if ESPN aired the end of the final set of this match so I'll let them slide. I know what network didn't show it. I'm just saying.

Lleyton Hewitt is somewhat of a surprise player in week two. I'll admit I don't watch his matches because I find myself waking up and they're over but from all accounts he's playing well this week. I wonder how many times they cut to his actress wife beaming a la Nancy Reagan at her husband. I'll take Haas' gum chewing fiancee any day over those scenes. I know. I'm not apologizing although someone should teach Ms Foster that a lady does not chew gum like that. I'm all for keeping it real but all I could hear is my mother making a reference to cud chewing by bovines.

As for the women the matches of the week were the big upsets. I really don't like watching Jelena Jankovic matches. Even when she's winning she pulls some stunt that makes me want to hurl a shoe at her. You can only imagine my amusement when she found herself on the wrong side of the score in her match against American teenager Melanie Oudin.

I hate to say it but when Jelena or Novak Djokovic play unless I see blood or a bone protruding I take their injuries and bouts of illness with a box of salt. A very large box. Jelena really did her acting coach proud yesterday pulling out the dizzyness thing causing a long delay in the second set. In the third set she realized her toe or something was hurting and Oudin, returning from a bathroom break asked "What's wrong with her now?" I'm sure JJ thought that she'd throw the young woman off and ease her way into the second week but Melanie was having none of it. She held her focus and sent the Serbian nominee for Best Actress home. Mary Carillo was only one of many who called Jelena's presser tasteless, classless and tacky. She gave her opponent no credit for outwitting her and instead blamed her monthly cycle for her poor play. Have it your way JJ and thanks for that glimpse into your world.

The other big match on the women's side saw French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova flummoxed by Sabine Lisicki. Sabine has been on tennishead's radar for awhile now and while her making it to the second week of a Slam is a surprise it's really Sabine showing that what everyone saw in her was not an illusion.

What was my biggest surprise result on the women's side? Was it Li Na losing to Aggie Radwanska? Was it Peng Shuai's inability to close out her match against Aggie? The fact that none of the Chinese women made it to week two this year? Surprise, yes. Shock no.
What surprised me the most was Samantha Stosur rolling over and playing dead against Ana Ivanovic. It's not that I'm a big fan of Stosur but that she's been playing very well of late while Ana's play has been lackluster at best. I have to say I was stunned to see Stosur allow Ivanovic to stand in the middle of the court and dictate play a la Daniela Hantuchova. Instead of making Ana run Stosur subjected us all to the Bubble and Squeak show of Ana who pirouetted, strangled a few gerbils, and would've done the squeaky sneakers thing if she could have on her way to a straight set victory.

Of course the pundits are all scratching their heads at Maria Sharapova's loss since she was supposed to cakewalk her way into the second week. One can forgive Gisela Dulko for not following up on that win. Well I can anyway. In case you're interested I have stopped doing Debbie Reynolds "told you so" dance from "Will and Grace". Find it on YouTube. Hi-larious.


Day 7 Orders of Play

Singles

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Robin Soderling (SWE) [13] 113 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 128
2. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] 1 vs Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [17] 9
3. Andy Murray (GBR) [3] 33 vs Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [19] 41

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33 vs Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [13] 48
2. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [7] 97 vs Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22] 105
3. Tomas Berdych (CZE) [20] 24 vs Andy Roddick (USA) [6] 32

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 86 vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96
2. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 115 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
3. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3 vs Radek Stepanek (CZE) [23] 9

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] 97 vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10] 112
2. Dudi Sela (ISR) 85 vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4] 96
3. Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 53 vs Gilles Simon (FRA) [8] 64

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Igor Andreev (RUS) [29] 72 vs Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73
2. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [9] 17 vs Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] 49 vs Melanie Oudin (USA) 58
2. Virginie Razzano (FRA) [26] 72 vs Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 74

Doubles

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT

3. Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) and Evgeny Korolev (RUS) 28
4. Mike Bryan (USA) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) [6] 33 vs
Philipp Petzschner (GER) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 35

COURT 5 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) and Monica Niculescu (ROU) 60 vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [2] 64
2. Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) [1] 1 vs
Iveta Benesova (CZE) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 5
3. Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 51 vs
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10] 56
4. Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Andy Ram (ISR) [7] 33 vs Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37

COURT 7 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [8] 49 vs Christopher Kas (GER) and Viktor Troicki (SRB) 54
2. Rogier Wassen (NED) and Igor Zelenay (SVK) 11 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) [5] 16

COURT 12 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Martin Damm (CZE) and Robert Lindstedt (SWE) [15] 41 vs James Blake (USA) and Mardy Fish (USA) 47
2. Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) and Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) 36 vs Kristina Barrois (GER) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 38
3. Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Monica Niculescu (ROU) 13 vs Robert Lindstedt (SWE) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [7] 16

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Leos Friedl (CZE) and David Skoch (CZE) 7
2. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Mark Knowles (BAH) [4] 17 vs
Prakash Amritraj (IND) and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (PAK) 23
3. Lucas Arnold Ker (ARG) and Gisela Dulko (ARG) 62 vs Bob Bryan (USA) and Samantha Stosur (AUS) [2] 64

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT

3. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) [11] 9 vs Victoria Azarenka (BLR) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) [7] 16
4. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs Zi Yan (CHN) and Jie Zheng (CHN) [13] 24

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED

Not before 4.00 pm
Jamie Delgado (GBR) and Jonathan Marray (GBR) 59 vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64

Not before 5.00 pm
Leander Paes (IND) and Cara Black (ZIM) [1] 1 vs Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Sania Mirza (IND) [13] 8
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) and Iveta Benesova (CZE) [15] 41 vs Marcin Matkowski (POL) and Lisa Raymond (USA) [3] 48

Juniors

COURT 6 - 11.00 AM START

1. Jana Cepelova (SVK) 5 vs Akiko Omae (JPN) 6 GS
2. Tamara Curovic (SRB) 31 vs Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) [8] 32 GS
3. Jennifer Ren (GBR) 45 vs Nastja Kolar (SLO) 46 GS
4. Harry Fowler (USA) 61 vs Emanuele Molina (ITA) 62 BS

COURT 7 - 12.00 NOON START

3. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Eugenie Bouchard (CAN) 2 GS
4. Facundo Arguello (ARG) [14] 57 vs Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 BS

COURT 8 - 11.00 AM START

1. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) 37 vs Richard Gabb (GBR) 38 BS
2. Beatrice Capra (USA) 29 vs An-Sophie Mestach (BEL) 30 GS
3. Ana Bogdan (ROU) [3] 17 vs Magda Linette (POL) 18 GS
4. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Tara Moore (GBR) 50 GS
5. Gianni Mina (FRA) [6] 49 vs Oliver Golding (GBR) 50 BS

COURT 9 - 11.00 AM START

1. Dominik Wirlend (AUT) 3 vs David Thomson (GBR) 4 BS
2. Khunpak Issara (THA) 11 vs Alexandra Walker (GBR) 12 GS
3. Kevin Krawietz (GER) 53 vs Guilherme Clezar (BRA) 54 BS
4. Olivia Rogowska (AUS) [5] 33 vs Lesley Kerkhove (NED) 34 GS
5. Johannes Robert Van Overbeek (USA) 7 vs Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) [13] 8 BS

COURT 11 - 11.00 AM START

1. Alessandro Bega (ITA) 43 vs Tom Farquharson (GBR) 44 BS
2. Tiago Fernandes (BRA) 11 vs Sandro Ehrat (SUI) 12 BS
3. Chantal Skamlova (SVK) 43 vs Ilinca Stoica (ROU) 44 GS
4. Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 29 vs Marin Draganja (CRO) 30 BS

COURT 14

4. Katarena Paliivets (CAN) 63 vs Laura Robson (GBR) [2] 64 GS

COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START

1. Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 vs Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) 28 GS
2. Julien Obry (FRA) [10] 9 vs Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP) 10 BS
3. Jocelyn Rae (GBR) 15 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
4. Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 vs Liam Broady (GBR) 6 BS

COURT 16 - 11.00 AM START

1. Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY) 45 vs Sudarwa Sitaram (IND) 46 BS
2. Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas (GER) 27 vs Jordan Cox (USA) 28 BS
3. Alejandra Granillo (MEX) 47 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
4. Malou Ejdesgaard (DEN) 61 vs Sally Peers (AUS) 62 GS

COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START

1. Heather Watson (GBR) [12] 25 vs Valeria Solovieva (RUS) 26 GS
2. Devin Britton (USA) 15 vs Shuichi Sekiguchi (JPN) [7] 16 BS
3. Sachia Vickery (USA) 3 vs Luksika Kumkhum (THA) 4 GS
4. Filip Horansky (SVK) 21 vs James Marsalek (GBR) 22 BS
5. Riki McLachlan (NZL) 59 vs Stanislav Poplavskyy (UKR) 60 BS

The Monogram is going to meet Robin Soderling. Excuse the yawn. If Soderling wins I won't snark about the Monogram for two posts. It occurred to me yesterday that while some are screaming GOAT from the rooftops the only great matches he's played have been when he's faced some upstart from Mallorca. Otherwise it's been the bum of the month club and expected wins. Again I'm just saying.

Dinara Safina vs Amelie Mauresmo is interesting on paper. Both women have a lot to prove. Dinara is anxious to show that she can make it to a Slam Final and win. Amelie wants to prove her best days aren't behind her. Both are tenacious on court and if they both bring their "A" game this should be a good one.

Andy Murray vs Stan Wawrinka is another "should be" match. Murray will use his rope-a-dope style of play against Stan who runs hot and cold. If he's cold it'll be a good match to snooze on.

As for Bubble and Squeak vs the Grass Court Queen let's just hope Venus Williams doesn't go on walkabout during this match.

Andy Roddick vs Tomas Berdych can be a very good match. Or not. If Andy starts checking to make sure the family jewels are still there you'll know he's in panic mode. Off course there's always the chance that Berdych will go out like a bitch.

Actually there are a lot of potentially good match ups on the woman's side.
Victoria Azarenka vs Nadia Petrova is one of them. The match I'm most looking forward to though is Caroline Wozniacki against Sabine Lisicki. This is a big test for both women. The same goes for Aggie Radwanska vs Melanie Oudin. Huge test for Oudin against the crafty Radwanska.

End Notes

Dare I say it? With the exception of the two ATP matches I mentioned above as being the best of the week the WTA has been the tour with swagger. The new jacks are announcing their arrival at a major in a big way while the old guard is looking to hold on to their dominance for another year. Will one of the new jacks make it into the semi finals? Will one, or more of the old guard fall victim to the new jacks? It's hard to come up with a catch phrase to sum up week two of Wimbledon. All one can say is that it's time to put your money where your mouth is boys and girls. It's on.

Seen and Heard Around Wimbledon Day 5

by Savannah


I admit it. I fell asleep and missed most of today's play. At some point during Victoria Azarenka's match against Sorana Cirstea I dozed off. That I woke up too late to see Serena Williams singles match made it even worse.

Serena Williams
I guess the gods knew what was right though because I did see the end of the fourth and all of the fifth set of Tommy Haas vs Marin Cilic easily the match of the tournament so far. The match was called due to darkness and will be resumed at six all tomorrow. If the expressions on the guys pictured up top are any indication I missed some good tennis.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Apparently Jo-Wilfried Tsonga wishes he could start the day over. Ivo Karlovic outplayed Jo and moves on into the second week of play. I'm guessing Ivo did more than serve to get his win. Tsonga has looked uncomfortable on the grass beginning during his warm up play.

Congratulations Ivo.

Francesca Schiavone
Outside of Fed Cup play Francesca Schiavone has not had much to celebrate lately. Her win over Marion Bartoli today had to give her the confidence to start winning the matches she should win.

Dudi Sela
I'm sure there are some who thought Israel's Dudi Sela would make it to the second week outside of his family and friends. His is the surprise win of the day.

Saturday Order of Play

Singles

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33 vs Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 39
2. Jurgen Melzer (AUT) [26] 25 vs Andy Roddick (USA) [6] 32
3. Andy Murray (GBR) [3] 33 vs Viktor Troicki (SRB) [30] 40

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) [12] 17 vs Tomas Berdych (CZE) [20] 24
Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73 vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [11] 80 T/F 7/5 7/5 1/6 6/7(3) 6/6 0-0*
2. Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26 vs Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) [5] 32
3. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) [10] 49 vs Juan Carlos Ferrero (ESP) 53

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Samantha Stosur (AUS) [18] 41 vs Ana Ivanovic (SRB) [13] 48
Andreas Seppi (ITA) 66 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) [29] 72 T/F 1/6 6/7(5) 6/4 5/5 0-0*
2. Lleyton Hewitt (AUS) 3 vs Philipp Petzschner (GER) 6
3. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] 1 vs Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 7

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Melanie Oudin (USA) 58 vs Jelena Jankovic (SRB) [6] 64
2. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [17] 9 vs Flavia Pennetta (ITA) [15] 16
3. Victor Hanescu (ROU) [31] 57 vs Gilles Simon (FRA) [8] 64

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) [9] 17 vs Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) [20] 24
2. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [19] 41 vs Jesse Levine (USA) 47

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Radek Stepanek (CZE) [23] 9 vs David Ferrer (ESP) [16] 16
2. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) [11] 49 vs Na Li (CHN) [19] 56

Doubles Order of Play

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT

4. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) and Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [16] 41 vs Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3] 48

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT

3. Leander Paes (IND) and Cara Black (ZIM) [1] 1 vs Michal Mertinak (SVK) and Mara Santangelo (ITA) 4

COURT 5 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Julie Ditty (USA) and Ekaterina Dzehalevich (BLR) 54 vs
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10] 56
2. Chia-Jung Chuang (TPE) and Sania Mirza (IND) [15] 57 vs
Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) and Monica Niculescu (ROU) 60
3. Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Elena Vesnina (RUS) [5] 49 vs James Auckland (GBR) and Elena Baltacha (GBR) 52
4. Sorana Cirstea (ROU) and Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 34 vs
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) and Tatiana Poutchek (BLR) 36

COURT 7

Not before 1.00 pm

2. Nuria Llagostera Vives (ESP) and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) [11] 9 vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) and Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 11
3. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) and Iveta Benesova (CZE) [15] 41 vs Eric Butorac (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 43
4. Marcelo Melo (BRA) and Shuai Peng (CHN) [14] 57 vs
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) and Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 60
5. James Cerretani (USA) and Sybille Bammer (AUT) 54 vs Mark Knowles (BAH) and Anna- Lena Groenefeld (GER) [9] 56

COURT 8

Not before 1.00 pm
2. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Vania King (USA) [12] 25 vs Kaia Kanepi (EST) and Ipek Senoglu (TUR) 31
3. Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [4] 17 vs Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) and Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 19
4. Simon Aspelin (SWE) and Paul Hanley (AUS) 37 vs Travis Parrott (USA) and Filip Polasek (SVK) [10] 40

COURT 12

3. Rogier Wassen (NED) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 30 vs Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Nadia Petrova (RUS) [8] 32
4. Stephen Huss (AUS) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [12] 25 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 28

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Gisela Dulko (ARG) and Shahar Peer (ISR) 22 vs Zi Yan (CHN) and Jie Zheng (CHN) [13] 24
2. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) [6] 49 vs
Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 51
3. Arnaud Clement (FRA) and Marc Gicquel (FRA) 46 vs James Blake (USA) and Mardy Fish (USA) 47
4. Andre Sa (BRA) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) [11] 9 vs Kenneth Skupski (GBR) and Katie O'Brien (GBR) 12

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

3. Andy Ram (ISR) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 21 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) and Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 22

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED
Not before 5.00 pm
Colin Fleming (GBR) and Sarah Borwell (GBR) 6 vs Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Sania Mirza (IND) [13] 8
Jamie Murray (GBR) and Liezel Huber (USA) 38 vs Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) and Zi Yan (CHN) [10] 40

With all that happened yesterday I forgot to do the seed watch for Day 5. Here is seed watch for Day 6.

Carla Suarez Navarro is ranked #34
Jurgen Melzer is ranked #30
Victor Troicki is ranked #31
Tomas Berdych is ranked #20
Sabine Lisicki is ranked #41
Juan Carlos Ferrero is ranked #70
Lleyton Hewitt is ranked #56
Philipp Petzschner is ranked #55
Kirsten Flipkens is ranked #110
Melanie Oudin is ranked #124
Victor Hanescu is ranked #28

Junior Wimbledon play begins tomorrow. Here is the draw and the order of play for Day 1.

Boys' Singles Draw

[1] BERTA, Daniel SWE v REUTER, Yannik BEL
WIRLEND, Dominik AUT (Q) v THOMSON, David GBR
DOMIJAN, Alexander USA (Q) v BROADY, Liam GBR (Q)
VAN OVERBEEK, Johannes Robert USA v [13] HSIEH, Cheng Peng TPE

[10] OBRY, Julien FRA v CARRENO-BUSTA, Pablo ESP
FERNANDES, Tiago BRA v EHRAT, Sandro SUI
LAVIE, Sebastian NZL (W) v CARPENTER, Jack GBR
BRITTON, Devin USA v [7] SEKIGUCHI, Shuichi JPN

[4] VELOTTI, Agustin ARG v SCHOLTZ, Nikala RSA
ALCANTARA, Francis Casey PHI v NEUCHRIST, Maximilian AUT
HORANSKY, Filip SVK (W) v MARSALEK, James GBR
PUGET, Adrien FRA v [15] SANDGREN, Tennys USA

[11] SOUTO, David VEN v (W) BURTON, Lewis GBR
GEORGOUDAS, Alexandros-Ferd GER (Q) v COX, Jordan USA (Q)
VASILEVSKI, Andrei BLR v DRAGANJA, Marin CRO
GAIO, Federico ITA v [8] URIGUEN, Julen GUA

[5] COLLARINI, Andrea ARG v BOLUDA-PURKISS, Carlos ESP
KOVALIK, Jozef SVK vFRANK, Mitchell USA
HERBERT, Pierre-Hugues FRA (W) v GABB, Richard GBR
URBANEK, Radim CZE v [9] SCHULZ, Dominik GER

[16] KING, Evan USA v DE GREEF, Arthur BEL
(Q) BEGA, Alessandro ITA v (W) FARQUHARSON, Tom GBR
MAAMOUN, Karim-Mohamed EGY v SITARAM, Sudarwa IND (W)
MORGAN, George GBR v [3] TOMIC, Bernard AUS

[6] MINA, Gianni FRA v (W) GOLDING, Oliver GBR
KUZNETSOV, Andrey RUS v WEISSBORN, Tristan-Samuel AUT (Q)
KRAWIETZ, Kevin GER v CLEZAR, Guilherme BRA
EHARA, Hiroyasu JPN v [12] KUDLA, Denis USA

[14] ARGUELLO, Facundo ARG v MARCAN, Dino CRO
MCLACHLAN, Riki NZL v POPLAVSKYY, Stanislav UKR
FOWLER, Harry USA (Q) v MOLINA, Emanuele ITA (W)
HEWITT, Ashley GBR v [2] HUANG, Liang-Chi TPE

Girls' Singles Draw

[1] MLADENOVIC, Kristina FRA v (Q) BOUCHARD, Eugenie CAN
(Q) VICKERY, Sachia USA v (Q) KUMKHUM, Luksika THA
CEPELOVA, Jana SVK (Q) v OMAE, Akiko JPN
JAMES, Hannah GBR v [15] GAVRILOVA, Daria RUS

[10] SILVA, Camila CHI v YSIDORA, Grace Sari INA
ISSARA, Khunpak THA (W) v WALKER, Alexandra GBR
HOLLAND, Isabella AUS (L) v VAN DER MEET, Angelique NED
(W) RAE, Jocelyn GBR v [7] STEPHENS, Sloane USA

[3] BOGDAN, Ana ROU v LINETTE, Magda POL
SAENYAUKHOT, Natchanok THA v HOGENKAMP, Richel NED
TREVISAN, Martina ITA v (W) VICKERS, Samantha GBR
SUSANYI, Zsofia HUN v [16] EIKERI, Ulrikke NOR

[12] WATSON, Heather GBR v SOLOVIEVA, Valeria RUS
INOUE, Miyabi JPN v AL NABHANI, Fatma OMA
CAPRA, Beatrice USA v (Q) MESTACH, An-Sophie BEL
CUROVIC, Tamara SRB v [8] TOMLJANOVIC, Ajla CRO

[5] ROGOWSKA, Olivia AUS v KERKHOVE, Lesley NED
KIRILLOVA, Ksenia RUS v CEPEDE ROYG, Veronica PAR
CORNISH, Stephanie GBR v KRUNIC, Alexandra SRB
GIBBS, Nicole USA v [11] NJIRIC, Silvia CRO

[13] (W) HENDLER, Tamaryn BEL v MUTAGUCHI, Emi JPN
SKAMLOVA, Chantal SVK v (Q) STOICA, Ilinca ROU
(W) REN, Jennifer GBR v KOLAR, Nastja SLO
GRANILLO, Alejandra MEX v [4] LERTCHEEWAKARN, Noppawan THA

[6] BABOS, Timea HUN v (W) MOORE, Tara GBR
JUHASZOVA, Vivien SVK v (W) GEORGE, Nicola GBR
ISHIZU, Sachie JPN v LERTPITAKSINCHAI, Nicha THA
BUCHINA, Yana RUS v [9] MCHALE, Christina USA

[14] SIMMONDS, Chanel RSA v ZANEVSKA, Maryna UKR
LEYKINA, Polina RUS v LEMOINE, Quirine NED
(Q) EJDESGAARD, Malou DEN v (Q) PEERS, Sally AUS
PALIIVETS, Katarena CAN v [2] ROBSON, Laura GBR

Junior Day 1 Order of Play

COURT 6 - 11.00 AM START

1. Camila Silva (CHI) [10] 9 vs Grace Sari Ysidora (INA) 10 GS
2. Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 35 vs Mitchell Frank (USA) 36 BS
3. Nicole Gibbs (USA) 39 vs Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 GS
4. Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 53 vs Nicha Lertpitaksinchai (THA) 54 GS
5. Francis Casey Alcantara (PHI) 19 vs Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) 20 BS

COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START

1. George Morgan (GBR) 47 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS

COURT 8 - 11.00 AM START

1. Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) 35 vs Veronica Cepede Royg (PAR) 36 GS

COURT 9 - 11.00 AM START

1. Natchanok Saenyaukhot (THA) 19 vs Richel Hogenkamp (NED) 20 GS
2. Radim Urbanek (CZE) 39 vs Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 BS
3. Yana Buchina (RUS) 55 vs Christina McHale (USA) [9] 56 GS
4. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Nikala Scholtz (RSA) 18 BS

COURT 11 - 11.00 AM START

1. Polina Leykina (RUS) 59 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 GS
2. Andrea Collarini (ARG) [5] 33 vs Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) 34 BS
3. Tamaryn Hendler (BEL) [13] 41 vs Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) 42 GS
4. Adrien Puget (FRA) 23 vs Tennys Sandgren (USA) [15] 24 BS

COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START

1. Hannah James (GBR) 7 vs Daria Gavrilova (RUS) [15] 8 GS

COURT 15 - 11.00 AM START

1. Evan King (USA) [16] 41 vs Arthur De Greef (BEL) 42 BS
2. Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 vs Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) [16] 24 GS
3. Federico Gaio (ITA) 31 vs Julen Uriguen (GUA) [8] 32 BS
4. David Souto (VEN) [11] 25 vs Lewis Burton (GBR) 26 BS
5. Chanel Simmonds (RSA) [14] 57 vs Maryna Zanevska (UKR) 58 GS

COURT 17 - 11.00 AM START

1. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 vs Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 52 BS
2. Isabella Holland (AUS) 13 vs Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 14 GS
3. Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 51 vs Nicola George (GBR) 52 GS
4. Sebastian Lavie (NZL) 13 vs Jack Carpenter (GBR) 14 BS

COURT 19 - 11.00 AM START

1. Hiroyasu Ehara (JPN) 55 vs Denis Kudla (USA) [12] 56 BS
2. Martina Trevisan (ITA) 21 vs Samantha Vickers (GBR) 22 GS
3. Stephanie Cornish (GBR) 37 vs Alexandra Krunic (SRB) 38 GS
4. Ashley Hewitt (GBR) 63 vs Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) [2] 64 BS
5. Daniel Berta (SWE) [1] 1 vs Yannik Reuter (BEL) 2 BS

Miscellany

That empty space in the ATP World Tour has been filled.

The ATP World Tour’s strengthened fall Asian swing will begin in South-East Asia after the governing body of men’s professional tennis today confirmed that Kuala Lumpur will host an ATP World Tour-level tournament.

The tournament was officially launched by Prime Minister of Malaysia, Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and will be known as the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur. The ATP World Tour 250 event will be held indoors at the 16,000-seat Putra Stadium at the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex, commencing on Monday 28 September.

“There is great demand for cities to host ATP World Tour events and in particular within the Asian region. Kuala Lumpur presented a very strong application to become part of the ATP World Tour. This, combined with their excellent tournament facilities, management team and the support of the Malaysian Government, we are confident that Kuala Lumpur is the right venue to continue developing tennis within South-East Asia,” said Brad Drewett, CEO, ATP International.

“Asian tennis fans have demonstrated that they are among the best in the world and we are excited that tennis fans across Malaysia now have the opportunity to see some of the world’s best players battling it out in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.”

The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, supported by the Government of Malaysia, will be organized by leading international management company IMG and headed by Tournament Director Nick Freyer, Senior Vice President IMG and Head of Tennis, Asia.

“I warmly thank the Prime Minister for his belief and support of this project from the very start, to all those people, many of whose contributions remain private but deeply appreciated, people whose advice and counsel was invaluable and who worked so many hours during the bid process and more recently during the event launch phase,” said Nick Freyer.

“Our great appreciation extends to the ATP World Tour Board and Brad Drewett for the support and trust they showed in us and to our friends at the Putra Stadium and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel for their confidence and contributions, the Ministries of Sport and Tourism, the National Sports Council and of course to the ATP World Tour players who have so readily accepted the Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur as a tournament to play and be part of.”

The Malaysian Open, Kuala Lumpur, will be one of five events in the strengthened Asian swing, that will culminate with the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 presented by Rolex.

Seen and Heard, and Mourned

by Savannah

It's been a stunning day for me. Farrah Fawcett, 1970's icon passed after a long illness. The King of Pop Michael Jackson died suddenly. Both passings affected me greatly. May they both rest in peace.

Wimbledon Day 4

Today was one of those days where what everyone thought would be epic matches turned into one sided affairs.

Apparently this is the most life Juan Martin del Potro showed during his match against Lleyton Hewitt on Centre Court today. Juan Martin turned in one of those performances that make people wonder how he made it to the top ten as Hewitt won in straight sets.

Venus Williams who was first up on Court 1 walked on with wrappings on her calf and just above her knees. While her motion appeared stilted at first she adjusted to playing with the wrappings and proceeded to wipe out any hopes Kateryna Bondarenko may have had of catching her on an off day. There wasn't even her almost routine mental lapse in the second set.

Ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki played on Centre Court today and had an easy time of it as well.
Both Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina have expressed unhappiness with their court assignments in this Tennis.com post.

Andy Roddick continues to play well. As his play has improved fans are seeing less and less of him on ESPN television. If you have ESPN360 you've been able to see his matches but on the broadcast side the hype is going to Andy Murray and the above mentioned Lleyton Hewitt. Go figure.

Li Na continues to play well. Her countrywoman Peng Shuai had more than enough chances to put Aggie Radwanska away but failed to do so.

You have to give it to Jelena Jankovic. Fans had grown weary of her on court antics - the injury timeouts, the anger at whatever took her fancy, the saccharine smile, so she introduced a new weapon against Iveta Benesova. Players are often delayed coming on court for one reason or another but I can say I've never seen the chair umpire call to find out where the hell a player was before today. JJ got a mixed reception when she came on court but one look at Benesova's face told you that she was past pissed. I wondered if Benesova would be able to put her anger aside and play. She wasn't. JJ made it look easy against Iveta who seemed to have forgotten how to play tennis while JJ played rings around her. Too bad. Should've been a good one.
American qualifier Jesse Levine is supposed to be back in the States by now. Instead he's into the third round at Wimbledon with two surprise victories. An even bigger surprise was American teen Melanie Oudin advancing. Congratulations to both of them.

Vera Zvonareva withdrew from her doubles match today due to a right ankle injury. Dominika Cibulkova also withdrew from doubles with lower back problems.

The Championships 2009

Intended Order of Play for Friday 26 June 2009

SINGLES

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) [27] 121 vs Roger Federer (SUI) [2] 128
2. Victoria Azarenka (BLR) [8] 97 vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU) [28] 104
3. Mardy Fish (USA) [28] 89 vs Novak Djokovic (SRB) [4] 96

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Regina Kulikova (RUS) 92 vs Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96
2. Ivo Karlovic (CRO) [22] 105 vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) [9] 112
3. Tommy Haas (GER) [24] 73 vs Marin Cilic (CRO) [11] 80

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Roberta Vinci (ITA) 123 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
2. Vera Zvonareva (RUS) [7] 65 vs Virginie Razzano (FRA) [26] 72
3. Fernando Verdasco (ESP) [7] 97 vs Albert Montanes (ESP) [32] 104

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Robin Soderling (SWE) [13] 113 vs Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 117
2. Gisela Dulko (ARG) 107 vs Nadia Petrova (RUS) [10] 112
3. Tommy Robredo (ESP) [15] 81 vs Dudi Sela (ISR) 85

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) 115 vs Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 119
2. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) [14] 81 vs Elena Vesnina (RUS) 86
3. Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 74 vs Marion Bartoli (FRA) [12] 80
4. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 66 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) [29] 72

Doubles Day 5 Order of Play 6/26/2009

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

4. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs
Sabine Lisicki (GER) and Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) 19

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT

4. Cara Black (ZIM) and Liezel Huber (USA) [1] 1 vs Klaudia Jans (POL) and Alicja Rosolska (POL) 4

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 12.00 NOON START

1. Mahesh Bhupathi (IND) and Mark Knowles (BAH) [4] 17 vs
Philipp Petzschner (GER) and Alexander Peya (AUT) 19
2. Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) and Vania King (USA) [12] 25 vs
Jocelyn Rae (GBR) and Melanie South (GBR) 27
3. Robert Kendrick (USA) and Sam Querrey (USA) 62 vs
Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64

COURT 5 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Vera Dushevina (RUS) and Tatiana Perebiynis (UKR) 30 vs
Kaia Kanepi (EST) and Ipek Senoglu (TUR) 31
2. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs
Johan Brunstrom (SWE) and Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) 4
3. Max Mirnyi (BLR) and Andy Ram (ISR) [7] 33 vs
Sanchai Ratiwatana (THA) and Sonchat Ratiwatana (THA) 35
4. Jean-Julien Rojer (AHO) and Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 19 vs
Jeff Coetzee (RSA) and Jill Craybas (USA) 20

COURT 7 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Frantisek Cermak (CZE) and Michal Mertinak (SVK) [13] 57 vs
Jamie Delgado (GBR) and Jonathan Marray (GBR) 59
2. Iveta Benesova (CZE) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 5 vs
Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) and Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 7
3. Kristina Barrois (GER) and Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 38 vs
Sara Errani (ITA) and Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 39
4. Philipp Petzschner (GER) and Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (CZE) 35 vs Scott Lipsky (USA) and Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 36

COURT 11 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Rameez Junaid (AUS) and Philipp Marx (GER) 21 vs Prakash Amritraj (IND) and Aisam-Ul- Haq Qureshi (PAK) 23
2. Pablo Cuevas (URU) and Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 39 vs
Travis Parrott (USA) and Filip Polasek (SVK) [10] 40 T/F 7/6(4) 6/7(4) 3/6 0/0 0*-0
3. Dusan Vemic (SRB) and Flavia Pennetta (ITA) 5 vs Colin Fleming (GBR) and Sarah Borwell (GBR) 6
4. Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Monica Niculescu (ROU) 13 vs Jordan Kerr (AUS) and Vania King (USA) 14

COURT 12 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) and Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) [16] 41 vs Laura Robson (GBR) and Georgie Stoop (GBR) 44
2. Martin Damm (CZE) and Robert Lindstedt (SWE) [15] 41 vs
James Cerretani (USA) and Victor Hanescu (ROU) 43
3. Lukasz Kubot (POL) and Oliver Marach (AUT) [8] 49 vs
Chris Guccione (AUS) and Frank Moser (GER) 51
4. Dick Norman (BEL) and Liga Dekmeijere (LAT) 53 vs
James Cerretani (USA) and Sybille Bammer (AUT) 54

COURT 14 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Maria Elena Camerin (ITA) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 45 vs
Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3] 48 [/i]
2. Andrei Pavel (ROU) and Horia Tecau (ROU) 29 vs Eric Butorac (USA) and Scott Lipsky (USA) 31
3. Christopher Kas (GER) and Viktor Troicki (SRB) 54 vs
Marcelo Melo (BRA) and Andre Sa (BRA) [11] 56
4. Eric Butorac (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 43 vs
Johan Brunstrom (SWE) and Vera Dushevina (RUS) 44

COURT 16 - 12.00 NOON START

1. Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) and Galina Voskoboeva (KAZ) 61 vs
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [2] 64
2. Alex Bogdanovic (GBR) and James Ward (GBR) 13 vs
Bruno Soares (BRA) and Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) [5] 16
3. Frantisek Cermak (CZE) and Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 59 vs
Fabrice Santoro (FRA) and Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) 60
4. Paul Hanley (AUS) and Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) 45 vs
Marcin Matkowski (POL) and Lisa Raymond (USA) [3] 48

MATCHES TO BE ARRANGED
NOT BEFORE 17:00 HRS
Travis Parrott (USA) and Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 51 vs
James Auckland (GBR) and Elena Baltacha (GBR) 52
Ross Hutchins (GBR) and Anne Keothavong (GBR) 27 vs Bruno Soares (BRA) and Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 28
Andy Ram (ISR) and Anna Chakvetadze (RUS) 21 vs Igor Andreev (RUS) and Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 22

A Photo Essay

I guess the Williams Sisters were in a cranky mood today. They walked on court to take names and proceeded to do so wiping up the court with their opponents. You know there was something special in their demeanor because photographers recorded it.