The Sisters and the WTA

by Savannah



1 1 Safina, Dinara RUS 10521
2 2 Williams, Serena USA 8758
3 3 Williams, Venus USA 6617
4 4 Dementieva, Elena RUS 6591
5 5 Kuznetsova, Svetlana RUS 6071
6 6 Jankovic, Jelena SRB 5980
7 7 Zvonareva, Vera RUS 5400
8 8 Azarenka, Victoria BLR 5066
9 9 Wozniacki, Caroline DEN 4780
10 10 Petrova, Nadia RUS 3300

The WTA rankings for this week are out and once again Dinara Safina sits on top of the heap as the best female player. Wait, you mean to tell me that the rankings don't mean she's the best but only the most consistent?

I'm a tennis nerd. I follow this sport a lot more than a normal person would so I ask those of you who push the "consisency" argument to put yourselves in the position of a casual fan who after seeing some of the modest hype the sport of tennis gets did the normal thing and look to see who is the top ranked player. Is he or she going to know that Dinara has been the most consistent or draw the conclusion that she's the best? Let's be truthful now. It's only we tennis nerds who know about the whole "consistency" thing.

I can only imagine what Joe or Jane Casual Fan thought when they watched the Wimbledon semi final where the top women's player took on the number three ranked woman and was only able to win one game in a match that really wasn't that close. I'm speculating here but could the reaction have been "Why is she the best and she can't beat number three?" Or would Joe and Jane have wondered why the best could only win one game in a semi final match.

Some fans are arguing that Dinara is to be applauded for reaching the semifinals and thus going further than she ever has at the tennis worlds most sacred shrine but aren't some rather inconvenient facts being ignored? When did Dinara win her first tournament this year? Who has she had to face to get as far as she did at Wimbledon? How reliant is she on her coach to do her thinking for her? How does she handle pressure situations? Are these questions unfair? I don't think so.

As for "The Sisters" themselves the argument being put forward is that it's their own fault they're not ranked 1 and 2 in the world. Why? Silly wabbit. They don't play enough. It's obvious isn't it? If they played more tournaments instead of always play the same events maybe they would gain some more ranking points and be able to claim their rightful positions in the world of women's tennis. Sure sounds like a legitimate argument doesn't it? Except that because of the way they plan their year they are relatively healthy at their advanced age(s) and when things are going well they can outthink and out play any of the blondes with braids that they face now.

The generational thing is not talked about much as it relates to the WTA but it should be. Venus was born in 1980 and Serena in 1981. (Elena Dementieva was born in 1981 and Nadia Petrova in 1982). These women came of age when to be a complete player you had to not only have the shots you had to be able to think your way through a match and adjust your play when your opponent changed hers or simply saw through what you were doing. There was no on court coaching and while a lot was done with a wink and a nod from the stands no one would dream of calling her coach down to the court to guide her through a match. You were expected to be an all court player and while you would be stronger on some surfaces than on others your ability to think was your strongest asset.

Of the four women listed above the one who looks to her coach the most is Elena Dementieva.

Today it's widely accepted that a WTA player needs the crutch of coaching consultations, something that to me is an insult to the greats who went before today's crop of young players. Sure it's interesting to see father Wozniacki speaking in Polish to his daughter, or Krajan berating his charge as one would an unruly child but what do these spectacles bring to the sport of tennis? We know Victoria Azarenka is an emotional woman. Do we have to watch her disrespect and ignore her coach on a changeover?

But all of that is diversionary in the final analysis. When the WTA overhauled its ranking system and dropped quality points it was because these pesky sisters were executing a scorched earth policy and leaving all their "betters" in their wake as they headed for the top. The new system was meant to reward consistent and frequent play not better quality play against better quality opponents. That's why two of the last three women ranked number one reached the top without having won a Slam. It's why there is such resistance to quality points being returned to the mix. It's why players like young Caroline Wozniacki are playing events they really shouldn't be if they want to be playing ten years from now. The younger women look at Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina and say why not me? Retired players are coming back because they see who is at the top of the sport and say "Really?"
It's why male commentators who have always disrespected women's tennis can label a performance by the top player in the world the worst and no one call them on it because it's true.

There will be a new head of the WTA named by the end of summer. I doubt my two cents matters in the great scheme of things but it is my hope that the powers that be take the blinders off and realize that they've cut off their noses to spite their faces. The current system disrespects all of the women who work and fight so hard to be the best they can be at their chosen sport. It rewards mind numbing and body destroying schedules and ridicules those who don't buy into the insanity and plan schedules that allows for rest and recuperation of both body and mind. Get rid of the idiotic on court coaching. Respect that each player has her specific needs and that coercion, financial or otherwise, dilutes the player pool and makes for draws at the Tour level that resemble those of Challengers. I may be grabbing at straws here but I think some sanity has to be brought back to women's tennis. A big step in that direction would be fixing the ranking system.

Miscellany

I'm sure no one is surprised Andy Roddick withdrew from the US vs Croatia Davis Cup tie, on clay, in Croatia later this month. The official reason is a hip flexor. That was a very hard fall on the exposed dirt of the baseline. Not much was made of it because he kept playing. If you were paying attention though you noticed how gingerly and tentatviely he played after that fall.

Mardy Fish is taking his place on the DC squad and he has pulled out of Newport where he was the top seed.

The USTA has announced that Andre Agassi will be Guest of Honor at the opening night ceremonies for the US Open this year.

Ratings Down

From Sports Business Daily

NBC's coverage of Wimbledon men's final yesterday, which featured Roger Federer defeating Andy Roddick in an extended fifth set to capture his record-breaking 15th Grand Slam title, earned a 4.2/12 overnight Nielsen rating. The 4.2 rating is down 8.7% from a 4.6/12 for last year's Rafael Nadal-Federer final, which was delayed by rain and contained an extended fifth set. Outside of last year's final, Federer-Roddick is the highest-rated men's final since a 5.0/14 overnight in '00 for Pete Sampras' final Wimbledon championship. The previous two Federer-Roddick Wimbledon finals earned a 2.8/5 overnight in '05 and a 3.6/10 in '04. Serena Williams' win over her sister Venus in the women's final on Saturday earned a 2.7/8 overnight rating, down from a 3.4/10 for the same matchup last year, which aired on July 5 (THE DAILY).

Serena Williams will be on David Letterman tonight. Charlie Rose is reportedly going to have a mystery guest during his segment on tennis tonight.

Junior Wimbledon


Andrey Kuznetsov 2009 Junior Boys Wimbledon Champion

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Kevin Krawietz 2009 Junior Boys Wimbledon Doubles Champions

Sally Peers and Noppawan Lertcheewakarn 2009 Wimbledon Junior Girls Doubles Champions

Mixed Doubles

Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld 2009 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles Champions

The Championship Ball

Mr. and Mrs. Roger Federer

Serena Williams

The Wimbledon Champions

End Note
I'll be taking a break for a few days to catch up on some sleep and non tennis life. If something is worth mentioning or any news breaks I'll post it. Grand Slams are wearying.

History or Predetermination?

by Savannah


I watched the Men's Final with the sound down. I never watch tennis with the sound down but somehow I knew today that would be required.

There are two ways to make history - create your own moment or have it handed to you. It's no secret the Monogram is not my favorite male tennis player for reasons to numerous to go into now yet I always try and maintain an air of neutrality on this blog so that one fandom or another doesn't feel slighted. I'm going to try today but if I don't succeed just don't read the post. I'm sure there are other places you can go where the Monogram's win will be celebrated. I hope to put that win in some perspective.

Anyone who was paying attention saw that all the competition - men who don't quake at the sight or name of the Monogram were in the top half of the draw. All of the seeds, everyone of them, in the bottom half of the draw could be counted among the worshipful, those who genuflect before the Presence as he walks on court. With the 2008 Champion injured the task fell to one of the men from the top half to step up and represent. Andy Murray found the hopes and dreams of his country too much to bear and in an amazingly passive match lost to Andy Roddick in their semifinal match. I'm not a big fan of Mopey Murray either but I felt that he had the best chance at making sure a headache inducing celebration didn't take place on Centre Court today.

As our mothers have always told us there is no use crying over spilt milk. Andy Roddick played two of the best matches of his life. He believed he could beat Andy Murray. In the end he still doesn't think he can beat the Monogram. Don't get me wrong. I was pulling for Andy every step of the way but I knew his record of 2-18 was in his head. When he lost that second set tiebreak after having four set points I was worried. When he lost the second set tiebreak I figured four sets for the Monogram. When he won the fourth set I thought maybe, just maybe, he'd hold it together.

I think the Monogram served a record number of aces today. How ironic that he said earlier in the week, in belittling Ivo Karlovic, that serving your way through a match is not tennis. I guess if your name is Ivo Karlovic that's the case. If your name is Roger Federer it's a different story.

I don't know what happened in that fifth set. Nerves? The shadows? Mental fatigue? The sense that no matter what he did his opponent would win? Whatever it was Roddick did not look comfortable or play all out the way he did before he fell hard on his right hip after slipping on the dirt on the baseline. The man who had held his serve throughout a marathon match was broken thanks to a mishit on his part. It was the first break the Monogram got and it won the match for him.

Whatever. Pete Sampras finally stopped the running conversation he was having with his wife long enough to watch the end of the match.

I'm not going to call the Monogram any names. That is not what I'm about. The fact that some on Twitter are calling him a "Pompous Jacketass" is totally Nike's fault. I turned the television off when I realized they were going to run congratulatory commercials ad nauseam.

I'm also not going to say much about the condescending words he directed at Andy Roddick when the match was over. What he said was kind of like a rich man telling a homeless man he knows how he feels. I know the worshipful will defend his comments as trying to be nice. I ask them to put themselves in Andy's place.

I know I should be saying "Congratulations" because of the "historic" event that just took place. I hope the Monogram gives nice bonuses to the folks who make sure his way to semi's and finals is paved with gold. The powers that be have been working hard for this moment for a couple of years now. I'm glad they're happy.

End Note

Andy is holding his presser now. He is being described as "visibly shaken" and to have said "I was trying to survive."

It's being reported on Twitter that Bud Collins was in the room and asked that the press let Andy leave. The assembled press gave Andy a round of applause when he left the press room after five minutes.
@DrewLilley @newballsplease

Andy's Presser

Sunday, 5 July 2009

Q. Did you just lose to the world's greatest tennis player ever?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah.


Q. Can you talk about when you were sitting in the chair and the crowd was chanting your name, what did that mean to you?

ANDY RODDICK: That was nice. You know, it showed that they appreciated I guess what we did out there today. You know, it was definitely a nice and appreciated gesture by them.


Q. How is it possible to hold your concentration? You served from behind on 10 occasions with the title at stake.

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, you just keep going. I mean, you don't really ‑‑ looking back it seems like a lot, but each time it was just a point, and then another one and then another one. I guess it added up after a while.


Q. How would you describe what you did today?

ANDY RODDICK: I lost.


Q. Does it hurt more though when you're that close and it's that long, 95 minutes the last set? How does this compare to the other ones?

ANDY RODDICK: Yeah, I think so. I think it's worse.


Q. What happened on the high backhand volley?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, there was a pretty significant wind behind him at that side. It was gusting pretty good at that time. When he first hit it, I thought I wasn't gonna play it. Last minute, it looked like it started dropping. I couldn't get my racquet around on it.

I don't know if it would have dropped or not.


Q. When do you expect you'll start feeling better and feeling sort of happy with how you performed and the occasion as opposed to the disappointment now?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I'm not a psychic. I'm a tennis player.


Q. Even during the match, could you appreciate this as a sporting event, or are you too locked in at that point?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, it's a sporting event regardless of the score. And, to be honest, no. In the moment, like Bud mentioned, I was just trying to survive each time and hold serve and give myself a shot.


Q. What do you take most satisfaction from in what you did accomplish, even in defeat today?

ANDY RODDICK: Well, you know, I took some satisfaction in December and in November when we started to move forward. It was to give yourself an opportunity to win tournaments like this. I feel like, you know, I did give myself that opportunity today.

It didn't work out, but, you know, I definitely gave myself a look.


Q. Didn't look real easy to have to rally after losing that second set. Was there a struggle inside of you to stay positive? Were you able to blank it out right away?

ANDY RODDICK: There's no way, I mean, it doesn't cross your mind. We're human. We're not Cyborgs. You know, at that point, like everything else, there's two options: you lay down or you keep going. The second option sounded better to me.


Q. Roger is such a tough opponent. What qualities make him so outstanding?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I mean, I don't know where to start there. You know, he just makes it real tough. You know, he was having trouble picking up my serve today for the first time ever. He just stayed the course.

You know, you didn't even get a sense that he was even really frustrated by it. He kind of stayed the course and just toughed it out. He gets a lot of credit for a lot of things, but not a lot of the time is how many matches he kind of digs deep and toughs out. He doesn't get a lot of credit for that because it looks easy to him a lot of the times.

But he definitely stuck in there today.


Q. In that sense, do you think sort of he's the only person who you wouldn't have beaten playing like that today?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. That's such an irrelevant question at this point. It's complete hypothetical and guessing. I don't know. I mean, I don't know.


Q. How were you feeling physically in that final game?

ANDY RODDICK: Physically I felt okay. Obviously, you play for 4 hours and 15 minutes you don't feel like you do in the first hour. But, you know, everything felt okay.


Q. This whole tournament, has it given you a new belief, a greater confidence that you can be a slam winner again?

ANDY RODDICK: No, no. You know, it's tough to kind of digest it and come in here and give you guys a lot of insight so soon afterwards.

But, you know, I just keep going. You know, there's not another option.


Q. When you took that fall, you stayed down long enough for it to cause concern around the stadium. Did you hurt anything?

ANDY RODDICK: No. It was okay.


Q. Do you feel like that was the best match you've ever played?

ANDY RODDICK: I played pretty good two days ago. Again, I've been saying all week, I struggle with this, you know, comparisons of one match to another.

You know, I don't know. I was happy with the way I played. I thought I played real well.


Q. A lot of people thought this was going to be about your big serve, Roger's getting around the court, his ability to hit passing shots. Clearly that wasn't really the theme there when you look at how well you played from the baseline and how well he served, did that surprise you at all?

ANDY RODDICK: You know, I don't know. You know, he served great. I didn't get a lot of looks at seconds. I felt like when we were in rallies for the last couple sets, I was actually doing all right and holding my own, if not more.

You know, but he just served great. He did what he had to. If he wouldn't have served as well, I'd probably be sitting here in a better mood.


Q. Is it crazy or is it a blessing in disguise that you're expected to play an indoor match on clay in four or five days?

ANDY RODDICK: I don't know. I got nothing for you right now. To be honest, right now I don't really want to think about that.


Q. Liberate this man. Well done, Andy.

ANDY RODDICK: Thank you.

Wimbledon.org

An American In London

by Savannah

I repeat. A soft draw does not a champion make. Andy Murray had one of the softest draws for a top seed in Grand Slam play. With the exception of Stan Wawrinka everyone he played fell for his woe is me countenance and found themselves on their way to their next tournament. I guess TPTB thought carrying the weight of a nation on his shoulders would be hard enough without putting some serious roadblocks in his way. There's only one other man who always gets that kind of treatment but more on that later.

I say that because one of the commentators on the BBC stream I was watching said that throughout the tournament all Murray had to do was keep the ball in play and that it wasn't working today. The good news for Murray fans is that he won a set. The bad news is he ran into a fit and focused Andy Roddick who just happened to be playing the best tennis of his career. Yes, his career. Gone is the hit hard and harder player who won a still controversial 2003 US Open. In his place is Andy Roddick 2.0. Some laughed at the revolving door that had been his coaching pattern for much of the last few years. I remember wondering if he'd listen to Larry Stefanki whom he hired late last year. It appears as if he has.

If there's anything Stefanki has done it's bring American tennis into the 21st century. Stefanki has been working outside of the United States and thus was not wedded to the ball bashing theory of tennis. He has reshaped both Andy's mind and body leading to the masterful display of tennis we saw not only today but in his defeat of Lleyton Hewitt.

Now it's time to put the pedal to the metal for Andy Roddick and his team. Will we see the calm, composed tennis player we saw today on Sunday or will we see the man who when the pressure is on begins to make sure the jewels are in place and starts fights with chair umpires and anyone else in the vicinity?

There was absolutely no need to watch the first men's semi once you knew that Tommy Haas had been a practice partner for The Monogram. While watching the doubles match between Team Williams and the top ranked team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber I would look up from time to time and see Haas was hanging with Monogram until the end of the set when he'd simply roll over and play dead. In the end Haas was doing everything but winning the sets. Guess the Monogram needed a nice little hit before the final.

Yesterday there was a Tweet where someone said Elena Demetieva should have gone ahead and lost 6-3, 6-3 implying that if she was going to lose then lose it easy. I thought that was unfair to Elena and said so to the person who posted that remark. Today however that remark does apply to Haas' efforts.

Of the two Andy's I'm sure Monogram would prefer today's outcome. Hell, a lot of fans were pulling for British Andy because they felt he had the better chance of a win on Sunday. If the Roddick who showed up today takes the court on Sunday I think we'll have a match ladies and gentlemen.

Juniors

There was a great boys singles match going on at the same time as the first men's semifinal match between young Americans Jordan Cox and Devin Britton. Cox won a third set thriller 16-14 over his doubles partner.

Cox will face Andrey Kuznetsov in the Boys Final.

The Girls final will feature Kristina Mladenovic against Noppawan Lertcheewakarn. Kristina has trampled everyone in her path this tournament.

Orders of Play Saturday 7/4/2009

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 2.00 PM START

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 2.00 PM START

1. Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
2. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64
3. Serena Williams (USA) and Venus Williams (USA) [4] 17 vs Samantha Stosur (AUS) and Rennae Stubbs (AUS) [3] 48

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 2.00 PM START

1. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

4. Beatrice Capra (USA) and Martina Trevisan (ITA) 19 vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) and Silvia Njiric (CRO) [2] 32 GD

COURT 3 - SHOW COURT

2. Julien Obry (FRA) and Adrien Puget (FRA) 19 vs Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas (GER) and Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 27 BD
3. Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) and David Souto (VEN) 7 vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) and Kevin Krawietz (GER) 14 BD
4. Jana Cepelova (SVK) and Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 4 or Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) and Sally Peers (AUS) 7 vs
Daria Gavrilova (RUS) and Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) [5] 7 GD

End Notes

If you live in the United States and you're disgusted with NBC's "Live" coverage there is an online petition. Sign it. If we don't make the powers that be aware that we're sick of their bullshit they'll just continue to feed it to us. Due to the three hour difference between the East and West coasts in the States "live" tennis began for those viewers at 3p their time. Really NBC?

Here is the LINK

Dinara Safina has reportedly hired Ronen Bega who worked with Novak Djokovic in the past. He will be her physical trainer. Per "DinaUpdates" on Twitter.

Revenge of the Geezers

by Savannah


To use Andy Roddick's phrase, the old balls are in control of this Wimbledon. Only one member of the New Balls generation is into the Final Four. The other three men can be said to be part of the previous generation. The men's semi finals will be very interesting indeed.

I guess it's true that sometimes the best is saved for last. In an epic battle Andy Roddick defeated his old demons and out toughed Australian Lleyton Hewitt in five grueling sets. It was a half court volley, one Roddick calls the "best of his life" that kept him in the match and helped him wear down Hewitt who had played a lot of tennis coming into the match. Make no mistake about it. Roddick won the match. Hewitt didn't give him a thing.

Juan Carlos Ferrero had also played a lot of tennis coming into his match against British favorite Andy Murray. If you heard the match live the talking heads made it sound as if Murray were about to lose at love in each set. I'm not quite sure what they expected of Murray, or Ferrero for that matter. Maybe they wanted a beat down of some sort but Murray played his usual low key game and today it was enough against Juan Carlos who looked a step slower throughout the match.
Listening to ESPN's commentators after the match was surprising since they were discussing what Murray has to do to beat Federer. The ball is in your court Andy Roddick.

The only player who is getting as much hyperbole directed his way as Murray is Roger Federer. If as a casual fan you just wandered into the Monogram's match against Ivo Karlovic you can be forgiven for thinking Karlovic was going to take the Monogram to five sets. If you are a more serious follower of the game you already knew that the Monogram had already said that big serving is not tennis. I've said the same thing but I've said it about players other than Roger. I walked out early on Roddick's match against Santoro last year because all Roddick was doing was serving.
If you think Monogram's words didn't get to Ivo all you had to do was watch what happened on court today. Instead of playing the way he had to make it to the quarters Ivo started trying to do other things, things that don't work for him. The bloviators are screaming about 21 Grand Slam semi's. Please forgive me if I ask the tiresome question "who did he play?"

The Grand Old Man of this tournament is through to the semifinals and looks none the worse for wear. Tommy Haas is playing with no fear and today sent Novak Djokovic home in four sets. I've never warmed up to Haas but his play makes him deserving of his semifinal spot. He plays the Monogram. Don't forget to think about how the Monogram is going to play Murray in the final okay while the match is going on. I know the commentators will be.

Order of Play for Thursday 2 July 2009
SINGLES

CENTRE - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Elena Dementieva (RUS) [4] 96 vs Serena Williams (USA) [2] 128
2. Dinara Safina (RUS) [1] 1 vs Venus Williams (USA) [3] 33

Doubles

CENTRE - SHOW COURT

3. James Blake (USA) and Mardy Fish (USA) 47 vs Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) [2] 64

COURT 1 - SHOW COURT - 1.00 PM START

1. Bob Bryan (USA) and Mike Bryan (USA) [1] 1 vs Wesley Moodie (RSA) and Dick Norman (BEL) [9] 25
2. Leander Paes (IND) and Cara Black (ZIM) [1] 1 vs Andre Sa (BRA) and Ai Sugiyama (JPN) [11] 9
3. Mark Knowles (BAH) and Anna-Lena Groenefeld (GER) [9] vs Bob Bryan (USA) and Samantha Stosur (AUS) [2]

COURT 2 - SHOW COURT

2. Kevin Ullyett (ZIM) and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) [4] 17 vs Stephen Huss (AUS) and Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) [12] 25

Juniors

COURT 4 - SHOW COURT - 11.00 AM START

1. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) [1] 1 vs Sloane Stephens (USA) [7] 16 GS
2. Andrey Kuznetsov (RUS) 51 vs Dino Marcan (CRO) 58 BS
3. Tom Farquharson (GBR) and Stefan Sterland-Markovic (GBR) 26 vs
Alexandros-Ferdinandos Georgoudas (GER) and Andrei Vasilevski (BLR) 27 BD
4. Tennys Sandgren (USA) and Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 30 vs Cheng Peng Hsieh (TPE) and Liang-Chi Huang (TPE) [2] 32 BD
5. Maximilian Neuchrist (AUT) and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn (AUT) 18 vs Julien Obry (FRA) and Adrien Puget (FRA) 19 BD

COURT 7 - 11.00 AM START

1. Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) 23 vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN) 27 GS
2. Valeria Solovieva (RUS) and Maryna Zanevska (UKR) [8] 17 vs Beatrice Capra (USA) and Martina Trevisan (ITA) 19 GD
3. Evan King (USA) and Denis Kudla (USA) [4] 9 vs Sandro Ehrat (SUI) and Dominik Wirlend (AUT) 11 BD
4. Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR) and Zsofia Susanyi (HUN) [4] 9 vs Fatma Al Nabhani (OMA) and Yana Buchina (RUS) 11 GD

COURT 12 - 11.00 AM START

1. Lewis Burton (GBR) and George Morgan (GBR) 5 vs Carlos Boluda-Purkiss (ESP) and David Souto (VEN) 7 BD
2. Timea Babos (HUN) [6] 49 vs Quirine Lemoine (NED) 60 GS
3. Nicole Gibbs (USA) and Camila Silva (CHI) 14 vs Daria Gavrilova (RUS) and Ksenia Kirillova (RUS) [5] 16 GD
4. Quirine Lemoine (NED) and Angelique Van Der Meet (NED) 30 vs Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) and Silvia Njiric (CRO) [2] 32 GD
5. Isabella Holland (AUS) and Christina McHale (USA) 21 vs Timea Babos (HUN) and Ajla Tomljanovic (CRO) [3] 24 GD

COURT 14 - 11.00 AM START

1. Silvia Njiric (CRO) [11] 40 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) [4] 48 GS
2. Agustin Velotti (ARG) [4] 17 vs Jordan Cox (USA) 28 BS
3. Samantha Vickers (GBR) and Lisa Whybourn (GBR) 2 vs Jana Cepelova (SVK) and Vivien Juhaszova (SVK) 4 GD
4. Emi Mutaguchi (JPN) and Akiko Omae (JPN) 5 vs Noppawan Lertcheewakarn (THA) and Sally Peers (AUS) 7 GD
5. Andrea Collarini (ARG) and Agustin Velotti (ARG) [1] 1 vs Filip Horansky (SVK) and Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 3 BD

COURT 18 - SHOW COURT - 11.00 AM START

1. Dominik Schulz (GER) [9] 40 vs Bernard Tomic (AUS) [3] 48 BS
2. Alexander Domijan (USA) 5 vs Devin Britton (USA) 15 BS
3. Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) and Kevin Krawietz (GER) 14 vs Jack Carpenter (GBR) and James Marsalek (GBR) 16 BD
4. Magda Linette (POL) and Heather Watson (GBR) [6] 25 vs Miyabi Inoue (JPN) and Sachie Ishizu (JPN) 28 GD
5. Devin Britton (USA) and Jordan Cox (USA) 21 vs Marin Draganja (CRO) and Dino Marcan (CRO) 23 B

End Notes

American Travis Parrot has denied he has flu like symptoms.

Mrs Ivo Karlovic actually made it onto your television or computer screens today. She just wasn't identified by name.

So what can tennisheads do to get NBC to give up television rights to Grand Slam coverage? I mean why play the completed Federer vs Karlovic match when live tennis was being played? I mean why wouldn't you want American fans to see the Murray vs Ferrero match? Could it be because a tennis match is supposed to last no more than three hours?
It used to be that one letter was equal to sixty in the mind of the networks. They think we don't care. We do.

Last years girls Junior Wimbledon Champion Laura Robson went out in three sets today. Word is she was struggling with a back injury. She's fifteen right?

There's also a nice boys singles match on Court 18 tomorrow between Alexander Domijan and Devin Britten both from the United States. Alexander beat the top seed in today's play.

James Blake and Mardy Fish are still in doubles contention. I'm still surprised that Blake is on the US Davis Cup team especially since the rubbers will be played on clay in Croatia. Blake made it quite clear how he feels about playing in the dirt so why is he playing this tie? Inquiring minds and all that. Maybe the Captain feels it's better to leave a team of guys who get along together instead of bringing in a new guy or two.

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.

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.