Wimbledon Day 4

Despite the fact that today marked the Queen of England's first visit to Wimbledon in 33 years, the story of the day was the conclusion of the epic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. It was a thrilling spectacle, and has gotten a lot of media attention from all over the world - this was so out of the ordinary, so out of what had been considered the realm of the possible, that it got the attention of people who don't even think about tennis. I was impressed both with the two players amazing physical conditioning and mental constitutions, but I was also impressed by the fact that the match was won by Isner, not lost by Mahut. In that last game, Isner earned his break chance with a spectacular forehand winner, and cracked a backhand pass down the line to seal the match. I hope his body isn't completely wrecked, because he earned more than a first-round win today.

It's tough to imagine, but there was actually a lot of other stuff going on around the grounds today. Rafael Nadal met a stern test from young Robin Haase, who managed to play two spectacular sets, but couldn't keep up that level of play. Still, if Haase can reproduce the form he generated to take two sets off the world number one, there's no reason not to expect his ranking will rise dramatically.

Dolgopolov is another young, relatively unknown player who tested one of the top dogs. JW Tsonga managed to win 10-8 in the fifth, which would be impressive if it had occurred on a different day. I expect that we'll be seeing more of the 21-year old Ukrainian as well. So, no upsets in those two matches, but sneak previews of a couple players with potentially very bright futures.

In other action, Svetlana Kuznetsova continued her dramatic slide by losing in three sets to Anastasia Rodionova. And top doubles team Nestor and Zimonjic barely escaped against British duo Murray/Marray (love the pairing) by winning 15-13 in the fifth. Again, if it had happened on any other day... with so many of the top contenders struggling, and all the crazy matches and comebacks that have taken place, it's easy to say that this is the most exciting first week at Wimbledon in a long time.

We'll see if the streak can continue tomorrow, and the schedule of play is appetizing, I have to say. As third round action begins, we start to see the first seeds clashing, when both of them have made it this far.

Justine Henin plays Nadia Petrova, which could be tough - even though Justine has a 13-2 record against the Russian, including a straight sets win earlier this year at the Australian Open. And Kim Clijsters plays Maria Kirilenko, and Kim is 2-0, so those players are somewhat less familiar with each other's games. Jankovic and Bondarenko play each other, and Venus and Kleybanova. Jankovic has dominated Bondarenko, but Venus and Kleybanova are 1-1. That's some pretty great action for the third round of a grand slam.

And things only get better on the men's side. Hewitt plays Monfils in a match that should feature a ton of running. Hewitt is certainly in the better form and has a vastly superior grass court record, but Monfils leads the head-to-head 2-1. I think I give Hewitt the edge here based on recent performance, but Monfils likes the big stage, and if he can make a couple of crazy shots - and Hewitt will make him try them - then that will fire him up and could get him over the finish line.

And then Roger Federer plays Arnaud Clement, who has won three matches against Federer, but none since 2001. And though Clement made the quarterfinals here two years ago, he's on the wrong side of 30 and it's tough to see him really challenging Federer. On the other hand, Fed's form has not been great thus far, and the thing that seems to give him the most trouble is when a player gets a lot of his balls back in play, which is something that Clement can do. If Federer has to hit too shots, the chances of him shanking go up dramatically. Clement may win a set, but Federer comes through here.

Andy Roddick plays German Phillipp Kohlschreiber. Despite the fact that Roddick leads the head to head 2-1, Kohls won their latest meeting, in a tight five-set match at the 2008 Australian Open. Roddick lost that one by being too passive and waiting for his opponent to break down, a mistake which Roddick has learned to avoid more often than not since then. Roddick knows that his opponent can be dangerous, so he'll be looking to take the game to the German, and Kohlschreiber should be more tired than Roddick, needing a long five-set match to best his last opponent, Teimuraz Gabashvili. I like Roddick in this one.

There are other great players in action - Youzhny against Mathieu, Berdych against Istomin, and Lopez against Melzer. And of course, John Isner has to play his second round match against Thiemo De Bakker. I wonder if we're going to get another day as exciting as we've had in three of the last four, or if we're going to get a relatively humdrum and straightforward day of tennis. In some ways, I could almost use the break.