Wimbledon Wrap-Up

After three years of magnificent, five-set finals at Wimbledon, we've finally had our first dud in a while. Despite the scorelines for the three sets being close, Berdych was never really in the match. Nadal actually did not play that well - he made a lot of unforced errors and only made a few of the trademark spectacular shots that he was making left and right against Andy Murray. His forehand, while heavy and spinny as ever, was not quite as easily placed as he would have liked - an unusual number of the Spaniard's usually reliable down-the-line shots drifted wide or long.

Despite the fact that Nadal's level of play was not as high as it's been during recent rounds, Berdych was unable to find his top gear as well. It would be one thing to come on court at the Wimbledon final and just get beaten by one of the best players the game's ever known. On the other hand, it's quite another to come out and not be able to muster your best tennis, because what other occasion is going to come along where it would be needed more?

Berdych was unable to play as well as he did against Federer or even Djokovic, and as a result, his defeat was all but assured. His other failure was an apparent unwillingness or inability to adopt another strategy when his initial gameplan was clearly unable to do the job against Nadal. Berdych tried to slug it out from the baseline, and when that didn't seem to work, he just kept on doing it. Credit to Berdych for playing so well that he made it this far, but it is disappointing that he couldn't do a bit better today.

It may have been that injury was troubling him, as he's pulled out of the Czech Republic's appearance in the Davis Cup this week. Nadal's done the same, but the loss for Spain - who has a very deep field and people of capable players to include - is not nearly so dear as the loss for the Czechs, who are already missing Radek Stepanek due to injury.

All in all, this Wimbledon fortnight had such an exciting and historic first week, that it was almost a guarantee that the second would be a letdown. There was some good tennis and a satisfying victor in the end, but aside from Roger Federer's defeat, there was nothing that really compared with the stunning action that absolutely littered the first six days of the tournament.

Almost everyone except Nadal and Serena are going to go away from this tournament disappointed - Yun-Hsun Lu is probably going to be happy for his run to the quarterfinals and his subsequent skyrocketing 40 places up in the ATP rankings, but everybody else has got to be thinking about missed opportunities. Falla and Bozoljiac could have beaten Federer, and Petszchner and Haase could have beaten Nadal. Surely, they will be encouraged by taking the game's best so close, but any excitement is leavened by the disappointment of not being able to seal the deal.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic fell short at the semifinal stage, once again. For players of their caliber, they won't be satisfied. They want to be in the finals, they want to win grand slams. And they certainly don't want to lose in straight sets on their way. For Andy Roddick, this is another chapter in the strange and mystifying history of the American losing heartbreaking fifth sets. I don't think it's indicative of anything new or worrisome for his progress, except that it's another chance he let get away. If he had beaten Lu in that fifth set, he really could have made a run at this title. Who knows if his draws will break so well in the coming years?

And Roger Federer drops to number three in the world this week, for the first time in seven years. With Nadal now the owner of two grand slams and three masters series shields this year, he has all but sealed up the year end number one ranking. It will be interesting to see if this loss, probably the most shocking in a year of shocking losses since the Australian Open, pumps up Fed or signals his waning interest in competing, day in and day out, in a sport that he so effortlessly dominated for more than half a decade.

While most players are taking the week (or month) off, or at least getting ready for the next round of Davis Cup, the tennis calendar marches on, and this week features the Hall of Fame championships in Newport, Rhode Island, the last grass court tournament of the year. They were kind enough to give Nicolas Mahut a wildcard (I expect he'll be getting a lot of these in the near future). It's actually an interesting field, but even though play begins tomorrow, I won't take an in-depth look until then. After spending two weeks getting up early to catch the tennis live, I need to catch up on my sleep.

Wimbledon Final

The women's final this morning was - I'm sorry to say - a bit of a dud. Serena won, rather handily, as one might expect. I was glad to see Zvonareva free from meltdowns or crying fits, and she was respectful in her post-match comments. I think she was just happy to have made it that far - it's been the best two weeks of her career, for sure - and she wasn't going to let a little thing like losing to the best player in the women's game today. Unfortunately for Vera, the hits just kept on coming as she also lost in the doubles final to the unseeded duo King/Shvedova, and apparently she was unable to keep from breaking down in tears on court there. That's a shame.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's match between the men's finalists, there is a chance that we'll have a repeat performance. Nadal is 7-3 against Tomas Berdych, including winning the last six. The last time Berdych even took a set off Nadal was back in 2006. Now Berdych is playing the best two weeks of tennis he's ever put together - until last month's French Open, the Czech had only been past the fourth round of a grand slam once. And now he's in the Wimbledon final. Will he be able to rise to the occasion?

I hate to say it, but I'm afraid that he won't be able to meet the test of beating Rafael Nadal on this court, in a grand slam final. It's nothing like anything that Berdych has ever been a part of before. Berdych has five titles to his name, but the people he's beaten to win those titles are of a different sort of caliber of player than someone like Rafael Nadal, who is - without question - going down as one of the game's all-time greats.

Berdych was lucky to face Djokovic in the semis, because the Djoker had not been in particularly good form, while Nadal got a real test against Andy Murray. Considering that both matches were about equally difficult for the winners, Nadal's performance was significantly more impressive. If Nadal can manage that kind of form for three sets tomorrow, it's unlikely that Berdych will have any say in the outcome of the match.

This is not to say that Berdych doesn't have a shot. He'll need to play as well as he did against Roger Federer, if not even better, and he'll need to be able to keep it up for an entire match. He'll need to keep from being overcome by the situation, and mental toughness has not been a hallmark of his game. He's going to need to capitalize on every chance that he gets, because he's not going to get very many. It's a big ask for the big man, and I'll be honest - it's tough for me to see him pulling it off, all things considered. But that's why we play the game, after all. I didn't expect him to beat Federer, either, and he did that convincingly. We'll see what happens.

Wimbledon Day 11

The men's semifinals are complete. Despite being two straight sets victories for the apparent favorites, they were fairly compelling matches, I have to say. Both featured one-break differences in the first and third sets, and very tight tiebreaks in the second. In general, the level of play from all four players was high, but ultimately, the two winners were able to perform more consistently and raise their games at the necessary moments.

Djokovic and Berdych both played some excellent points, but ultimately the biggest difference came down to serving acumen, and the tall Czech player was significantly stronger in this aspect of the game. Djokovic served too many double-faults, and he served them at crucial points in the match - on set point in the second set tiebreak and then at break point to allow Berdych to serve for the match in the third. This was despite some scintillating play to save (or allow Berdych to lose) four set points during that tiebreak. Ultimately, Djokovic has not played enough big matches of late, and this was the biggest one he had played in a very long time, while Berdych has become the surprise big-match player of the year.

The other semi was more hotly contested, though the scoreline is nearly identical. Murray had tens of thousands of his countrymen cheering him on, but that was not enough to get him past the lightning quick movement and bludgeoning forehand of Rafael Nadal. There were several moments in the match where Murray almost made that kind of stunning, game-changing shot that turned the tides of his matches against John Isner and Marin Cilic at the U.S. Open - highlight reel stuff that pumps him up and demoralizes his opponent. But at every instance, Nadal was ready and waiting to return one amazing near-winner with a slightly better reply.

Nadal looked the best he's looked all tournament, skipping around the court so quickly and lightly that it's easy to forget he was slogging his way through the French Open just a month ago, knee-deep in red clay. His forehand was unbelievable - he unleashed on a few shots that, to borrow a phrase from another sport, nearly "tore the cover off the ball." Despite the fact that he's going up against one of the bigger hitters on tour in the final, I find it unlikely that Berdych is going to be able to out-hit Nadal, if he plays this way.

As for tomorrow's women's final, Serena Williams is the clear favorite. No matter how different Zvonareva has looked this week, no matter how stunning her performance in her run to the final, it's nearly impossible to beat Serena in a grand slam final. Maria Sharapova has done it once and her own sister has done it twice, but that's it. Zvonareva's run to the final has been a combination of some mysterious force or event settling her brain, along with a draw that opened up for her at the right points, and some really excellent play when it was required. But I don't know if that will be enough to get her past Serena Williams.

The most dangerous thing for Serena is to assume that is already true, though. Zvonareva's best chance is to surprise the defending champion, catch her off-guard, and hopefully send her reeling long enough to land the knock-out blow. Zvonareva will have to play the match of her life, and Serena will have to be a little bit off her game, for the Russian to manage the upset. It's definitely unlikely, but I wouldn't say it's beyond the realm of possibility. We'll see what happens.

Wimbledon Days 9 and 10

We're all set for the women's final. I think if you had been told a few weeks ago that a Russian was going to make it to the final at Wimbledon, your list would probably have included Dementieva, Safina, Kuznetsova, maybe Petrova or Kleybanova, maybe even Kirilenko. But Zvonareva looked like she was on the road to total mental breakdown - I was on-site when I saw her play her match at the U.S. Open last year against Flavia Pennetta, where she completely broke down, started bawling on court, and tried to remove her knee wrappings. After that, it was hard to imagine her keeping herself together for a run like this one.

But she's played very well, in upsetting Kim Clijsters and then facing an in-form Bulgarian Pironkova. I was very impressed with her performance, I have to say. She served well and kept her errors to a minimum. Her play was pretty much unrecognizable from the time I watched her on center court nine months ago. She even upset the Williams sisters in doubles this week, as part of the first team to beat the Williams sisters in more than a year. This could be her week - but having to face Serena in the final is no easy task. I'll have more to say about that tomorrow.

The men's semifinals will take place tomorrow, and just like in the quarterfinals, there is one name missing. One side features Nadal and Murray, who both overcome less than ideal starts (though Nadal's was much slower) to beat their quarterfinal opponents in four sets. That's what everyone expected heading into the tournament. And on the other side, Djokovic is in the quarterfinals, which was essentially a guarantee as soon as he beat Hewitt and Roddick flamed out. But facing him, rather than defending champion and seven-time defending finalist Roger Federer, we have the big Czech phenom, Tomas Berdych!

That was an amazing match, honestly. The quarterfinals were generally good (none were classics, but all were interesting in their own way) but Berdych's display was unlike anything I'd ever seen from the big man. At least, it was unlike anything I'd seen from him before in that he maintained his amazing level of play until he had sealed the deal. Before, I've seen him play that well, only to collapse and give it away (see Australian Open 2008). This time Berdych managed to keep up his stellar level of play even when it looked like he might fade away. It wasn't like the match he played against Federer earlier in the year, which Federer essentially gave away with errors and shanked forehands. Berdych played well enough to take this match from the former world number one, who will - shockingly - drop to number three next week.

As for tomorrow's match-ups, Djokovic has not played especially well this fortnight, and has found himself in the semifinals thanks to some intermittent good point and an undeniably favorable draw. He took full advantage of meeting Yen-Hsun Lu in the quarterfinals, dispatching of him easily, but is that the best preparation for a player who just upset Roger Federer? Djokovic is 2-0 against Berdych, but it's hard to say that's enough to really predict the winner of tomorrow's match. Berdych is almost the favorite to win it, at this point. It should be interesting to see if Berdych can keep rolling, or if Djokovic will find his game and make his first Grand Slam final since winning the Australian Open in 2008.

But Nadal-Murray, now that's a tough one to pick. Andy Murray's progress at Wimbledon has been interesting. He's played four times, and each time, he made it a round further. In 2008, he made the quarterfinals after winning a stunning comeback against Richard Gasquet in the 4th round. At that point, he was clearly exhausted and lost to Nadal. They also played at the Australian Open the year before, where Nadal won a long, grinding match, which Murray only lost on fitness, not talent. This year, at the Australian Open, it went the other way, as Nadal's knees gave out on him and Murray made it through.

These two have quite a history, as you can tell, and whichever one of them wins in the semifinals will be the favorite to win the tournament. Nadal, though he may not be 100% fit, just dominated the French Open and still hasn't lost a match here since 2007. In fact, he hasn't lost to anyone not named Federer at Wimbledon since 2005. I'm really excited about this match - can Nadal make the final again, all but sealing his place as World Number One at the end of the year, or will Murray fulfill the British hopes and make it to the final, something that Tim Henman could never do?

There are so many storylines converging in this one match, so many angles - and it's worth noting that these are two stellar tennis players, both at or very near the height of their power. It should be a lot of fun to watch. Here's hoping for a pair of good matches and that no one gets hurt.

Wimbledon Day 8

The women's quarterfinals were completed today, and there were two pretty shocking upsets. Former champion Venus Williams lost to Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who had previously won a single match at Wimbledon in four tries. She's now into the semis, where she'll face Vera Zvonareva, who beat Kim Clijsters in another shocking result. Serena's victory over Na Li was pretty straightforward, and her opponent in the semis will be Petra Kvitova. Of the four players remaining in the women's draw, one of them has made it to a grand slam final (Serena) one of the others has made it past the fourth round at a grand slam before (Zvonareva).

At this point, if Serena doesn't take this title, it will be an incredible disappointment. It would always have been the case, but let's be honest here, the players that are left - they're sort of scrubs. I'll be shocked if Serena loses a set in the last two rounds, honestly. Really disappointing for Clijsters and Venus, who were slated to meet in the semis. And it's a shame for the promoters, too - who's going to be beating down the gates to get to the Pironkova_Zvonareva semifinal?

As for the men, the quarterfinals are up tomorrow and we're one player short of having all the top dogs there. The world's top four are present, and they're each facing a tough opponent - with one exception.

Federer takes on Tomas Berdych, who beat Fed at the Olympics in 2004 and this year at Miami, but otherwise has not won a match. He nearly had him at the Australian Open a few years, but duffed an easy volley at break point in the third set, and then was never in the match again. Berdych is finally getting himself together in order to play up to his potential at slams, with a recent semifinal run at the French. It will be a huge shock if he upsets Federer, since Fed, once he struggled through his first few rounds, seem to be back on his feet.

Rafael Nadal gets Robin Soderling, once again. This will be very interesting, as the pair had a very contentious Wimbledon match a few years ago, which - as you may recall - ended with some bad blood between the players. Of course, their recent rivalry is much more interesting, but no matter how soundly Soderling thwacked Nadal at the French last year, Nadal's victory this year in the final was much more emphatic. If it hadn't been for that match against Ferrer, I'd give Robin a chance, but in their last rounds, Nadal looked to be the better player, with Soderling's level of player going up and down - and in his bad patches, he looked really bad. As long as Nadal's knees hold up, and Soderling has a lapse or two or doesn't reach his highest level, then Nadal will come out the victor.

The third quarterfinal is Andy Murray against JW Tsonga, which could be interesting, but probably won't be. Tsonga beat Murray in a thrilling match in the first round of the Australian Open in 2008, the start of his run to the final, but really, Tsonga has not been able to play at that level since that tournament. Murray is the more solid and has looked better this week. Tsonga will have to find some special magic to win this one.

The final quarterfinal, which should have been Novak Djokovic against Andy Roddick instead features... Yun-Tsun Lu? Not much to say, here. Lu's dream run ends at the quarterfinals. There's no way Djokovic is going to make the same mistake that Roddick did, simple as that.

Wimbledon Day 7

At super monday, even though the schedule was stellar, the tennis didn't quite live up to the bar set by the first week. There were some ugly matches today, and - unfortunately - the good ones didn't last very long.

The biggest stories of the day were the dual departures of the two sentimental favorites: Justine Henin lost to countrywoman Kim Clijsters for the third time this year and the first time in a slam since 2002, if I'm not mistaken. That was a pretty ugly match, as Kim came out and couldn't find the court, then once she got up a set, it was Henin's turn to crack under pressure.

The level of play was slightly better in Andy Roddick's debacle of a match against Yen-Hsun Lu, but the tactics were way worse. Roddick lost this match the same he's lost almost all of the nail-biter big matches in his career - by being passive and hoping his lower-ranked, less-experienced opponent would blink. Unfortunately for him, it was Roddick who blinked. He lost two out of three tiebreaks. Even though he was only broken once in the entire match, it was enough for him to lose, just like in last year's final. This is really a chilling loss for Andy - he's never lost to somebody ranked as low as Lu at Wimbledon, in his entire career. And if that wasn't enough, since Roddick made the semis last year, he loses 1020 points from last year's result. If Tsonga and Berdych make it another round or two, he could end up number eleven in the rankings next week. Ouch.

Other than that, things were not especially exciting. Serena Williams beat Sharapova in a really high-quality match, but it didn't last long enough. Soderling beat Ferrer in an ugly, up-and-down affair that neither player seemed eager to close out. Sam Querrey was with Andy Murray for one set, but after not be able to capitalize on his chances, Murray ran away with it. Jankovic retired with injury and Wozniacki might as well have, losing 2 and love. Nadal and Federer each dropped just eight games. And even though Djokovic managed to beat Lleyton Hewitt, he was having some breathing problems on the way, and that didn't bode well for his chances.

The women's quarterfinals take place tomorrow, where Kim Clijsters plays Vera Zvonareva, Serena Williams plays Na Li, and Venus Williams plays Pironkova. The fourth match, I'm sorry to say, is not really of particular consequence. But I expect the Williams sisters and Clijsters to come through to the semis - Kim may have the chance to do what she did last year at the U.S. Open, which was beat both the Williams sisters in the same Grand Slam. Or, just as likely (if not more so) we'll get another Serena-Venus final.

Actually, after today, I think that the odds of Williams-Williams and Federer-Nadal finals just skyrocketed. On the one hand, that is an exciting possibility. On the other, I'm ready for a change of scenery; I'm ready for Roddick to stop losing in such heartbreakers, for example.

Wimbledon First Week Review

With the first six days of action in Wimbledon complete, I think it's fair to say that this was the craziest first week of tennis since I started paying attention. At the Australian Open in 2008, there was an amazing middle weekend - you may remember James Blake's first ever five-set win and Federer being pushed to five sets by Janko Tipsarevic, as well as Hewitt-Baghdatis ending at four in the morning - but the rest of the week had not been up to par.

This week, the action has been coming from hard and fast from day one, when Federer nearly lost to Alejandro Falla, on the first match on center court. Of course, the highlight of the week was the historic, titanic struggle between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut, but even though that stands out for its sheer unlikelihood, there has been no shortage of other exciting events.

The first Saturday lived up to the rest of the week, as Rafael Nadal was pushed to five sets for the second time in three rounds, going down 2 sets to 1 before dominating the last two against Phillipp Petzschner. Sam Querrey was broken while serving for the match against Xavier Malisse, before coming back to win it 9-7 in what was probably the last game that they could have played before they would have been forced to suspend play on account of darkness. And even though it wasn't the top story on everyone's radar, the top seeds in the men's doubles draw lost to an unseeded British pair 8-6 in the fifth set.

The best part about this first week is that, despite the fact that nearly every player has been tested in these first six days of the tournament (only Robin Soderling and Andy Murray have yet to drop a set, I believe), there have not been any major upsets. The reason that this is beneficial is that some really spectacular matches are ready to get going when play resumes on Monday, which means that the second week has the potential of living up to the first.

It's worth noting that the second Monday at Wimbledon is a unique day on the tennis calendar. Since Wimbledon does not have any play on the middle Sunday, play resumes with every single fourth round match on the schedule, on both the men's side and the women's side. It is often the most exciting day of the year in the tennis calendar, and there's some potential for that again this year.

Roger Federer opens against Jurgen Melzer. It's surprising to me that these two players have never met on tour before, since they've both been around for a decade. Normally, you'd have to say that Federer is the huge favorite, but Fed has not played especially well recently, and Melzer represents a much tougher challenge than Alejandro Falla or Ilija Bozoljac. And he's a lefty, as well. There are murmurings of an upset, but it's definitely a long shot.

Second on center court is a rematch of the 2004 Wimbledon final, Serena Williams against Maria Sharapova. Serena leads the head to head 5-2, but one of the two wins for the Russian was in that final. It seems unlikely that Sharapova is going to turn the head-to-head around tomorrow, since Serena is in much better form, and has played better over the course of the last week - with the possible exception of the second set against her third round opponent. This could be a tight one, if Sharapova is on and Serena is a bit off.

The third match on center is Andy Murray against Sam Querrey. Murray is 3-0 against the young American, who has never even won a set. Considering that Murray has yet to drop a set this fortnight, it's going to be a tough match. But Querrey has gotten about as far in the game as he's capable of going by dominating the lower-tier events. He really needs to step up and get some wins over the game's top players on the biggest stage. This is a big opportunity for Sam, and could be turning point for his career, if he manages the upset.

You know that the order of play is stacked if Court 1 has five grand slam winners out of six players. The first match is the battle of the Belgians, Justine Henin against Kim Clijsters. While Henin leads the head to head, Clijsters has won both their meetings since the second stages of their careers got underway. This will be their first meeting in a slam since they both came back. This one's one of the toughest to call.

The second meeting between Grand Slam winners is Novak Djokovic against Lleyton Hewitt, which is another big match-up for both players. Despite staying at number three in the world, Djoker has not really been a big factor on tour lately. He is probably the third pick to make it through his quarter, since Roddick was a finalist here last year and Hewitt just got the biggest win he's had in years at Halle. If Djokovic can stop Hewitt here, he might get more people talking about him like a potential winner of the tourney, again. On the other hand, Hewitt can show people that his fighting spirit is enough to get him through two hip surgeries and years of being an afterthought. Three years ago, Djokovic beat Hewitt at this tournament by winning three tiebreaks out of four sets. This year's match may be just as close.

The last really interesting match, which surprisingly found its way to one of the outside courts, finds Robin Soderling against David Ferrer. Two top ten seeds, one of whom is a recent slam finalist. Soderling is the second player on the men's side who hasn't dropped a set yet, but Ferrer could just do it. Despite how big Soderling hits the ball, Ferrer just might be able to get enough balls back into play to frustrate the Swede, which is what it used to take to beat him - the new incarnation of Soderling might be too steady for that, but I'll be very interested to see how it goes. A definite contrast of styles between these two players.

Also keep an eye on the match between Na Li and Aggie Radwanksa, two top ten seeds on the women's side, but since neither player is expected to make it much further, this match has something of an air of consolation prize about it.

The remaining players have a somewhat easier time of it. Rafa Nadal gets Paul-Henri Mathieu, against whom he has a 9-0 record against. As long as the Spaniard isn't injured, the Frenchman should be dispatched with relatively ease. Venus Williams plays Jarmila Groth, Jankovic plays Zvonareva (which has a slight chance for an upset), Wozniacki plays Kvitova, and Roddick plays Taiwanese player Yen-Hsun Lu. Tomas Berdych should blow through German Daniel Brands as well, for a likely shot at Roger Federer. And JW Tsonga has a very good chance against Julien Benneteau, unless his back is causing him problems.

All of this on a single day? I'm really excited. Either there are going to be some killer upsets, or the match-ups are only going to get bigger as the week goes on. Either way, I'm thrilled.

Wimbledon Day 5

The amazing drama of this year's Wimbledon continued today, though there were not any especially noteworthy upsets. John Isner lost to Thiemo De Bakker, in a result that surprised absolutely no one. Credit to De Bakker for being able to keep up his solid play in an odd situation, and also to Isner for not retiring for not retiring when it was clear he was unable to produce a competitive match.

On the other hand, Romanian Victor Hanescu, who was playing on the now-famed court 18, caused a different kind of stir when he retired down 3-0 in the fifth set after getting into it with the crowd, and allegedly spitting at some rowdy fans and deliberately faulting away his last service game. I'm not sure exactly what the story is with that, but it's certainly odd.

The only other upset of note was Paul-Henri Mathieu over Mikhail Youzhny, in another five set match. Mathieu got a lucky net cord winner on break point in the fourth set, but before that, Youzhny looked to be on top of the match. Apparently, he couldn't recover from that disappointment and ended up losing the match.

The other top players had relatively little trouble: Federer and Djokovic won their matches with more ease than they had demonstrated yet during these championships. Hewitt beat Gael Monfils in three sets, while Melzer and Roddick won their matches in four. The women made it through with no trouble at all; all eight of the matches that took place today were completed in straight sets, and the only upsets were Henin over Petrova and Zonvareva over Wickmayer.

Looking ahead to tomorrow's action, it looks like the first Saturday might actually be fairly straight forward. It's tough to see any big upsets in the cards when you have Nadal facing Petzschner, Murray facing Simon, Soderling facing Bellucci, Tsonga facing Kamke, and Querrey facing Malisse. Querrey is probably in the most danger of the top players, while the more interesting matches feature lower-ranked players. Fognini plays Benneteau and Mathieu plays De Bakker, which could each go either way. Ferrer v. Chardy could actually be the closest match on offer tomorrow, but just because of the surface.

Still, I anticipate relatively easy wins for the higher-ranked players in most if not all of these matches, which will set us up for some stunning fourth round contests on Wimbledon's super monday.

On the women's side, the story is much the same. The higher-ranked players need to get through their matches tomorrow, which do not promise a great deal of drama, to set up the good match-ups on Monday. I expect Serena, Wozniacki, Radwanska, Sharapova, Pennetta, Li Na, and Azarenka to win tomorrow - or at least most of them. While there will probably be an upset or two, no single match looks particularly ripe for one.

We'll wrap the most amazing first week of a grand slam in recent memory, and then see how things proceed in the second.

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.

Wimbledon Day 3

In the third day of action at Wimbledon, there was only one story that really mattered: the colossal, stupendous, unbelievable fifth set between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. It has, by itself, gone on longer than any entire match in Wimbledon history, eclipsing - nay, shattering - dozens of records in the process, and getting so far away from them that it is almost a certainty that these new records will never be surpassed so long as tennis continues to be played.

It's difficult to come up with enough superlatives to describe this match, and it's not even over. Tied at 59-all in the fifth set, the match was suspended on account of darkness for the second time, something which has certainly never happened before without inclement weather being involved. Both players have demolished the record for aces served in a match, with both players on the verge of breaking triple-digits. It's really stunning, and a testament both to the mental fortitude and physical exertion that this sport requires.

For the last forty games or so, Isner looked exhausted. Even though he's fit, he's also a much bigger guy than Mahut is, so continuing to move is tougher for him. But despite not moving his feet and barely even seeming able to walk across the court, Isner kept demolishing serves and blasting forehands, no matter how physically spent he was. Mahut was the fresher player, but there's a reason he's ranked outside the top hundred. It'll be fascinating to see what happens tomorrow - how sore the players are, what their strategies are going to be. Isner has the advantage, serving first. With the break to rest up, I think he'll pull out the win, but in a way, it doesn't matter, because whoever comes out on top will be spent for their next match.

In other, far less interesting news, Davydenko lost to German Daniel Brands. That was the biggest upset of the day, and one of the only results not on court 18 worth talking about. Melanie Oudin and Mardy Fish also lost, so despite Isner's tremendous effort, it was not a great day for Americans. Fish was talking like James Blake after the match, as well. Seemingly aware of the fact that his best days are behind him, he said it was disappointing to have never reached the second week at Wimbledon. And while he is right, I think he still has a shot - albeit an outside one - in the next couple of years.

The best performance by an American came from Andy Roddick, who started the match against Michael Llodra getting brutalized by the Frenchman's big serving and clever net play. But Llodra couldn't keep up his level, and Roddick snuck out the second set, ran away with the third, and dominated the tiebreak in the fourth. It was a smart, strong, and savvy performance from last year's finalist. He also got a bit of a break when his next opponent was decided by a long, brutal slugfest (though those words may have lost some meaning thanks to Isner and Mahut) between Gabashvili and Kohlschreiber. Gabashvili was the more potentially dangerous foe, and he lost 9-7 to the German. Despite a loss to Kohls at the Aussie Open a few years ago, Roddick should be handle what he has to offer.

Tomorrow, there will be some tennis taking place other than the match between Isner and Mahut, shockingly. Murray faces Jarkko Nieminen on center court, likely to be in front of the queen. Nadal and Robin Haase will play third, with the surprising choice of Wozniacki and Chang in the middle. Okay, but you do know that defending champ Serena Williams is playing tomorrow too, right? Oh, she's on court 2. Okay. I won't speculate further on the reasoning behind that decision, because scheduling is very difficult, but it does strike me as odd.

Court 1 should feature a bevy of aces, as Maria Sharapova, Robin Soderling, and Sam Querrey are all in action. I expect all three to get through their matches. There are other good players in action tomorrow - Tsonga, Ferrer, Kuznetsova, Azarenka... but there don't appear to be many obviously exciting match-ups. Of course, that doesn't mean it won't be great tennis, but it's hard for me to get really pumped for Martin Fischer v. Tomaz Bellucci or Xavier Malisse v. Julien Reister. The top half of the men's draw and the bottom half of the women's draw seems to be a lot more exciting, if not necessarily stronger.

What could possibly follow up the spectacle of Day 3 at Wimbledon 2010? Can Isner and Mahut ever finish their match? What other surprises will the day bring?

Wimbledon Day 2

Okay, that's how we were expecting the first round at Wimbledon to go. The second day of action at SW19 proceeded in a fashion much more in tune with what one what expect. The top seeds breezed through, almost entirely untroubled. Nothing like that the top seeds had to struggle through on day one. The toughest match for one of the top players was JW Tsonga's victory over Robbie Kendrick, which took four sets and two tiebreaks. But Nadal, Murray, Soderling, and Ferrer all made it through in straight sets, all of which were pretty routine. The same could be said for the players on the women's side, with one exception.

The only upsets of note were the defeat of Juan Carlos Ferrero by Xavier Malisse, Nicolas Almagro's loss to Andreas Seppi, and Marcos Baghdatis's loss to Lukas Lacko. All three could have made deep runs here, but they weren't among the favorites. The biggest upset took place on the women's side, where French Open finalist Sam Stosur, who went down pretty tamely to Estonian Kaia Kanepi. I really though that Sam was poised for a deep run here, what with her excellent net-play. Oh well, maybe next year.

The other interesting match was James Blake's loss to Robin Haase. Despite the fact that it was only Blake's second match back after an extended injury layoff, Blake was extremely unhappy after the loss. He was clearly still troubled with some pain in his knee, and that left him antsy on court. His focus was all over the place, and his cause was not helped by being able to hear Pam Shriver announcing from the sidelines. That was quite an unusual confrontation, the way Blake yelled at her in between points. I really hope to see Blake come back and play close to the level he's capable of, but if he's not physically capable, then I don't want him to cause himself any more pain. Still, I do hope he makes a recovery. It's still too soon to make any definitive call about his future, especially considering his mumblings about retirement were made in the heat of the moment, after a frustrating loss.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, there are a handful of matches that promise to give us some of the excitement that today's action lacked. First of all, there are three matches entering their final set that are to be completed tomorrow after being suspended due to darkness. Thiemo De Bakker and Santiago Giraldo are just going to start the fifth set, while Daniela Hantuchova and Vania King are entering the third. But the tightest match has been between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut. Both are good on grass, and that should be an interesting fifth set.

In addition, Andy Roddick plays last week's Eastbourne titlist Michael Llodra, who is now being coached by Amelie Mauresmo. As an aside, that's the only instance I know of a male player having a female coach. The other titlist from last week, Sergiy Stakhovsky, was forced to retire down two sets to Sam Querrey, so it will be interesting to see how Llodra fares against last year's finalist. This is by no means a gimme for Roddick, as Llodra is a very talented grass-court player. It should be an interesting match.

Djokovic, who was very troubled by Olivier Rochus, could also have some problems with his next opponent, American serve-and-volleyer Taylor Dent. The American will have to play better than he did in his opening round, but if he can serve well and volley well, then Djokovic will also have to up the level of his game. Djoker might also prefer a big hitter from the service line and a target at night like Dent, as opposed to a speedy little slice-and-dicer like Rochus, so maybe he won't have as much trouble. We'll see what kind of form he's in.

I am also looking forward to Hewitt-Korolev, Berdych-Becker, Clement-Luczak, and Troicki-Melzer. One last match to watch is Kohlschreiber-Gabashvili, since the winner of that match might get Andy Roddick on Friday. Federer should have a much easier time tomorrow than he did on Monday - his opponent is a Serbian who has never even been ranked inside the top hundred. If Fed doesn't absolutely cruise through this match, then we'll know that he's really feeling off, and the rough fight with Alejandro Falla wasn't just a fluke. But based on that performance, it's tough to see Federer defending his title. I expect that the Fed we all remember will be back tomorrow.

Wimbledon Day 1

That was a pretty exciting first day. Four of the sixteen men's seeds in action lost today, and one women's seed. The seed who lost on the women's side was a bit of a surprise though, as it was French Open champion Francesca Schiavone. She went down fairly tamely to Vera Dushevina, but really - Schiavone's effort to win the French was so monumental that it's not too much of a surprise to see her stumble in the next big tournament.

The men's seeds who lost today didn't include any grand slam champions, but there were still some very good players. Tommy Robredo, who has been struggling in the past few months, fell to Australian veteran Peter Luczak, who got his first ever win at WImbledon. Stan Wawrinka lost to Denis Istomin, and even though grass isn't his favorite surface, I expected him to make it further. Ljubicic has been struggling with injury, so his loss isn't too terribly surprising. But the highest-ranked player to lose - and really, the most surprising - was Marin Cilic's straight sets defeat to Florian Mayer. Cilic should do well on the grass court, but this clearly won't be his year.

The losses weren't anywhere near as exciting as the near-losses. Of the four top ten seeds in action today, only one of the players made smooth progress. Andy Roddick had no trouble against Rajeev Ram, winning without even facing a break point. On the other hand, Nikolay Davydenko, Novak Djokovic, and even Roger Federer all needed five sets to get through their first-round matches. Any of those three players could have easily lost today, as shocking as that is. Scratchy wins, but they get to play another day. They're going to need to up their level of play to make it further in the tournament, though.

Also of note, Ricardas Berankis, former U.S. Open junior champion, turned 20 today, and got his first Grand Slam win over Aussie Carsten Ball. I think we'll see more of him in the future, along with Bernard Tomic - who played tough, but still lost to Mardy Fish. It's hard to be a 20-year old or younger on the ATP tour these days, with how physical the game has become.

Looking ahead to tomorrow, it's going to be tough to top the first half of the first round. The rest of the field is in action, so we'll get to see how Nadal, Murray, Serena Williams, and Sharapova are looking. There's plenty of appetizing match-ups on offer - watch for Soderling-Ginepri, Nadal-Nishikori, Malisse-Ferrero, Youzhny-Sela, and Ferrer-Kiefer. I predict fewer five-setters and upsets tomorrow than there were today, but it still should be fun to see how these players perform.

Last Minute Wimbledon Women's Preview

It may only be a few hours before Wimbledon officially gets underway, so let me throw together a quick preview of the women's draw. It's not quite as appetizing a draw as the men's but there are some excellent match-ups down the road.

Serena Williams, the top seed and defending champion, has something of a tricky draw. It's not as littered with landmines as Nadal's, but it's still going to be a challenge. She opens against Portuguese teen Michelle Larcher De Brito, and then gets will probably get Chakvetadze. After that, she may get Safarova, followed by either Hantuchova, or former champion Sharapova. That's an enticing round of 16 match if I've ever seen one. In the quarters, I expect Serena to find either Aggie Radwanska, Na Li, or Svetlana Kuznetsova. Any of those matches could be tough if Serena's having an off-day, but it's tough to see Serena not making it through to the semifinals.

The second quarter is ostensibly Caroline Wozniacki's, but she hasn't been showing the greatest form lately, so it may be that the sixth seed Sam Stosur is actually the favorite. Stosur's net-rushing, serve-and-volley style of play that she honed during her years as a doubles player should serve her well here. This section also has Azarenka, who showed some of her best form of the year in the past week. Watch for Kimiko Date Krumm to upset 31st seed Alexandra Dulgheru in the first round.

The third quarter is probably the toughest, because in addition to having fourth seed Jelena Jankovic, it also has Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. One of those three is almost certainly going to make it through to the semis, which is a shame for the other players in this section. Zvonareva and Alona Bondarenko are here, but I don't see them getting through these tougher players. Keep an eye on American teen Alison Riske against Belgian number three (they all ended up in this section) Yanina Wickmayer.

The final quarter of the draw features second-seeded Venus Williams most prominently, of course. But it also has French Open champion Frnacesca Schiavone, former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, and former Wimbledon finalist Marion Bartoli. It had Dinara Safina, but she pulled out of the tournament, and her spot was filled by Melanie Oudin. It's a pretty exciting quarter - lots of good players, but other than Venus, not really very many serious threats.

I think it's likely that we'll have Venus Williams playing Justine Henin in one semifinal, Seran Williams playing Sam Stosur in the other. As much as I would like Justine to get her title, she's just not in good enough form right now, in my opinion. We may have another Williams-Williams final, just like we have had for the last few years. But that's a ways off, and the women's game is sufficiently topsy-turvy right now, that I wouldn't put a lot of money on that outcome.

For now, there's nothing to do but let the games begin!

Wimbledon Preview

I'll be quick to dispatch the finals from this week - I was right on two of them. Justine Henin and Michael Llodra each won, while Tipsarevic and Azarenka weren't so lucky. Still, props to every player who made the finals this week, which will hopefully help them build momentum on the way into the biggest tournament of the year.

Looking at the Wimbledon draw, I have to say - even though the players are mostly the same as were present at the French Open, this field seems to be packed with a lot more exciting match-ups. It could be because fewer players have as much trouble on grass as they do on clay, but it could just be that this is a more appetizing draw. I'll look at the draw in eight sections, rather than by quarter, because otherwise I'd be doing too much analysis in each batch.

Federer's section of the draw doesn't appear to be too problematic. He opens against Alejandro Falla, who is 0-4 against Federer, including two losses already this year and another loss at Wimbledon way back in 2004. That's a pretty safe first round. He'll probably get Nicolas Massu in the second, who has only beaten Federer once, and it was eight years ago. Things may get a bit more interesting in the third round, however. I expect that Tommy Robredo - the player that Federer is seeded to meet at that point - won't make it that far, because he has some tough opposition and has been struggling recently. In his place, Fed might find either Janko Tipsarevic or Arnaud Clement, two players who have played Federer tough in the past and who both love Wimbledon. I'd love to see a rematch of the Fed-Tipsy epic from the Australian Open in 2008, personally. In the round of 16, Federer's opponent will probably be either the grass-court-loving Spaniard Feliciano Lopez or French Open semifinalist Jurgen Melzer, but there's an outside chance that Carsten Ball could make a run. Also in this section, watch for Lithuanian teen Ricardas Bernankis, who won't make it far but should be fun to look for in the future. In the end, there's not a lot of people who could trouble Federer on his way to the quarters, and I see him getting through.

Luckily for Federer, the other top 8 seed in his quarter is Nikolay Davydenko, who both hates playing on grass at Wimbledon and has just come off an injury. It will be quite a feat for him to make it deep in this tournament. He opens against the big, 6'8" South African Kevin Anderson, and that may be all she wrote for Davydenko. Even if he gets past Anderson, he'll face big-hitting countryman Igor Andreev. The other seed that Davydenko would run into first is another player who doesn't love grass courts, Victor Hanescu. While neither of them may make it to the quarters or even the round of 16, the opponent they would find there will be a tough one. That section of the draw has Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka as the top seeds, which is a tough pairing. Their section also has Rainer Schuettler and Benjamin Becker, so whoever comes through there will probably find themselves facing Federer in the quarters. I give Berdych a chance at beating Fed there, but he's the only guy with a real shot.

Novak Djokovic, the third seed, doesn't really have his own quarter. He's found himself in Andy Roddick's quarter. But he still has his own section, and it's a brutal one. He opens against Olivier Rochus, who beat him earlier in the year, and then will probably get Taylor Dent in the second round. Dent loves the grass court season, and he'll be a tough opponent for Novak. Djokovic could get a break in the third round, because Albert Montanes does not love the grass courts at Wimbledon, but in the fourth round, he'll probably get either Lleyton Hewitt or Gael Monfils, and that's just brutal. It's tough to see Djokovic making it out of that section of the draw - in fact, I'd put Hewitt as the favorite to reach the quarterfinals, especially considering his recent win over Federer.

And they're all playing for the chance to - in all likelihood - face last year's finalist Andy Roddick. Roddick could face some stern opposition, but this is - after the U.S. Open - the American's backyard, and grass is - as coach Stefanki said - his "bread and butter." After an essentially inconsequential opening round against Rajeev Ram, Roddick could get recent Eastbourne titlist Michael Llodra in the second round. I think the fact that Llodra is thirty and just won a title a few days ago will make it tough for him to bounce back and face the big-serving American. After that, Roddick will probably get either Kohlschreiber, who beat him at the Australian Open in 2007, or Gabashvili, who just beat him at the French. But I think Roddick is the better player on this surface, and should actually be motivated because he knows these are dangerous guys. He's much more in danger of falling to somebody coming out of nowhere, in my opinion. In the round of sixteen, there are a couple people he could face - Marin Cilic is the seeded player, and Cilic beat an injured Roddick at the Aussie Open this year. But he has to get past Mardy Fish, who has been playing good tennis in recent weeks. The other player to watch here is Ljubicic, who beat Roddick earlier in the year as well, but has been struggling with injury. As a final note, Fish opens against Bernard Tomic, who has a great future ahead of him, but this isn't his tournament.

With all that said, I see Roddick making it through to a rematch with Federer in the semis. Which is what everyone wants anyway.

Moving along to the bottom half of the draw, Fernando Verdasco has his own section as the eighth seed, and while he has a good draw through to the round of sixteen, it does get a lot tougher. He opens against Italian Fabio Fognini and then might get American Michael Russel. His third round opponent could be 32nd seed Julien Benneteau, or one of three other not terribly dangerous opponents. But in the fourth round, he's likely to meet either tenth seed JW Tsonga or big-hitting Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, both of whom represent a dramatic rise in the quality of opponent he would be facing. There's also an outside chance he could meet slumping Swiss #3 Marco Chiudinelli, if he goes on a tear. I think that Verdasco, Tsonga, and Almagro are just about all equally likely to make it out of this section of the draw and into the quarters.

Once they get there, they're almost certain to face Andy Murray. While Roddick may have treated Wimbledon as his own backyard, it really and truly is for Murray. He'll need the support of his countrymen to turn his year around, as he's entering the tournament this year with a significantly worse record than he was last year at this point. While his draw is by no means easy, it could have been a lot worse. He'll probably get Finnish player Jarkko Nieminen in the second round, followed by Frenchman Gilles Simon. Both players are runners and returners, so they play the same style as Murray, just not as well. In his round of 16 match, on the other hand, he might find himself facing Sam Querrey, which is a very different sort of game. If Querrey can get through his first round against Unicef Open titlist Stakhovsky, then I expect that he'll get through his second round opponent and Juan Carlos Ferrero for a meeting with Andy Murray. That should be fun to watch - Querrey just won at Queen's and is desperate for a deep run at a major. This is a good chance for him, but he'll need Murray to be troubled by the pressure.

Even if Murray makes it by Querrey and finds Tsonga, Verdasco, or Almagro in the quarters, they're exactly the sort of player that gives Murray trouble. It would be a tough one for him to get through. It's by no means a guarantee that he'll equal his run to the semifinals from last year.

The final quarter of the draw is pretty much mouth-watering, I have to say. It's a brutal, brutal section. First, Robin Soderling is the sixth seed. He opens against resurgent Robbie Ginepri, and could get Tomaz Bellucci in the third round, after Portuguese Frederico Gil. In the fourth round, he could get Marcos Baghdatis, Jeremy Chardy, David Ferrer, or wildcard Nicolas Kiefer, all tough opponents on this surface. But I think that Soderling should make it through - it does work to his disadvantage that he made the final at the French Open, because he withdrew from any of the grass court warm-up events in the intervening weeks, and he'll need to adjust quickly to the change in the surface.

The bottom part of this quarter belongs to Rafael Nadal, and even though he's considering one of the top two favorites to win the tournament, he'll have to get through an absolutely devastating field to do it. I don't know the last time I saw a player with this cruel a draw. He opens against Kei Nishikori, who hasn't done much this year but is a player with a ton of potential. After that, he could get recently-recovered James Blake, a big-hitting player who's beaten Nadal in a Grand Slam match before. And then maybe Ernests Gulbis, who nearly beat him on clay earlier in the year. And then maybe Isner, who should love the way the grass responds to his serve or Mikhail Youzhny, who beat Nadal at the U.S. Open in 2006. That is an unbelievably tough draw - if those are the players he has to face, followed by Soderling (who can forget their Wimbledon match from a few years ago?), Murray, and Federer/Roddick, then I think I can say that it would be the toughest road to a title that we've seen in a long time.

While there are some really thrilling matches promised down the road, there are also some really fascinating opening rounds, and quite a few feature relatively high seeds that I would say could be in danger. There's also quite a few young, unproven players who have a chance to make some noise. It's worth noting that only three players have made the Wimbledon final since 2004: Nadal, Federer, and Roddick. Also, the last three finals have all been five sets, which I believe is the first time that has happened since 1970-72. It would be great to be able to keep up that level of excitement, but it's still two weeks away. I can't wait!

I'll take a (briefer) look at women's draw tomorrow.

Week 24 Quarterfinals

The seeds have not fared particularly well, through the middle of the week in the two grass-court tournaments taking place. At the Unicef Open in the Netherlands, only two of the starting eight seeds are remaining: Boris Becker and Janko Tipsarevic. Now that's something of an unexpected pairing to be remaining, out of the seeds that started the tournament. They're join in the last eight by a bunch of middle-of-the-pack tour veterans, as well as Belgian Xavier Malisse, who is trying to work on his career resurgence. I have to think that Malisse are Becker are the favorites to meet in the final, at this point, but since any player who makes a deep run this week will be at a disadvantage going into Wimbledon, it's hard to predict what's going to happen.

In Eastbourne, the seeds have fared moderately better. While top seeds Lopez and Almagro are out, the only other seed to lose thus far is clay-court specialist Horacio Zeballos. Frenchman Gilles Simon has had to fight through some tough matches to get to the quarterfinals, playing three tiebreaks in six sets, but it's good to get some match practice after missing most of the year with injury. The other exciting story is British wildcard James Ward, who has beaten two players with a history of grass-court accomplishment: Feliciano Lopez and Rainer Schuettler. Here's hoping he can win another couple matches this week. It's good for the hometown crowds.

On the women's side, there are some interesting match-ups on the way. Kim Clijsters is playing Victoria Azarenka, which is a pretty appetizing quarterfinal match-up, I have to say. The other top players remaining in Eastbourne are Stosur, Kuznetsova, and Bartoli. Pretty good draw to make it that far. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, Justine Henin is still pretty much the only force left in the draw. It'll be a disappointment if she doesn't make it through the draw - unless, of course, she wants to rest up a few more days before Wimbledon.

The Wimbledon qualifying tournament has gotten to the final round, with a couple really surprising upsets. Americans Donald Young and Ryan Harrison, who I thought really should made it to the main draw, toppled early. Josselin Ouanna also lost, which was a disappointment for me, since he's fun to watch. The most exciting - and gut-wrenching - match thus far was Nicolas Mahut over British Alex Bogdanovic, 24-22 in the third set. Oof, that lack of a last-set tiebreaker is a killer. Mahut's reward is former Grand Slam quarterfinalist Stefan Koubek.

Other interesting match-ups for the chance at entry into the main draw are Go Soeda against Jesse Witten, as well as another pair of Americans, Robert Kendrick against Ryan Sweeting. Bernard Tomic plays Prakash Amritaj, which is another interesting pairing. And my favorite pairing is Gilles Muller against Carsten Ball, who should adapt well to the grass, with the way he plays. I also hope that top seeded Taylor Dent makes it through, because he should love the surface, with his serve-and-volley style of play.

4th Round at Wimbledon 2009

The best day in Tennis: the rounds of 32 at the All-England Club. All of the remaining 64 men and women will be in action after a day off on the middle Sunday. Since the first week didn't present us with too many big upsets, we start off the business end of the tournament with some excellent matches.

On the men's side, there are three sure bets, brought to us by the tourney's top three seeds:
Federer vs Soderling (1.08:13)
Murray vs Wawrinka (1.08:12.5)
Djokovic vs. Sela (1.08:12.5)

To start us out on Center Court, a rematch of the French Open final, where Soderling didn't put up much of a fight, seemingly content to play his small part on Federer's march to immortality. Afterward, though, he paraphrased the late, great Vitas Gerulaitis by saying, "Nobody beats me eleven times in a row!" He was just joking ("yolking" as he said), and Federer will beat him eleven times in a row.

And to finish on Center, the next step in the two-week long coronation of Britain's greatest hope. His record against Stan "the Man" Wawrinka is nearly even, but two of the three losses took place in 2005 and 2006, and the other was on clay, Murray's weakest and Wawrinka's strongest surface. This match has the biggest potential for upset out of these three, though. As much as he hasn't acted like it thus far, the pressure on Murray has got to be difficult, and a stern test from the 19th seed could put him to the test.

Djokovic, who is flying under the radar, continues to do so at the start of the second week, as the anonymity of his opponent has sent him all the way off to Court 3. His opponent is the biggest surprise in 4th round, diminutive Israeli Dudi Sela, who is only playing his second Wimbledon and hadn't won a match at his previous attempt. Granted, he made it through two of the weaker seeds in the draw, clay-court specialist Tommy Robredo and last year's shock semifinalist, veteran Rainer Schuettler. The Djoke will appreciate the opportunity to continue moving along quietly - he didn't deal too well with being one of the favorites last year, dropping in the second round to Marat Safin.

Surprisingly, three of the remaining five matches are likely to be upsets, according to the odds-makers. In almost half of the men's matches on Monday, the lower-ranked player is the better bet:

Hewitt [ranked 56] vs Stepanek [ranked 23] (1.31:4.2)
Ferrero [ranked 70] vs Simon [Ranked 7] (1.9:2.06)
Karlovic [ranked 36] vs Verdasco [ranked 8] (1.69:2.4)

Hewitt's recovery from hip surgery is building steam. After being stymied by unlucky draws in the first two grand slams of the year, hitting former finalist Fernando Gonzalez in the 1st round at his home slam and then-undefeated at RG Rafael Nadal in the second round at the French, his draw has been kinder this time around, due in no small part to Nadal's withdrawal. He beat an overawed and underperforming Juan Martin del Potro in the second round, but Stepanek won't be similarly struck with hero worship. "The other Radek" (say it aloud) plays a very frustrating game that is perfectly suited to the grass courts, and he used it to great effect to beat David Ferrer, whose game bears no small resemblance to Hewitt's. Both players are veterans, and this match will really come down to a question of Hewitt's fitness, both physical and mental, after not having been to the quarters at a Grand Slam since 2006. On the other hand, Stepanek has never been there...

Despite some commentator's bafflement over Ferrero's victory over Fernando Gonzalez (I'm looking at you, Brad Gilbert), he is one of the very few Grand Slam winners left in the field (count them, there are four) and this is his fourth trip to the second week at SW19. Simon, on the other hand, has only been to second week once in his career, and it was earlier this year at the Australian. All signs point to the sun swiftly setting on the irascible Frenchman's accidental run to the top 10 which began just after Wimbledon last year, but he could do himself a great deal of good by winning another couple of matches here, and he won't get a better chance the 28-year old Ferrero, currently ranked 63 places below him.

And one of the biggest surprised of the tournament is not that "Dr." Ivo Karlovic is back in the 4th round, but that he hasn't been past the first in his past four attempts! He's lost some heartbreakers to unworthy opponents on what should be his favorite surface - 10-12 in the fifth to Daniele Bracciali in 2005, 9-11 in the fifth to a rising Stan "the Man" (see above) in 2006, 4-6 in the fifth to Fabrice "the magician" Santoro in 2007, and 5-7 in the fourth to Simon "Who?" Stadler last year. There was no reason for him not to have won a match at Wimbledon in so long. As you may recall, he beat defending champion Lleyton Hewitt in the first round at his Wimbledon debut in 2003! So he's very excited about his run this year, and I'm glad to see him do it, even if it was a shame to see him take out Tsonga in the process. If he has a good serving day, then Verdasco is toast. If not, then he doesn't have much hope against Hot Sauce.

Finally, the last two matches have the potential to be the most exciting:

Haas vs Andreev (1.38:3.55)
Roddick vs Berdych (1.67:2.46)

Haas and Andreev played in two of the best matches of the tournament thus far, each held over from Friday to Saturday for failing light. Haas bested youngster Marin Cilic (saving two match points in the process) 9-7 in the fifth. Andreev beat Seppi in a fourth set tiebreak. Andreev hasn't been past the fourth round at a GS since the French Open in 2007. Haas hasn't done it since the USO that same year. Both of these players can be total headcases, but in this case, I'd think that Andreev's five years on the veteran German would make all the difference in the world, but with Wimbledon's day of rest on the middle Sunday, that may be enough to give Tommy the edge. The odds-makers seem to think so.

The last match also has the potential to be very exciting. Berdych and Roddick have an even record thus far, and Tomas has the potential to blow anyone off the court, if he can keep his head together (see Federer at the Australian Open this year, down two sets and break point). This will be the best test to see if Roddick can reach the semis or final this year, because if waits for Berdych to let up, he's probably going to lose. He's going to have to fight back in order to win, and that's a plan that Roddick has had trouble executing in trouble spots, these past few years. This could be an excellent barometer for Roddick's chances in the rest of the week. Obviously, if he loses, they'll drop precipitously.