Andymonium

Who woulda thunk it? Two sets and a break down. You would have bet your house on Richard Gasquet winning it. And back Andy Murray comes. A five set battle. Some beautiful tennis. The crowd roaring like they were watching Man U. And a Brit into the quarter finals.

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I will be the first to admit that I am not the biggest Andy Murray fan. He seems to me sort of like a Scottish version of Lleyton Hewitt, personality wise. But that kid has got some serious game. The real litmus test of how well he is playing seems to be his first serve, and his percentage was majorly rubbish in the first two sets. But to his credit, he picked it up. He got his head in the game. And he thoroughly deserved that victory.

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Murray hasn't been as well beloved by the British public as Tim Henman was - much in the same way that while Lleyton is a tabloid star here, he isn't in people's hearts like Pat Rafter was. But poor Richou, shaking his head after the match in the presser, said that it was like playing a Davis Cup tie, and I agree with him. The crowd was insane. I was in Rod Laver Arena for one of Alicia Molik's matches at the Australian Open this year, and it was nothing like this. I saw Dmitry Tursunov beat Chris Guccione at the Medibank International, and although the crowd was totally behind Gooch, it wasn't like this. Of course, the stakes weren't quite as high as here, but I don't know if I have ever seen a crowd so absolutely electrified. Not even Gael Monfils, with his crazy eyes and weird acrobatic antics, lit up the crowd like this when he played Federer in the semis at Roland Garros.

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Henmania was a documentable phenomenon. Now we have Andymonium - and while Andy may not be beloved like Tim, that doesn't mean that the crowd at SW19 isn't getting right behind him.

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I'm not sure what I think about this, to be honest. I like Richou a lot, and I felt so sorry for him. Because if that crowd hadn't been there, pumping Murray up, would he have won?

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This is a question we cannot answer. Whatever the reason and however he did it, Murray pumped himself up and took the match back, and that is very much to his credit. And I picked him to win, so at least that vindicated me a little... yeah, my record in picking quarter finalists this time has not been quite so illustrious as it was at the French. Let's have a bit of a looksee... starting with matches I got right.

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Federer/Hewitt. I totally got that one right. As if I wasn't going to. There's this great article on the Wimbledon website today by Alix Ramsay, where she talks about a Swiss journalist coming into the bunker near the end of the first set and saying, 'Ah, the ankle-biter is playing well, yes?' That seems to me the perfect description of Lleyton Hewitt, especially now, with his injuries and his slide down the rankings. He plays annoying tennis. He gets a lot of balls back, and he runs around retrieving like a crazy person. There was another great line in the article where Ramsay described Hewitt like this:

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'A bundle of nervous energy, it looked like he would heat a bedsit for a week if you plugged him into the electricity grid.'

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Hewitt challenged, and he challenged bravely. He plays, as Ramsay described it, 'Come over here if you think you're hard enough' tennis. I like that about him. Like a terrier, he doesn't give up. But with his hip problem, his tennis was never going to be anything but annoying. He could do nothing but bite Federer's ankles.

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The first set was tight, but once Federer had that under his belt, he sailed away. He didn't bring his A-game, though he played very nicely nevertheless. What is most telling is these stats - 63% of first serves in, winning 85% of the time. He converted 3/3 break points, and defended 8/8. He shifted gears when he needed to. It was a consummately professional performance. The carpet slippers came off, but you can't really play Hewitt wearing them.

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I was right on the Safin match as well, much to my glee. He'd never beaten Wawrinka before, and I think he wanted a tiny bit of revenge. Not that Stan is a very revenge inducing guy - he's very nice. But Marat is always his angry self, inexorably. Actually, there was a great line in Kate Battersby's article about the match... she said that Wawrinka was looking unhappy, and then said this:

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'Of course, Safin also appeared outwardly unhappy, but only in that uniquely Safinesque way that actually means he is enjoying himself.'

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He played very well indeed, aside from that loose game at 5-5 all in the third when he gave the break straight back to Wawrinka, who promptly served out the set. I don't know if Marat is ever happy with himself, but I think this should go some way towards it - a little, anyway. He's not quite the Marat of years of yore, but he is the closest facsimile we're going to get, I think - and it's a pretty decent one. He stands a real chance of getting to the semis, I think, and he's never done that before. I would love for Marat to achieve a milestone now, when a lot of people have been talking like his career is over. He has won four matches in a row now, and that is something he has not done for at least a couple of years now. Can he take out Feliciano Lopez? Yes, I think he can.

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Feliciano 'Fidgiano' Lopez took out Marcos Baghdatis in a five set thriller - and I totally didn't expect that. Fidgiano has a great grass court game, but I didn't think he had anything on Marcos. Looks like I was wrong. It was a big big battle, to be sure, but it was Fidgiano who held his nerve and came out on top. Marcos must be bitterly disappointed. With Djokovic and Nalbandian out of the quarter, he must have really fancied his chances to get to the semis. After he lost to Federer at Halle, someone asked him what his expectations were for Wimbledon, and he replied, 'to win it.' He must be very sad.

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Another five set battle was the Verdasco/Ancic match - which I did predict correctly, although I certainly wasn't expecting it to be 13-11 in the fifth! Ancic got through that marathon match, and he'll face Federer. I hope it hasn't taken too much out of him, because I'd like him to play well. I think it'll be good for Federer to have a tough match - though I think he should still win in straight sets. People keep going on about how Ancic was the last man to beat Federer on grass - but what they forget was that that was in 2002, and Federer was not yet Federer then. Mario knows that, though. It won't stop him trying, however, and that's a good thing. I'd pick Federer, obviously, to get through that one relatively unscathed.

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Rafa beat Youzhny, which was pretty expected, even though I picked Youzhny to win. A bit of a scare, though, with the knee - I was really worried he was going to have to default. But no, he played on. It will be interesting to see how he shapes up after he cools down. You can bet Andy Murray will be exploiting it, if there is anything there to exploit. Rafa said he felt something crack, so I hope, for his sake, it's not too bad.

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I was thoroughly unimpressed with Youzhny, though. He didn't totally suck, but he did a pretty good impression of it, especially with his crap drop shots. Seriously, did any of them work? I think they did not.

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And then the two old guys got through! Schuettler beat Tipsarevic and Clement beat Cilic. Once again, I was totally wrong in this quarter. I want Clement to get through to be this Slam's random Frenchman, and so I'm going to pick Schuettler to win as sort of insurance.

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I didn't do too bad picking out the women, though - both my upsets came to pass! Tanasugarn took out Jankovic and Radwanska took out Kuznetsova. I was a bit sad for Sveta... I like her, and the wheels fell off her game, to an extent. Radwanska deserved that win, though - good on her! That's all top four seeds out now.

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I suppose Vaidisova's win over Chakvetadze could be considered an upset too, and I picked that one. I picked the Williams sisters to win as well - but really, who wouldn't? The match I'm really looking forward to is Dementieva/Petrova - I'm quite fond of Petrova, so I hope she does well! My semi final picks are going to be... hmmm... Vaidisova/Serena and Petrova/Venus. I wouldn't mind it if A-Rad pulled an upset over Serena, though!

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Ladies' Day tomorrow, so all those matches will come to pass... and I might get to bed at a reasonable hour, because they can go no longer than three sets! These last six weeks have put me on such a bizarre sleeping pattern... I'm going to have jetlag!

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Wimbledon Results - Day #7

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Lleyton Hewitt, 7-6 (9-7) 6-2 6-4

Rafael Nadal def. Mikhail Youzhny, 6-3 6-3 6-1

Marat Safin def. Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-4 6-3 5-7 6-1

Andy Murray def. Richard Gasquet, 5-7 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-4

Rainer Schuettler def. Janko Tipsarevic, 6-4 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Mario Ancic def. Fernando Verdasco, 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 13-11

Arnaud Clement def. Marin Cilic, 6-3 7-5 6-2

Feliciano Lopez def. Marcos Baghdatis, 5-7 6-2 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 8-6

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Women's Draw

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Agnieszka Radwanska def. Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4 1-6 7-5

Nicole Vaidisova def. Anna Chakvetadze, 4-6 7-6 (7-0) 6-3

Serena Williams def. Bethanie Mattek, 6-3 6-3

Venus Williams def. Alisa Kleybanova, 6-3 6-4

Jie Zheng def. Agnes Szavay, 6-3 6-4

Nadia Petrova def. Alla Kudryavtseva, 6-1 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Shahar Peer, 6-2 6-1

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Jelena Jankovic, 6-3 6-2

BecnLleyton

I have mixed feelings on Middle Sunday. I like that Wimbledon is so civilised and all - though, when they have a rain-decimated tournament like they did last year, they really do need to be a bit quicker to get over their civilisation and have some play. I also think Middle Sunday is good because it gives you a bit of time to sit back, take stock and assess the field for the second week. Obviously, for the ordinary schlep that only watches tennis very occasionally this isn't an issue, but it's good for crazies like me.

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And I suppose there was the final of Euro to distract us all... because my one criticism of Middle Sunday is this: it's so damn boring!

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Big congratulations to Spain for winning the soccer - I know my brothers will be happy, as they are all soccer nuts who were going for Spain. Moreover, I bet Rafa Nadal is out of his mind happy - I love reading his press conferences, where he's all sensible answering the questions, and then gets all excited whenever someone mentions the soccer. He said he was going to have all the other Spanish guys round to his house to watch it - I can just see it, him and Nando and Fidgiano all sitting round and shrieking and jumping when Torres scored that goal. (My brothers want me to marry Fernando Torres. They chose well, obviously!)

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I like hearing about the friendships on tour. I'm a girl, and I like gossip. So sue me.

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Speaking of gossip, news has just come out in Australia that Bec and Lleyton are up the duff again. I am finding it pretty hard to care. It's really hard to even think about Lleyton as a tennis player here in Australia, because he's just such a public figure. And not in a classy way. In a tabloid way. Sure, he's a wonderful sportsman, and he was #1 in the world for a while, but why has that made him so... tabloid? And it's not just the Bec factor. (His wife Bec, for those of you who haven't experienced the joys of Home and Away, is an ex soap star.) Lleyton was all over Woman's Day and New Idea way before Bec. Actually, do you remember when Bec and Lleyton got engaged? Apparently he proposed just after he lost the final of the Australian Open in 2005 to Marat Safin. Bec was doing some special performance on Dancing With The Stars the next week, and - I remember the ad so clearly! - they actually superimposed this little engagement ring on her finger and made it all sparkly. It is from Lleyton, not Bec, that tabloid stardom comes.

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Bec helps, obviously... what with that deal they did over their wedding over Woman's Day and how Bec has been their spokeswoman for, like, ever. The birth of Mia has had something to do with it as well, I feel. Actually, in many ways, Lleyton and Bec have become this kind of hybrid entity in the Australian press. You can't discuss one (usually Lleyton, because Bec doesn't do anything except be his wife and tote Mia round these days) without the other. They're this one being - BecnLleyton. I only ever read Woman's Day when I go home to Wollongong to visit my family, and there's one issue I remember reading really, really clearly. The front page said Our New Family Joy! and it had a picture of BecnLleyton and Mia, who was then maybe a year old. And was what their new family joy? It was that Mia has learned how to steal stuff out of her mother's handbag. I had trouble understanding why they were so joyful. Surely that would be annoying...?

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Not that joy (or lack thereof) is the issue. The issue is that THIS IS FRONT PAGE NEWS! I know Australia isn't a big country population-wise, but is this really the best we could come up with out of twenty million people? Lleyton Hewitt's kid is a klepto?

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This is a couple of years back now, so obviously I've left my rant a little late over that particular issue of Woman's Day - but now that Bec's pregnant again, I can only imagine what the tabloids are going to be like. I was watching whatever that morning show is that comes after Sunrise on Channel 7 the other day and they were rating the top five most ostentatious sports star weddings. (Yet another indictment on the state of news and entertainment in Australia...) BecnLleyton came second. Only Posh and Becks beat them. I remember when Mia was born... the media was insane, to say the least. And then there was the whole Logies incident...

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Does this happen anywhere else in the world? Do Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic present at whatever the Serbian equivalent of the Logies is? Is Ana Ivanovic on the front cover of Serbian Woman's Day? Actually, maybe the Serbs are a bad example. I know they're massive in their local media, but there's three for them. There's only one of Lleyton. What happens in Latvia with Ernests Gulbis? Is he Celebrity #1? What's going to happen in New Zealand when they realise just how good Marina Erakovic is going to be?

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Or is this a purely Lleyton phenomenon? When Pat Rafter was the king of tennis in Australia, I don't remember anything like this. I mean, sure, he wasn't married to Hayley from Home and Away, but he was as good as Lleyton was, even if he didn't have the run at #1. What about the Swiss players? Martina Hingis and Roger Federer are certainly big figures in Switzerland - I know Roger features in quite a few Swiss ads and stuff, for coffee and insurance and stuff like that - but as far as I know, he's never presented a Swiss Logie. I can't see him and Mirka selling their wedding to a magazine either - and I don't know if news of their firstborn raiding Mirka's handbag would quite be front page news.

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So why Lleyton? Because, as far as I know, people don't even like him that much! He's rude and abrasive, and sure, he has some good qualities as a sportsman, like never giving up, but mostly what we see about him is 'C'mon!' - so much so that it's become part of the vernacular. Does 'vamos!' have the same connotations in Spain? 'Ajde' in Serbia? 'Allez' in France and Belgium? I'm running out of languages now... 'Davai?' 'Hopp?'

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I just don't get it. I don't get it at all. So congratulations, BecnLleyton. I hope you've booked your flight home for tomorrow, because even though the wonderful Monsieur Federer will probably also offer his congratulations, he will show no mercy on the tennis court. And for tennis players, even if they present Logies and sell their lives to Woman's Day, tennis is what ultimately counts in the end.

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Middle Sunday - no results!

That Feeling

That's it. I am officially giving up on what was once the Davydenko quarter of the draw. Every time I pick someone to come through to the semis, they lose. Kolya went. A-Rod went. And now Mathieu and Tursunov have both been scuttled. No matter what happens, there is going to be an unseeded player in the semi - either Cilic, Tipsarevic, Schuettler or Clement. Not names you expect to see in a Grand Slam semi final, eh? Cilic is the only other player I think I've mentioned in this quarter prior to the mass exodus, so I'm going to go with him as my tip. Of course, this means he will lose instantly now.

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I would say that Rafa must be cheering, as this quarter is in the same half of the draw as his, but he has a few tough ones to get through before he gets there. That's the one quarter where the seeds have basically held true the whole way through. No matter what happens, Rafa is at least going to have a tough quarter final, provided he gets through his round of sixteen match. He's playing Mikhail Youzhny, who has been a bit of a boogeyman for him in the past. There was the quarters of the US Open two years ago, for one. There was the final of Chennai this year, where Youzhny won bagel, breadstick. And they met at this stage in Wimbledon last year, and it was a close fought five set affair. So this match is going to be very interesting, I think.

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Not that I would bet against Rafa, or anything... though don't expect me to take my own advice later in this piece. He looked very impressive against Kiefer, who is definitely no slouch on grass. I was very impressed with his performance. He did very well indeed. Kiefer didn't give up, either - Rafa just accelerated away in those last two sets, even though he took that spectacular fall... that one was a doozy. So well done, Rafa. Tough times await, but I don't think anyone would be doubting his ability or his drive to reach the final. And who knows? There is always the chance that Youzhny will split his head open with his racket again... that was an amusing moment. Straight to the pool room.

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The winner of the Nadal/Youzhny match will face the winner of Gasquet/Murray, and that is going to be seriously intriguing. Richou's coming off a truly terrible spell, but he played very nicely last night in taking out Gilles Simon, and he seems much happier on the grass than he did at s'Hertogenbosch last week. Murray was also very impressive against Haas, even though he dropped a set. He has the home crowd advantage, though I don't think that's as a big of a motivation thing for him as it was for Henman, back in the day. Murray has never been beyond the fourth round of a Slam, though - actually, it will be interesting to see whose hands that plays into. Gasquet is hardly King of the Slams, but he has gone deeper, with that semi and I think maybe a quarter here and there, and so he has a modicum of experience. But Murray hasn't, and maybe so he has the motivation.

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Of all the fourth round match ups, the Gasquet/Murray clash is the hardest one to call. They're ranked pretty closely - not much separates them at all. They're both a bit injury prone - you could have a great drinking game with that match! A shot every time someone calls the trainer. Both are capable of beautiful tennis. (Did anyone else see that incredible passing shot of Murray's in the first set last night? The one where he was outside the doubles alley and flicked it down the line back into court? It was sweet.) And Andy and Richou even look the same. So it's incredibly difficult to call.

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I'm going to go with Murray, but just barely. I think he might want it a tiny bit more, and I think he's in slightly better form. And also I have a tiny hunch. But I am totally prepared to be wrong on this one.

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I am going to be slightly controversial, however, and call a Youzhny victory over Rafa. I would not be surprised AT ALL if I am wrong. In fact, I don't think I want to be right. This is based on a feeling, and nothing more. But there is clearly something about Youzhny's game that troubles Rafa. I haven't watched Youzhny play enough to tell you what it is. But there's something, something that is not nothing. I think the longer the match goes, the more it is going to favour Rafa, however, so if Mikhail is going to win, it will necessitate him getting off to a good start. Intellectually, all the signs do point to Rafa to win. Emotionally, I want Rafa to win, even though he is perceived as such a threat to my beloved Roger Federer. But I just have this FEELING...

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And who can tell what is going to happen in Wimbledon this year? If Rafa gets through Youzhny, he will face a very tough match in the quarters, no matter who gets through. If he gets to the semi, I don't think there's too much doubt of him making the final... but look at what happened with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That quarter in particular is maybe the most interesting section of the draw, because there are so many possiblities.

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So, the quarter finals. Yesterday I picked Federer/Ancic and Safin/Baghdatis. From the bottom half, I'm going to say Youzhny/Murray (or Nadal/Gasquet, or Nadal/Murray, or Youzhny/Gasquet... you can't make me choose!) and Tipsarevic/Cilic. I don't really have too much faith in any of my picks in the bottom half, but we'll see, we'll see.

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The women's draw is a very interesting place to hang out as well. I'd like to send a fond farewell to Dinara Safina, who played very bravely but eventually went out against Shahar Peer. I guess the Safin/Safina semi final dream is not to be. Dinara is still about in the doubles though, so it's not all over for her by any means. She was probably the biggest seed to fall yesterday, though it wasn't like a massive shock upset or anything - not like Ivanovic. But, oh golly oh gosh, etc, etc, Jelena Jankovic came close. Sometimes watching her play makes me cringe, because she's injured ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I don't think I've ever seen a match in which she hasn't played under some injury cloud. And with her knee, I don't like her chances. With Ivanovic gone, I bet she likes her chances, but one again I find myself saying that I just have this feeling...

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Yesterday I picked Szavay/Vaidisova and Radwanska/Serena Williams as my top half quarters. In the bottom half, I'm going to pick Dementieva/Petrova - Dementieva will be too strong for Peer, I feel, and Petrova has just been playing so marvellously I don't think she'll have much problem with the Sharapova-slaying tuxedo-hating Alla Kudryavtseva. And then I'm going to pick Venus Williams/Tanasugarn. That's right, Jodi's calling another upset. Tanasugarn is a smart woman and she is going to send Jankovic sprawling all over the court if she senses even a hint of weakness in that knee. And who knows what kind of upset Alisa Kleybanova could pull? I don't see her getting past Venus, but I don't think even Venus can outhit this young woman.

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And I'm keeping my eye on the juniors as well, and I'd like to just mention two young Aussies that did well. Bernard Tomic, of course, the top seed, won his match convincingly, but what was perhaps more impressive was the effort of Isabella Holland, winning a three set marathon match. Maybe there is some hope for Australian tennis after all...

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Wimbledon Results - Day #6

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Nicolas Kiefer, 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-3

Andy Murray def. Tommy Haas, 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-2

Richard Gasquet def. Gilles Simon, 6-3 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Dmitry Tursunov, 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Mihail Youzhny def. Radek Stepanek, 7-5 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

Rainer Schuettler def. Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2 6-3 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Paul-Henri Mathieu, 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Arnaud Clement def. Jurgen Melzer, 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Jelena Jankovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 2-6 6-4 6-2

Venus Williams def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-1 7-5

Elena Dementieva def. Gisela Dulko, 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Nadia Petrova def. Victoria Azarenka, 7-6 (13-11) 7-6 (7-4)

Shahar Peer def. Dinara Safina, 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 8-6

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Marina Erakovic, 4-6 6-4 6-4

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Shuai Peng, 6-3 1-6 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Ai Sugiyama, 6-4 6-4

The Italian Job

Well, well, well. I think I can safely say that Wimbledon this year is the most unusual Grand Slam we've seen in quite a while. My 'dead cert' for the women's semi finals, Ana Ivanovic, has gone crashing out to Jie Zheng, who is more famous for being a doubles player than anything else. And it wasn't a very dignified loss, either. Ivanovic was just never in it. It was Sharapova mk 2. And once again I find myself saying that this quarter of the draw is now wide open.
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Who is going to be my new semis tip? Hmmm... if we went with seeds, it would be Chakvetadze, but she hasn't been very impressive this year. I'm going to go with Agnes Szavay, the young Hungarian. She's got a great game, and it's about time she made a run for the semis. In the second quarter, the Kuznetsova quarter, there are a couple of possiblities. Mattek aside - even though she did just knock out last year's finalist Marion Bartoli - any player there stands a chance of getting to the semi.
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But first, let me do my quarter final picks for the top half of the women's draw. I think we'll see Szavay vs Vaidisova (depending on how well Vaidisova plays - neither she nor Chakvetadze have been impressive of late, so that could potentially be a fourth round match of very poor quality.) And even though Kuznetsova has looked pretty good this tournament, I'm going to pick Agnieszka Radwanska in that one to come up against Serena Williams.
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One final word on women's tennis. I know that everyone is talking about Venus and Serena, but Jelena Jankovic must really, really fancy her chances now.
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Right. Men's tennis. Back to the comfort zone. I was very pleased with the way this all panned out. Federer was lethal over Gicquel, which is just the way I like it. If one counts out the very first game of the match, where he was broken, this was an almost perfect third round match. He had Gicquel in trouble on serve nearly every single game. He won convincingly in straight sets - but not SO convincingly that one could accuse him of peaking too early. He was just right. The headline on the Wimbledon website said 'Federer romps to easy victory.' This was the final paragraph:
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'It was Federer's 38th consecutive win at Wimbledon and one so comfortably achieved on his favourite court with nine aces, 34 outright winners and a first serve percentage of 72 that he might have been wearing carpet slippers. John McEnroe described the sight as "a master at work".'
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That brought a smile to my face. I wish I could have seen more of the match - of course, since it was on at the same time as the Hewitt match, most of it wasn't broadcast on Australian television.
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This is something I find endlessly annoying, but I doubt it will ever change. Hewitt will now come up against Federer in the next round, though, so at least I can be pretty much guaranteed that one will be shown! This might prove to be Federer's toughest test yet, but I don't think there is any cause to be fearful. Federer has owned Lleyton for the last few years, and I don't see much sign of that changing.
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To Lleyton's credit, he played an excellent match against Bolelli today. It was very clean tennis from him - though I'm not sure how much of that was due to him hitting the lines versus Bolelli making errors before Hewitt had the chance to. I'm not particularly enamoured of Hewitt, but one thing I do like about him is that he never tanks a game. He has a real point by point mentality, and I think that's very important in tennis. You rarely see Hewitt give up in a tennis match, even if he's pretty much down and out (not that he was today!) and that's pretty admirable.
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He also has a pretty decent tennis IQ, which is something I realised watching his match today. He knows how to use the topspin lob or the ball looping high over the net to give himself time to reset himself if he's out of court. He hit some really nice winners today, forehand and backhand, crosscourt and down the line. Bolelli was giving him a lot of opportunities, to be fair, but Hewitt wasn't missing. He pretty much dismantled Bolelli - and I haven't seen Hewitt dismantle an opponent in quite some time. So that was nice for him... but I think we're going to see the reverse of it on Monday! Hewitt will be the one dismantled by the mighty Federer Express.
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Going back to Bolelli, I was not very impressed with him at all. I don't know whether it just wasn't his day or whatever, but his game seemed to be composed of flair and not much else. His first serve was pretty sweet... when he got it in. He hit some outrageous winners... when they went in. And mostly, they weren't. Having flair is all very well - look at Federer, King of Flair! - but it needs to be consistent. And there ought to be times when there is at least a Plan B, an ability to be able to resort to percentage play. I'm all for redlining your game, but it did nothing for Bolelli. Hewitt played very well, and I don't want to take that away from him, but Bolelli did nothing for me.
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And has anyone else noticed that he kind of looks like Andy Roddick in a wig? Like, eerily so from some angles? Maybe it's just me. One thing I did like about him was his shirt. It had piping round the shoulders in Italian colours. I liked that. That one gets a Jodi Wimbledon Fashion Endorsement (tm), along with Roger's cardigan and Serena's trenchcoat. MaSha's tuxedo gets NO endorsement - though I have to say that the worst crime against fashion this week has come from Ernests Gulbis. Impressive as his game was against Nadal was, someone needs to tell Swanboy that black underpants and white shorts is never attractive.
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One person who looks good in whatever he wears is Marat Safin, and excuse while I scream out DAVAI MARAT! Three matches in a row for the first time this year - that's something to warm the cockles of your heart (and the sub-cockle regions.) Seppi played well, too - the second set is testament to that - but Safin rose to the occasion and outplayed him. It was simply splendid. There were some spectacular Marat-cool-losing moments, like that forehand shot that went rattling down the stairs in the stadium! - but Marat has got his head in the game. (Clearly he's been watching that basketball scene in High School Musical...) Marat is back - and what a time to pick for it! And he has got to pick up some serious rankings points for getting to the round of sixteen - how well did he do in Wimbledon last year? Let me check... oh. Of course. Third round, lost to Federer. Okay, so maybe not THAT many rankings points (yet) but that's still something. I'd dearly love to see Maratski up towards the top of his game.
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It's just so wonderful to see him playing WELL again. Seppi, unlike his compatriot Bolelli, really put up a fight. He's ranked higher than Safin - he's seeded here - but Marat always looked like the better played. C'mon, Marat. Davai. Wouldn't it be awesome to see Marat seeded at the US Open, which I think is his favourite Slam?
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And I'd just like to send out a farewell to yet another one of the top eight seeds who went out today - though he went down fighting, unlike Djokovic, Kolya, Roddick and LameDave before him. Vale Ferru. You fought bravely.
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And so my quarter final picks for the top half of the draw run thusly: Federer vs. Ancic. Hewitt will be no match for the Mighty Fed (tm), and while Verdasco reached the final at Nottingham and clearly has some game on grass, I wouldn't bet against Super Mario. And then Safin vs. Baghdatis. Feliciano Lopez is another one of those Spaniards with the good grass game, but I wouldn't bet against Marcos, and though I really like Stan Wawrinka a lot, I think Marat's on a roll now...
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Wimbledon Results - Day #5
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Men's Draw
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Roger Federer def. Marc Gicquel, 6-3 6-3 6-1
Marat Safin def. Andreas Seppi, 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-6 (7-3) 6-4
Mario Ancic def. David Ferrer, 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-3)
Lleyton Hewitt def. Simone Bolelli, 6-1 6-3 7-6 (7-2)
Fernando Verdasco def. Tomas Berdych, 6-4 6-4 6-0
Marcos Baghdatis def. Simon Stadler, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-2
Stanislas Wawrinka def. Mischa Zverev, 7-5 6-1 retired
Feliciano Lopez def. Bobby Reynolds, 6-4 7-5 4-6 6-4
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*
Women's Draw
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Serena Williams def. Amelie Mauresmo, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1
Jie Zheng def. Ana Ivanovic, 6-1 6-4
Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Barbara Zahlavova Strycova, 6-2 6-4
Agnieszka Radwanska def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-3 6-2
Anna Chakvetadze def. Evgeniya Rodina, 6-4 6-3
Bethanie Mattek def. Marion Bartoli, 6-4 6-1
Agnes Szavay def. Anabel Medina Garrigues, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2
Nicole Vaidisova def. Casey Dellacqua, 6-2 6-4

Swan Lake

Apparently 'Gulbis' means 'swan' in Latvian. I don't think he looks anything like a swan, nor is his game especially swanlike, but I thought it was amusing anyway.
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Swanlike or not, win or lose, I was very impressed with the way young Ernests played. A while ago, I gave him a couple of years before he became really good. I'm revising that now to a year. Of all the young players I've ever discussed on this blog, I have to say that he is the one with the most promise. If he is not top ten, or at least top twenty within a year, I will eat an item of my own clothing.
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All he needs is a tiny bit more mental stability. He's a little bit like Robin Haase in that sometimes he panics on the forehand side and goes for too much, though he does it far less often than Haase does. The first set, where he beat Nadal 7-5, was impeccable. He has a high-risk, red line game, an all or nothing, winner or error style. All he has to do is tighten up just a tiny bit. Just a few more winners than errors, and Rafa could easily have lost that third set, and then I think the match could have had a whole different complexion.
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There's not much of Gulbis - he's 6'3" but only 76kg, which really isn't that much - but hot damn, that kid is strong. He's this tall, gawky nineteen year old, and yet he's hitting the ball like Roddick. I have never, ever seen anyone beat Nadal so consistently with sheer pace. It was insane. And he was hitting the lines a LOT, especially in that first set. He serves out of a tree. And - again, especially in the first set - he was allowing Rafa no rhythm. Consistently, he was pinning him three, four, five metres behind the baseline, just by the heaviness of his groundstrokes.
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He's an out and out baseliner, yet what I really liked was that he was willing to come to the net. He's not the best volleyer, but he's not bad, and he can definitely improve easily with a little more experience and maturity. He served and volleyed a few times, which I really liked. And he had some excellent clutch-serving - that is, being down in a service game, and coming up with the big first serve ace or unreturnable to get himself out of it.
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To be honest, I don't know if we've seen a talent this big since the rise of Richard 'Baby Fed' Gasquet. And I think this kid might be better than Richou, to tell the truth. Already, he seems to have better mental stability than Richou. After Nadal won the second set, it would have been easy for Gulbis to fall off in the third, but he didn't - and if a couple more of those errors had been winners, then he could have easily taken a two sets to one lead. And then I don't know if I would have fancied Rafa's chances in getting out of it.
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Rafa didn't play his best, but I think a lot of that might be because Gulbis didn't let him. Rafa likes to dig in, extend the point, and often he wins points through his opponents making a mistake (though he does have his fair share of winners as well.) Especially in the first set, Gulbis was shortening the points - coming in to the net, which was just awesome. Even though he lost, I was mightily, mightily impressed with Ernests Gulbis. He will be seeded here next year, mark my words.
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Not so with Andy Roddick. Nalbandian, Davydenko, Djokovic and now Roddick. The Federer quarter and the Nadal quarter both have the top two seeds intact, but the Djokovic and Davydenko quarters are now virtually empty. Janko Tipsarevic is a great player, sure, but I didn't think he was going to take out Roddick - not on grass. Maybe the loss of Djokovic, which made him the hope of Serbia, gave him some heart. Who knows? But whatever happened, that quarter, like the Djokovic quarter, is now wide, WIDE open.
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Baghdatis was my pick for semi finalist in that second quarter. In the third quarter, I'm going to to tip Dmitry Tursunov, providing he keeps his head in the game. He's always been consistent at Wimbledon - two third rounds, two fourth rounds, I think - and it's sort of his turn to go deeper. I think I previously picked Mathieu, but Tursunov has a better grass game in my opinion. Cilic is another outside possibility. And who knows? Maybe Arnaud 'le cle' Clement can make a splash. It's an open quarter. It's anyone's game.
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This has been a seriously weird second round. In the women's game too - bye bye MaSha! Alla Kudryavtseva played brilliantly, but Sharapova played DREADFULLY. Seriously, she was awful. Cringeworthy. Yuri'll be a-scolding her, mark my words. With Sharapova gone, there is a HUGE chance for Dinara Safina. Hell, there was a huge chance for her when Sharapova was still there. Wouldn't it be nice if Safin and Safina could both reach the semis? I'd like it!
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Third round action tonight. Here's cheering for Federer and Safin!
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Wimbledon Results - Day #4
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Rafael Nadal def. Ernests Gulbis, 5-7 6-2 7-6 (7-2) 6-3
Janko Tipsarevic def. Andy Roddick, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-4)
Andy Murray def. Xavier Malisse, 6-4 6-2 6-2
Dmitry Tursunov def. Chris Eaton, 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-4
Richard Gasquet def. Sebastien Grosjean, 6-2 6-2 retired
Mikhail Youzhny def. Stefano Galvani, 4-6 6-4 6-3 3-6 6-3
Rainer Schuettler def. James Blake, 6-2 6-7 (8-10) 4-6 6-4 6-4
Nicolas Kiefer def. Martin Vassallo Arguello, 6-0 6-3 6-1
Tommy Haas def. Tommy Robredo, 6-4 6-4 6-3
Marin Cilic def. Jarkko Nieminen, 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-5
Jurgen Melzer def. Jesse Levine, 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Almagro, 6-3 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-2
Arnaud Clement def. Benjamin Becker, 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-3)

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Jeremy Chardy, 6-3 7-5 7-6 (7-1)

Radek Stepanek def. Viktor Troicki, 6-7 (1-7) 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-2

Gilles Simon def. Agustin Calleri, 5-7 6-2 6-3 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Alla Kudryavtseva def. Maria Sharapova, 6-2 6-4

Venus Williams def. Anne Keothavong, 7-5 6-2

Dinara Safina def. Hsieh Su-wei, 6-3 6-2

Jelena Jankovic def. Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1 6-3

Gisela Dulko def. Lindsay Davenport, walkover

Alisa Kleybanova def. Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3 4-6 6-1

Shahar Peer def. Emilie Loit, 6-3 6-4

Victoria Azarenka def. Sorana Cirstea,6-1 6-3

Nadia Petrova def. Mara Santangelo, 6-4 7-5

Marina Erakovic def. Julia Goerges, 6-2 7-6 (7-5)

Elena Dementieva def. Timea Bacsinszky, 4-6 6-3 6-3

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Sania Mirza, 6-0 4-6 9-7

Ai Sugiyama def. Flavia Pennetta, 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2

Caroline Wozniacki def. Aleksandara Wozniak, 6-1 6-1

Shuai Peng def. Sybille Bammer, 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 6-3

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Vera Zvonareva, 7-6 (12-10) 4-6 6-3

Happy Being A Hippo

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, Marat Safin was asked whether he fought with himself on court. His reply?

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'I'm not fighting with myself. Oh, my God. That's how I am. You know, the story of the hippo? The hippo comes to the monkey and said, listen, I'm not a hippo. So, he paint himself like a zebra. He said but he's still a hippo. He said but look at you, you're painted like a zebra but you are a hippo. So then he goes, you know, like I want be a little parrot. So, he put the colours on him and he comes to the monkey and said but, sorry, you are a hippo. So, in the end, you know, he comes and said I'm happy to be a hippo. This is who I am. So, I have to be who I am and he's happy being a hippo.'

*

Well, I, for one, am very glad that Marat is happy being a hippo - because I have never loved him so much in my life. Day #3 at Wimbledon was pretty much my ideal day of tennis. I could not have asked for better results. An impressive yet comfortable straight sets win for Federer over a potentially tricky opponent, and an absolute drubbing of Novak Djokovic by Safin the Hippo. It was... ah, it was beautiful.

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Who knew Maratski still had that kind of tennis on tap? Djokovic did not play his best, certainly, but I would certainly be happy to put money on the fact that Safin would have won even if he had. Marat has been so scratchy lately - he said himself in his post match presser he can't really remember the last time he won two matches in a row - that although I was hoping for it desperately, I didn't really expect much of him. But hey, hey, hey. There's some tennis in the Safinator yet.

*

Seriously, some of the tennis he played was vintage stuff. Some of the shots were reminiscent of the semi final he played against Federer at the Australian in 2005, which I think is easily the highest quality tennis match that has been played in the last twenty years, if not the whole Open Era. Safin's game has always been unusual in that it is based around a sweet backhand rather than a heavy forehand, and he hit some beautiful shots off his favourite wing in this match. For example, take that one he hit to go up 15-40 in the last game of the match, that sick, SICK backhand down the line (aka 'the Lily O'Dwyer.') That one drew a 'phwoah!' (spelled phonetically) from me - and I've seen so much tennis in my time that there's not much that does that any more. The player that hit that looked like the Safin of yore. It was great.

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Safin will play Seppi next, and if plays like this, there is no doubt he can win. Of course, with Marat, playing like that is never a certainty... but he was very impressive against Fognini in the first round and now against Djokovic here. C'mon, Marat. Go for three in a row! Davai!

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Safin conducted his press conference in his usual laconic smile - Marat is, as he as always been, still a hippo. The strawberries are still too expensive, he says. There is still not enough dessert. He would have gone to Dinara's final in Paris, but she didn't send him the charter. And he didn't let Djokovic get away with much, and I respect that. Djokovic said this in his presser, when asked whether this match was a case of him playing badly or Marat playing well:

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'It was mostly me.'

*

And sure, Djokovic did not have his best day. His double faults in particular hurt him badly. But how dare he try and take the credit away from Safin? Marat had this to say, when told that Novak had said that he had played badly as opposed to Marat playing well:

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'Yeah, well, he's a nice guy, a great answerer and great for you guys. I think he scored some points over there by saying that, yeah, he played well and everything. But he had small chances. He didn't take them. Whenever I had a chance I went for it, and I just played, like I said, solid, took my chances.'

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Just to clarify, because I think the way I've phrased things might be a little unfair to Djokovic. He did say that Safin played well. He didn't say that he didn't. But he did say that the result came about because he played badly.

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Hmph.

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Compare this to the guy that says, and says repeatedly, that you can't take anything away from the other guy, because he was trying his best. Guess who.

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Federer, of course, and while we're on the subject, his win against Soderling was very impressive. He wasn't in top gear, nor was he playing God Tennis (tm), but then again, he didn't to. He did exactly what he had to, and he dismantled Soderling's game with ruthless efficiency. Soderling had a brief rebellion in the third set when he broke the Federer serve after a lackadaisical game from Roger, but Roger wasn't having any of that. I'm convinced that he waited till he was set point down to launch his charge just to see if he could. You know, like chess players that let themselves get into bad situations just to see if they can get out of it.

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And so it was very very good. Remember Soderling's match last year? The one against Rafa that started on the middle Saturday and didn't end till the second Wednesday, by the end of which the two guys thoroughly hated each other (and still do, by all reports.) That match went five days. Today? Federer dismissed him in two hours. Soderling has a good game on grass so it's a shame for him that he had to be drawn so close to the Maestro. But these things happen. Just like it happens that Safin got drawn so close to Djokovic.

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Federer didn't let Djokovic get away with much in his presser either. He said this (translated from Swiss German):

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'If Novak says he’s tired then it’s most likely that the pressure is getting to him – I’ve played as much as he has recently. He’s automatically going to be under increased pressure, but when you lose, you just have to accept it. I wasn’t as consistent as he was when I was 20, 21 – he’s been incredible. And somehow you expect him to lose early at some point, but all credit to him for being so consistent in Grand Slams up until now.'

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Ah, Roger. Polite yet pointed all at the same time. A genius on and off the court.

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There were some lovely articles on the Wimbledon website today that I would thoroughly recommend - Drew Lilley (of blog fame) wrote one about Federer's fluency on and off the court, discussing how great Roger is for conducting his press conferences in about ninety different languages; and a lovely match report from Alix Ramsey. Both seemed to me to be a little more true than some of the other stuff the media has been saying. Alix Ramsey wrote an article after the Hrbaty match the other day that directly addressed this media phenomenon of the vulnerable Federer, and it finished with this brilliant sentence:

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'Yes, there must be a lot of men sitting nervously in the locker room who would love to be as vulnerable right now as Roger Federer.'

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Perfection.

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The loss of Djokovic - and of LameDave Headbandian the round before - has really opened up that section of the draw, as they were the big seeds in that quarter. So now I have to pick a new semi finalist! Oh no! I am distraught! Feel my pain and agony!

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(That was a joke, in case I haven't made my loathing of Djokovic clear enough.)

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I don't think you can go past Marcos Baghdatis. Even with Djokovic and Headbandian still in the quarter, he was a legitimate threat, because his grass court game is very very excellent. I would put good money on him reaching the semis now, repeating his run from 2006. The only two players I can really see challenging him are Safin, if he keeps up this sudden regression to 2004-05, and Wawrinka, if Stan has a good day. Beyond that... let's just say I would be very, very surprised if anyone that is not one of these three reaches the semi.

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So we're going to have TWO random semi finalists now... if random means someone that is not Federer, Nadal or Djokovic. It's not like A-Rod and the Bags, my picks for those spots, are rubbish players - it's just that tennis is such a dominated game at the moment. It'll be nice to see the two big boys, providing they get through, which I'm very sure they will, playing some different guys.

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And I can't not say anything about that Ivanovic match, at the risk of totally forgetting women's tennis exists again. She was so, so lucky with that let cord. She's a nervy player traditionally, and I think the pressure might have got to her a bit. However, in the end, I think this kind of marathon match will be good for her. She knows she can dig it out at the end when it counts. So on the whole, I think the Dechy match will be a positive experience for her.

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I don't like her tennis dress, though. Not a fan. It's better than Sharapova's little see through tuxedo ensemble, but it's still not good. I do like Serena's coat, though. I don't know if I'd wear it on a tennis court, but I like it. And I like Roger's cardie, too - not as much as the blazer of the past two years, but I guess there's only so many other things you can do!

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Also on women's tennis - go Casey. The young Miss Dellacqua had a great win over Pauline Parmentier, and here's hoping she can back it up again against recently scratchy Nicole Vaidisova.

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Well, I think that might be enough of a ramble from me for the day. To summarise: Federer good (very much so.) Djokovic bad (extraordinarily so.) Ivanovic lucky (ridiculously so.) Safin...

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...hippo.

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Wimbledon Results - Day #3

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Robin Soderling, 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-3)

Marat Safin def. Novak Djokovic, 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-2

David Ferrer def. Igor Andreev, 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-2

Marcos Baghdatis def. Thomas Johansson, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Lleyton Hewitt def. Albert Montanes, 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 6-2

Tomas Berdych def. Victor Hanescu, 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 6-2

Mischa Zverev def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6-4 6-4 2-1 retired

Marc Gicquel def. Ilia Bozoljac, 4-6 5-7 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-0) 6-3

Fernando Verdasco def. Olivier Rochus, 7-6(7-4) 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-1

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Juan Martin del Potro, 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Philipp Petzschner, 6-1 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 4-6 6-3

Andreas Seppi def. Florent Serra, 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-4

Simon Stadler def. Thomaz Bellucci, 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 8-6

Feliciano Lopez def. Roko Karanusic, 6-3 6-3 6-4

Simone Bolelli def. Fernando Gonzalez, 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-6 (7-4)

Bobby Reynolds def. Frank Dancevic, 4-6 7-6 (12-10) 6-4 6-4

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Women's Draw

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Kateryna Bondarenko, 6-2 6-3

Ana Ivanovic def. Nathalie Dechy, 6-7 (2-7) 7-6 (7-3) 10-8

Jie Zheng def. Elena Baltacha, 6-2 7-5

Anna Chakvetadze def. Edina Gallovits, 6-4 6-2

Serena Williams def. Urszula Radwanska, 6-4 6-4

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Francesca Schiavone, 3-6 7-5 9-7

Nicole Vaidisova def. Samantha Stosur, 6-2 0-6 6-4

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Marta Domachowska, 6-1 6-3

Agnes Szavay def. Monica Niculescu, 5-7 7-5 6-2

Evgeniya Rodina def. Elena Vesnina, 6-1 7-6 (7-0)

Marion Bartoli def. Tatiana Perebiynis, 6-2 7-5

Amelie Mauresmo def. Virginia Ruano Pascual, 4-6 6-1 6-1

Bethanie Mattek def. Vera Dushevina, 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Li Na, 6-2 6-4

Elena Dementieva def. Maria Elena Camerin, 6-3 6-7 (7-9) 6-3

Casey Dellacqua def. Pauline Parmentier, 1-6 6-2 6-3

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Alona Bondarenko, 6-3 3-0 retired

Kolya Learns His Lesson

Well, well, well. First David Headbandian, and now Nikolay Davydenko. Two of the top eight gone in the first two rounds.
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I don't know what Headbandian's excuse is (apart from letting LameDave show up) but I can make a fair guess at what Kolya's is. Feeling sorry you played Warsaw now, aren't you?
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Honestly, it's insane. Really, wouldn't it almost be better to play no warm up tournament at all than to play one on clay - even if, like Kolya, you add another trophy to your cabinet? Well, I hope that Warsaw trophy is nice and shiny for you now, Kolya, 'cause you ain't getting nowhere on grass till next year.
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That said, it wasn't all Kolya playing badly - or simply the curse of Court 2, graveyard of champions. His opponent, Benjamin Becker (most famous for ending Andre Agassi's career at the US Open and for being no relation to Boris) played very well. Becker-no-relation is actually a pretty promising player, though he might have limited time left in which to actualise his potential... he's been around for at least a few years, I think, though I could be wrong. But it was a very good win for him. Kolya is notorious for his consistency, and to overcome him in straights is a pretty good effort!
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That also opens that side of the draw up considerably. The Davydenko quarter is traditionally the quarter where you get the random semi-finalist (tm) - your Tsonga or your Monfils. I had, I admit, picked Kolya to reach the semis... on the recommendation of Rafa Nadal, who said in a presser he thought Davydenko was one of the favourites for Wimbledon. Thanks, Rafa. So now I'm revising my prediction for this quarter to Andy Roddick, on the proviso that his shoulder doesn't, I don't know, explode or something. Conventional, I know, but I don't think you can ever underestimate A-Rod on grass. Failing him, in the event of shoulder explosion or similar, I'm going to pick... hmmm... Mathieu. Tursunov is a possibility. The unseeded player that could make a splash is Cilic. But really, Roddick aside, this is not the strongest quarter of a draw I have ever seen.
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Speaking of that Kolya-overestimater Rafa - which I did do early in that last paragraph, before I got distracted - he had a win over Andreas Beck. Not his best win ever, but that's pretty normal for Rafa in the early stages of Wimbledon, as in the infamous Kendrick Incident. He got the job done, which is pretty much all that matters. Beck played well - I thought he was going to fall off in the second and then in the third set, but he didn't, to his credit. And what an occasion for a first ever Grand Slam match! Centre Court at Wimbleon... not bad, eh?
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I watched the match on TV here in Australia, and there appeared to me to be this thing wherein the commentators were on crack. I mean, I like Rafa and all, but since when is he the favourite for Wimbledon? Since when? I know he's playing well on grass and all, but hey! so is Federer. And, oh look! sixty straight grasscourt wins! Would that be... Federer? And... who was it that won the last five Wimbledons? Um... some guy called Roger Federer.
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I understand that Federer lost to Nadal badly at the French. Trust me, I appreciate. But he's over it. You can tell. So why isn't everyone else? He said himself that it is much easier to forget a loss like that than the loss at Rome in 2006 where he had match points. And we're in a totally different ball park now. Roland Garros and Wimbledon are, in many ways, incomparable. Did people think Rafa was going to lose the French last year when Roger beat him in Hamburg? Not quite the same situation, I grant you, but it had little to no effect on the final outcome. The final of Roland Garros this year is not the great psychological thing that everyone seems to think it is. If anything, it'll give Federer motivation to make the media eat their words... though he said he's been staying away from the press, which seems smart to me.
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Back to those dope-smoking commentators, who apparently also believe Rafa's forehand is better than Roger's. Um, yes, I agree that Rafa's forehand is very very good - it's wicked, with that hooking lefty spin, but is anyone forgetting that the Federer forehand IS THE MOST FEARED SHOT IN THE GAME? I was enraged. When the Federer forehand is firing, it's unstoppable.
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That's enough of a rant for now. I might say something nice about Rafa, since I do like him a lot, even if he is not Roger. He wasn't really timing his groundstrokes that well today - which will, I think, come with a bit more practice on these courts - but when he get that wicked kick serve? The one that hits the corner and skids away almost horizontally? Because that is a SWEET shot.
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It was nice to see a few of those French boys do well, too - in particular, Spaz Grosjean and Richard Gasquet. It was a much better performance from Richou today - really collected. And I always like to see Spaz do well, as he is the special favourite of my friend Erin. I had hoped for a bit more from the Murray/Santoro match, but, hey, these things happen. I'm not a Murray fan, but I suppose it's nice for the British to see one of their own doing well.
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And, finally, go Ernests Gulbis! A great win over John 'I-am-the-same-height-as-the-Empire-State-Building' Isner. He's up against Rafa in the next round, and if Rafa doesn't mind his p's and q's, this one could have quite a few sets in it.
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Wimbledon Results - Day #2

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Men's Draw

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Rafael Nadal def. Andreas Beck, 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

Andy Murray def. Fabrice Santoro, 6-3 6-4 7-6 (7-5)

Andy Roddick def. Eduardo Schwank, 7-5 6-4 7-6 (7-0)

Richard Gasquet def. Mardy Fish, 6-3 6-4 6-2

James Blake def. Christophe Rochus, 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-4

Benjamin Becker def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-4 6-4 6-4

Chris Eaton def. Boris Pashanski, 6-3 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

Tommy Haas def. Guillermo Canas, 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4

Marin Cilic def. Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Agustin Calleri def. Kevin Anderson, 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-1

Jesse Levine def. Donald Young, 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2

Radek Stepanek def. Jan Hernych, 6-3 7-5 6-0

Nicolas Almagro def. Marcel Granollers-Pujol, 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-2

Jarkko Nieminen def. Wayne Odesnik, 6-3 retired

Gilles Simon def. Dawid Olejniczak, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Nicolas Kiefer def. Julien Benneteau, 6-1 7-5 6-3

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Izak van der Merwe, 7-5 6-2 6-2

Martin Vassallo Arguello def. Ivo Minar, 6-4 2-6 2-6 6-2 6-2

Rainer Schuettler def. Santiago Ventura, 6-3 6-2 6-4

Jeremy Chardy def. Frederico Gil, 7-5 6-7 (1-7) 4-6 6-4 6-3

Arnaud Clement def. Jonas Bjorkman, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (7-4)

Jurgen Melzer def. Ivan Ljubicic, 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 4-6 2-6 6-3

Mikhail Youzhny def. Sergio Roitman, 6-1 6-4 6-0

Ernests Gulbis def. John Isner, 7-5 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (8-6)

Sebastien Grosjean def. Potito Starace, 6-2 7-5 6-1

Janko Tipsarevic def. Thierry Ascione, 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 6-2

Paul-Henri Mathieu def. Oscar Hernandez, 3-6 6-4 6-0 6-2

Dmitry Tursunov def. Nicolas Mahut, 604 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 7-5

Tommy Robredo def. Kristof Vliegen, 6-1 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 6-4

Xavier Malisse def. Denis Gremelmayr, 6-3 6-4 6-2

Viktor Troicki def. Nicolas Lapentti, 6-3 4-0 retired

Stefano Galvani def. Jamie Baker, 6-4 6-2 6-3

*

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Women's Draw

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Venus Williams def. Naomi Cavaday, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1

Maria Sharapova def. Stephanie Foretz, 6-1 6-4

Jelena Jankovic def. Olga Savchuk, 6-3 6-2

Lindsay Davenport def. Renata Voracova, 6-3 5-7 6-3

Anne Keothavong def. Vania King, 4-6 6-2 6-3

Francesca Schiavone def. Tamira Paszek, 6-3 5-7 10-8

Vera Zvonareva def. Aiko Nakamura, 6-1 6-7 (3-7) 6-1

Timea Bacsinszky def. Julie Ditty, 7-5 6-3

Alla Kudryavtseva def. Ekaterina Makarova, 6-1 6-4

Emilie Loit def. Lucie Safarova, 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Aleksandra Wozniak def. Mariya Koryttseva, 7-5 6-4

Daniela Hantuchova def. Sara Errani, 7-6 (7-5) 6-4

Marina Erakovic def. Michaella Krajicek, 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (8-6)

Nadia Petrova def. Olga Govortsova, 6-4 6-4

Tamarine Tanasugarn def. Petra Cetkovska, 6-4 6-3

Sorana Cirstea def. Ekaterina Bychkova, 6-4 6-4

Carla Suarez Navarro def. Galina Voskoboeva, 6-2 6-4

Monica Niculescu def. Magdalena Rybarikova, 1-6 6-3 6-4

Gisela Dulko def. Aravane Rezai, 1-6 6-0 6-2

Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez def. Martina Muller, 6-1 6-1

Dinara Safina def. Yung-Jan Chan, 7-6 (10-8) 6-2

Sania Mirza def. Catalina Castano, 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-4

Sybille Bammer def. Sofia Arvidsson, 4-6 4-1 retired

Ai Sugiyama def. Yanina Wickmayer, 6-4 6-2

Flavia Pennetta def. Julia Vakulenko, 6-3 6-4

Alisa Kleybanova def. Tzipora Obziler, 6-4 6-0

Hsieh Su-wei def. Stephanie Cohen-Aloro, 6-3 6-2

Julia Goerges def. Katarina Srebotnik, 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 16-14

Shahar Peer def. Katie O'Brien, 6-3 7-5

Caroline Wozniacki def. Eva Hrdinova, 6-2 7-5

Victoria Azarenka def. Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-1 6-1

Mara Santangelo def. Maret Ani, 7-5 6-3

Shuai Peng def. Viktoriya Kutuzova, 6-3 6-4

Good Behaviour

Wasn't that match between Roger Federer and Dominik Hrbaty just the loveliest thing you ever saw? I don't know if I've ever seen a tennis match that was... well, nicer. And not because Federer won and won so easily - though that was, of course, very nice! What was the loveliest was the way that Federer and Hrbaty clearly respected and liked each other. At the risk of sounding stereotypically Australian, it was a match between mates, and it was wonderful to watch.

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I've never seen a match where the players sat next to each other on the changeover like that. I mean, sure, in Davis Cup you've got the bench, but that's different, because you sit with your teammates. These were opponents, in Wimbledon - the holy grail of tennis. And yet they could still remain friends, even though they were competing for such a prize.

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Just another one of the things I like about Federer (and now Hrbaty!) Sportsmanship. The world of sport would be a better place if more people would take his example. Which is why it's so good that Federer has been elected to the new Player's Council (along with Nadal and Djokovic.) I hope his influence can become even more pervasive.

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On the actual match - how good was Hrbaty's hot dog shot?! And Federer's insane backhand smash volley?! Grass is so so good for producing a highlights reel, I tell you!

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Speaking of great tennis statesmen, I'd just like to devote a few sentences to the oldest player in the field, who has just announced that he will retire this season. Jonas Bjorkman, I salute you. He has played and played well for his whole career. His singles and doubles careers are both very distinguished. But more than that, Bjorkman has always been a gentleman tennis player. He has always been a great sport, he has won with humility and lost with grace, and there is little in sport more important than a good attitude. So, vale Jonas. You will be missed.

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There were some other great matches yesterday. The one I saw the most of (inevitably, being in Australia) was the Hewitt-Haase match, and wasn't it a barnburner?! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like the way Haase plays. He's only young, so he has lots of time to improve. If he can stop panicking on his forehand he will be something else. He has beautiful hands at the net, which is unusual for a player as tall as he is. He gets down to the ball really well - and he is not afraid to come in, which is great to see. Pat Rafter was on the tennis last night bemoaning the lack of true serve-and-volley players, and I agree with him. There will always be some room in tennis, especially in grass court tennis, for serve-and-volley. And net play in grass is just so lovely to watch, from an aesthetic perspective... yeah, this was a great match.

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Hewitt played pretty well too. He's not the Hewitt that once he was, but he played pretty respectably. His hip seemed to be holding up okay, and he has much better run now that he's got passed this Haase test. (But give Haase a few years... yeah, you've heard it before.) I don't think he'll have too many problems with Montanes, Montanes being pretty much a claycourter. That'd give him either Bolelli or Gonzalez in the next round... Gonzalez could be a stumbling block. I've never seen Gonzalez play on grass, though, so it could be a tight match.

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One of the commentators said something intelligent last night (shock horror!) They pointed out that Hewitt's game is based around counterpunching, and now that people don't come to the net so much, it's much harder for him to enforce his game. I thought that was a really interesting point. The game has evolved, and to an extent, Lleyton Hewitt has been left behind.

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Only two major upsets yesterday - much as I wish it had been three, Djokovic got through, though he looked a bit scratchy. Ivo Karlovic went out - is this an object lesson in not playing a tournament the week before Wimbledon? Who can tell? (Ferru won, so this thesis is obviously flawed... though his opponent did retire. Hmmm...) More shockingly, David Nalbandian (Headbandian) went out. That's two early exits now - second round to Chardy at Roland Garros, and now first round to Frank Dancevic. Now, Dancevic isn't a bad player, but he's no Headbandian. It looks like LameDave has been back in action. Not being a Headbandian fan, I find it difficult to be sad, but it is disappointing. That opens this little section of the draw right up, though, because Karlovic was in it too... the next highest seed is Baghdatis. Hmmm. That could be veeeeeery interesting. I'd like to see Baghdatis get through to a semi against Federer. Obviously Djokovic stands in the way... but I have a tiny, baby feeling that his next opponent might give him a run for his money. Who is it, you asked?

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Marat Safin.

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If Marat plays his true Maratski tennis, he is going to blow Djokovic away. Unfortunately, Marat hates grass. So this could be... um... interesting. That's a safe assessment.

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I was glad to see Mario Ancic get through as well, though his match against Llodra did not quite go the six hours I predicted, as Llodra retired. Oh well. Some of the other matches I said would be interesting totally were! Hewitt/Haase, for one, Berdych/Korolev, for another. And the Bellucci/Kunitsyn clash was definitely intriguing - I was very glad to see Bellucci win. I'm keeping my eye on him. I really like his game. He's up against Simon Stadler next, who upset Karlovic, and I think Thomaz stands a good chance.

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It struck me after writing that monstrous preview yesterday that I did that thing I do wherein I totally forget the existence of women's tennis. Oops. Let's have a quick look at it now. There were a couple of upsets yesterday, the biggest one being Patty Schnyder, who got beaten by that wonderful little Aussie giant-killer Casey Dellacqua. I'm not, as you know if you've read me blog before, very patriotic when it comes to tennis, but I think Casey is the bee's knees. She has really risen to the occasion in Slams this year. Actually, she beat Schnyder before, didn't she? Australian Open, second round, if memory serves. So well done, Casey.

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My French favourite, Alize Cornet, also went out - though the player she went out to, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, is pretty intriguing. They were juniors together, and they were both up there at the top. Cornet has actualised it better in the WTA draw than Pavlyuchenkova has so far - but is that about to change?

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Virginie Razzano, Maria Kirilenko and Dominika Cibulkova also went out. Interestingly, not long after Cibulkova lost, her boyfriend Gael Monfils held a press conference withdrawing from the tournament. Draw your own conclusions from that. Meanwhile, has anyone else noticed how Gael Monfils looks sort of possessed all the time? It's very bizarre.

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Other than that, it was pretty standard. Ivanovic was impressive. Agnes Szavay was also - I think her time might be coming to make a big run at a Slam. Kuznetsova was scratchy, much as she was in Eastbourne last week. She'd better pick up her game if she wants to go deep. Sam Stosur also had a great win, and I think she stands a good chance of taking out Vaidisova in the next round - which might give her a third round clash with Dellacqua, which would be intriguing.

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So, if I had to pick my semifinalists from the women, I would say Ivanovic (dead cert), Serena Williams (with Agnieszka Radwanska also a possibility,) Sharapova (or Safina) and either Venus Williams or Jankovic, depending on how well Venus plays. There are, of course, some dark horses lurking about - Agnes Szavay for one, and even Dellacqua could make a good run, but those are the four... or seven, I guess! that I'd be looking for.

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Wimbledon Results - Day #1

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Men's Draw

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Roger Federer def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-3 6-2 6-2

Novak Djokovic def. Michael Berrer, 7-5 2-6 6-3 6-0

Lleyton Hewitt def. Robin Haase, 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 6-2

Frank Dancevic def. David Nalbandian, 6-4 6-2 6-4

David Ferrer def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 1-3 retired

Marcos Baghdatis def. Steve Darcis, 6-3 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3

Fernando Gonzalez def. Robby Ginepri, 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 7-5

Mario Ancic def. Michael Llodra, 6-4 7-6 (9-7) 2-0 retired

Igor Andreev def. Jiri Vanek, 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 6-2

Thomaz Bellucci def. Igor Kunitsyn, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-2

Olivier Rochus def. Dudi Sela, 6-4 7-5 6-4

Marc Gicquel def. Kei Nishikori, 4-6 7-5 retired

Thomas Johansson def. Vince Spadea, 6-7 (8-10) 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 6-3

Florent Serra def. Yen-hsun Lu, 6-4 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3

Feliciano Lopez def. Brian Dabul, 7-6 (7-1) 3-6 6-3 6-4

Albert Montanes def. Carlos Berlocq, 6-3 7-6 (7-2) 6-4

Victor Hanescu def. Alejandro Falla, 6-3 6-7 (2-7) 6-0 6-4

Philipp Petzschner def. Hyung-taik Lee, 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 6-4 retired

Roko Karanusic def. Luis Horna, 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 6-1

Simone Bolelli def. Alex Bogdanovic, 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Marat Safin def. Fabio Fognini, 6-1 6-2 7-6 (7-3)

Tomas Berdych def. Evgeny Korolev, 4-6 6-1 6-4 3-6 7-5

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Marcos Daniel, 6-3 6-2 7-5

Bobby Reynolds def. Filippo Volandri, 6-2 6-2 retired

Andreas Seppi def. Tobias Kamke, 5-7 6-3 6-2 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Pavel Snobel, 6-4 6-2 6-3

Robin Soderling def. Kevin Kim, 7-5 0-6 6-3 6-4

Fernando Verdasco def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-4 6-3 6-2

Ilia Bozoljac def. Chris Guccione, 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-3

Juan Carlos Ferrero def. Sam Querrey, 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-4

Mischa Zverev def. Alexander Peya, 6-3 6-4 6-4

Simon Stadler def. Ivo Karlovic, 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 7-5

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Women's Draw

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Ana Ivanovic def. Rossana de los Rios, 6-1 6-2

Agnieszka Radwanska def. Iveta Benesova, 6-3 6-0

Marion Bartoli def. Sabine Lisicki, 6-2 6-4

Serena Williams def. Kaia Kanepi, 7-5 6-3

Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Mathilde Johansson, 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3

Amelie Mauresmo def. Ashley Harkleroad, 6-4 6-3

Samantha Stosur def. Ioana Raluca Olaru, 6-2 6-2

Anna Chakvetadze def. Stephanie Dubois, 2-6 6-1 8-6

Elena Vesnina def. Nuria Llagostera Vives, 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4

Pauline Parmentier def. Akgul Amanmuradova, 7-5 6-4

Evgeniya Rodina def. Virginie Razzano, 0-6 6-2 6-4

Anabel Medina Garrigues def. Yan Zi, 6-3 6-0

Casey Dellacqua def. Patty Schnyder, 6-4 3-6 6-1

Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Milagros Seguera, 6-1 6-4

Tatiana Perebiynis def. Petra Kvitova, 6-4 0-6 6-4

Urszula Radwanska def. Klara Zakopalova, 6-1 6-4

Edina Gallovits def. Yvonne Meusburger, 6-1 6-2

Li Na def. Anastasia Rodionova, 3-6 6-0 6-1

Elena Baltacha def. Angelique Kerber, 6-3 2-6 7-5

Nathalie Dechy def. Yuan Meng, 6-7 (7-9) 6-3 6-0

Jie Zheng def. Dominika Cibulkova, 6-4 6-3

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Alize Cornet, 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-4)

Marta Domachowska def. Jill Craybas, 6-1 3-6 6-4

Bethanie Mattek def. Severine Bremond, 5-7 6-0 6-1

Agnes Szavay def. Tathiana Garbin, 6-1 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko def. Rika Fujiwara, 1-6 6-4 6-3

Alona Bondarenko def. Melanie South, 6-3 6-7 (1-7) 6-4

Vera Dushevina def. Maria Kirilenko, 6-3 6-3

Nicole Vaidisova def. Zuzana Ondraskova, 6-2 6-2

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova def. Camille Pin, 7-5 4-6 7-5

Thoughts on Day Zero

Why is it, WHY IS IT, that one of the most commonly asked questions in press conferences this week, to just about any player, has been 'Can Federer win Wimbledon?'

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Um, let me think. Gee, this is total rocket science. He won a grass court final last week without dropping a set, or dropping serve. He made it to the final of Roland Garros the week before - which is better than the other one hundred and twenty six guys who took a loss there. He's got a fifty nine match win streak on grass courts. He hasn't lost on grass since 2002. He's only been taken to five sets once. Oh yeah, and he's won Wimbledon FIVE TIMES BEFORE.

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So, with that in mind, do you think he can win it?

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Forgive me for having some faith in the man who has time and time again proved himself to the most consistent (and, in my opinion, the out and out best) player in tennis history.

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Greg Sharko puts it better on his preview of the draw (on ATPtennis.com) when he asks the question, 'Can anyone stop the king of grass?' To which I would reply, 'Well, nothing's impossible, but you might need to put a blindfold on Federer. And possibly break his leg. And even then, the other guy would have to have a hell of a day.'

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There is this mystique that surrounds Rafa on clay, this sort of aura - kind of a psych out. People think he is unbeatable, and so he is unbeatable. And he totally deserves it - I'm not saying that he's not! But Federer's prowess on grass is comparable to Rafa on clay, if not better, and yet he doesn't quite have the same mystique. Not this year, anyway. But I think he just might earn it back...

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Let's have a look at Federer's run through the draw. He starts off tonight with Dominik Hrbaty, who I think is ranked somewhere in the #200s now, though he used to be up there... he has a career high ranking of #12, in fact. Beyond that, I can't tell you much about him other than that he once more a really stupid shirt at the US Open... it had sort of half moon cutouts over his shoulder blades. Lleyton Hewitt beat him after being down and when asked how he did it, replied (possibly paraphrased), 'I couldn't stand losing to a guy in a shirt like that.'

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Second round is maybe Soderling, who has been playing well of late - was it him that went through World Team Tennis at Dusseldorf without losing a match? He could be a bit tricky, but the maestro will prevail, obviously, to take on probably Monfils - though Nishikori, the Japanese teenager, could be a dark horse in that little section. Actually, anyone of those four guys (also including Marc Gicquel and Chris Guccione) has third round potential. None of them is a match for the mighty Fed, though!

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The round of sixteen looks like being either Hewitt or Gonzalez... though Haase, the up and coming Dutchman, might be due for a breakthrough. I don't know what his game is like on grass, though. Gonzalez isn't really a grasscourter - though his forehand is a great grass weapon! - so Rog would probably have little trouble there. Hewitt might prove more troublesome, but he does have that injury... and let's face it, Lleyton is not what he once was.

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Ferrer seems the most likely quarter finalist, and this is where matches might start getting a bit harder. Ferru has been playing so well of late, and he has that grass court title from s'Hertogenbosch... but one grass court title doesn't really compare to ten, now, does it! Federer in four, if you ask me... or three, if he's really smacking it well. Berdych is also a possibility, but he doesn't seem to be that in form... Kohlschreiber and Ancic (and maybe Llodra) could be the surprise packets in this section. But none of them is a match for Roger.

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Then in the semis it gets interesting. Novak Djokovic is seeded to reach the semis here, and, much as I hate him, I wouldn't be surprised if he, you know, does. This would give us a rematch of that horrible Australian Open semi. But I think it might be a good thing. He'd never admit it, but Federer works best when he has a little extra motivation, and revenge is a dish best served cold. Remember at the Australian Open last year when Djokovic and Federer met in the round of sixteen, and Djokovic was talking big beforehand, and Federer came out and absolutely crushed him. It isn't really fair to count Djokovic out, but I would not be at all surprised to see that happen again. Where there's a will...

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And then, the final. See qualms re. using the word 'destiny,' but let's just say I would not be AT ALL surprised to see a Roger/Rafa match here. And this time, it'll be Roger who comes out on top.

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Let's have a look now at Rafa's potential road to the final. He opens against Andreas Beck, who had a pretty decent run at Halle, considering his ranking, but shouldn't prove too much trouble for Senor Nadal... though we can never forget the infamous Kendrick Incident of 2006. Rafa has historically not played his best in the early rounds at Wimbledon, so who knows? maybe Andreas will do all right. I wouldn't bet on him, though.

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The second round could be Gulbis, which would definitely be tricky. We all know how good Gulbis is going to be... and the other potential opponent here for Rafa is Isner, and I would not like to be facing his serve on grass, no sirree! This round could be a potential pitfall for Rafa, but I think he'll come out of it relatively unscathed, to face probably Kiefer in the next round (or maybe Benneteau.) That one should prove a little easier, methinks... though you can never count Kiefer out when he's having a good day.

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The round of sixteen will probably be either Stepanek or Youzhny. Youzhny has been a bit of a boogeyman for Rafa in the past (and absolutely crushed him at this year's final in Chennai, bagel, breadstick) so that could be a very interesting match. Likewise, Stepanek the Dalek has suddenly become all good, despite his weirdness, so he could give Rafa a tough match too. Man, I hadn't realised how difficult this side of the draw is for Rafa! I still like him to come through, though. He isn't #2 for nothing.

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If the seeds hold true, it'd be Gasquet in the quarters... but let's face it, Richou has not got his head in the game at the moment. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we saw Murray there, or maybe Gilles Simon... and you can never count out Sebastien Grosjean on grass. Fabrice Santoro is also a possibility. This little section, actually, might be the weakest in the whole draw, considering Richou has his head in the clouds - so I like Rafa to come through this one pretty easily (much as I would like to see Sebastien make a run for it!) Then it would probably be Davydenko in the semis. Other options here include Roddick, Tursunov, Blake, Mathieu or even Ljubicic, but I like the consistency of Kolya's game. He hasn't played a lead in tournament on grass, though, which could prove a bit silly - why, Kolya, why did you go and play fricking Warsaw? Rafa to come through that match to the final, which I have covered.

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Actually, let's examine that Kolya quarter and have a look at his run to the semis. He has Benjamin Becker (no relation) in the first round, which could be a bit of fun... if this were best of three I might tip Becker-no-relation for an upset, but over five I think Kolya will be stronger. either Bjorkman or Clement in the second round, which I think Kolya would come through, though either of these veterans would give him a run for his money! Then probably Ljubicic in the third round, which could get REALLY interesting... think back to Roland Garros a few weeks ago, when Ljubicic came back to beat Kolya in five? Psych? Maybe. I don't know if Kolya is vulnerable to that sort of thing, though. He seems so steady...

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That would give us probably Mathieu or maybe Nieminen in the round of sixteen - though Jeremy Chardy is in this section, as is Marin Cilic, either of whom could pull an upset. I like Kolya to come through nonetheless. Then probably Roddick in the quarters, given past grass court form. (Challengers include Tursunov, Blake and maybe the dark horse Tipsarevic.) That match could go either way... but based on present form and injuries and whatnot, I'd tip Kolya - barely - to go to a semi... where he would meet Rafa and lose.

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The remaining quarter of the draw is the Djokovic quarter. He opens against Michael Berrer, who isn't a slouch on grass, but who I think Novak will dispatch pretty easily (unfortunately.) The second round could prove harder if Marat Safin makes it through his match with Fognini - and oh boy, how I would be cheering for the big Russian! Marat is historically not the best grasscourter, however, and his consistency (something Djokovic unfortunately has in spades) leaves something to be desired. Still, an upset is certainly possible here.

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Seppi looks likely for the third round, though I would not count out Yen-hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei, who has been doing very well in Challengers of late. Either way, it seems like Djokovic would come through all right. That would give us probably Wawrinka in the round of sixteen (Querrey might be the dark horse in this section) and I don't mind Stan's chances... if he plays as well as he's capable, Novak might have a wee bit of trouble. But then again, if Novak plays as well as he's capable, then...

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In the quarters, it looks like either Nalbandian or Baghdatis - either of whom is very capable of giving Djokovic a run for it... actually, I really like Baghdatis's chances. He has a great grass court game. He and Djokovic had a marathon five set match last year at Wimbledon which Djokovic won, though they both pretty much had to be carried off the court by the end of it. Karlovic is also in this section, and Igor Kunitsyn could be a dark (well... very dark) horse. Let's say Novak wins... he would go through to the semis, where he would face Federer, and would get destroyed. Hurrah.

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There's my general analysis of the quarters - and I will shut up in a minute, I promise! Just a few first round matches which I think could be very interesting...

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Marc Gicquel vs. Kei Nishikori: Gicquel just made it to the final of s'Hertogenbosch. Nishikori is the youngest player in the draw, a real star of the future. This match could go all the way.

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Lleyton Hewitt vs. Robin Haase: Haase announced his arrival by beating Ljubicic at the Australian Open and has posted pretty decent results since. Hewitt, coming back from injury, could be in some strife.

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Tomas Berdych vs. Evgeny Korolev: Korolev is just looking for a breakthrough, and Berdych, while he is an awesome grass courter when he is on song, has been off with Richou in fairy-land of late. Could go to five sets.

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Fernando Verdasco vs. Philipp Kohlschreiber: The Nottingham finalist vs. the Halle finalist. Five hours is possible, if not probable.

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Michael Llodra vs. Mario Ancic: It is a fool who doubts Mario Ancic on grass. It is a fool who doubts that Michael Llodra has got some serious game going on this year. If Verdasco/Kohlschreiber is five hours, this one could go six.

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Florent Serra vs. Yen-hsun Lu: Lu is slowly creeping up the rankings without anyone really noticing... but does he have the game to unsettle the steady Frenchman? I reckon he does.

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Thomaz Bellucci vs. Igor Kunitsyn: Bellucci has had some great Challenger results on clay, so it will be interesting to see how that translates to grass. And Kunitsyn is on the verge of... something.

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Andy Roddick vs. Eduardo Schwank: Schwank did the best of all the Argentinians at Roland Garros. He has had some great Challenger results - but can he translate that onto grass? I don't see him beating Roddick, but I can see him troubling him for sure.

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Jeremy Chardy vs. Frederico Gil: Two young guys, hungry to make a breakthrough. Chardy has done it to an extent at Roland Garros - can it be the young Portuguese guy this time?

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Jonas Bjorkman vs. Arnaud Clement: Two veterans on the tour. A sentimental match to watch, more than anything else. But you can never count them out... remember, Bjorkman was in the semis here two years ago.

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Nikolay Davydenko vs. Benjamin Becker: Becker-no-relation has got some game. This is Kolya's first grass court match for the season. I smell five sets.

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Guillermo Canas vs. Tommy Haas: Neither of these guys is seeded? Are you kidding me?

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Andy Murray vs. Fabrice Santoro: It's always fun to watch Marat Safin's most feared player, the French wizard... he could upset Murray easily if Murray doesn't pay enough attention.

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John Isner vs. Ernests Gulbis: Isner's huge serve is terrifying. But Gulbis has got the game to neutralise it... and how will he back up his Roland Garros effort?

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I promised a while back that I'd shut up. And I will - after I say this.

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Federer is going to win Wimbledon. And all ye who have doubted him... watch out. Because the King is going to reclaim his throne for the sixth year running, and he is going to do it in STYLE.