This time I start with the first week of the All England Championships in Wimbledon - the only Grand Slam on grass.

Wimbledon - Women's Singles:

A week of many surprises: Some favourites are already out. For example Ana Ivanovic: Recently she became Roland Garros champion and world No. 1 but in round 3 her Wimbledon campaign ended by losing to a nameless Chinese... Also Maria Sharapova played disappointing and dropped out in the 2nd round. All notable results of the first Wimbledon week you can read now in chronological order:

Notable results:

1st round: Casey Dellacqua (AUS) def. [12] Patty Schnyder 6-4 3-6 6-1
Aussie Casey Dellacqua likes to play seeds in Grand Slams this year. After defeating Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo in Melbourne and Marion Bartoli at Roland Garros she defeated in the 1st round of Wimbledon Swiss Patty Schnyder.

1st round: Julia Goerges (GER) def. [23] Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) 4-6 7-6(6) 16-14
Only five minutes were missing for a new Wimbledon record. 3 hours and 40 minutes German Julia Goerges required to beat Katarina Srebotnik from Slovenia. Believe it or not nearly two hours the 3rd set (30 games!) lasted...

2nd round: [1] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) def. Nathalie Dechy (FRA) 6-7(2) 7-6(3) 10-8
What a 204-minutes-thriller! World No. 1 and Roland Garros champ Ana Ivanovic was very very close to drop out in the 2nd round vs. No. 97 French Nathalie Dechy (two matchpoints for her).

2nd round: Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) def. [3] Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-2 6-4
Big surprise on day 4! 2004 champion and No. 3 seed Maria Sharapova already dropped out in the second round to her Russian compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva (world No. 154) in 2 sets.

3rd round: Bethanie Mattek (USA) def. [11] Marion Bartoli (FRA) 6-4 6-1
Last year's runner-up Bartoli confirmed her bad form this year by losing to American Beth Mattek in straight sets...

3rd round: Jie Zheng (CHN) def. [1] Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 6-1 6-4
After her long match vs. Nathalie Dechy in round 2, world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic had no chance vs. Chinese Jie Zheng who's ranked 133 in the world. Ivanovic with too many unforced errors and all in all no power vs. Zheng who played maybe her best match in her career.

3rd round: [21] Nadia Petrova (RUS) def. [16] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) 7-6(11) 7-6(4)
It sees that former top 10 player Nadia Petrova regains her form. She defeated young climber Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in two tiebreaks.

3rd round: [24] Shahar Peer (ISR) def. [9] Dinara Safina (RUS) 7-5 6-7(4) 8-6
Another exciting match in this first Wimbledon week. French Open runner-up Dinara Safina lost despite a comfortable lead in the 3rd set to Shahar Peer from Israel and cried after the match...

Next week:

The second week continues from Monday with the 4th round:

Jie Zheng (CHN) - [15] Agnes Szavay (HUN)
[18] Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) - [8] Anna Chakvetadze (RUS)

[4] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) - [14] Agnieszka Radwanska (POL)
Bethanie Mattek (USA) - [6] Serena Williams (USA)

[5] Elena Dementieva (RUS) - [24] Shahar Peer (ISR)
[21] Nadia Petrova (RUS) - Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS)

[7] Venus Williams (USA) - Alisa Kleybanova (RUS)
Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) - [2] Jelena Jankovic (SRB)

Wimbledon - Men's Singles:

Like in women's draw there were some surprising results in the men's draw too. Favourites like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are still in business but Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic was crushed by born again Marat Safin. With Nikolay Davydenko and James Blake two other were defeated by Germans who was the surprising nation that week...

Notable results:

1st round: Simon Stadler (GER) def. [18] Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 4-6 7-6(4) 6-3 7-5
Despite 23 Aces giant & insider tip for the grass Grand Slam Ivo Karlovic already lost in the frist round to German qualifier Simon Stadler.

1st round: Benjamin Becker (GER) def. [4] Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 6-4 6-4 6-4
The 27 years old German Becker crushed world No. 4 in three sets. The first big surprise in the men's draw.

2nd round: Marat Safin (RUS) def. [3] Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4 7-6(3) 6-2
Marat Safin like in his best times! Melbourne champion and one of the great favourites at Wimbledon Novak Djokovic had at the end no chance and lost in three sets.

2nd round: Rainer Schuettler (GER) def. [9] James Blake (USA) 6-3 6-7(8 ) 4-6 6-4 6-4
Another American who has played good on grass so far is out. James Blake lost after a close 5 setter to German Rainer Schuettler.

2nd round: Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) def. [6] Andy Roddick (USA) 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4 7-6(4)
Grass specialist Andy Roddick already out in the 2nd round! At his second tournament after a shoulder injury he lost to Janko Tipsarevic who was close to beat Roger Federer in Melbourne this year.

3rd round: [22] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) def. [11] Tomas Berdych (CZE) 6-4 6-4 6-0
Clay specialist beats grass specialist. Nothing really extraordinary but maybe the result of 4, 4 and 0 is surprising...

Next week:

The second week continues from Monday with the 4th round:

[1] Roger Federer (SUI) - [20] Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
[22] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) - Mario Ancic (CRO)

Marat Safin (RUS) - [13] Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI)
[10] Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) - [31] Feliciano Lopez (ESP)

Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) - Rainer Schuettler (GER)
Marin Cilic (CRO) - Arnaud Clement (FRA)

[8] Richard Gasquet (FRA) - [12] Andy Murray (GBR)
[17] Mikhail Youzhny (RUS)- [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

As a result he simply wasn't match tight against a very talented opponent. As I said in my predicition Tipsarevic was going to cause him trouble as the Serb is a better player from the back of the court.

It seems strange when people act like this result was an un-thinkable shock. Tipsarevic has had a string of good results this year after his five setter against Federer in the Australian Open which seemed to make him believe he could be one of the best players in the world.

This year Tipsarevic has beaten Fernando Verdasco, James Blake, Mikahil Youzhny and Paul Henri Matheiu which tells everyone he is some player.

It is fair enough to say Roddick was not at his best today but the Serb took advantage of this and got the job done.

Novak Djokovic' loss to Marat Safin on the other hand is a bit more of a surprise. Again similar to Roddick's case, you could say Djokovic wasn't at his best but Safin didn't give him a chance to play and get into his stride.

Safin put pressure on the Serb constantly and instead of responding in his typical impressive fashion, Djokovic on this occasion wilted under the barrage of power and precision from the strong Russian. It was like watching a heavy-weight versus a light-weight.

Djokovic couldn't come up with any answers during the match but he did reveal he was mentally tired after the match. Nadal has won three tournaments in a row and is currently on a 19 match winning streak. Shouldn't he be playing a poor match soon then where he does two double faults to lose the match? I'd put my bank on the Spaniard not losing as easily as this during Wimbledon.

I'm afraid Djokovic just didn't show up for this match and was outclassed by a past master who may just have re-found that winning feeling.

I must add that James Ward, the British Number 8 who blogs for this website won a set off Marat Safin at Queens, something Djokovic could not do!

Infine, due righe su un match che purtroppo non sono riusito a seguire. La vittoria di Simone Bolelli su Fernando Gonzalez. Ne sono davvero lieto anche perché sono da tempo convinto che Bolelli sia attualmente il miglior tennista italiano. Soprattutto quello con maggiori margini di crescita e di miglioramento. Buoni colpi e finalmente un servizio degno di questo nome. Speriamo bene. Il tennis italiano ne ha davvero bisogno.

PRIMERA RONDA

Durante la primera ronda del torneo la más grande de las sorpresas fue la inesperada eliminación del finalista del 2002 David Nalbandian quien cayo facilmente frente al canadiense Mark Dancevic, el argentino expreso que tenia molestias físicas pero no las uso como excusas del resultado solamente dijo "No se puede ganar cuando uno no juega bien. Hoy no me salio nada y no puedo esperar ganar cuando jugue tan mal". Otro eliminación inesperada fue la del numero 4 del raking Davydenko a manos de Becker por triple 6-4.

Otro resultado inesperado fue el de Verdasco quien derroto a Kohlschreiber, no por la victoria del español sino por lo facil que se vio (6-4;6-3;6-2). El favorito del público local Andy Murray no tubo mayor dificultad en dejar en el camino al fránces Frabrice Santoro, Mientras el campeón del 2002 Lleyton Hewitt derroto en 5 sets a Haase.

Federer, Nadal, Gonzalez y Djokovic avanzaron aunque este ultimo con algo de dificultad al inicio de su encuentro.

SEGUNDA RONDA

En esta segunda ronda seguimos con las grandes sorpresas luego de la de Nalbandian en primera ahora se le suma la del numero 3 del mundo Novak Djokovic quien cayo derrotado por el ruso Marat Safin que volvia a parecerce al jugador que tanto nos gustaba ver jugar hace no mucho tiempo esta vez dejo al serbio con un 6-4;7-6(7-3);6-2. Luego de este resultado se dio otro inesperado esta vez el chileno Gonzalez quien no pudo frente a Bolleli (7-6,10-8;7-6,9-7;3-6;7-6,7-4) quien ahora enfrentrara a el australiano Lleyton Hewitt quien vencio a Montañez 7-6(7-4);6-0;6-2.

Entre otros resultados sorpresivos esta la caida del numero 6 Andy Roddick a manos de Tipsarevic que lo dejo en el camino, también perdio Tommy Robredo, James Blake y Almagro, mientras que Andy Murray sigue adelante en el torneo.

Federer consiguio salir de un partido que parecia complicado sin mayor dificultad frente a Soderling y ya esta en 3ra ronda donde enfrentara a Guicquel. Por su parte Nadal saco su partido en 4 sets luego de haber perdido el primero consiguio recuperarse y termino pasando a la tercera ronda.

TERCERA RONDA

En esta tercera ronda no hubieron sorpresas y los favoritos siguieron adelante Federer vencio a Guicquel en tres sets y ahora enfrentara al último campeón en Wimbledon antes de que el ganara los cinco títulos que ya tiene, Lleyton Hewitt en el partido más atractivo de la cuarta ronda donde me parece que el australiano tiene la posibilidad de dar la gran sorpresa y sera un gran partido que al menos tendra 4 sets.

CUARTA RONDA

En esta ronda siguieron avanzando los favoritos Roger Federer quien no tubo muchos problemas en dejar a Lleyton Hewitt en un partido que yo pensaba seria mas parejo de lo que al final resulto siendo, mientras Nadal avanzo sin mayor dificultad.

En un maratonico y vibrante partido Andy Murray se levanto de 2 sets en contra para terminar venciendo a Gasquet y avanzar a enfrentar a Rafael Nadal.

CUARTOS DE FINAL

En los partidos de cuartos Federer dejo en el camino a  Ancic que no pudo hacerle daño al numero uno del mundo y actual campeón del torneo y ahora enfrentara a Marat Safin que ha resurgido en este torneo ahora vencio en 4 sets a Lopez luego de perder el primero y verse frustado la suspensión por lluvia del partido le vino bien al ruso que termino ganando los siguientes tres sets ante el español que al final ya se veia cansado por el partido anterior contra Baghdatis. Ahora se espera un gran partido entre Federer y Safin pues el ruso ha levantado en este torneo su confianza y su juego y ahora que ya esta en semifinales puede dar la "sorpresa" eliminando al campeón defensor.

En los otros partidos Nadal borro de la cancha al favorito local Andy Murray y lo termino sacando del torneo en 3 sets ahora el español se enfrentara a Schutter, que al igual que Safin, habia desaparecio durante algun tiempo pero hoy termino su partido frente a Clement y ahora se enfrentara al que muchos piensan el único que puede vencer a Federer en el torneo. Ya veremos que sucede en los partidos de mañana cuando se definan las finalistas de Wimbledon 2008.

]]> http://asuph.wordpress.com/?p=298 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 02:00:13 +0000 asuph http://asuph.wordpress.com/?p=298 Djokovic, the wolrd number 3 had this to say before Wimbledon begun:

"New names are coming, fresh talented players who believe more they can win against him and I am one of them. Suddenly he is worried a little bit."

If only he had worried about his own game instead! Packed in 3 sets by the mercurial Safin, of all people. No shame, I know, but just goes to show the enormity of what Federer has done in the last few year -- all surfaces. It's the kind of dominance, even if on decline, that seems unlikely to be repeated anytime in the near future.

The Djoker, however much I like his game, has a learn that a couple of upsets here and there surely isn't the end of the era. There is still some steam left. Federer, when he's not playing Nadal, is still fighting just with himself.

I thought Djokovic played a lazy -- dare we even say cowardly? -- match. Bad body language, little tactical adjustments, a symbolic double-fault on match point.

Dette er aller best nyheter for Roger Federer, som er kvitt Djokovic på sin side av trekningen. Safin møter Seppi i neste kamp, og deretter Zverev eller Wawrinka. Faktisk er Safins side av trekningen så svak at han kan nå en semifinale. Disse er ikke noe å være redd for: Baghdatis, Bellucci, Stadler, Lopez, Reynolds.

Jeg spår Safin til semifinale. På NRKs utmerkede Nachspiel-sending fra Wimbledon, så jeg Djokovis si at han er mentalt sliten. Vi er knapt halvveis i sesongen, så det lukter ikke akkurat verdensener av slike uttalelser. Samtidig kan han få en god pause nå før den amerikanske hardcourt-sesongen. Djokovic taper mye rankingpoeng med dette tidlige tapet (han var semifinalist i fjor), og har mye å forsvare når ATP-touren fortsetter i USA etter Wimbledon. Stay tuned.

Wimbledon.org: Sensational Safin even surprised himself
Steve Tignor: His day in court

Wimbledon result: I was so excited about just having watched a game LIVE, that I forgot a big upset!
Marat Safin beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets! Safin was #1 a couple of years ago, has two Grand Slams titles, and I always love watching him play. He's very pasionate, and when he's in form, he's brillant!

BIG UPSET! BIG BIG BIG! Why? I don't know... Safin raised his game to a 2005-2006 level and was able to use Djokovic's medium-poor play to his full potential. 10 double faults and way too many errors who are worth mentioning just helped a hot Safin on the way. I have actually excpected either Djokovic or Nadal to go on a big letdown these days. It happened to almost every player of Safin's 80-82 generation, including the big talent Hewitt, Roddick and of course Safin. All of them have hit #1, won slams and beaten the best players of that time at a very young age. That description goes for Djokovic too. Now it will be interesting to see if Djokovic can let this pass and focus on maintaining the awesome consistency for the rest of the year. My point is; give the guy a break. He is only 21 (has he turned yet?) and got his slam and has done best on hard court in 2008 of ALL players including beating the best of all time in a slam. I hope for his sake, that Hewitt-Safin-Roddick story doesn't repeat itself for Djokovic.

BTW. I forgot to mention the Ferrer-Andreev match. I didn't realize the importance. Andreev has a tasty record against Ferrer, and being freinds won't help Ferrer a lot more. I thought Ferrer in 3 initially, seeing how well he did in Holland. Maybe Andreev can pull a Safin and take out another top 5 player. #3 and #4 are out, why not #5? Can it happen? Sure! That would leave Fed-Rafa-Rod-Gasq-Blake-Waw. I bet the last three don't last too long.

This happens every once and while with Marat Safin. He'll play absolutely dreadful for months and then have a win like this. Marat smashed world number 3, Novak Djokovic, in the second round of Wimbledon, 6-4, 7-6, (3), 6-2. Who knows if Marat can continue playing like this, but if he can he's going to be very dangerous. This loss takes a huge chunk of ranking points off Novak Djokovic,  who had semifinal points to defend, with a loss of almost 700.

Not having an in-depth knowledge of the points and race system, please forgive the use of fuzzy (non-existent) science!

Titles Available

Wimbledon - 2

US Open - 2

French Open - 2

Aus Open - 2

NADAL (1)

Nadal proves he is the task-master, beating all comers to a bloody pulp on clay once again in 2009, but not in 2010 when a massive blister injury forces him out in the 4th round. He continues running his muscular Majorcan a$$ off, and he gets back almost all the balls that dare enter his side of the court, whether or not he is standing on his head far behind the ball boys singing La Bamba when he hits them. He's putting those goddamn balls back over the net, into crazy places, far far away from the sender. Despite this, he finds no hard court title, yet. Hard court tournaments prove his real achilles heel. On grass, though, he finds a true-calling and the potential for many more Slam titles in the future, because, in Wimbledon 2008, he bests Federer's serve and volley game with his own surprisingly slightly better serve, volley plus consistency game, on the day. Plus Federer fluffs a few giveaways in his excitement and he finds to his dismay that Nadal's packing a little more punch on his first and second serves than he remembers him doing before. All of this coupled with Nadal's grit and stamina in every point proves a fearsome wall against which Federer's deflated head bashes in 2008, and Djokovic's inflated one bashes in the 2009 Wimbledon final.

DJOKOVIC (2)

Djokovic continues his headline-grabbing off-court rhetoric and continues to annoy the sh$t out of his opponents and most of the tennis fraternity, and thus wins two more titles in an irritating fashion. He does this mostly by shouting and glaring at opponents, and bouncing the ball a ridiculous number of times, taking uncalled-for toilet or injury time-outs, and generally disrupting his opponents' concentrations at key moments even if they are his good pals. Strangely he also plays fine tennis in those key moments. Harsh, but fair ;) In 2010 he wins the French - the one when Nadal goes out early due to injury. Djokovic finds waiting for him on finals day a flailing Federer who makes an uncommonly large amount of errors on his forehand and first serve (whilst his backhand is working perfectly), essentially handing Djokovic the match. In the US Open 2008 Djokovic also wrests the big golden pot from Federer's grip - in a closely fought final against Tipsaveric (who had beaten Federer in the semis).

FEDERER (6)

Sadly for admirers of the beautiful game of tennis, Federer suffers a major two-year slump, having never found that elusive mental edge against Nadal for a start. And he never wins another Slam match against the Spaniard, except for one (which one?). He wins some minor tournaments, keeping his tournament seedings respectable, but a new predator, Tsonga, also hunts him now. Not to mention that Federer comes out worse off in occasional tussles with Djokovic, particularly memorably in the 2010 French Open final where, after cleverly noting that the injured Nadal was no longer in the draw, and making a mammoth effort to reach the finals, much to his chagrin Federer still cannot hold the trophy. There's no doubt it's a blow to him and contributes to a growing sense of helplessness which leads to him seriously consider semi-retirement. Plus there are a host of opportunities for well-paid exhibitions against tennis legends from the past beckoning him from the sidelines. He doesn't take them, and he doesn't retire, but neither does he enter Wimbledon in 2009, having lost a sense of purpose and motivation. And he still sadly remains stuck at two titles behind Sampras. He picks himself up though, and starts playing again. At times he shows flashes of the brilliance and confidence of his earlier years. Making a minor comeback, he plays well for long enough to wrest the US Open 2009 title back from Djokovic. Although not directly, as Djokovic himself falls out in straight sets (retiring half way through the third) against a still lowly-seeded Tsonga in the 3rd round, who then loses against Nadal in the semis, leaving Federer in the final to struggle with and finally put away a slightly tired Nadal. That's the last Slam final he wins against the Spaniard. Nadal had played Tsonga, Davydenko, Karlovic, Blake, Hewitt, and Nalbandian (in no particular order) to reach the finals.

TSONGA (3)

In early 2009, now recovered from his major surgery and not stunned by the limelight, Tsonga beats Djokovic in straight sets in the Australian Open final. He had already defeated Federer in an epic five setter in the semis. Nadal got kicked out by a very in-form Murray in his semifinal. Although not reaching another final throughout 2009, Tsonga would again take the Australian Open in 2010. From there... well...

ATP Ranking - New Slams (Total Slams now held)

1. Nadal - 3 new (7 in total) 

French Open x 1 (because of injury - there's no contenders unless he's injured!)

Wimbledon x 2

2. Djokovic - 2 new (3 in total)

French Open x 1

US Open x 1

3. Tsonga - 2 new (2 in total) (because he's recovering after his current injury) 

Aus Open x 2

8. Federer - 1 new (13 in total)

US Open x 1

P.S. I'll be grateful for people to spot the errors in this article!

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 HE IS HANDSOME AND FASHIONABLE

 YOUNG, STRONG, TALL AND DETERMINED

AND HE IS MOST CERTAINLY INTENSE.

Bio:

Name: Novak Djokovic
Nicknames: Nole, Nokia, Nox
Date of Birth: 22 May 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia
Residence: Monte Carlo, Monaco

Height: 187cm
Weight: 80kg
Hair Colour: Dark
Eye Colour: Brownish-green

Family: father Srdjan, mother Dijana, brothers Marko and Djordje

Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Started playing tennis when he was: 4
Turned pro: 2003
Coach: Marian Vajda

Current ATP Ranking - Singles: 3
Singles Titles: 10
Masters Series Titles: 4
Grand Slam Titles: 1
Doubles Titles: 0

Sports Equipment: Adidas
Racquet: Wilson

Idol: Pete Sampras

 WINNING 2008 AUSTRALIAN OPEN FIRST GRAND SLAM

Novak Djokovic is known to do impressions of fellow players. He has even done them in public:

Flushing Meadows, September 2007. Novak Djokovic has just beaten Carlos Moya in the US Open quarterfinals and is on his way to his first Grand Slam final, where he will lose to Roger Federer. After asking him about his win on the night, the American TV presenter then asks the Serb if he will entertain the crowd with a few impressions of his fellow tennis stars. After a little gentle persuasion, he obliges. First up is Maria Sharapova. Djokovic hitches up his shorts as if wearing one of the Russian’s skirts, bounces from foot to foot before standing bolt upright, poised on the service line. After a few theatrical deep breaths, a studious parting of the hair and an exaggerated bouncing of the ball, he lets out a yelp as he serves. Next up is Rafael Nadal. This time, Djokovic lowers his shorts, rolls his shirt sleeves up to his shoulders and sprints around the court to warm up. Pretending to push back his long hair, he excitedly fidgets with his shorts, rubs the ball feverishly on his thigh and serves, then pumps his first at winning an imaginary point. The crowd were won over, though Djokovic wasn’t sure it was the right move: “I need to say in the last two days the people were more congratulating me for the impressions than for my tennis. I was wondering, ‘Guys, am I here for the impersonation, entertaining, or to play tennis?’” It didn’t stop him from giving a repeat performance in Australia, in January, however. Federer, whom Djokovic has also impersonated (Pete Sampras, Andy Roddick and Goran Ivanisevic make up the rest of his act), has said: “I know some guys weren’t happy. Some guys might think it’s funny - he’s walking a tightrope, for sure.” Sharapova has also offered to do her own impression of Djokovic: “We’d need a really long time because all I’ll need is a tennis ball and I’m just going to stand here and bounce the ball for a really long time before I serve. We’re going to be here all day long.”

Good Luck at Wimbledon!

Most people will probably watch the center court + court 1 action, but there are several great matches on the smaller courts. Here are the ones I would prefer watching:

Kohlschreiber - Verdasco
Kohlschreiber just got to the final in Halle (lost to the King), while Verdasco went all the way to the final in Nottingham, taking a set off Karlovic. No doubt that both players are ready for grass and seem to be more consistent than previous years when hitting grass. They've met twice, both won by Kohl, but both matches went to a third set. I've been asked to predict, but I feel an obligation to tell you that I get like 20% right, so don't use them for betting.
Kohlshreiber will win in 5 great sets.

Gicquel - Nishikori
Both have done well so far on grass. Giquel lost to Ferrer in the final in Holland (I've given up trying to type the name of the location), Nishikori gave Nadal a light headache in Queen's. And we remember him from earlier beating Blake and other big names. Fun to watch, and could be heading for a Federer clash.
Nishikori in 4.

Baghdatis - Darcis
Baghdatis has struggled a lot all year. He hasn't been able to do anything special. Only two reasons he's still at #25. 1 is QF in Wimbledon last year, 2 is SF in AMS Paris. Darcis is one of the (young) guns, actually older than Baggy, who has climbed from 485 in 2007 to a career high of 46 in March 08. He's clearly heading up, Baggy is sort of going down. But we know how good Baggy plays on grass, and we've seen a lot of good stuff from Darcis this year (not A LOT, but winning Memphis is a big achievement). I believe it will be a tight battle and good baseline rallies.
Baghdatis in 4

Hewitt - Haase
Hewitt hasn't performed to his full potential this year and hasn't proven to be consistent enough to get himself back inside top 20, or maybe 10. Haase is like Darcis, going up. Hasn't proven anything that should scare Hewitt, but could give him some trouble. I've seen Haase playing with Safin, and beating him in 3 sets back in Valencia; he was able to beat Murray in Rotterdam in straight sets AND took out Ljubicic in the first round of AO. Maybe not the favorite going into the match, but no joke.
Hewitt in 3

Federer - Hrbaty
Okay, this is interesting. Federer has a relatively bad record against this guy. Lost in 2000, when Hrbaty was much higher ranked, but also beat him in 2004 at Cincy. I cannot see Federer losing tomorrow, but can we get an early mid-term exam from Hrbaty? Why not?! Well... because he has a horrible 2-3 record this year, playing more on the Challenger tour and doing some doubles as well. Ranked 272 and really not going up anytime soon. I can only assume that Federer will play badly to lose a set tomorrow, but what do I know?!
Federer in 3

As with all of my comprehensive draw analyses, I'll be dissecting this mofo quarter by quarter and eighth by eighth, working my forceps from the top of the draw down and predicting the winners for each section based on equal parts science and skill (and some ritual sacrifice, just to be certain).  Then, at the end, we'll sort through the mess we've made, put away the formaldehyde, and see who remains standing.  What fun!

So.  The top quarter of the draw is Fed's Quarter, even though sportswriters and psychics and mimes (and Djokovic) will all have you know that Roger, the five-time defending champion who has won 59 consecutive matches on grass, is on his last legs and can barely swing a racquet anymore, the poor man.  Well I don't believe any of that crap, especially since the Fed Express has a 52-1 record in the last 4-5 years against any of the players he is likely to face on the way to the semifinals (the breakdown: 6-0 vs. Soderling, 0-0 vs. Nishikori, 4-0 vs. Monfils, 11-0 vs. Hewitt, 11-1 vs. Gonzalez, 8-0 vs. Ferrer, 6-0 vs. Berdych, 5-0 vs. Ancic, 1-0 vs. Andreev).

Now, on other websites, such a stark statistic might make them just close the books on this quarter of the draw on move on, seeing as it's all but decided.  But not here!  Because there are plenty of more interesting matches and scenarios to gab on about, even if Roger will ultimately end up beating whomever emerges from said matches and scenarios.

I mean, there are a couple of potentially awesome second rounds to be had in this section: take Gael Monfils, for example (actually don't: his girlfriend Dominika Cibulkova might claw your eyes out.  That girl fierce!).  Assuming the Frenchman gets through his first round match, he will have to face either teenager Kei Nishikori or countryman Marc Gicquel, and both are tough assignments; Nishikori is a Nadal-anointed Future Top Ten Player who already has a title this year (Monfils has never played him before) and Gicquel is someone against whom Gael only has a 4-3 lifetime record (albeit none on grass).  His reward for getting through that one?  Federer, in the third round.  Ouch.

The potential second round match in this section that truly intrigues me, however (and one that I haven't seen anyone else talk about yet), is fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer against just-barely-unseeded 37th-ranked Russian Igor Andreev.  Why?  Because the Russian has beaten the fifth seed FOUR OUT OF THE FIVE TIMES they've met.  Sorry for shouting there, but that's quite a record to be carrying against a fifth seed in a second round.  Now, none of those matches have been on grass, and the most recent win was last summer.  But still: Igor Andreev is 4-1 against David Ferrer.  With the Spaniard possibly wearied coming off his run in the warm-up tournament in the Netherlands, do you maybe smell an upset brewing here?  Because I certainly do.

Aside from Federer playing and beating either Nishikori or Monfils in the third round (yes, I know "La Monf" took a set from Fed in France last month, but did you know Roger is 78-12 lifetime on grass while Gael is 8-8?  I'm sorry I couldn't break that to you any gentlier than that), the other projected third round matches in Fed's quarter include: 20th-seeded Aus-hole Lleyton Hewitt vs. 15th-seeded Extra-Spicy Chilean Fernando Gonzalez; 11th-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych vs. either 22nd-seeded Spaniard Fernando Verdasco or the unseeded German Philipp Kohlschreiber (I think it will be Kohli - see my first round previews for why); and either Ferrer or Ancic against 32nd-seeded Michael Llodra or unseeded (but favored in my mind) Large Croat Lawyer Mario Ancic.  What a mess.  Let's look at this mangled mini-section of the draw a bit more microscopically, shall we?

To start with, Gonzalez has a 3-2 career edge over Hewitt.  Although none of those matches have been on grass, the Chilean did win their most recent match on hard courts in the '07 Australian Open 6-2 6-2 5-7 6-4.  Gonzo is surprisingly adept on the green stuff as well, carrying an 18-11 lifetime record on grass into this year's Championships.  Of course, the Aus-hole has been quite potent on the stuff, boasting an 84-21 grass record that makes Gonzo's look very paltry by comparison.  Still, Lleyton himself has admitted his hip is bad enough that he wouldn't even be playing matches were it not Grand Slam Season, so ultimately - with all evidence considered - I have to give the slight edge to the Chilean here.  I know - even I'm somewhat shocked.  But ultimately, none of it matters, as Fed will beat either one of them in the fourth round.

In the non-Fed eighth of the draw - the "who wants to bite and claw and scratch through a section riddled with parity so we can be defeated by Roger in the quarterfinal" eighth (at least, that's my name for it - kinda catchy, innit?) - Berdych should be able to take care of either Kohlschreiber or Verdasco; he's got a 4-0 record against the German and a 3-1 record against the Spaniard (winning the last three).

Meanwhile, there's just not much between Ancic and Llodra and Ferrer and Andreev.  And I've looked at it nine different ways - trust me on this one.  If I had to pick someone to come through here, it would be Ancic - he's been playing well in coming back from his mono layoff, he's got a stellar history at Wimbledon (he's the last person to beat Fed here, don'tcha know?), and an equally luminous record on grass (36-14). 

That would leave Berdych vs. Ancic fighting for the right to party with Roger in the quarters (and by "party with", I mean "lose to").  They've split their four previous meetings, all on hard courts.  Though the Czech has a fairly nifty 19-8 record on grass, I'd still give the edge to Ancic here, for all the reasons cited in the previous paragraph.  Look for a history-drenched quarterfinal matchup between Federer and Ancic, I say.  (and, just in case you're wondering, if the seedings hold up and Ferrer gets through, the Spaniard has a 4-2 career record over Berdych, but none have been on grass).  But Fed hasn't lost to either Berdych or Ferrer or Ancic in the last five years - on grass or anywhere else - so, that's why I have Fed coming out the winner of Fed's Quarter.  Shocker!

But who will he face in the semifinals?  Well, we'll have to look at the next quarter of the draw to find that out, now won't we?  Let's give it a whirl:

Well, unless you've been living under a tree stump, you've already heard that 3rd-seeded Serb Novak Djokovic has been drawn in Fed's half of the draw, which makes this quarter (*drum roll please*) "Djoko's Quarter."  Now, people are trumpeting and fanfaring and ooh-ahing about Novak's possible second round meeting with Marat Safin.  And don't get me wrong - it's a neato matchup.  But Nole won't lose that one, much as I'd love to see Marat do well.  For the record, however, the two have met once three years ago, with Safin CREAMING young Djoko 6-0 6-2 6-1 at the Australian Open.  And it lifts my heart just to type it.

But let's move on to other second round possibilities that truly might be close and competitive matches.  How about: 13th-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka against unseeded Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro?  Oh, poor Stan will have his hands full with this one, should it come to pass.  The two have met once on clay (Umag '06) with Stan squeaking by 6-1 2-6 6-4.  JMDP is coming back strong from injury, having reached the semis of this past week's warm-up tournament in the Netherlands.  Wawrinka hasn't played since the French Open.  And Del Potro's winning record on grass looks a lot better than the Swiss' 2-8 disaster of a grass court record.  Yes, for whatever reason, Va-va-vrinka just don't like the green stuff.  Which is too bad, 'cause I've been to Switzerland and there's a lot of it there.  Anywho... don't be surprised if Del Potro wins this match in what the world will call a "big upset" but you and me, we know better.

Another barnburner of a second round possibility is 10th-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis vs. unseeded Swede Thomas Johansson.  Both players have had some great results at Wimbledon and sport relatively gaudy grasscourt records; Johansson, a former semifinalist who pushed Roddick to a fifth-set tiebreak in '05, is 44-28 on grass, while Baghdatis is 23-10 and made the semifinals the year after Johansson's semifinal run, and - of course - gave Novak Djokovic all he could handle in last year's quarterfinals before going down 7-5 in the fifth.  Baghdatis has won both these players' previous matchups, both on hard courts, including a win at this year's Australian Open 7-6 6-2 3-6 6-3.  But Marcos has been recovering from various injuries and personal struggles of late, making the outcome of this match very much in doubt.  Either way, the winner of this possibly very pivotal second round match could do some MAJOR damage in this tournament.  Don't laugh - I'll show you why in a couple of minutes.

In the meantime, the projected third round matches in Djoko's quarter are as follows: Djokovic vs. 29th-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi; 21st-seeded Spaniard Juan-Carlos Ferrero (assuming he got past Sam Querrey in the first round) vs. either Del Potro or Wawrinka (probably Del Potro); 18th-seeded Extra-Large Croat Ivo Karlovic against either Johansson or Baghdatis; and 7th-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian vs. 31st-seeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

By all indications, Djokovic should not be troubled in the least by Seppi.  The Serb has beaten the Italian in all of their three matches, all on hard courts, most recently taking him out 6-3 7-6 (3) earlier this year at Indian Wells.  Seppi has a 9-9 lifetime record on grass, while Djoko's quite a bit better at 16-6.  The Djoker will advance to the fourth round.  And who will he face there?

Well, it's complicated (much like Denise Richards).  Whoever emerges from that Querrey or Ferrero vs. Del Potro or Wawrinka scrum gets the honor of facing Novak in the Round of 16.  Querrey, if he makes it to the third round, has never played either Wawrinka or JMDP.  But Sam is 1-4 lifetime on grass (surprising, I know), and I really don't think he'll be making a fourth round appearance this year.  Ferrero, meanwhile, has a 2-0 record against Del Potro and a 3-2 record against Wa-wa-wrinka.   Considering the Spaniard's relative comfort on grass (as evidenced by his 21-13 record on the stuff), I would give him the edge to be the scrum-emerger.

If that is the case, the Djoker has a 1-1 career record against Juan Carlos, losing to him on clay in 2005 (before Nole got his Grand Slam swagger) but beating JCF in 2007 on hard courts in Madrid 6-3 2-6 6-4.  Should the seeds hold to form, and Djoko meet the 13 seed Wawrinka, Novak has a 5-2 record against the Second Swiss, with none of those meetings occurring on grass, and the most recent being his 4-6 6-3 6-3 victory on clay in Rome.  Djokovic has only met Del Potro once, beating him at last year's US Open 6-1 6-3 6-4.  And the Djoker has easily beaten Querrey both times they've played, both this year on clay and hard courts.  So I would say that the only person that could conceivably bother Djokovic would be Ferrero, but even so, I'm favoring the Serb to advance into at least the quarters of his section (it's the least I can do, after naming the section after him and all).

In the other third round matches in Djoko's Quarter, the easiest to scope out is Fat Dave Nalbandian vs. Feliciano Lopez.  Nalby, as he is also known, has won both his matches against Feliciano, but they've never met on grass.  Both are quite adept on the green stuff - Nalbandian is 22-8 lifetime and has never done worse than the third round at Wimbledon (making the finals in '02, of course), while Lopez is a respectable 18-14 and has made the quarterfinals once (in '05) and the fourth round twice.  So as you can see (unless you're blind, in which case how are you reading this?), Fat Dave has the better record and the better head to head.  So I'd say it's a safe bet he advances to the fourth round, where he will meet the winner of Karlovic vs. whoever-won-that-all-important-Johansson-Baghdatis match.

Now, I alluded to this earlier, but both Thomas Johansson and Marcos Baghdatis have surprisingly strong records against everyone who is projected to remain in this section of the draw.  For instance, the mighty Karlovic (who, despite a 46-24 record on grass, has been surprisingly stinky at Wimbledon, making the quarterfinals once in '04 before bowing out in the fifth set of three straight first round matches the past three years) has lost to Baghdatis the only time they've met, which was on hard courts this year in Marseille, with Baggy winning 6-4 6-4.  Dr Ivo has a better record against Johansson (3-1, 1-0 on grass), but their past two meetings (both on hard courts) have gone the distance.  Neither match is a cakewalk for Karlo, especially since both potential opponents, as you'll recall, traditionally do so much better at SW19 (code name: Wimbledon).

Projecting it out even further, David Nalbandian most likely will await the winner of the above paragraph.  And here's where it gets REALLY interesting.  Because while Nalby has a 2-0 record against Karlovic (both in '05 on carpet and clay), he's lost to Johansson at Wimbledon (7-5 6-2 6-2 in '05) and has a 1-3 record against Baghdatis, losing to him in last year's Wimbledon 6-2 7-5 6-0.  Yowch.  So, as you can hopefully see by now, the winner of that deceptively seemingly minor Baghdatis/Johansson match is a ripple that makes larger and larger waves with each passing round.

Even Djokovic - despite his 2-0 record against Baghdatis - has had trouble with the Cypriot, barely edging him out in last year's Wimbledon quarterfinal 7-6 7-6 6-7 4-6 7-5.  Djoko's had a much easier time with two of the others; he has a 2-1 record against Nalbandian (destroying him 6-1 6-0 two weeks ago at Queens Club) and a 1-0 record against Karlovic (beating him this year on clay in Hamburg 7-6 6-3).  However, he's never met Johansson.

So what should you make out of all of this?  Hell if I know.  But here's what I make out of it: if Baghdatis is healthy, he can make a big run through this part of the draw, certainly making it to the quarters where he can give Djoko fits again.  If not, then I favor Nalbandian to come through to that quarter (although I'm always hesitant to do so, with Nalby being such a head case and all), and maybe just maybe Thomas Johansson will be the darkhorse to djoin Djokovic for a dance in the quarters.

Regardless, I expect Djokovic to be the victor in Djoko's Quarter ('cause that's what ultimately makes it his), but I think that those who say he has a cakewalk of a draw haven't looked at it closely enough.  I think there are plenty of players who can give him headaches and have done so in the past.

So anyway, Djoko meets some guy named Federer in the semifinals, in a match the press will probably completely ignore due to its complete boringness.  I'm kidding, of course.  This damn thing will be the most hyped match in ages, and I truly hope it happens.  If it does, I really expect Roger to come after Djoko with a fierceness we have not seen from Fed in ages.  It might be a blowout, or Djoko can rise to the occasion like he did against Nadal in Hamburg.  Either way, I just don't see Federer losing this match.  So Roger advances to the finals.  But who will he meet?

You still there?  Good.  To the bottom half of the draw we go!

You know, I've read a lot of people typing about how 6th-seeded Andy Roddick lucked out by being in 4th-seeded Nikolay Davydenko's section of the draw (and there are many people who think their seedings should have been swapped as well).  And while I don't disagree with either sentiment, I will say it's surprising how little I've seen written about the potential difficulties of DickRod's early rounds.  Eduardo Schwank is no gimme in the first match, and then a possible second round rumble with Janko Tipsarevic and a third round date with either The Shermanator or The Turmanator (that would be Nicolas Mahut and Dmitry Tursunov, to you).  Doesn't exactly sound like a walk in the park to me.

For the record, Roddick has met Tipsy just once - at Wimbledon two years ago, where he pulled out a tough match 6-7 (5) 6-4 7-6 (6) 6-2.  He also has winning records against Mahut (2-0) and Tursunov (3-1), but both matches he's played against them on grass have been quite close; in last year's Queens Club event, he barely beat Mahut - who's at his Shermanating best on grass - 4-6 7-6 (7) 7-6 (3) before beating Tursy in a relatively close contest 6-4 7-5.  I'm not saying Andy's going to lose any of these first three rounds, but I am saying that his draw isn't quite as "lucky" as some would have you think.  And with reports of his previously-injured shoulder not coming back 100% positive two days before the event, he could be vulnerable.  All that said, I'm still calling this section of the draw "DickRod's Quarter" and not "Davy's Quarter" for a reason.  See if you can guess what that reason is (hint: check with my semifinal picks in the top half of the draw) (spoiler alert!).

There are two other possible second round matches that catch my forceps.  If Swedish veteran (and '06 semifinalist) Jonas Bjorkman gets past Arnaud Clement and Davydenko gets past Benjamin Becker like he should, then I think Bjorkman has a puncher's chance of upsetting Davy in the second round.  The 'denk does have a 2-1 record against the Bjork Man, but that one loss did happen at Wimbledon (granted, it was when he retired up a set and a break) in '05.  The Swede has a MUCH better record on the grass (81-43) than the Russian does (5-13), and Bjorkman has had far greater success at The Championships than Davydenko has.  I'm picking Bjorkman in an upset here. 

The other possible second round of interest is 24th-seeded Friendly Fin Jarkko Nieminen versus 55th ranked Large Croat Marin Cilic.  As a Nieminen fan this is tough to type, but I'm gonna have to go with the rising-star Cilic over the struggling veteran in this one (Nieminen's only won 4 of his last 17 matches on the men's tour).  The two have never met, and Cilic's lifetime record on grass (5-5) isn't better than Jarkko's (14-12, and last year's quarterfinalist).  Still, the Croat's been coming up, and the Finn's been going down (all too often) and I don't expect the trend to reverse itself here.

So, in the non-Roddickian third round projected matchups in DickRod's Quarter, we have: 9th-seeded Penis Head James Blake against either 19th-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro or unseeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers-Pujol; 14th-seeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu against either Cilic or Nieminen (I can hope, can't I?); and 26th-seeded Large Croat Ivan Ljubicic vs. either Bjorkman or Davydenko.

The American Flake James Blake should have no trouble with whomever he faces in his third round - neither Almagro (0-4) nor Granollers (0-1) have ever won a match on grass.  That said, it is interesting to note that Granollers has beaten Blake in their only previous meeting, the finals of the US Clay Court tournament in Houston earlier this year.  I'd say that makes Blake even more of a favorite should they meet here, though, as the American will be out for revenge on a more favorable surface.  Expect the American to finally make it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, and I say "finally" because: a) he's never done it before and b) it will be his final match, as he'll lose to Roddick in that all-American Round of 16 clash.  More on that later.

As for Mathieu/Cilic (or, less likely, Mathieu/Nieminen), Paul-Henri has a 3-0 record against the Large Croat, and a 1-0 record on grass as he just beat Cilic 6-3 3-6 6-4 at Queens Club.  Surprisingly, Nieminen has a 2-0 lifetime edge over PHM - too bad he won't make it to this round.  Look for the 14th-seeded Mathieu to pull through to the fourth round, where he will face the winner of...

The Ljubicic/Bjorkman or Ljubicic/Davydenko match.  If Davy makes it through, he'll have his losing lifetime record against Ljubicic (3-4) to reckon with.  As you may recall, Ljuby just beat Davy in a Battle of the Baldies on clay at the French Open 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.  Even with a losing record on grass (18-19), Ljubicic is way better on the green stuff than the Russian is (again, Davydenko has a shockingly bad 5-13 record on grass).  Ljubicic also has a losing record against Bjorkman (0-1), but that was in 2001 on grass in Nottingham 7-5 7-5.  Thus, I'm looking for Ljuby to slide through to a fourth round meeting with Mathieu.

Now, Mathieu/Ljubicic is a tough one to call.  Mathieu has a 2-1 career advantage over the Large Croat, including a win at last year's Wimbledon 4-6 7-5 6-2 6-3.  I'd give the slight edge to PHM here, but it'd be close.  And, just for the record, Mathieu is 2-3 lifetime (no matches on grass) against Davydenko should Nikolay suddenly overcome his aversion to grass and find himself in this round, blinking confusedly like, "Where am I?  How did I get here?"  Paul-Henri also has a 2-1 edge against Bjorkman should that come to pass, besting him in their only grass meeting 2-6 6-3 6-4 at Nottingham in '07.

Meanwhile, in that All-American Fourth Round, Roddick has a 6-2 record against Blake, although James has won the last two.  They haven't played since 2006, and they've never played on grass.  Still, Roddick has been way more at home in his career on grass and at Wimbledon, so I fully expect Andy to advance should these two meet.

All of which leads to a Roddick quarterfinal against Mathieu (if I'm correct), Ljubicic (if I'm slightly less correct), Bjorkman (if I'm moderately less correct) or Davydenko (if I'm totally incorrect).  DickRod has a 3-1 lifetime edge over Mathieu, including a win last year at Wimbledon in their only grass-court meeting, 6-2 7-5 7-6 (5).  So, no trouble there for the American.  Andy is 7-3 in his matches against Ljubicic (none on grass) so that shouldn't be a problem either.  Roddick has a similarly excellent 5-2 record against Bjorkman, including another Wimbledon win (in '03).  And DickRod has his best record of all (5-1) against Davydenko, and that's not about to change here should the Russian shock the world and make the quarters.

Thus, Roddick emerges victorious from the third quarter of the draw, the one I call "DickRod's Quarter."  Shocking, I know.  "But who will he play in the semis?" you ask breathlessly.  Patience, my turtle dove.  All will be known in time and/or revealed below.

The fourth quarter of the draw is where a spunky little guy named Rafael Nadal resides.  That's why I like to call it "Rafa's Quarter."  If you're a keen follower of trends, this might just tip you off as to who I think will be meeting Mr. DickRod in the semis.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves.  Because Holy Mother of Mirka, there are a ton of possible second round spectacles to be found in this section: eighth-seeded Richard Gasquet or Mardy Fish against Potito Starace or Sesbatien Grosjean; 23rd-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo against either Tommy Haas or Guillermo Canas; 12th-seeded Scot Snot Andy Murray against either Xavier Malisse or Denis Gremelmayr; sixteenth-seeded Radek Stepanek vs. Viktor Troicki or Nicolas Lapentti; and, last but not least, the match that all Rafa fans are dreading: the 2nd-seeded Nadal vs. either 6'9'' John Isner or the Multiple Ernests Gulbis.

As you can see from all the "or"s above, Rafa's Quarter is fraught with uncertainty, especially in the top portion.  Looking at it makes my head spin, in fact, and so as not to get vertigo, I'm not even gonna try and sort that mess out.  It would fracture my forceps.  Maybe after the first rounds are complete, I'll come back and dissect the remains, but - for both of our sakes - I'm just gonna move on for now.  Otherwise, we'd be here for much longer than we already have.  And let's be honest with ourselves: neither of us wants that. Besides, Rafa - as the namesake of his quarter - will beat any of the players who unstick themselves from the above tangle, whether it be against Gasquet or Murray or Robredo or Fish or blah blah blah blah.  I'll show that to you later.

Anyway, if you're reading between the lines, this means that yes - I have confidence that Nadal will pull through in his match against either Isner (pronounced IZ-ner and not EYES-ner, for all of you who are searching for that pronunciation on my blog) or Gulbis.  Rafa has never met either of them on a tennis court, so we're just gonna have to go with the fact that Nadal beat people like Karlovic, Roddick and Djokovic at Queens last week, and though Gulbis is a soon-to-be sensation (if he isn't already), the Multiple Ernests lost to Murray there (at Queens); so it's safe to say he's playing at a level just below Nadal at this moment (and, in fact, it's safe to say that about almost anyone in the world at this moment).

In the third round, Nadal could face either 27th-seeded Nicolas Kiefer or 44th-ranked unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.  Rafa is 2-0 against the German Kiefer, both matches coming this year on hard courts.  The Spaniard does have a loss against Benneteau, but that was four years ago on carpet (although the score is still shocking: a Rafa-at-the-Frenchlike 6-3 6-0 shellacking).  Whatever.  Rafa will go through to the fourth round, where he is scheduled to meet either Stepanek or the 17th-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.

Nadal is 4-0 against the CzechWorm Stepanek, although none of those wins were on grass or more recent than 2005.  No matter - Stepanek's coming into the tournament with an injury and might not even play.  But even a healthy Worm couldn't match Nadal's grass court prowess.  As for Youzhny-and-abuse-me?  Yeah, Rafa's had some trouble against the self-inflictive Russian, losing four of their ten matches.  But the Spaniard won their only match on grass at last year's Wimbledon 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2.  The two have split their two matches on hard courts since then, and it should be noted that Mikhail took their most recent meeting 6-0 6-1 at Chennai.  Ouch.  So it may go five sets again, but Rafa seems like destiny's child, and I expect him to move through to the quarterfinals, where he will meet...

Murray?  Gasquet?  Robredo?  Fish?  Canas?  Haas?  I dunno and I don't care.  Rafa's got a 20-0 combined record against all of them (breakdown: 3-0 vs. Murray, 4-0 vs. Gasquet, 4-0 vs. Robredo, 4-0 vs. Fish, 3-0 vs. Canas, and 2-0 vs. Haas), and will be making it through to the semifinals for his showdown with DickRod.

Nadal has a 3-2 lifetime edge over Roddick, with his most recent win on grass likely sticking in DickRod's mind, a 7-5 6-4 Queens Club win in which Andy seemed incredibly frustrated.  Assuming he's healthy enough to get there (and I am), Roddick will only find more frustration in a three-of-five set affair.  I think Nadal is a lock to make the finals against Federer.  (And don't even ask me about Davydenko here.  Just don't).  (OK, Rafa's 3-1 against him, but they've never met on grass.  Happy now?)

So.  How about that final?  I hear Federer and Nadal have met a few times before, is that so?  I hear there was some kind of match played over in France that people are taking very seriously, is that right?  Hmmm.  I say the five-time defending champion makes it six in a row - Federer beats Nadal in four sets.  Fed is hungrier than ever this year, and the mono is in his rear view mirror.

Now, let's let these words hang forever in infamy, as I shall never edit them again no matter how ridiculous they make me look after so-and-so gets upset or whatshisname wins.  We forecasters must be brave, and I know my ritual sacrifice technique is foolproof anyway.  So go to Ladbrokes and Betfair and gamble the grocery money, kids - these picks are ordained by long-dead gods who care about tennis results.  Now will you help me put away the formaldehyde?  This stuff really stinks!

La tadisión es el aspecto fundamental y característico de Wimbledon. El color blanco preponderante en las ropas de los tenistas, tanto masculinos como femeninos. El "Domingo del Medio," día donde no se pacta actividad. Las tenistas son nombradas antes de su nombre con el Miss o Mrs, por ejemplo Miss Sharapova. Todo esto da fe de la tradición que invade este campeonato.

Los máximos candidatos a alzarse con la gloria son Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic pero Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko, Ivo Karlovic, Lleyton Hewitt, Richard Gasquet, David Nalbandian y Andy Murray estará al asecho.

Roger Federer tendrá el objetivo de defender el título que viene quedando en sus manos desde el 2003, cuando venciera en la final al australiano Philippoussis. El expreso suizo buscará conquistar el All England por sexto año consecutivo, algo que nadie ha logrado en la era Abierta, es decir profesional. Además, el helvético intentará quedarse con el primer Major de la temporada y el decimotercero de su carrera, y de esta forma quedar sólo a un título de Pete Sampras, quien hasta ahora es el máximo ganador de Grand Slams con 14. Roger Federer llegará a la catedral con un invicto de 59 partidos sobre césped.

El segundo candidato es el español Rafael Nadal, quien viene de coronarse en Queen´s al derrotar a Andy Roddick en semis y a Novak Djokovic en la final. El ibérico se adaptó estupendamente a la superficie y sin cambiar su patrón de juego. Dos finales consecutivas en Wimbledon y el título de Queen's dan fe de ello.

A Novak Djokovic poco le importa todo lo que están demostrando tanto Federer como Nadal, ya que viene a Londres con un sólo objetivo, ganar el título para desplazar al español de la segunda posición del Ranking y quedarse lo más cerca posible del suizo. El serbio juega muy bien sobre hierba y el año pasado llegó a las semifinales, donde tuvo que retirarse por una lesión, además hace siete días fue finalista del Artois Championships.

Muy por detrás de estos tres jugadores mencionados anteriormente están Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian, Richard Gasquet, Andy Murray, Lleyton Hewitt e Ivo Karlovic buscarán dar la sorpresa.

Tanto David Nalbandian y Andy Roddick saben lo que es jugar la final del torneo. En el 2002, el cordobés sorprendió al mundo del tenis al clasificarse al partido final, que a posteriori perdiera ante el australiano Hewitt en tres sets. En tanto, el estadounidense hizo lo propio en el 2004 y 2005, pero lamentablemente para él su rival fue Roger Federer. Además, el hombre de Nebraska tiene en su historial cuatro coronas sobre césped, todas ellas en Queen's.

Otro que ya sabe lo que es ganar títulos sobre esta superficie es el aussie Hewitt. Como ya se mencionó con anterioridad, el australiano logró Wimbledon en el 2002, y además alcanzó cinco torneos más en pasto, cuatro en Queen's y uno en Nottingham. Pero no es el mismo Hewitt de esos años y está muy lejos del nivel que están demostrando los primeros tres del mundo.

Finalmente, el domingo 6 de julio sabremos quien se alzó con la corona.

Números:

Andy Roddick, meanwhile, got some help from the Draw Gods and made up for his (some say bogus) 6th seed by drawing 4th seed (which some say DickRod should be) Nikolay Davydenko in his quarter.  This could lead to semifinal matchups of Federer vs. Djokovic and Nadal vs. Roddick, which most people feel would be quite dandy.

As for the ladies, consensus is that top-seed Ana Ivanovic got the easiest draw of all, with only Chakvetadze in her quarter being any real threat, although I think Dominika Cibulkova, Agnes Szavay and Patty Schnyder could provide problems along the way.  If Ana gets to the semis, she'll most likely face either 4th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova or 6th-seeded Serena Williams (assuming the seed projections hold up). 

On the bottom half, we certainly find a lot more threats than in Ana's top half.  Poor 2nd-seeded Jelena Jankovic could face 7th seed Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, and either third-seeded Maria Sharapova, 5th-seeded Elena Dementieva, or 9th-seeded Dinara Safina (who's been ON FIRE lately) if she even makes it to the semis.  And, if you're the intuitive type, you may already have discerned that Dementieva and Safina are potential obstacles for Sharapova in her quarter.

But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves - draw projections are all fine and good (and I'll be doing them in my usual excruciating detail in later posts), for now I'd like to focus on the matches we already know to exist (aka the first round matches).  'Cause my god there are a lot good ones!

(Parenthetical program note: the sequence of my draw analyses for Wimbledon will go as follows: Part One (i.e. what you are reading right now) will focus on all the exquisite men's first rounds the Draw Gods have blessed us with.  In Part Two, we'll get all reckless and start projecting and predicting from the second round through the finals on the men's side.  Part Three will focus on intoxicating first and second rounds for the ladies, while Part Four will project and predict the draws on the women's side.  So let's get out of these parentheses and get to it!)

Hereafter follows some very intriguing mens' first rounds, and why I find them such:

First Round, Top Half of Men's Draw:

Match: Top-seeded Swiss Roger Federer vs. 272nd-ranked Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty  Why It's Intriguing:  Hrbaty has a 2-0 lifetime record against Federer.  That's right - Roger has faced this man twice and lost both times.  Of course, both of those matches happened a lifetime ago (2000 and 2004) and neither were on grass (carpet and hard court, respectively).  Plus, Hrbaty's been playing pretty awfully of late.  Still, quite an interesting footnote to what is likely to be a Fed win (Hrbaty's never made it past the third round of Wimbledon, while Roger is going for his sixth title in a row - don't know if you've heard).

Match: 60th-ranked Frenchman Marc Gicquel vs. 105-ranked Kei Nishikori  Why It's Intriguing:  Don't let their rankings fool you.  As of this writing, Gicquel is tearing through the tune-up tournament in the Netherlands, having beaten Richard Gasquet and Guillermo Canas on his way to the final.  And Nishikori has already won a title this year at Delray Beach and was proclaimed by Rafael Nadal to be "definitely a Top Ten player" in the future, after the 18-year-old took a set from Rafa at Queens Club.  This will be the first meeting between the two, and Nishikori's first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw.

Match: 79th-ranked up-and-supposedly-coming Australian Chris Guccione vs. 30th-seeded Frenchman Gael Monfils  Why It's Intriguing: The Gooch has been touted for years now as the next Aussie to take up where Lleyton Hewitt eventually leaves off, but has yet to fulfill his alleged potential.  Monfils, meanwhile, was the junior champion-of-everything who seems to have finally arrived, making the semis of both the French Open (taking a set off of Federer) and this week's Nottingham tune-up tournament (where, incidentally, he beat Guccione in the first round 7-6 6-4 in the first round.  Rematch alert!).  With the Aussie's serve and volley aggression and Monfils' twelve-feet-behind-the-baseline defense, this should also be a good aesthetic mix of playing styles.

Match: 14th-seeded Extra-Spicy Chilean Fernando Gonzalez vs. 58th-ranked American Robby Ginepri  Why It's Intriguing: Rematch alert!  These two played in the first round last year, with Gonzo pulling out the match 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-2.  And Gonzo also beat him in the Round of 16 at this year's French Open 7-6 6-3 6-1.  Although Fernando has a 4-0 career edge against Robby Balboa (2-0 on grass), the American Philanthropist (according to Justin Gimelslob) has been having a great year of late.  Perhaps this is his chance to exact some revenge against the Extra-Spicy Chilean?

Match: 22nd-seeded Recently-Naked Spaniard Fernando Verdasco vs. 36th-ranked Delightfully-Girly German Philipp Kohlschreiber Why It's Intriguing: One of the most dangerous floaters in the draw, Kohli just missed out on being seeded himself and has actually beaten Verdasco both times they've played (in 2006 on clay and hard courts).  Philippppppp is also riding high from a finals appearance in Halle (Holla!), his previous tournament on grass (two weeks ago), while Verdasco might be a bit fatigued from his own finals run in Nottingham (just two days before Wimbledon begins).  Look for the German to take this match in what will be called an upset, but wouldn't really be too much of one.

Match: 32nd-seeded Frenchman Michael Llodra vs. 43rd-ranked Large Croat Lawyer Mario Ancic  Why It's Intriguing: Well, to start with, Super Mario has beaten Lllllodra both times they've played (albeit in 2002 and 2005, on carpet and grass respectively).  The man some call "Baby Fed", Ancic was also ranked #7 in the world two years ago at this time, and has been coming back nicely from an 8-month struggle with mono.  Mario is also a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist and semifinalist.  This is a very similar dynamic to the previously-described Kohlschreiber/Verdasco matchup, and - as in that one - I expect the lower-ranked man to take the match.

Match: 21st-seeded Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero vs. 42nd-ranked Somewhat Large American Sam Querrey   Why It's Intriguing: This might be a close one, even though Ferrero made the quarterfinals at the 'don last year, beating hard-serving James Blake and Janko Tipsarevic before losing to Roger Federer (but taking a set off the eventual champ) and Querrey has never made the second round (to be fair, this is only his second chance).  The two have never met, and Querrey is another who is considered a "dangerous floater" in the draw (and if this draw were a pool, it would have been quarantined already, there's so many dangerous floaters in it).  Ferrero, meanwhile, hasn't played since the French Open in May.  Still, I give the slight edge to the Spaniard in this one.

Match: 10th-seeded Cheerful Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis vs. 52nd-ranked Belgian Butters Steve Darcis  Why It's Intriguing: The usually-cheery Baghdatis (who should be happy given his fifteen-spot boost from the seeding formula - his world ranking is actually 25) hasn't played much this year due to injuries and personal problems.  A quarterfinalist and a semifinalist the past two years at Wimbledon, Marcos just had a fairly good showing in Halle (Holla!) where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Federer.  The Belgian Darcis (who, when his hair is poofy on top, resembles Butters from South Park) has seen his ranking trajectory move steadily and swiftly upwards the past two years (from 485 at the beginning of last year) and prefers a faster court.  If Baghdatis is healthy, he should pull through, but it could get a little interesting.

Match: 68th-ranked Swede Thomas Johansson vs. 111th-ranked (C)Rapping American Vince Spadea  Why It's Intriguing: Rematch alert!  Actually: Anniversary alert!  These two played each other TEN YEARS AGO at Wimbledon, with Johansson prevailing 7-5 6-1 6-3.  Overall, the Swede has a 3-2 edge in their lifetime playing relationship, but Spadea won their most recent match on carpet in '07, 7-6 6-2.  This is Spadea's 13 straight Wimbledon (although, as I like to say, a couple of them have actually been bi-curious), and he was one of the last players to receive direct entry into the tournament.  He's made it to the 4th round once (in '04), but usually loses in the first or second round.  Johansson's had consistently better Wimbledonian results, making the semis in '05, although he has lost in the first round the past two years.   

Match: 67th-ranked Brazilian Bomber Thomaz Bellucci vs. 78th-ranked Russian Igor Kunitsyn  Why It's Intriguing: Earlier this year, Kunitsyn was the one who put an end to Bellucci's 17-match winning streak on the the Challenger circuit, blowing out the Brazilian 6-4 6-2 on clay in their only previous meeting.  But the grass should favor the big-serving Bellucci, who - as you may recall - gave Nadal his toughest set in this year's French Open.  Grudge match! 

Match: 7th-seeded Argentine David Nalbandian vs. 98th-ranked Canadian Frank "So Ya Think You Can" Dancevic (Berman alert!) Why It's Intriguing: Wait for it...  Rematch alert!  These two met here last year in the second round, with Nalby prevailing 6-2 6-3 5-7 6-3.  Also, Dancevic is cute cute cute!  *swoons*

First Round, Bottom Half of Men's Draw

Match: 6th-seeded American Andy "DickRod" Roddick vs. 61st-ranked Argentine Eduardo Sch-WANK!  Why It's Intriguing: Senor Schwank, like Tomaz Bellucci, also had a 17-match winning streak this year, ending at the French Open when he lost to Paul-Henri Mathieu after beating both Carlos Moya and Marcel Granollers.  Though those 17 wins all came on clay, his game translated nicely to grass earlier this week as he gave Nottingham 7th-seed Andreas Seppi a tough test in the second round before falling 1-6 6-4 6-7 (7).  I'm expecting Roddick - a two-time Wimbledon finalist - to pull through for sure, but I also think there could be some bumps in the road here.

Match: 25th-seeded Russian Adonis Dmitry Tursunov vs. 57th-ranked French Shermanator Nicolas Mahut  Why It's Intriguing: The Shermanator is a great grass court player - in fact, grass is the only surface on which he has a winning record in his career.  He's reached the second and third round in his two Wimbledonian appearances.  Tursunov, meanwhile, has been a chronic underachiever who - while always making at least the third round in his four previous go rounds at The Championships - has had spottier recent results than Mahut has.  This one's a toss up, in my book.

Match: 24th-seeded "Friendly Finn" Jarko Nieminen vs. 89th-ranked "American Nadal" Wayne Odesnik  Why It's Intriguing: Though Nieminen was once a Wimbledon quarterfinalist two years ago, Jarkko has a 4-13 record in his last 17 ATP matches.  And while Odesnik has a clay-courter style and no real grass record to speak of, the self-styled "American Nadal" has been having much more success of late.  Before his crisis of confidence, I would have said the "Friendly Finn" (as he's known on tour) would take this match easily.  But now I'm not so sure.  All I know is: he needs it, and I'm rooting for him.

Match: 26th-seeded Large Croat Ivan Ljubicic vs. 82nd-ranked Austrian Jurgen Melzer  Why It's Intriguing: Rematch alert!  These two have met only once, and it was at the 2005 Wimbledon, where a then-ranked 37th Melzer beat a then-ranked 14th Ljubicic 6-4 6-4 6-4.  Could another bigger upset be in the works three years later?  Don't count on it.

Match: 88th-ranked Donald Young vs. 138th-ranked Jesse Levine  Why It's Intriguing: Of the two promising young juniors, much has been expected of Young through the years (who won the junior boys' title here), while Levine is often better known as "Roger Federer's practice partner."  These two have met three times, all in 2007 on hard court, with Young holding a 2-1 edge.  Levine won the most recent of their encounters, however, 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4) in Champaign, Illinois.

Match: 101st-ranked Swedish veteran Jonas Bjorkman vs. 117th-ranked French veteran Arnaud Clement  Why It's Intriguing: Sweatin' With the Oldies!  The 30-year-old Clement holds a 3-1 lifetime lead over the 36-year-old Bjorkman, including their last three matchups (the most recent on grass, a 6-2 6-4 whooping in Nottingham last year).  That said, Jonas has a far superior Wimbledon record, making it to the fourth round last year and the semifinals the year before that (he also made the quarters in '03).  Arnaud, meanwhile, has lost in the first or second round the past five years.  It'll be interesting to see who prevails. 

Match: 8th-seeded French Flack Richard Gasquet vs. 39th-ranked American A-hole Mardy Fish  Why It's Intriguing: Fish is another one of them damned floaters.  Now, usually when a Fish is floating, it means it's dead, but in this case the American is alive and dangerous.  Gasquet's troubles this year have been well-chronicled, and Fish has easily had a better year and better recent results on grass.  Still and all, Gasquet is last year's Wimbledon semifinalist and Fish has never made it past the 3rd round.  I'm expecting Fish to give Gasquet fits in this one (not that Reeeeshard needs any help with that).

Match: 12-seeded Snottish Scottish Andy Murray vs. 53rd-ranked French Magician Fabrice Santoro  Why It's Intriguing: Well, no one's really expecting Santoro to give Murray much of a match here - Snotty Scotty beat Fabrice 6-4 6-2 last year on hard courts, which was their only meeting.  Nay, this match is notable merely because Santoro - sensing this will probably be his last year - has never played on Centre Court in his long and hallowed career at Wimbledon and requested to the tournament organizers that he be scheduled there.  Now, by drawing Murray in the first round, the Magician will certainly get his wish.

Match: 27th-seeded German Nicolas Kiefer vs. 44th-ranked Frenchman Julien Benneteau  Why It's Intriguing: Rematch alert!  Their only meeting was in the first round of the 2005 Wimbledon, where Kiefer won in a five-set thriller 6-3 7-6 (5) 5-7 3-6 6-4.  Both players have posted very good results lately, and the winner will likely sail through to a possible third-round meeting with Rafael Nadal (if poor Rafa makes it through his second round, that is, where he'll meet the winner of...)

Match: 48th-ranked Latvian The Multiple Ernests Gulbis vs. 84th-ranked American "Grandpa" John Isner  Why It's Intriguing: Saving the best for last, here.  Before the draw was made, everyone was wondering where these two potential upset-machines would end up, and who would they terrorize?  Turns out they have to face and terrorize each other!  The 6'9'' Isner and the Multiple Ernests have never played one another before, and this should be THE marquee matchup amongst the unseeded.  Expect the winner to give all kinds of headaches to Rafa Nadal in the next round.

And thus concludeth the positively Shakespearian (in length, perhaps) Part One of my Wimbledon draw analysis series.  What - you wanted more?  Don't worry - there are three more parts coming up soon!  God help you all.

Read: NYTIMES ARTICLE

5:05 am - Experiencing technical difficulties - the draw was supposed to be on Radio Wimbledon, except the wimbledon.org website says it's not on the air.

5:08 am - It's on!

5:09 am - first match I hear the guy's name call is a good one: Guccione vs. Monfils.  Obviously picking things up in the middle here, so I don't know how much of the draw has already been drawn.  Lots of jingling noises between picks.  Hewitt vs. Haase.  jingling.  Montanes vs. Berlocq.  45 Bogdanovic vs Bollelli, 65 GINapri vs. Gonzo, Berdych vs. Korolev, etc.

5:10 am - ooh - Kohlschriber vs. Verdasco and Llodra vs. Ancic.  Both Should be good.  Djokovic's name announced (playing Berrer), but I don't know if this is the top half or the bottom.  Safin vs. Fognini (good draw for Marat).  Wow - Ferrero vs. Querrey, that's tough for JCF.  Heh, the drawer is getting all the Americans last names wrong.  Vince Spadea is spuh-DAY-uh.  Robby Ginepri was JIN-uh-pree. 

5:15 OMG Djoko in top half!  "And that completes the top half..." draw announcer guy says.

5:16 Roddick vs. Schwank (tough), Tipsy vs. Ascione, Pashanski vs. C. Eaton, Mahut vs. Tursunov (good one), Almagro vs. Granollers (another good one), Odesnik vs. Nieminen (poor Jarkko), Ljubicic vs. Melzer (ooh), J Levine vs. D Young (man), Bjorkman vs. Clement (ooh), Becker vs. Davy, Gasquet vs. Fish (geez), a bunch of really good ones in a row here, the names coming fast and furious

5:20 Canas vs. Haas, X Malisse vs. Gremel (good one), Santoro vs. Murray (Fabrice will get his centre court wish!), Troicki vs. Lapentti (could be good), Kiefer vs. Benneteau, EYES-ner vs. Gulbis (gasp!), Andreas Beck vs. Nadal.  "And that completes..."

5:22 am - Draw analysis begins from the commentators. Eleanor somebody tells highlights: Nadal has difficult draw with Gulbis/Isner in second round.  "Isner is 6'9'' and serves out of a tree", Ancic vs. Llodra "fun to watch" - Fed vs. Hrbaty.  Monfils has tough early rounds - Gooch - "pretty hellish first round draw frankly" - Nishikori "not pleasant" - spectre of Federer looms.  "I hope that Gael Monfils is looking at this draw through his fingers."  Heh - I like this Eleanor lady.

More Isner talk - Fed coined "serves out of tree" at USO, guy says.  Querrey cited as "dangerous floater".  "still a lot to be said for having an enormous serve on a grass court, particularly in the first round"

5:28 - "difficult to look past the big three"

5:30 - still waiting for Ladies Draw, talking about Djoko.  Drawing the seeds and sections in womens' draw - announcer guy says "I appreciate it's difficult to follow on the radio".  Damn straight, skippy!

5:31 - talking about the rest of the Top Ten.  On Davydenko: "I wouldn't expect him to make an impact here... he doesn't like grass courts."  Murray no points to defend "take the pressure off of him a little bit" can get to 6 7 in world, still no mention of Santoro's Centre Court request, but talk of Fabrice being Murray's favorite player, no mention of Djoko being in Fed's half.

5:35 - rejoin Andrew Jarrod(?) the draw announcer guy for the womens' draw.  Lots of jingling.  Heh - I hardly know how to spell so many of these names.  But DAG (draw announcer guy) is having some more trouble with pronunciation: Tatiana GAL-bin vs Agnes sa-VAY.  ohh - Schnyder vs. Dellacqua is good.  I'm missing a lot 'cause now I'm getting some buffering (dial-up, don't judge).  stosur vs. elaru, andruskova vs. VAYdisova, Razzano vs. buffering, vives vs. vesnina, etc.

5:39 - benesova vs. radwanska sounds like a good one.  Amelie Mauresmo vs. Ashley Sparklepuss = nifty.  Oooh - Kaia Kanepi vs. Serena in the first round.  "And this completes the top half..." blah blah.

5:41 something weird happens when a name is announced and then switched - "ditty vs. arvidsson (beg pardon, tomea)" - whazzup wit dat?!?!  Shahar Peer vs. Katie O'Brien (I'm surprised DAG didn't say "o-BREEN").  Azarenka vs. Pironkova could be good.  Govortsova vs. Petrova.  Bammer vs. Arviddson (you sure?).  Venus vs. Cavaday.  ai sugiyama vs. yanina wickmayer is very interesting.  erani vs. hantuchova (she's playing?). m krajicek vs. erakovic (slight eyebrow raise).  "Thank you very much - that completes the draw for the ladies single." 

5:50 commentating people come back on.  Eleanor thinks the womens' draw is more interesting than the mens'.  Venus caught her eye - "most underestimated in women's draw - this is her backyard, and that's bad news for naomi cavaday."  Cavaday had match points against hingis in first round last year.  Schnyder vs. Dellacqua: "don't think either will be happy with that draw," a battle of lefties.

Cornet vs. Pavlyocenkova, who only lost 8 games in three rounds of qualifying, both are junior grand slam champs. Commentator guy gets it wrong saying cornet was in "back to back semifinals"; wozniacki potential fourth rounder against Jankovic; guy laughs about "honest mistake" and corrects what he said about cornet before gets emails (heh).

Eleanor: there are seven to nine players with a chance of "lifting the famous dish": Jankovic, ivanovic, williams, sharapova, kuznetsova.  Commentator guy: "really?" about Kuzzy.  Eleanor says she's gotten to the quarterfinals (eh, lame defense).  They say it's rare to go into women's tournament and you can't pick a favorite.  I concur.  Also, they say the Williams' aura of invincibility, while waning, comes back at Wimby, but they're vulnerable in first rounds 'cause don't play warm-up events.

5:59 - men's game vs. women's game talk, getting ready for doubles draw.  Here's where I check out and start examining the singles draws in ridiculous detail.  See you in another post, brutha!  (apologies if that sounds sexistly presumptuous - I was just trying to sound like Desmond from "Lost")

Editor's note: the above is written mostly as it happened, but the author (who happens to be pretty close with the editor, rumor has it) went back and cleaned it up a bit to make it more readable.  Lots of uninteresting notes and cyberscribbles were removed.

For an excellent assessment of the top male players have a look at Nick Bollettieri's Wimbledon 2008 - Men's Preview. It may help you make up your mind.

Andy Roddick: Outside restaurant Nobu, London 9th June

32 players will be seeded in the men's and ladies' singles. These will be the top 32 players on the ATP Entry System Position (ESP) and the WTA Tour ranking.

The seeds are the top 32 players on the ATP Entry System Position (ESP), BUT then rearranged on a surface-based system. A seeding Committee is not required for the Gentlemen’s Singles since the seeding order is determined using an objective and transparent system to reflect more accurately an individual player’s grass court achievements: The formula is:

· Take ESP points at 16 June 2008

· Add 100% points earned for all grass court tournament in the past 12 months

· Add 75% points earned for best grass court tournament in the 12 months before that.

Isn't that simple?!  Now, there are those who love that Wimbledon actually adjusts the rankings to reflect quality of play on their particular surface, which can sometimes lead to less ridiculous seedings like the one we just saw at the French Open, where never-defeated King of Clay Rafa Nadal was seeded #2. 

Others, however, hate this deviation and believe that the world rankings should be adhered to.  We won't get into that debate right here and now.  What we will do, though, is show you what the actual adjustments were from the players' rankings to where they're seeded - who went up, and who went down?  Also: does it matter? 

Let's begin with a look at the men's - excuse me, "Gentlemen's" - seeds.  The top seven world rankings remain untouched by the Wimbledon formula, so Roger Federer is #1, Rafael Nadal is #2, Novak Djokovic is #3, Nikolay Davydenko is #4, David Ferrer is #5, Andy Roddick is #6, and David Nalbandian is #7.

But here's where it gets REALLY interesting.  American Flake James Blake, the #8 ranked player in the world, has been bumped down a notch to the number nine seed, while French Flake Richard Gasquet, the #9 ranked player in the world, is seeded #8.  Aha, the ol' Wimbledonian switcheroo! 

Why does this matter?  Well, friends, those seeded in the Top Eight do not have to face a higher-seeded foe until the quarterfinals, while those relegated to seeds #9-16 must play a higher seed one round earlier in the fourth round (aka "The Round of 16").  In other words, Mr. Blake got a raw deal.  Formula or not, this is the difference between him having to go through 3 Top Eight seeds on route to the Championship (HAHAHAHAA *cough* sorry, I just don't think he'd make it THAT far) and going through FOUR Top Eight Seeds.  Ouch.  Blake must be youzhnying himself even more for the fact that his ranking just slipped on place from #7 last week. Had this one-down droppage happened last week, it would not have mattered a whit.

Reeeeshard, meanwhile, who was playing terribly before the French (he seemed on the verge of a complete breakdown, more accurately), and is only playing marginally better on the grass with a new coach (he lost to Nalbandian in the quarterfinals of the Queens Club tourney) reaps all the benefits that poor James hath lost.  It's somewhat fitting, though, that these two were the ones involved in Ye Olde Switcheroo, as they're both two of the biggest head cases on the tour, and I'd be surprised if both of them made it as far as their seeding indicates they should.

Seeded at Number Ten is Marcos Baghdatis, who finds himself hoisted that position from his relatively-lowly world ranking of #25.  That's a fifteen-spot hoist!  That's the difference between meeting a higher seed in the third round and, as is now the case, not having to play a higher seed until the fourth round.  Let's hope it works out for the cheerful Cypriot, as he's been coming back from injuries and personal struggles and it would be nice to see him do as well as his seeding windfall would like him to.

At Number Eleven is a similarly-whisked Tomas Berdych - the Czech was lifted 8 places from his world ranking of #19.  Therefore, he reaps all the same benefits that Baghdatis does.

The next five seeds all experienced some minimal shifting, but it's not enough to be impactful.  Twelfth seed Andy Murray is down one from his World No. 11 ranking, but it matters little as he doesn't move from one seeding quadrant (Top Eight, Top Sixteen, Top Thirty-Two) to another.  The same can be said for Number Thirteen Seed Stanislas Wawrinka (down three spots from World No. 10), Number 14 Paul-Henri Mathieu (up two from World #16), #15 Fernando Gonzalez (down one from #14), and #16 Radek Stepanek (down one from #15).  Stepanek should be relieved, however, that his world ranking went up one place from last week, otherwise this one-spot drop in the seedings would have left him on the outside of the Top Sixteen looking in.

#17 Seed Mikhail Youzny remains untouched, unblemished, unmoved by the Wimbledon formula, as his world ranking is also #17.  (I guess they figured he does enough self-blemishing that they should leave him alone with their stupid formula.  You don't want Mikhail hitting himself some more over a simple seeding shift).

Number Eighteen Seed Ivo Karlovic makes a meaningless move from World #22 (as movement within seeds 16-32 essentially accrue no benefit).  But Number 19 Seed Nicolas Almagro finds himself falling down from a World No. 12 ranking, which means he'll have to now face a higher seed in the third round instead of being a