Week Two

Roger Federer and Leyton Hewitt were first up today. Federer, has won more of their career meetings but Leyton used to own Federer so it seems like there is always some kind of chance for him. Hewitt, got things started on the right track by taking the first set to a tie break but he wasn't able to pull it out and Federer won the next to sets easily making it a fairly routine win over Hewitt. Roger's, next opponent is Ancic. There's alot of hype going around because Ancic was the last guy to beat him here but the last time they played at Wimbledon Federer won in straights. I'm guessing it will probably be the same this year. Especially after Ancic's five set match against Fernando Verdasco.

Safin, has been on fire during Wimbledon. He's taken down Djokovic, Seppi, and now Wawrinka. The match against Feliciano Lopez should be pretty good. Lopez is the seeded player but that doesn't mean anything now that Safin is playing well. I'll take Safin in that match and put him in the semi-finals as Federer's opponent.

The Youzhny/Nadal match turned out to be a little dissapointing. Nadal had a mild injury to one of his knees in the beggining of the first set which slowed him down a little but Youzhny pretty much took himself out. He missed alot of shots especailly in the last set and almost got baggled. Nadal's going to face Murray on Wednesday. That's going to be a tough match because Murray's playing well and he's got the crowd behind him. Nadal, however is undefeated against Murray so I'll go with Nadal in four sets.

The last quarter of the draw has Rainer Schuettler vs Arnaud Clement. I'll pick Clement to win this match but with all of the upsets at Wimbledon who knows how this match will turn out.

What's up with NBC and financial and retirement commercials?

I've noticed that NBC is incredibly aggressive with booking financial, retirement and Viagra commercials during their tennis time slots. I know that Travelers sponsors Wimbledon (since Ted Robinson used to mention that every time they used Hawk Eye during the matches.) I know ING is a big sponsor but there isn't any reason that they can't mix it up a little more. I was watching the French Open on NBC last month and during one of the change overs NBC, ran about seven consecutive financial or retirement adds. Gimme a freakin' break. It seems like NBC thinks that every person who watches Wimbledon is planning on retiring within 15 or 20 years. I don't mind some of it but after three hours of Wimbledon and seeing the same Male Urinary add 70 times for three straight days it gets pretty old.

Nadal, Murray, and Youzohny survive

Well, today was another big day at Wimbledon. With the draw rapidly getting smaller it's really starting to get tight. There's only four seeds left in the top ten and it's only the fourth round. Andy Murray was up today with a tough match against Tommy Hass. Murray wound up winning the match 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. I think that Tommy did pretty well, considering how well Murray has been playing here. Not to mention Murray has the support of the crowd for every match that he plays here.

Mikhail Youzhny, played Radek Stepanek in a very tight match today. Stepanek, took Youzhny to five sets but he injured his wrist about halfway through the fifth set and it wound up costing him the match. Youzhny, is going to have to play Nadal next. This will probably be a pretty close match but I'm going with Nadal in straights or four sets because Youzhny has played several five set matches and he's probably feeling it physically.

The Rafael Nadal/Nicolas Kiefer match went pretty much the way you'd expect. Kiefer played unbelievably during the first set. In fact the only break point in the first set was on Nadal's serve. Nadal's energy was very low throughout the match (which is strange for him) and he wasn't all that aggressive. Nadal, managed to win the tie break and was able to take control of the match. In the third set Nadal, was up 5-1 and was serving for the match but Kiefer managed to break Nadal and really got the crowd into the match. Still, Nadal won 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Youzhny, Tipsarevic, Gasquet, or Murray, are the only guys left that are likely to upset another Nadal/Federer final. I still think we're going to see a repeat final but Nadal needs to pick up his aggression or else Youzhny could derail that.

Found this on You Tube....it's really funny

Reynolds is the last hope. Roddick and Blake are out.

Bobby Reynolds, ranked 102 is the only American ATP player left at Wimbledon. Roddick and Blake are both out. This is Roddick's worst year since 2000 (based on grand slam results.) He's won three matches in the last three majors and he didn't even bother to play at the French. He knew he had no chance there. Blake is in kind of the same situation as Roddick. He doesn't play well on grass now that it's been slowed down, he can't win on clay so that only leaves the hard court season for both of these players. I don't know what the rest of the season is going to be like for Roddick and Blake but I think they will probably be able to get something going at the US Open. If not then we could be looking at the begining of their decline from the top of the men's tennis game.

Djokovic, is OUT

Today is definitely a big day for Marat Safin. He took out one of the biggest threats for the Wimbledon title 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. Safin had so little confidence in his ability that before the match he booked himself on a plane back home to Russia, that evening. I wouldn't be surprised to see Marat go out in the next round but this upset has really altered the draw. Federer is now going to have a much easier semi-final opponent. No matter who it is and it's even more likely that he will reach the finals.



On the other side of the draw Nadal, will be playing Gulbis tomorrow. I think Gulbis has a chance of causing an upset but I'll still favor Nadal. Especially if you consider how important the Wimbledon title is to him. I'm guessing that Nadal will be able to raise his game enough to finish Gulbis off in either three or four close sets.



Dancevic, also lost today. I was really hoping that he would be able to beat Reynolds but after losing the second set and getting injured in the third there just wasn't any way for him to come back. Reynolds, must be pretty excited to be into the third round. Although he's probably going to lose to Feliciano Lopez.



One player who hasn't been doing too well recently is Donald Young. Although he was briefly considered to be a future tennis star, he turned pro too early and his career went into an immediate slump. He'll be 19 next month and his record is 6-18. In Young's case his losses have affected his confidence. He used to talk about winning all of the grand slams twice but I think he'd be happy with winning one right now.



Well, tomorrow should be an interesting day at Wimbledon and hopefully there won't be any more early round upsets.

Day 1 at Wimbledon Men's side

Well, so far so good for Roger. Today he ended Hrbaty's chances at Wimbledon. Federer, played so well that he didn't even face a break point on his serve. Although Hrbaty, has never actually lost to Federer, it was pretty obvious that he wasn't going to win this match. Hrbaty, has had alot of surgery over the last few years and it's caught up to him. Dominik, even told Federer during the changeover at 5-2 (in the third set) that this might be his last time at Wimbledon.



Robin Soderling, also made it through to the next round. He beat Kevin Kim and he's going to have to face Federer next. Soderling, should be able to make the match interesting although it's inevitable that Federer will win this one. Federer is 6-0 lifetime against Soderling.



Djokovic and Bhagdatis, both made it through in four. It's hard to tell how far Bhagdatis, will go because he's generally erratic. I'd say probably no farther than the fourth round.


The two upsets today were Karlovic and Nalbandian. Nalbandian, has been playing pretty badly for awhile now so his loss doesn't come as a surprise but Nalbandian's opponent Frank Dancevic, does have the potential to go a ways into the tournament. You might remember him from last year if you were watching the US Open Series. Dancevic, beat Roddick at the Indianapolis Tennis Championship and lost in the finals to Dmitry Tursonov. Now with Karlovic gone, his half of the draw has really opened up. If he plays well, he should be able to get to the forth round.

Who will win Wimbledon?

My pick for Wimbledon this year is...Nadal. Yes, that's right. I'm picking the "Clay Monster" Nadal to win Wimbledon. With mono keeping Federer in a slump and Djokovic having lost the last three times he's played Nadal, I don't think he's going to have a better chance than this year to win Wimbledon. Nadal, is in the peek of his career right now. He won his first grass title at Queens last week. He even had to beat Karlovic, Roddick, and Djokovic to do it.

Of course the outcome of Wimbledon will be partially decided by the draw. Nadal, will have to play either Ernests Gulbis or John Isner in the second round. Both are big servers and pose a big threat to him.

Djokovic, has a pretty nice looking early draw. He may have to play Marat Safin, Stanislas Wawrinka, and David Nalbandian but none of them are likely to upset him. Karlovic and Roddick are much better candidates for that.

Federer's draw looks considerably harder. He will most likely have to play Robin Soderling in the second round. With Berdych, Verdasco, and Gonzalez and Ferrer lurking in the later rounds. Djokovic, has also landed in Roger's half of the draw so in order to win Wimbledon Federer's probably going to have to go through Djokovic and Nadal.

As far as Roddick and other threats for the Wimbledon crown are concerned I don't think this will be their year. Roddick is now engaged to model Brooklyn Decker and is currently without a coach. Anddy Murray and Richard Gasquet, are always dangerous but neither are overwhelming favorites to win. I'd pick one of the top seeds over them.