Absolutely an amazing evening as we finally got to see the roof closed and we got to play a night match on Monday.

The great Scott Andy Murray prevailed in five sets over Stan the Man as the conditions with the roof closed seemed to play incredibly slow. The sounds of the ball in the indoor environment echoed like I have never heard before. The ambiance of the night match reminded me of one of the Brave Tim nail biters that we are so used to seeing.

 Ladies day was pretty straight forward as 1, 2, 3, 4 got through to the semifinals. Three blow outs and in the one interesting match of the day, Dinara Safina took out Boom Boom Lisicki with no aces and 15 double faults. That is amazing perseverance to put up those kind of numbers and still win. Both Venus and Dementieva have dropped only 19 games en route to the semifinals, but from what I have seen there is no way of stopping a Williams vs. Williams final on July 4.

Quarterfinal match ups maybe the best men’s day in all of the majors. I definitely see an Andy vs. Andy semi on the top half.  Djoker vs. Haas is a 50-50, but since the Djoker has been flying under the radar the whole tournament I will go with him in four.

Now to my favorite subject about the tournament Dr. Ivo minus the provocative post match celebration. 137 aces and 11 double faults is truly amazing, but I liked what Fed said in his post match interview with C-Fowler, how he looks f orward to the unique challenge of playing Ivo.  Dr. Ivo has never won a five setter — Fed in five.

 Now to my last subject — player to watch: young American Devin Britton. Fesh off winning the NCAA’s at Ole Miss he is a throwback 6-foot-4 serve and volleyer. He is through to the third round with a real chance to win the juniors. Great Britton definitely has top 20 potential, and he seems to be on a collision course with the best young Aussie in years Bernard Tomic, who plays a lot like Murray. One of my favorite things of the second week is to watch the juniors, to see what the future of tennis looks like.

Reflections on the first week.

I’ve always thought it was unusual that we don’t play on the middle Sunday; it’s obviously the only major that we have a day off in the middle of the tournament. But as I’m getting older, I’m starting to soften on this idea of a day of rest. This year, since we haven’t had one rain delay a day off is much more welcome. 

I got to see the roof closed last night after the Murray match, it was truly amazing. The lighting was tremendous, it got me thinking that will they ever at some point in the future think about playing a night session?

After the day off rest, there is no better day in tennis then Manic Monday— all 32 players take to the courts.  First week MVP’s have to go out to Melanie Oudin, the qualifier from Marietta, Georgia making it to the second week and a remarkable win over Double J, it has to be the biggest result for a young American female in years.

On the men’s side Rusty Hewitt has played brilliantly in winning all nine sets he’s played and he has put himself in an excellent position to make a deep run in a major for the first time in four years.

Key match ups for Monday: Andy Roddick vs. Tomas Berdych-— gonna be some big serving as Berdych snapped an 0-8 lifetime skid against Davydenko, but I think Roddick is gonna pull it out in five.

Dr. Ivo, who has not been broken in seven matches on grass this year, will upset Verdasco in four sets and move on to his first Slam quarterfinal. One of the main reasons why I think Dr. Ivo is playing a lot better right now, is because he is going for way more on his second serve then I have ever seen before.

Melanie Oudin has a real chance against Aggie Radwanska, who, in the last match that she won served a few of the weakest second serves I have ever seen, coming in at a blistering 53 mph.

The last key match, Dinara Safina, making her first appearance here in the second week, is playing the veteran Mauresmo, talk about a former champ flying under the radar, I almost forgot she was in the tournament. I think Mauresmo will turn back the clock and come up with the first major shock of the tournament. 

I’m sure not many of you guys have heard of Chico, Ca. There is a $15,000 future going on there where three really talented 17 year olds made the semifinal led by American Ryan Harrison, Serbian Filip Krajinovic and Georgian (not the state the country) Nico Basilashvili.  All three of these youngsters have huge potential — try to keep an eye on their progress over the next couple of years.

The amazing thing about a two week event is that everybody knows about the top players, but it’s the unlikely stories that sometimes remind you why you love tennis. Consider 5-foot-7 Dudi Sela from Israel had never won a match at Wimbledon, but now finds himself in the fourth round after beating T-Rob. He now will take on the Djoker, who played his best match yet against Fish. 

Two other good stories, both American, and both small as well, Jesse “the Lil Scrapper”"Levine and Melanie Oudin. Both have won five matches to get to the third round, three in the qualies and two in the main draw. Melanie has a tough ask today in play Double J, but you never know with the way Double J has been playing. And Jesse plays the physical Stan “the man”Wawrinka. I have a small hunch that the Scrapper dream will live on. I wouldn’t bet the house on it but I think he has a real shot.

Serena Williams continued her easy assault on the first week and it seems like each day the sisters play they want to one up each other. 

Popcorn match of the day on the ladies side, Sam Stosur and Ana Ivanovic. Everything indicates that Stosur should win, considering her excellent form coming into the event and a taylor made game for grass, but I just somehow see Ana prevailing.

What an end of the day match between Marin Cilic and Tommy Haas! It was an absolute privilege to call it from behind the booth. They were out there fourhours battling until 9:30 yesterday night. There was so much drama and several ebbs and flows with both men saving two match points before play was suspended at 6-all in the fifth.

As a player, you don’t have the full Wimbledon experience until you have to sleep on a match that has been suspended. They key is to come out guns blazing the next day because if you’re not ready to go one slight lapse and the match is over. I think that the veteran Tommy Haas, who looked to be on the canvas when Cilic got up an early break in the fifth and then served for it at 5-4, will find a way to win and use this as springboard for a deep run into the second week.

What a surprising result as Maria Sharapova, “Shaza” as they like to call her over here, had a 2-0 record against Dulko losing only three games in those two matches. But players are coming onto the court with a different attitude against Maria. Dulko completely outplayed Maria for a set and a half before Maria turned the second set around.

I was thinking that Maria would blow through the third set like when she was at the top of her game, but that is not the case at the moment.  Inexplicably Maria made a lot of unforced errors and really struggled with her movement, which led to a 6-4 in the third upset which almost no one predicted.

On Thursday, another major shock and the first real big upset on the men’s side, as Lleyton “Rusty” Hewitt straight sets the big Argie Juan Martin del Potro. Iit was the first time that Lleyton had beaten a top 10 player at a major since the Aussie Open in ‘05.

I think we are headed for a Roddick-Hewitt showdown in the quarters at the top of the draw.

Both Williams sisters are looking really good so far, maybe too good.  Sometimes we are used to seeing Venus and Serena struggling early before getting into second week form, but right now I think they are already in second week form.

A match that I’m looking forward to is the Djoker vs. Mardy Fish.  Djoker is 2-0 against the Fisherman, but you get a feeling that if Mardy is ever going to get a win against Novak it is going to be on the grass which suits his game very well. Mardy will be looking to make the second week here for the first time.

 One upset I see for sure happening, Dr. Ivo, who hadn’t won a round at Wimbledon since 2004, I see taking out the talented Frenchman Jo-Willy Tsonga in four sets.  I always seem to say it, but no one wants to play Dr. Ivo.

And lastly, the weatherman finally says we could have some rain for Friday or Saturday, so we could see the roof closed and I am anxious to see what the court plays like indoors.

What an unbelievable showing yesterday by 29-year-old journeyman Robby Kendrick. I gave him zero chance to win a set against Murray, but Kendrick acquitted himself extremeley well in a very tight four-set match that featured incredible shot making by both players. Robby must have dove about 10 times during the match, and a couple of them resulted in immaculate shots. It was easily the most entertaining match so far.

Murray will be happy to advance, and now faces the streaky Latvian Ernests Gulbis in the second round. Jesse “The Little Scrapper” Levine comes up with the win of his life, taking out Marat Safin in his last Wimbledon, and now has a great opportunity to advance to the third round as he takes on qualifier Pablo Cuevas.

Andy Roddick also won in a four-set match as he beat the talented Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. But other than Roddick and Levine it was a miserable day for the American men.

Del Po looked exceptionally good and he sets up an explosive secound-round encounter with past champion Lleyton Hewitt. 

Venus Williams had a walk in the park, as usual, and has now won an amazing 25 sets in a row at Wimby, she is really in her element in the comfy confines of center court. Ana Ivanovic survives two match points to come off the deck and beat Lucie Hradecka, maybe this is the kind of match that can give the struggling Ivanovic some confidence. 

 The two must see matches of today both feature Americans, as Mardy Fish takes on the dangerous Janko Tipsarevic, the man who took out Andy Roddick here last year.

The other match is between Sam Querrey vs. Marin Cilic — there should be some big serving in that matchup, but I think the Croat will advance in four tough sets. I had to do a double take at the schedule when I saw the that the match would be played on Centre Court, but it should be fun nonetheless and I will be calling the match later today.

Very interesting first day at the big W, as I have never seen so many players slipping and sliding on the show courts.  Maria Sharapova took a couple of big tumbles but got off the canvas to win in straight sets.

Club Fed made a huge fashion statement with his army fatigue jacket and dinner vest, not so sure about the vest, but his game looked awfully sharp for Day 1 as he straight setted Lu.

The Djoker was incredibly tested in a rough 4 set battle with Benneteau, but I have never seen a player go down as much as the Frenchman did.  Maybe the reason, the outside courts are practiced on from Wednesday to Saturday, but not the show courts, so maybe that’s why they are so slippery.

Very good start for Serena, as she moved comfortably to the second round. Major disappointment for James Blake as he went down to the Italian veteran Andreas Seppi, especially considering he made the finals of Queen’s Club just nine days ago. Blake has now lost 9 straight sets in majors, and drops to 7 and 7 for his career at Wimbledon.

British phenom 15 year old Laura Robson, the reining Wimbledon junior champion and British hope on the women’s side, went down in a tough 3 setter to the Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova.

On the other hand,youngster Michelle Larcher de Brito won very easily and surprised everybody by not screaming yesterday, but later said “Wait until I have a tough match.” I am predicting in her first Wimbledon she will make it to the second week.

Today both the Andy’s hit the center court, look for Murray mania to put a woodshed beating on Kendrick.  However, I think Roddick will be tested by the flashy Frenchman Chardy, who won junior Wimbledon four years ago.

And Venus Williams will open up the center court today for the 5th time in her career, prediction — pain, should be an easy win against Voegel of Switzerland.

Match of the day:  my son’s former roommate at Bollettieri’s , Jesse “Little Scrapper” Levine, playing against Marat Safin in his final Wimbledon.

Our esteemed colleague Lord Drysdale had some serious pull to get us on the courts for our ESPN technically speaking spots. What’s amazing about it is nobody gets to hit on the courts on Sunday.  It was actually the first time that I hit on a match court for quite a while. I hit with killer Cahill for about 20 minutes and what I Iearned is that when you rally down the middle the courts play slow. But they don’t play slow on the serve and return, off of the serve the ball still skids, makes it difficult to return. And if the server hits his spot the ball really runs away from you. 
 
Now that they have the roof the weather is supposed to be sunny with record high temperatures, potentially high 80s to low 90s, you had to figure that would happen. The warm weather really make the courts play quite a bit quicker.

Club Fed opens up today at 1 in place of Rafa, and should put a serious beat down on Lu. One player that nobody has been talking about is the Djoker, he needs to step up here. Last year he came in from a long clay court season and had a very disappointing loss in the second round to Safin. This year he comes in on an early loss at the French Open, and has had much more time for grass preparation with his final showing at Halle.

Serena and Sharapova hit the courts today on the ladies side, look for them to send an early message to the field. A lot of eyes and ears will be on the loudest screamer ever — young Portuguese Michelle Larcher De Brito — as a lot of people are talking about the grunting and screaming being a hindrance, and are looking for a potential rule change, but I would like to see her win a few matches to see what they do.

 There are 21 Americans in the field — 7 women and 14 men — the most men since 1998, hopefully a couple of them will make deep runs. Props to Taylor Dent for qualifying after a 3 year absence on the tour with numerous back surgeries.

Let the Fortnight Begin!

What an amazing buzz kill. For only the second time in the last 35 years the previous Wimbledon men’s champion, Rafa Nadal, won’t be able to defend his title. He probably had to make the toughest decision of his career. His ailing knees made him pull out of the event.  Hopefully this injury won’t linger until the U.S. hard court season. 

Here’s how it affects the draw: fifth-ranked Argentine Juan Martin del Potro moves  into the top-seeded spot, which is kind of odd. Andy Murray, who is seeded third and is in the top half of the draw, stands to gain the most from Nadal’s misfortune, and also Andy Roddick, who was in the same quarter as Rafa has to like his chances a heck of a lot more. 

On the bottom half of the draw, both Fed and Djokovic seem to have very comfortable positions and Fed will open tomorrow against Lu, in Rafa’s absence. Keep an eye out for 31-year-old veteran Tommy Haas, as he seems to be regaining some vintage form, beating Djokovic to win Halle last Sunday.

In the women’s draw the first thing I look for is to see if the Williams sisters are in the same or opposite sides of the draw, and this time they are on opposite halves. Once the Williams sisters  know they can’t play each other until the finals, it gives them a little more pep in their step, and I think the other girls feel it a little too.

The most loaded quarter is the last one, with Serena, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova and Nadia Petrova all bunched together.  Safina and Kuzy look to t0 be on a potential quarterfinal clash in the top quarter and Venus Williams’, also in the top half, should be in great shape to contend for her sixth title. 

View from the practice courts:  watched a ton of practice the last couple days. Never seen Fed look so relaxed, he didn’t even break a sweat, the weight is definitely off his shoulders after his huge French Open win.

Andy Roddick seemed to have no problem with the troubled ankle that he hurt at Queens, it looked to be 100% healed and Andy is moving fine. 

Venus Williams seems to be a different player on the grass then any other surface, her forehand is so much better here then at the other Slams.

The courts seem to be playing even slower then any time that I can remember, they are like a slow hard court. Went and sat out on the new Court 2, it might be the best new venue in all of tennis. A gem sunk 15 meters into the ground, that  seats about 4,500, there is not a bad seat in the joint.

T minus one day and the real hype around Wimbledon village, Murray Mania, is about to grip hold of the event. The British really feel that their long title drought could come to an end. It would be a dream final for Fed to go for career number 15, and Murray attempting to capture his first.

The Wimbledon seeds are out.  I am not surprised in the least that Rafael Nadal is at the top spot as the No. 1 seed.  Very little was done in the changing of the men’s seeds.  Verdasco moves from 8 to 7, Safin moves up to 15 and Dr. Ivo from 31 to 23. 

Pretty much, it looks like they kept to the rankings. I think they could have done a bit more, but regardless, everyone’s placement seems to reflect their current rankings. 

 On the other hand, I was pretty shocked to see Dinara Safina, even though she is ranked No. 1 in the world, to be placed as the No. 1 seed.  She has never done that well at Wimbledon and Venus Williams, the two time defending champion and five-time Wimbledon winner, stays at No. 3?  I would have put the Williams Sisters at 1 and 2 with Safina at No. 3, but they didn’t ask me. 

The women completely followed the rankings, except for one very interesting case.  Maria Sharapova, No. 59 in the world, took a big leap up to the No. 24 seed.  If they were going to move her up like they did, why not go all the way to the top ten?  She’s clearly better than the 24th seed spot. 

I know there’s a formula for the men’s seeds.  For example,  if you’re outside the seedings no matter what on the men’s side, you cannot be seeded.  This is not the case on the women’s side.

Let’s talk grunting.  Big props to Martina Navratilova for starting the ball rolling at her ITF Achievement Awards speech.  She personifies professionalism and you never heard any of the greats during her era make one grunt.  It’s going to be very tough to implement a grunting rule for players that have been doing it a long time.  I think starting the rule at the junior level might help, but I still don’t think the grunts are good for the game.  It’s not good for TV, it’s not good for the fans, nobody likes it, except the grunters. 

 A simple warning, for the first loud one and point penalty there after will get the grunting to stop.  It’s too much, stop the grunts and get on with the game.

Crossing the pond tomorrow morning, draw comes out Friday for much better analysis.  I still think it’s a 3 horse race in the end: Federer, Nadal and Murray.  But let’s wait until we see the draw and hope it’s interesting.  Most importantly, let’s hope for some good weather: maybe the new roof will change the forecast.

It’s a week after the French — that puts us 7 days away from Wimbledon. I’ve always thought that 14 days between two major Grand Slams is way too fast. Everyone thinks one week more would be sufficient. I’m partial to an additional two weeks, giving the players a 4 week transition from clay to grass. This would make for a much better grass court season.

Wishful thinking I’m sure for this ever to happen, but a guy can dream. Murray mania has officially hit Britain with Andy’s convincing win at Queens. This is a job well done, making him the first British player since Bunny Austin in 1938 to win the event. Can you say Cheerio?

I think he’s at a good place mentally to handle all the hype thatwill surround him. The British drought had always put an unfair pressure on the past Brits, but they’ve got a real good shot at having a winner and they might as well enjoy the ride. Roger Federer made an incredibly smart decision to pull out of Halle for some much needed R & R. Roger says he comes into London as the favorite, he likes being the favorite, who doesn’t. I’m sure he has his eye on
No. 15. Sorry Pete.

A big major concern for Nadal’s knees. He pulled out of Queens and arrives this week to test the wheels. The grass can be rough on the body and you need all your faculties to get through the fortnight.

As soon as the William sisters arrive in London, especially Venus, love is in the air. They love playing Wimbledon and it shows.

The first thing that I look for on the sisters as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, I’ve said it before, but they love to play opposite sides of the draw. They want to meet in the final. I think after Kuzy’s win at the French, she will come to Wimbledon unbelievably relaxed.

I put Svetlana as my third favorite to win the event. As always, keep an eye on the weather — at least on the outside courts. Really looking forward to the new roof on Centre Court, hallelujah. If you ever plan on coming to the event, come early, the qualies make for a great show and it’s free. Lots of action, and you can see the future.