Hard Courts

Rafael Nadal criticized the ATP on Thursday for promoting a court surface he said was the toughest on the players' bodies. The Spaniard said the sport's governing body was not paying enough attention to the effect of hard courts on injuries.

The top management of the ATP are always thinking about playing more tournaments on this kind of surface. It's not good because if you look at the locker room and the trainers' room, everybody has problems. It's the hardest surface on the body for sure. Not everyone has the same injury but a lot of players have problems in the knees and feet. Everybody is taped up. Five of the nine Masters Series are hard court tournaments and so are two of the four Grand Slams, although Grand Slams are not part of the ATP Tour. Of the 52 tournaments below Masters Series status, 26 are on hard courts (eight indoors) but players usually feel they cannot afford to miss them as they build up to playing in the bigger events on the surface.

Get A Real Job

I feel the need to address this issue. I did go to law school for a year before realizing that I didnt agree with any of it, but it was there that I was taught what an issue is. An issue is more or less a question. The second step after an issue is to apply a rule. Once the rule is applied it is necessary to apply the analysis and then draw a conclusion. It simple terms or laymans terms...we must locate an issue, apply the rule, make an analysis of applying the rule to the facts and the issue, then come to a conclusion.

Issue - Rule - Analysis - Conclusion

I have been in the tennis industry also known as the "service industry" for long enough now to have heard it all. Over and over again I am asked these infamous words...when are you going to get a real job? This makes me laugh and sad at the same time because my first thought is...is this a fake job? My father did work for 25 years in a 9-5 job in a shirt and tie. He coached all of my sports teams and made a lot of money. Is that a real job? I dont know, but that is what they say is. I have read about billionaires who have never attended a business meeting in anything more than jeans and a t-shirt so is it about the clothes or not? Maybe its the shoes...Anywho, I have been asked this plenty of times and one time it got to me. Well let me rephrase that, it always gets to me. I thought, damn I should get a real job so one time I went on 7 interviews with a major financial company. These people were fat, overpaid, boring, no personality and lame. I tried desperately to gel with these people but I dont think its in my cards. Here we go...The issue is whether or not a tennis pro is a real job. What is the rule? Im not really sure what the rule is for this one and I dont really care. I guess it just comes down to the money game. What I do know is that I love what I do and it is called a passion. People have jobs they hate all the time and do it to conform to society. Maybe one day that will be true for me but I dont think so. So for all those people who say get a real job...well *&^*&%& you!

Macau

Roger and Bjorn plan to team up for a special doubles event in November, possibly against the men who ended their famous Wimbledon streaks. They will face McEnroe and either Rafa or Blake at the Venetian Macau Tennis Showdown on November 20th in a Tour of Champions Event. Roger and Bjorn each won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles. Nadal ended Feds run this month and McEnroe snapped Borg's in 1981. McEnroe's partner will come from the country that loses the Davis Cup semifinal between US and Spain in September. The showdown will start with a one set match between Borg and McEnroe, followed by a best of three set between Fed and Nadal or Blake. The two set doubles match will be decided by a 10 point tie break if necessary.

Gator Bait

Not completely tennis related but The University of Florida has been named the No. 1 party school in the nation. The rankings come out each year from the Princeton Review and this is the first time the state's flagship university has been named in the top spot. The Gators came close in 1999 when the school was No. 2 and 1998, when it was third. It was fourth last year.Florida also came in first this year in the categories of students who study the least and students who pack the stadiums.

The only other Florida school making the list was Florida State, which ranked 10th.The rankings come from the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review's annual college guide, "The Best 368 Colleges," which goes on sale Tuesday.

Canadian Bacon

Nadal continues to close the gap on number one in the world. Nadal won the French, Queens, Wimbledon, and now Toronto. Can you remember the last time Rafa has lost a match? He has won 29 consecutive matches this year. Nadal is within 300 points of owning the number one spot over Roger Federer who bombed in the first round in Toronto. He continues to bridge the gap and I predict he will end the year as number one. Nadal continues to break record after record and Federer appears to only remain an obstacle in his way rather than a genuine threat.

Federer has held the top spot for more than four years and could be dethroned should he lose his opening match in Cincy and Nadal wins another one (he has won his last 5 tournaments). The big question is whether or not Roger will win another Grand Slam. I am going to go out on a limb and make this ridiculisly bold prediction and say no. I don't see it. I hope he does because he I think he is a good guy and have attended a press conference with him and met him and he is a really intelligent and nice guy but I am going to question how much he wants it. I dont think he wants it anymore. I think that he has made a lot of money already at 40 plus million not including endorsement deals and is within range to knockout Pete Sampras as the record holder at 12 to Pete's 14 but I think he is going to struggle from now on. His bullseye on his back has gotten bigger because it is a career highlight to play Roger much less beat him. He is in a vulnerable part of his career where he has become a just a regular player and is being beaten on a regular basis. I believe Nadal is going to take over his roll and win the big ones along with Novak and some other new guys (hopefully americans) will start to make names for themselves. I am getting tired of Blake and Roddick not getting the job done and not closing and question if they even want to be number one or are they just "comfortable" being in the top 10 making good money and not dealing with that number one stress. It disappoints me that an American has not won a Slam since '03 and it puts that fire in my belly to start playing again because I would want it, so yes, I am questioning and challenging all Americans to step up because I am sick and tired of all these championships going to the foriegners.

The Players Club

This past week has been fascinating to say the least. I have not travelled out of the State of Florida since last August when I represented Tennis Life Magazine at the Cincinnati Masters Series. First we flew into Logan Airport in Boston only to travel directly to Cape Cod. There I was able to spend a lot of time reading Pete Sampras' new book which is great so far. It is a very detailed account of his career and also. For the most part we did a whole lot of stress free activities in the Cape. All was great except for when we attended a fair/carnival and I attempted to climb the rock wall and win $100. This is quite an easy task for someone of my athletic build, strength and experience except that my left shoulder gave out 2/3 to 3/4 of the way to the top and proceeded to dislocate itself (I am still suffering in agony and pain to this day). It was kind of funny because the kid running the booth kept asking if I was going to sue him. Now that I think about it I just might. Then the next day at lunch the waitress spilled an entire drink all over my shorts so to say the least, it really has not been my week.

On the bright side Cape Cod is not too far from Newport, Rhode Island, which happens to be a really cool city that I really enjoyed and would even consider summering there sometime in the future. It looked like a spot for the "rich and the famous" with antique cars, huge mansions, great mom and pop shopping, ferraris, lamborghinis and yachts all around. Also, in Newport there is the International Tennis Hall of Fame which has more tennis information crammed into a small area than I have ever seen. The museum is not that big and I wish it could have been spread out over some more real estate or more rooms. There was also a detailed account of Mark McCormack (IMG) 2008 HOF inductee, and how he influenced tennis and the fame and money of where it is shaped today. Even so it was like a small peice of heaven to me and I only wish I could have had more time to read and watch the old school footage (i.e. Jimmy Connors) there, because it is difficult to find classic matches. It is highly recommended to visit for any tennis fanatic or anyone avid fan or anyone in the business. The museum was an old-time casino back in the late 1800's so it has some beautiful architecture. I only wish that they kept a part of the casino because some gambling would have been fun also. One fun fact is that Newport hosted the "Championships" from 1881 to 1915. The tournament moved to Forest Hills, NY and was renamed the US Open, which is now located in Flushing, NY. Did you know that? How did they ever let that go?? The majority of the courts at the facility are grass and really well kept with some red clay courts and a few hard indoor courts. There is also another kind of hard indoor played with wooden racquets in the "players club" called "royal tennis" with four walls and harder balls which was really interesting to view and it is nothing like racqetball or squash and is played with a net in he middle.

The whole experience was amazing. There was a junior tournament on the grass courts which we were able to watch and it was entertaining to watch the kids misjudge the balls because the ball would just die on the grass if it was not hit hard enough, and there was a lot of that going on. It was my first time seeing grass courts LIVE but I believe there are some in Ponte Vedra, Florida at the ATP which is close to home. Unfortunately there was a pro tournament in Newport, RI that happened just a couple weeks earlier that was won by Fabrice Santoro in singles and Americans Mardy Fish and John Isner in doubles which we missed but would have been a pleasure to watch.

Great White Shark

Chris Evert revealed that she and Greg Norman tried to fight their desire for each other and went under counseling with their longtime spouses (not eachother). This was in an effort to overcome their mutual attraction. Both of their marriages failed and they were wed last month in the Bahamas in a wedding that cost around 2 million bucks. The two publicly admitted an illicit romantic relationship while they were still with their spouses.

Playboy Athletics

Ashley Harkleroad, 23, is currently ranked 61 (career high 39) in the world and has never advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam event. Ho do we interpret that...? It means that unless you are a serious tennis fan or in the circle of tennis you've probably never heard of her. At 5'5, 120lbs and she is not ugly. Harkleroad is on the cover of this month's issue of Playboy. She probably has a few new tennis fans and secret admirers as of today. She has a pretty sweet athletic body.

I do recall after her first round loss to Serena Williams at the French during her press conference she announced that she would be in Playboy in August. I did get a little excited, I get excited when tennis players do anything that is out of the ordinary because the publicity is great for us. Correct me if I am wrong but I think she is the only tennis player to pose for Playboy ever!! I will be sure to pick up an issue at my earliest convenience!!

Tennis Numbers

There are 2 million people that play tennis in Florida.

There are 18.2 million people in the State of Florida.

USTA Florida is located in Daytona Beach, Florida. The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States. The USTA was previously known as the United States National Lawn Tennis Association and was established in 1881. The USTA was established by a small group of tennis club members in NYC. USTA was organized to create rules and regulations and develop growth of tennis in the USA. The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center hosts the US Open.

The USTA consists of 17 geographical sections with more than 665,000 individual members.

Jane Grimes is the current USTA President.

USTA Florida Executive Director is Doug Booth.

Play Tennis Florida is the only Florida tennis publication delivered in-home monthly to the 50,000+ USTA Florida members, country clubs, tennis facilities, organizations and businesses.

World Team Tennis

Started in 1985, the WTT Recreational League program features year-round leagues that have provided playing opportunities for more than 490,000 tennis players of all ages and abilities across the United States. WTT Recreational Leagues run year-round at public parks, tennis clubs, schools, college campuses, military bases, corporations, camps, residential communities and tennis facilities in more than 1,000 U.S. cities. The format features co-ed teams competing in six sets - men's and women's doubles, men's and women's singles and mixed doubles. The unique WTT format, which is also played in the Professional League, includes no-ad scoring, substitution and coaching. .Players have an opportunity to qualify for WTT National Qualifiers and the National Championship. Participants also receive the Point of Contact newsletter along with discounted tickets to professional tennis tournaments, movies and much more through the WTT Membership Program. www.wtt.com

World Famous

Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center

Did you know the Chinese Government is enforcing the rule of taking dog off the menu during the Olympics? They are leaving cat and rabbit on it though just in case you are in town and are interested.

In the Olympics men and women compete in singles and doubles. There are no mixed doubles although there was mixed doubles from 1900-1924.

John Boland (IRE) travelled to Athens for the first Olympics in 1896 as a spectator. He returned with a gold medal in tennis. Times have changed and world famous players who are filthy rich play in these Games. They will bunk in the Olympic Village and compete for nothing but medals.

Tennis was dropped from the Olympics after 1924 over issues of where to draw the line between amateurs and professionals and didn't return until 1988. Can you believe that??? The schedule runs from August 10th - August 18th. The majority of the top 20 on the men's and women's sides will be in the Games.

Who do you think will win Beijing 2008?

Weapon of Choice

Top 5 Racquets Spotted on the courts and in the pros hands...

1. KPro Open Racquets Wilson K Factor

2. Head Microgel Extreme Racquet

3. Head Microgel Prestige Racquet

4. Babolat AeroPro Drive Cortex Racquets

5. Head Microgel Radical Pro Racquets

Honorary Mentions...

1. Wilson K Factor KSix-One Tour 90 Racquets

2. Wilson K Factor KBlade 98 Racquets

3. Babolat Pure Drive Standard Cortex Racquets

"a professional never blames his tools" afs

What is your weapon of choice?

Key Club Staff

1. Hire Qualified Tennis Pros

A. Certification Preferred (USPTR/USPTA). I believe certification should be a requirement but I understand that there are some pros out there who have social skills that allow them to be great coaches without being certified. I encourage these pros to get certified as well in order to be better safe than sorry.

B. H.S. Coaching Experience A Plus. This proves that a pro has experience with coaching and running a program including, scheduling, parents, fees, bosses, and so many other things that its incredible. A H.S. tennis coach is like a teacher. They are usually underpaid and need to work too hard to get things done and put in more hours in off the court than they do on the court. It can be a thankless job unless there are wins involved but much respect needs to go out to them.

C. Age Appropriate (Age Before Beauty). This is where it gets tricky. You go out there and if you do a little research on your children's pros some of them are 16-17 years old and should probably be in the tennis camp rather than working the camp. They are usually being paid 8-9 bucks an hour and it is a way for the club to make a couple extra cheap bucks when the fact is the children on that court are getting the least amount of coaching and if I were a parent I would be outraged. You might as well hire a babysitter and pay the kid to watch them watch a movie. It does not make sense for American tennis and it also forces out good pros, so lets not do that.

2. Head Pro Qualifications

A. Friendly to Campers and Pros. Head pros need to be friendly, smiling, positive and so on. I have seen plenty of head pros who look miserable and unfriendly out there. I have worked with some of them and it makes me sad when your so called boss doesnt even say hello to you. Being in the business so long I have made it a point to say hello first and be courteous. Some of the head pros get thrusted into this position and dont really deserve it. So the kids get caught up with these pros who really shouldnt be there. Its like having a celebrity who is depressed or doesnt want to be famous.

B. Certification Requirements are importance. A head pro should be required to attain and maintain better certifications than the other pros. USPTR and USPTA are a must and within those certifications rankings and status' and this needs to be attained because education and knowledge is power.

C. Acts as if...Most pros don't act as if. When necessary act as if you own the club. If you are a pro act as if you are a head pro. Sometimes regular pros act like owners and owners act like pros. This will help work your way up the tennis pro totem pole.

3. Be Overstaffed

A. Tennis is a business, but your kids won't return if their favorite pros don't return. You may not see it or hear about it but that is probably the reason your numbers may be dwindling. It is better to be overstaffed and have roaming pros than to have 7-8 kids to a court. By being overstaffed you improve the quality of coaching because the coaches will want it more and will earn it. We are here to improve American Tennis, at least we hope so. If this is not your passion and this is just a business to you then get into a new business like sharpening tools or selling mattresses. When there are fewer kids on a court (i.e. group of 5) we maximize the amount of balls being hit and the quality of coaching.

B. Two pros to a court is a great idea. I work at a facility who regularly has one pro feeding and the other coaching. This is genius because 4 eyes are better than 2. Two brains are better than one. This will maximize the coaching per court and truly improve American tennis. I gaurantee this is why those clubs produce better players, the players that win tournaments unexpectedly.

Doubles Instruction

1. Find the right partner.

2. Don't look back.

3. Watch your net opponent.

4. Control the net.

5. Be chatty

A Champion's Mind

New book on the market. Pete Bodo and Pete Sampras' "A Champion's Mind" I read some excerpts of the book and some of his interviews and it sounded down to earth. I actually got to speak with Pete Bodo several times while he was writing this book over the last year and a half while he was in Cape Cod and it sounded hilarious. Looking forward to reading it at my earliest convenience.

Slam Trivia

What is the name of this stadium?
C. Arthur Ashe Stadium

Arthur Ashe Stadium is located in Flushing Meadows Park. It is the main tennis stadium of the US Open. The last of each year's four Grand Slam tournaments. It is located at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, Queens, New York. The stadium was named after African American tennis player, Arthur Ashe, who won the inaugural US Open in which professionals could compete in 1968.

Opening in 1997, Arthur Ashe Stadium replaced Louis Armstrong Stadium as the main stadium. The stadium cost 254 million to construct, features 22,547 individual seats, 90 luxury suites, five restaurants and a two level players' lounge. This makes it by far the LARGEST OUTDOOR TENNIS-ONLY VENUE IN THE WORLD. The Stadium like the other 32 courts in the facility, has DECOTURF cushioned ACRYLIC surface.

The stadium will be hosting the first ever regular season professional basketball game to be played outdoors on July 19, 2008.

Sports Roadtrip

"THE GREATEST ROADTRIP IN SPORTS"

The US Open Series features the world's top pros in a city-to-city chase that takes them across North America through 10 tournaments, nine cities, two countries, and six weeks, ending at the US Open.

WEEK 1
Indianapolis July 14-20 525K Men
Stanford July 14-20 600K Women

WEEK 2
Toronto July 19-28 2.45M Men
Carson, CA July 21-28 600K Women

WEEK 3
Cincinnati July 28-8/3 2.45M Men
Montreal July26-8/3 2.45M Women

WEEK 4
Los Angelas August 4-10 525K Men

WEEK 5
Washington, DC August 11-17 600K Men

WEEK 6
New Haven CT August 15-23 1.25M Men
New York, NY August 19-9/7 7.95M M/W

U.S. Open Trivia

What is the name of this stadium?

A. Louis Armstrong Stadium

B. Grandstand Stadium

C. Arthur Ashe Stadium

D. Billie Jean King Stadium

Trivia Answer

What is the nickname of the No. 2 Court at Wimbledon?

D. Graveyard of Champions

The third-largest court, No. 2 Court, has been dubbed the "Graveyard of Champions" due to its reputation as the court on which many seeded players have been eliminated during the early rounds. Famous players who have lost here during early round play include Joe Creedon, Ilie Nastase, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams. The court has a capacity of about 3,000. A brand new 4,000 capacity No. 2 Court has been built on the original site of the Virginia Creeper Memorial. To obtain planning permission the playing surface is around 3.5m below ground level, ensuring that the single storey structure is only about 3.5m above ground level, and thus not impacting local views. It will open in time for the 2009 Championships. Plans to build on the current site of Court 13 were dismissed due to the high capacity of games that will be played at the 2012 Olympic Games.

New Skool vs Old Skool

What a match! Best match I have ever watched. Woke up and was able to watch it until dinner time. It can't get better than that. How did Fed drop the first two sets? I understand him dropping the first set. He had one bad serve game that allowed Rafa to take the first set 6-4. Did Roger not realize he was up 4-1 in the second set? He ended up losing that set 6-4. Talk about the Fed choking. He dropped 5 games in a row. Finally after that the rain delay knocked a little bit of sense into him. Fed remembered that Rafa can't win a tiebreak EVER. All Fed had to do was hold serve and take him to a tiebreak. Fed is unstoppable in tiebreaks. That is why he won sets three and four 7-6, 7-6. Then the inevitable happened. A tiebreak cannot be played in the 5th set at Wimbledon or else it would have been a different story, so Fed must have known he was screwed. He chokes on break points like he was paid to do it. I'm afraid to even check the stats on that one. We all know that Fed probably was not going to EVER break Rafa, and couldn't. Fed actually looked tired late in the 5th. He was dumping forehands into the net the WHOLE match along with cake volleys but moreso on the easy forehands, it was just sloppy. Not Federerlike.

Next time I am at tennis camp and someone hits an easy forehand into the net I am going to call it a "Federer." Fed lost and he is no longer the best in the world. He may still be ranked number one, but us tennis experts know the truth and Rafa will take over the number one spot sooner than later and is now the best. It was a battle of old school verse new school. Youth verse experience. Rafa is the first to win Wimby and the French back to back since Borg in 1980, and the first spaniard to win since 1966. Impressive kid!

Here is what I really wanted to talk about. I dont think Fed will break Sampras' record. I dont know how he will win another Grand Slam. I think Rafa and Novak are too dangerous in Slams and there is usually another scrub (i.e. Tsonga) that will start eating up all these slams. I just can't see Roger breaking the record of 14 Slams anymore. I don't know which ones he will win. It makes me sad. I was rooting for him the whole match, but it was hard to root for someone who just continuosly dumped forehand after forehand into the net. Congrats Rafa on your first Wimby. Still, after all the trashing I just did on Fed's game it was still the best match I have ever watched. I think that is because Rafa won, or else it just would have been another stat for the Fed.

PS What does ESPN's headline turf lore mean?

Fed Rafa
Aces 25 6

Unforced Errors 52 27

Break Points 1/13 4/13***

Wimbledon 2008

Roger Federer 4 4 7 7 7

Rafael Nadal 6 6 6 6 9W

Wimbledon 2007

Roger Federer 7 4 7 2 6W

Rafael Nadal 6 6 6 6 2
Wimbledon 2006

Roger Federer 6 7 6 6W

Rafael Nadal 0 6 7 3

Club Negotiations

Obviously if you check this site you understand that I am interested in a career in club ownership. This has been on going for a few years now but not as hardcore as the last couple months. I have made an offer to a club in Gainesville, Florida where I worked for a year and a half and it appeared they may have been willing to sell but were not sure. My father and I made the offer and it was rejected by the board of directors all together. It didnt make sense to anyone at least in my circle why the club didnt sell.

Here we are today. New investors, new backers, new legal, and a different club. There are 3 clubs for sale in North Carolina. The asked price run from 750K to a couple million. As of now our finanaces are limiting us to buying a club closer to a half a million so we need to negotiate the current owners down on their asking price if they truly want to sell. We have been dealing with one owner who is clearly, pardon my french....you understand... This guy has been cocky and thinks his club is the best and actually thinks it is worth 750K when it is probably worth 450K. It makes me sad the denial that this man is in beceause it is hindering our negotiating procedure so we have contacted another club that is actually worth 750K. Since we will probably be spending more we might as well get our moneys worth. We are not sure where the rest of the financing will come from just yet, but we have some ideas on other backers.

As of now it is just my friend and myself as the sole owners of the company. I am the expert in understanding how to run a club, people, sales, membership, direct, etc and he is the expert in marketing and has the capital to make a reasonable down payment on the club to get us in the game. We are considering bringing a third partner in, he is a good friend of mine and brings a legal background to our table. He would be able to prepare paperwork and make sure the loose ends are tied up. Besides that I would be handle the club operations and my other partner would be handling membership sales around town (which is how we will make our most money) and I will be at the club running it so there is some value to their membership.

I have also placed an ad in the tennis network that we are in the market for a club in the southeast region of the united states. I hope we dont have to go to Mexico to buy our first club because I hate to say this but I think club owners are sometimes cocky, but that is just part of the game. I cant let that hurt my goal and I need to ignore their cockiness and lack of intelligence and just go in for the kill. We will be visiting these clubs in the next month so hopefully we will close on one of them while we are there. That is the short term goal. :)

Our long term goal is to have seven clubs under our umbrella company in the next eighteen months. I am still considering whether or not to have a third partner. I think we do need one, and I think the legal background will help. I hope he takes the bait and travels with us up to NC to see the clubs. I would like to look back one day years from now to remember this as our first of many trips together before we start jet setting around the US in our own transportation.

PS Congrats to Venus. I did pick her and Roger to repeat and I believe they still will.

your thoughts?

Grumpy Old Women

I have had a couple complaints about sending my articles out to people. I have a limit of 10 people I can send my articles out to every day and I pick and choose very carefully and in my opinion wisely who I send them to. It makes me sad that they want to what they call "unsubscribe" to the site. It leads me to believe that their love and passion for tennis news and information is ill. Sometimes I think people just want attention because maybe they are lonely or dont have anything to say so they would rather say something mean than nice. Its like in tennis. You need to make the first move or your opponent will move on you. So to all of my students out there who do check this site please remember if you dont have anything nice to say dont say it at all, and here are words of wisdom, let it be. Its not a good idea do "shoot" the messenger. I have cut these people from my site and they will be replaced with people who have gratitude and appreciation for the time, effort, and skill involved here.

On a positive note...

Who will win the women's Wimbledon 2008?

All-Williams Final

It is definitely impressive that two sisters have become dominant players in the tennis world. What are the odds? It is a rare thing in sports and needs to be recognized and respected on how impressive this truly is. The best part about this is that they are American. This is their third all-sister Wimbledon final and seventh Grand Slam championship matchup. Defending champion Venus has won this tournament four times now. The numbers are astonishing and I begin to wonder how the other tennis players fit in.

Serena holds and 8-7 career edge over Venus, including 5-1 in Grand Slam finals. Venus is 28, and Serena is 26. Serena and Venus have not dropped a set in 5 matches at Wimbledon this year. One of them is going to drop two sets real soon. Although Serena smoked Zheng, she is the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal. Congrats on representing your country and take pride in that. Richard Williams said he does not plan to watch a single point of the final. Thank goodness!

Who do you think Richard Williams will pick to win?

10is ne1

1. Martina Navratilova won 9 Wimbledon titles from '78-'90
2. Bjorn Borg is the only man to win the French and Wimbledon, '80
3. Federer is the only man at Wimbledon yet to lose a set.
4. Marat Safin is the first Russian man to reach the Wimbledon semis
5. Arnaud Clement is ranked 145th.
6. Marat Safin is ranked 75th.
7. Federer and Ivanovic have entered the Beijing Olympics.
8. Justine Henin isn't completely ruling out a return to tennis.
9. Venus Williams' has won four Wimbledon titles.
10. Wimbledon is played at the All England Club.

your thoughts?

Wimbledon Trivia

What is the nickname of the No. 2 Court at Wimbledon?

A. Winner's Court

B. Court of the Irish

C. No Man's Land

D. Graveyard of Champions

Will.I.Am

The obvious story of Wimbledon is the Williams sisters. The "Sister Act." If these two girls played in only four tournaments all year (i.e. grand slams) they would win or final in most if not all of them. These girls just overpower their opponents. I wonder if they even train because they have so much "other stuff" going on. These girls are just bigger and stronger than most of the field. There are a handful of other rather "large" girls on the WTA such as Lindsay Davenport, Maria Sharapova, Danielle Hantuchova, and others who are literally "larger than life." Serena faces wild card Jie Zheng who has knocked out some big names (Vaidasova, Szavay, Ivanovic, & Cibulkova) while defending champion Venus who has yet to drop a set faces an experienced opponent in Dementieva. I still expect and predict both Williams girls to beatdown on these two to have an all William's sister final.

your thoughts?