Whilst trying to decide what the main talking point of the day had
been, it occurred to Tramlines that nothing much had changed in the past week.
Sure there was a lot of good tennis on middle Saturday, people's
Saturday, at Wimbledon, but do we know
anything now that we didn't know two days before the tournament started?
Not really, no.
There have been a few upsets along the way, albeit it nothing major,
and most of the top seeds have had to come through one pretty tight match
(against Gilles Muller, Marcos Baghdatis and Ivan Ljubicic respectively). But
really all is as it should be heading into the second week of the year's third
Grand Slam.
In the build-up to the event who would have bet against the top
four men's seeds reaching the semi-finals? Rafael Nadal against Andy Murray and
Novak Djokovic against Roger Federer.
Sure, there were a couple of men who could cause some trouble along
the way - fifth seed Robin Soderli
ng (probably not quite good enough on grass,
his weakest surface, to really be considered a threat), Andy Roddick (probably
not at his best anymore which he would need to be to really be considered a
threat), Juan Martin Del Potro (probably still too fresh on his return from
injury to really be considered a threat), Richard Gasquet (probably slightly
too mentally suspect to really be considered a threat).
Soderling has fallen by the wayside, beaten by Australian youngster
Bernard Tomic after nearly losing to Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt. Roddick
has fallen by the wayside, beaten by tricky Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Del Potro
has reached the fourth round and will face Nadal on Monday. Gasquet has reached
the fourth round and will face Murray
on Monday.
But what's really changed?
Heading into the second week, TL would still put its money on the
top four seeds to reach the semi-finals. Nadal against Murray and Djokovic against
Federer.
Things are also much the same in the women's draw. With no Kim
Clijsters and the Williams sisters both still very early on in their respective
comebacks from injury, there was no obvious favourite to take the title next
weekend.
And once again, nothing has changed after the end of the first
week. Serena and Venus Williams are still loitering dangerously, Serena more so
than Venus probably, but the draw is also still wide open.
Caroline Wozniacki has cruised through so far (although the D
ane's
doubters will no doubt claim that she's done this before only to fall when the
going gets tough in the second week). Victoria Azarenka has also enjoyed a relatively
incident-free first week (despite being pushed to three sets by Daniela
Hantuchova in the third round). And former champion Maria Sharapova is looking
ominously good. It is worth noting though that all three of those women,
alongside Serena, are in the same half of the draw.
And then there are the slightly less well known players such as
last year's beaten semi finalist Petra Kvitova, former beaten finalist Marion
Bartoli and hugely talented German Sabine Lisicki, who seems to be on a roll of
late.
Only two departures from the tournament have been a real shock:
Vera Zvonareva, although she lost to another of last year's semi finalist
Tsvetana Pironkova, and newly crowned French Open champion Li Na, although she
lost to Lisicki in an inspired performance.
Is Tramlines suggesting that we could do away with the first week
of a Grand Slam and just start on the second Monday? Of course not!
But there's no doubting that the tournament proper starts on
Monday.
DISCLAIMER
OF THE DAY:
Tramlines is painfully aware of the fact that it indulg
ed in a
little Aussie bashing on Tuesday after Lleyton Hewitt came heroically close to
beating Robin Soderling only to run out of steam.
And now, two days later, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic, has gained
revenge by dismissing the off-colour fifth seed in straight sets.
It doesn't change the fact that Australian tennis is struggling
though; just like British tennis, just like American tennis.
QUOTE OF THE
DAY:
"A visit to Saatchi Gallery made me ask a few questions. Why
these days we get so overwhelmed by our busy schedules, that we forget to enjoy
what life has to offer us? Dreaming with eyes wide open, staring at the world, seeing
life above worries and struggles, where are they all gone? I find modern art an
adventure of the mind and similar to life! It allows every person to have an
autonomy of perception, judgement and vision" Sorana Cirstea comes over all philosophical on Twitter after using
a day off from doubles action to check out a bit of what London has to offer.
PHOTO OF THE
DAY:
Tramlines can't be sure and Serena, with 13 Grand Slam titles to
her name, probably knows better than us, but surely this isn't the easiest way
to play tennis?
