I barely have time to catch my breath with all that’s going on here with regards to Wimbledon, Fed Cup, and getting ready for the US Open, so I’m just going to post some links with pertinent tennis news.  Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have some time to give some first week thoughts on Wimbledon. 

The US team has been announced for the Fed Cup in Stowe.

Federer won his 50th straight match on grass today.

Meilin Tu wishes she were coming to Stowe.

Take part in ESPN’s live chat with Greg Garber, Bonnie DeSimone & Todd Martin every day at 1 and 4pm.

Nice interview with Serena Williams.

Wimbledon makes list of ESPN Page 2’s top 101 things a sports fan must experience- keep your eye out for a couple of other tennis related items.

FYI, looks like I was off about Davydenko, who beat Korolev and just staged an epic comeback against Guccione.  The 6th seed was down two sets to love, and at 4-4 in the 3rd set tie breaker before storming back to win in five.  Ok, as I said earlier, hopefully I’ll be on with a full Wimbledon report tomorrow.

Draws for Wimbledon are out, so I figured I would go ahead and make a few bold predictions before I head out of the office for the weekend.

- A Roddick vs. Federer final is impossible as they are in the same half.  I think Andy is primed for a big tournament, so he will make it through to the Semi’s, where he will lose to Roger. 

- I’ve predicted good results for James Blake the last few tournaments, and that has backfired.  So I’ll try the whole reverse psychology thing and pick Andreev to beat him in the first round.  Wait, that doesn’t really work.  If I admit to the whole reverse psychology ploy, then its pointless.  I think Blake wins that, then has a pretty decent draw up until the round of 16, where he would potentially face Gonzo, who has looked somewhat vulnerable lately.  The winner will then lose to Federer.

- Nadal has an intriguing draw.  A first round faceoff against an American power player can not put a smile on his face, especially after last year’s near loss to Robert Kendrick.  This year it will be Mardy Fish on the opposite side of the net. This will not be an easy match for Nadal, but ultimately I think he will prevail.  After that, his next two matches should be easier, before a possible round of 16 clash with Youzhny (who defeated Nadal at the US).  Here comes a bold prediction, wait for it…if these two do indeed meet, Youzhny will win.  If Youzhny gets taken out earlier, Nadal will lose in the quarters to Tomas Berdych (who would also beat Youzhny should they meet).

- Speaking of Berdych, who made the 4th round here in 2006, I think this will prove to be his Grand Slam coming out party.  He won the Gerry Weber Open last week in Halle, and seems to be peaking at the right time.  I actually think he has as good a chance as anyone to be the winner of the annual runner up trophy.  I’m predicting a semifinal win over Djokavic in what ultimately be the best match of the tournament.  Two young guns vying to lose in the finals to Federer, can there be better drama?

- So yeah, I think Roger will win Wimbledon, again.  Now, onto the Women’s side.  Actually first I’ll pick one major upset from the first round - Korolev over Davydenko.

- Serena and Justine are in the same quarter unfortunately, but I expect them to meet, and I expect Justine to win (and Serena to take out her frustration on the Russian Fed Cup team a couple weeks later).  Serena will squeak by Hantuchova in the 4th round, and not have enough gas in the tank for Justine.

- Jelena Jankovic will beat Justine in the semis, after cruising through her quarter of the draw.  The match against Justine will be an epic battle, possibly the match of the tournament. 

- On the bottom half of the draw, the seeds will stay somewhat true to form.  I sincerely hope Mauresmo makes it through, but fear she will have her hands full with her round of 16 opponent, Nicole Vaidisova.  Actually, I’ll just go ahead and say it - I see Vaidisova winning, then defeating Ana Ivanovic to move to the semifinals.

- Her opponent in the semis will be Maria Sharapova, whose tennis game only seems to be getting written about in a negative way.  I guess her last four Grand Slam results - semis, winner, runner up, semis - are not enough for all her critics.  Ultimately I think Vaidisova will prevail and advance to her first Grand Slam final.  Wow, it must be Friday afternoon, I just picked two young Czechs to make the finals of Wimbledon.  Did I wake up with my mind in the 80’s?  These guys are good, but Lendl and Navratilova they are not.  Screw it, I’m sticking to my guns.

- Jankovic wins her first title in a route over Vaidisova.  And just in case you didn’t get my point earlier, Federer will win his 5th Wimbledon in a row. 

- On a positive note, ESPN 2 will be broadcasting Wimbledon from 8am-5pm every day next week.  So not only do you get to watch tons of tennis, but you don’t have to listen to me rant about the lack of good tennis coverage again!  Have a good weekend

The seeds for Wimbledon have been set.  Here is a listing, keep in mind that Wimbledon not only takes into account current ranking, but also the last couple years’ of results on grass:

It’s hard to make predictions before the actual draw comes out, but there are a couple of things to note:

- Tomas Berdych, who currently holds the number 11 ranking, is seeded 7th.  This is huge for him, because once he reaches the round of 16, instead of playing someone ranked 1-8, he’ll get someone from the 9-16 range.  The opposite holds true for Tommy Robredo, ranked 7th but seeded 11th will now have to face a top 8 player should he make it to the round of 16.

- Lleyton Hewitt caught himself a pretty large break as well.  Currently ranked 19th, he secured the 16th seed.  He must be excited, because if he was seeded one spot lower he might have faced someone like Roger Federer (or anyone else in the top 16) in the third round, now he will have someone ranked in the 17-32 category.

-The Women’s seeds held a bit truer to their rankings.  Take a look at the top 13 seeds though, there are an amazing 6 Russians amongst them (Sharapova, Kuznetsova, Chakvedatze, Petrova, Dementiava & Safina).  That is staggering.  I guess it would be an understatement to say the Russian Fed Cup team has decent depth.  So here is a prayer than Serena and Venus keep their verbal commitment with regards to playing the Fed Cup tie in Stowe, VT vs. Russia, because otherwise the hometown girls could be in some trouble. 

-Just for kicks, here is my super-early finals prediction: Federer over Roddick (again), and Justine over Serena.  These are subject to extreme change (as it could be these matchups might happen earlier in the tournament depending on the draw).

-One more note.  I watched approximately 3 minutes and 42 seconds of “Age of Love” starring Mark Philippoussis.  Not exactly my cup of tea, to say the least.  But all in all I think its a good thing for tennis.  Tennis is not exactly tearing it up in the TV ratings category, so maybe something like this could help that out.  Who knows, but that thought is a silver lining for me.

Here are some links:

ESPN Page 2 article on “Age of Love”

Coria’s case against drug company has started

Interesting article from Steve Tignor on Andy Roddick

I am going to start this post with the following statement: Rafael Nadal is one of the best, if not the best, clay court players of all time.  Here’s a second statement, very similar with a few key differences, let’s see if you can spot them: Roger Federer is one of the best, if not the best, player of all time.  Change a name, take out a couple of words, and all of a sudden we have to vastly different statements.  The problem is, it’s almost as if people do not wish to acknowledge that these statements are more than opinions, they are indeed, facts. (more…)

The famed Grasscourt Tennis season is upon us, and although it is too short, it will still provide us with some excitement.  Up first are the Gerry Weber Open and the Artois (notice the lack of ‘Stella’) Championships for the Men, and the DFS Classic in Birmingham for the Women.  Most of the top players are competing, with the big story being Federer withdrawing from Halle, citing fatigue.  Whether that fatigue is physical fatigue (he lost only 1 set at the French before losing to Nadal) or mental is something only Roger himself knows.  Although my guess is that it is some sort of combination of both, but the mental fatigue has a little more to do with it.  I think its one thing for random player X to come up short each time against random player Y, but when player X is considered in many circles to be the best player of all time, it has to weigh him down knowing he has come up short on the biggest stages.  But I digress. (more…)