If you missed part I, just scroll down a bit to read that. 

- Did you watch the Women’s Semifinals?  I did.  And it was pretty awful.  The Williams-Henin match was bad tennis in terms of technique and the amount of unforced errors, but at least it had some drama.  The Kuznetsova-Chakvatadze match may have been the worst semifinal match I’ve ever witnessed.  They combined for 31 winners and 81 unforced errors, which is staggering.  Here’s the difference between the Men and the Women, after Federer beat Davydenko in their Semi, the early report was that it was an ugly match, and neither played well.  I tend to agree, both players were definitely not 100% there, but they combined for 74 winners and 63 unforced errors, far better quality than the Women. (more…)

Below are the 2007 US Open Seeds (don’t bother clicking on the player links, it won’t do much good): (more…)

I’m on a mini vacation, and there is not too much to report in the way of tennis news, so I’m going to keep this brief to appease my family. Unfortunately the only major story out there is a negative one. A British online gambling company, Betfair, in launching an investigation into why over ten times the typical amount was gambled (according to sources, around 7 million dollars) on a match between Nikolay Davydenko and Martin Arguello. Ten times a normal amount is enough to raise some eyebrows, and considering most of that 7 million was bet on Arguello to win, even though he is ranked 83 spots below Davydenko, tennis could be on the brink of a major scandal. Here is a link with some more detailed information. I’m going to reserve my own comments for this story until next week, when hopefully some more light is shed on the situation. Also next week I’ll be reviewing James Blake’s book “Breaking Back.” Until then, here are some links to keep you entertained.

Five Russian Gals are in the Quarters in San Diego.

Interesting info from Bodo on San Diego

Nice piece on 6′10 John Isner, NCAA champion making waves in Washington, DC.

Let’s add in an interview with Isner as well.

Finally, this has nothing to do with tennis, but is far and away my favorite link of the week.

Also, notice my new blogroll on the right hand side of the page.  If you know of any other blogs that I should add, let me know!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I assure you,  this is the first chance I’ve had since the Fed Cup craziness started.  The last couple weeks have been a total whirlwind, but all went off without a glitch.  We definitely got a little lucky with the rain, as it rained non-stop before and after the event, but not during.  The only thing I would change is the outcome, as the Russians defeated the U.S. 3-2, needing a 7-5, 7-6 victory in the fifth and deciding rubber to secure the tie.  I’d love to comment more on the actual tennis, but I was inside the transportation trailer for pretty much the entire duration of the event (not to mention the week surrounding it), so anything I write would be a blatant lie. (more…)

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.