Here are the seeds. Draw to follow once announced.

2009 Wimbledon Seeds

So with Nadal's loss to Hewitt I see that one of the quick hits on Outsports main page is Nadal in "serious doubt" for Wimbledon. Clearly he's not 100% if he chooses to play but if its that serious he needs to take care of his health and skip it. Shit happens dude. Some are fortunate to rarely be hit by the injury bug whereas others are. It takes so much drama out of the men's side though. I mean who is going to stop Roger on grass especially since Roger finally got the French monkey off his back?

Bleh. Melancholy about this year's Wimbledon going in and this draw scarcely changes the outlook.

The Draw is out.

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html

Should be noted that if Nadal pulls out, there is a reshuffling that works like this:

Nadal's spot goes the the #5 Seed - which is Del Potro. Then the #17 Seed goes into Del Potro's vacated slot, James Blake. The spot vacated by Blake goes to the #33 ranked man, and the spot vacated by #33 goes to the Lucky Loser in the Qualifying.

This is according to Neil Harman of the London Times.

That seems like a totally arbitrary and weird way to reshuffle the draw.

Possible Nadal/Hewitt second round. Mmm....can't wait.

Unfortunately you're gonna have to wait...Nadal is out.

Not so much of a surprise. Best to sit it out if not 100%. Talk about opening up the draw on whoever Nadal's half is. Should we just congratulate Roger on #15 now?

Not so fast. As much as I want #15 for Roger, upsets still happen and I wouldnt want to jinx things for him. I'll just keep my fingers crossed for the fortnight.

Roger is obviously the favorite, but I wouldn't call it a foregone conclusion. For one thing, French Open win or not, his form has been spotty this year. I think a quarterfinal date with Tsonga could be dangerous. Tsonga played pretty well at the French, and grass should be a far better surface for him, though I realize the results don't back me up yet. There is also Murray and his commanding head:head vs Roger, if he can somehow handle the pressure which is already building up to a crazy levels. This is already worse than Henmania and the tournament hasn't even started yet.

Here's a thought: wouldn't it be funny if Soderling followed his 4th round upset of Nadal at the French with a 4th round upset of Federer at Wimbledon? Granted, Roger walloped him in Paris, but Nadal walloped him 6-0, 6-1 two weeks before the French.

I'm gonna guess we won't be seeing Nadal for the rest of the year, based on one phrase from his press conference below:

"I've played with some problems in my knees for a few months but I always felt I'd try and try," added Nadal. "You don't know what your limit is, but I have now reached the limit." Nadal and Murray practise together. But the world number one insisted the tendinitis was not career threatening.

"It's not a chronic problem, I can recover for sure," said Nadal. "I'm going to try very hard to come back and when I come back I'm going to come back with 100% mentality because when I play now, I was thinking more about the knee.

"I'm 23 and I hope to have a long career and come back next year (italics mine) - no one is more disappointed than me and the Wimbledon crowd must understand I tried my best."


Makes sense though - if he does it. I'd said before I remember when Venus developed tendinitis in both of her wrists, and it was bad enough for her to be off the tour for 6 months. But..look how she came back. It's probably in his interest to do just that. No telling how far his ranking will fall, but if he at least starts out healthy, he might not start falling apart physically by midsummer.

NO, THAT WOULD CERTAINLY NOT BE FUNNY!

I read that come back next year as referring simply to coming back to Wimbledon next year. While it's possible he'll be out that long, I wouldn't be particularly surprised to see him playing in two months.

Who knows. I definitely didn't relish the idea of watching an injured Nadal lose to Hewitt. Or Clement, who is capable on grass and went reasonably far last year. Maybe it would be worth relishing if you enjoy his losses.

At this point it's obvious that Nadal will always have limitations, and it's a matter of playing when he can and when he should. Probably easier said than done.

For me the great thing with Rafa is his fight. Regardless of how many more tournaments he wins, he's played and won some of the best matches ever, certainly some of the the best of recent years. In some ways I think his legacy will hang on those kinds of amazing performances.

That's something the strangely timed NY Times piece nailed. No one is like him in that regard.

Grrr. Not funny indeed. And I am waiting for another prescient moment from you Snicks.
I want Roger to win the men's so I don't want to see any bad predictions about that, but the women--
Amelie wins! ?

Just a thought here....Couldn't Nadal have pulled out a lot sooner? That way Federer would have had the top seed spot in the drawer instead of Del Portro, even though, technically, he's the #5 seed.
I don't know, but it just seems a selfish on Rafa's part to me.

Well, first of all, Nadal was seriously considering playing. He played two exhibition matches before deciding to pull out.

Secondly, there is no advantage to having the #1 seed over the #2 seed. Regardless of which one you have, you get a randomly chosen player seeded between 17 and 32, then one between 9 and 16, then one between 5 and 8, and then either #3 or #4.

If Nadal pulls out, Federer is the #1 seed, Murray is on the opposite side of the draw at #2. Djokovic moves up to #3 so he would be in Murray's position at #3. So Fed would still have Djokovic as his seeded semifinal opponent and Murray in the final. The way the draw fell out, it really didn't make any difference.

Thanks for that explanation....I know there never was a huge difference between #1 and 2, but, for some reason, thought that Murray would be at the top of the drawer. Seems weird to have Del Portro there. Plus, I had no idea that nadal had even played since losing in the French. Makes sense now.

Oh dear God! That getup Roger is wearing out onto court...a military-style jacket..he's warming up in a button down vest...his equipment bag has this gold lame trim that Richard Simmons would be embarrassed carrying around.

I LOVE IT!!! The outfit is perfect. Somehow i suspect the gold lame may be ... actual gold.

I think for the next 5 years Roger should do a takeoff on eaxh of the Village People's outfits...an all-white cowboy get up, then a white feather Indian headdress, a white construction helmet with a white tool belt, a white cop uniform, etc.

Agree. It's just not possible for anyone who freely chooses to dress and accessorize like this to father anyone's child. Ever.

http://tennisworld.typepad.com/tennisworld/2009/06/w.html

As long as he wins I really don't care what he is wearing on court.

A very nervous first set from Novak against Bennetteau, but he got his act together to win the next three pretty convincingly. On the plus side, Novak's serving great and that two-hander can be a real weapon on grass because he hits it so flat. On the "needs improvement" side of the ledger, his movement could use some tightening up, he often hits his forehand with way too much loop and topspin (effective on clay and hard, but on grass it gives your opponent all sorts of time and bounces right into his strike zone), and I'd like to see him come in more. But all in all, a good start. Apparently Novak was feeling very mentally fatigued after a long claycourt season and more specifically, after that killer 4-hour Madrid semifinal against Rafa. We all know what a Pyrrhic victory is ... is there such a thing as a Pyrrhic loss?? Not much good about the early RG loss to Kohlschrieber, but at least Novak had plenty of time to recharge.

James Blake craps out of Wimbledon again. He was up 5-0 in the 3rd-set breaker before losing seven points in a row (OUCH!!) to lose the match. James has only beaten one player in the top 50 at Wimbledon, claycourter Mariano Zabaleta, who RETIRED. James has actually had decent results at Queens and Halle. Why does he suck so craptastically at the Big Dub??

Good news for Andy R fans: apparently the ankle feels just fine.

Routine for Rogelio. I like military inspired looks so I was fine with what he wore. Peter Bodo needs to stick to "analyzing" tennis and leave the fashion part out. He wouldn't know fashion if it bit him on the ass. Roger looked fine.

Novak looked beatable to start his Wimbledon conquest, but he gets through JB.

The other JB (Blake) lays another egg at Wimbledon. So disappointing because his game should suit the grass very well. Another early round slam exit. James will love to get to the hard courts. He's half British and has a lot of fans at Wimby so its disappointing he hasn't played better there.

I wonder if Murray is ever going to get over throwing hissy fits during changeovers. When he does it, he almost always loses a set. Otherwise he played well, but Gulbis in the second round could be a partial test. Ernests hasn't strung two good mathches together in literally forever but his straight set win today makes me wonder if he's at least feeling his shots.

Federer's outfit suits him to a T.

Safin flames out to Jesse Levine. Kiss that ranking goodbye, Marat.

On the other hand, it's great to see Juanqui aka the Mosquito having another solid grass season.

Jeremy Chardy is so much more handsome with his hair cut short. I've read that he dealt with a family loss recently and he didn't look happy out there. But he has a good grass game and drawing Roddick in the first round was unfortunate for him.

Good numbers for Del Potro today, but Clement is a ghost of himself. I'm really looking forward to see Juan Martin continue to develop his game. He went into 09 the most improved player on tour (along with Simon) and may be the most improved this year as well.

The outfit looks like a shiek servant. gag. Not elegant at all. Thank God it comes off when he plays!

I heard that this was Safin's last Wimbledon match. Sad. I think he is fun to watch. Both Safin(a)s aren't doing too well....Dinara seems to be headed south.....

The outfit is vainglorious and vulgar. But the tennis has been pretty sublime. Federer is feeling his game. Granted, he's up against mugs and scrubs right now.

Basedon early form, the only player who looks to me like they could even hang with Federer for a long haul is Murray. Murray has more variety, but Federer has more brilliance.

The thing Murray has that can fundamentally rattle Federer is a strong return game. If Federer feels like his serve is vulnerable on grass, things could get tricky.

There is also Haas on Federer's half. Tommy just won Halle and is going for late career glory. But we've seen him hit the wall time and time again against Federer.

Rudy, Novak seems like he's starting to find his game again before hard court season, but his footwork on grass makes me wonder if he could contend against Federer. What do you think?

Granollers might avenge Sweden for Spain and take out Soderling.

Aside from the tacky corporate tags/patches, I like Murray's old school Fred Perry garb a lot and would like it if some pros followed it and began wearing the shorter shorts.

Can someone please tell Brad Gilbert that there's an "R" in "fRustrated"!!?!?!?

Evidently the rumors about Nadal's parents splitting up are true. There's a couple paragraphs of info on it from this article on Federer from June 23:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/ten...icle6558058.ece

The way Novak's playing, he might be able to contend against Federer's grandmother, but the grandson? Not even close. OK, so I'm prone to a bit of exaggeration. Like I said before, there are things I'm liking about Novak's game, but honestly, the way he's playing, he's vulnerable against Mardy Fish in the next round.

Granted, it's the biggest cliche in tennis when players say that they're taking things (wait for it!) "one match at a time." But really, what else are they supposed to say? Go on and on about a projected match in the semis or finals, and then look like the biggest idiot ever to pick up a racket when they lose in the 3rd round?? With my boy Novak, I'm taking things one match at a time. Hopefully he plays better against Mardy than he did in the first two rounds. I'll make predictions about a semi against Federer if and when the time comes.

I'm impressed by both Cilic and Querrey in their five-setter today. Querrey has improved his forehand -- the shot has some serious pop on it. More important, Sam was moving better than I've ever seen. And some of that work with Gil Reyes has paid off because he still looked pretty fresh after 5 sets. The most impressive thing of all in Querrey's losing effort was that he fought all the way through until the end. Part of that is his physical conditioning. But fitness aside, there seemed to be an intensity in Querrey today that often seemed lacking in the past. The most impressive thing about Cilic is that he beat this new and improved Sam Querrey

Well done to Hewitt. Though I won't forget his match against Blake at the USO, I don't hold grudges and he genuinely seems like he's matured over the years. He and Martina were getting along great in an interview going into this match. I've always found his catlike tennis fun to watch and he was great out there today.

Del Potro got a lesson out there. If he's ever to contend on grass, he might do well to stick around and train some more on it. But hard courts (and clay courts?) beckon.

Brad Gilbert must do this stuff on purpose, right? He still pronounces Simon like it's a British man's first name, and he pronounces Simon's opponent's Alves last name like elves with an A.

Wish I'd seen that Cilic-Querrey match. I like seeing tall guys like Cilic and Del Potro create angles as they hit the hell out of the ball. But Cilic is up against it playing Haas in the next round. It might be another version of the grass court schooling that Hewitt gave Del Potro today.

yeah, it's on purpose. he's been corrected many times, but he still does it. apparently he thinks it's hilarious.

Another round...another set lost by Andy R. He just doesn't look to be anything other than his usual decent performance at Wimby. He should do better than last year but I don't see him in the semis.

Pablo Cuevas is really cute! He did really well for a doubles specialist. I was hoping that he would win that match against Levine so that I could see more of him.

Is it me or is Andy Murray......I'm not saying he's cute but he looks much better to me than he did a year or two ago. Seems like his skin looks better and his hair looks better. He's definitely buffed up the body. He just looks better to me. Again, not saying cute.

I agree, he does look much better and he is in good shape. His personal stylist has done a good job.

I always thought Andy Murray was just a hair stylist and cosmetic dentist away from being a good-looking guy. I'm liking the new 'do, but will he ever fix those choppers? Andy M, like Tim Henman before him, can undoubtedly afford to get his teeth fixed, but it just doesn't seem to be a priority for the Brits. But hey, they're his teeth, so why should I care??

Back to the tennis ... Del Potro's loss to Hewitt today reminded me of Novak's loss to Safin last year. Before the match, Del Potro stated publicly that Hewitt was his tennis idol as a youngster, much as Novak idolized Safin as a lad. Between the awe factor and Hewitt's spot-on play, you have yourself the biggest upset so far of the Championships. Even if you erase the incident with James Blake from memory, Lleyton Hewitt was never, as Wertheim puts it, the most cuddly of champions. But the drop in ranking, a few years' maturity, and a couple of kids have mellowed him, and I have to say I'm happy that he was able to come back from hip surgery, something that is normally a death knell for a player's career. With Rafa out and a defeat over the seed who took Rafa's spot in the draw, it is a very kind quarter for Hewitt.

I was really rooting for Jesse Levine today. Come on, the guy is all of 5'9" yet has the cojones to (occasionally) serve and volley. Someone needs to tell Pint-Sized that serve & volley at Wimbledon is so 20th Century.

Stereotypically a British thing.... or should I qualify that and say United Kingdom....

Novak took a huge leap forward with his play today. In his first match, his footing/footwork was pretty bad. It improved some in the 2nd round, and today, it looked like he's been playing on grass his whole life. Novak was in the zone for a set and a half. He went off the boil for the 2nd half of the match, but the bad news for Mardy was that his level of play dropped off far more than Novak's. There were three very interesting stats in this match:
1) Novak won 75% of points on 1st serve, but 77% on 2nd serve
2) Mardy's the one with the the bigger serve, but he said that the unusually heavy balls they use at Wimbledon slowed down his serve a lot. Average serve speed on 1st serve was 117 mph for Mardy, 118 mph for Novak. Average 2nd serve was 92 mph for Mardy, 100 for Novak.
3) Around the middle of the 3rd set, Cahill pointed out that of 67 baseline rally points, Mardy had won only 21 of them, Novak 46.
Cahill admitted that prior to the match, considering Novak's shaky nerves and footwork and Mardy's big serve and consistency in his match against Tipsarevic, he called the match a pick 'em. Gotta admit, I was awfully nervous about this one too, but Novak really stepped it up.

Dudi calls in the next round for Novak. You know the saying: "it's not the size of the dog, it's the size of the fight in the dog"? Well, in tennis, sometimes it is the size of the dog. I love guys like Dudi Sela, Phillip Kohlschrieber, and Jesse Levine (5'7", 5'8", and 5'9" respectively), but they're just at too much of a disadvantage against their taller peers. Jesse Levine has a chance, however slim, against Stan Wawrinka; but it'll take a miracle for Dudi to beat Novak, especially if Novak continues to play like he did today.

I'm bummed that Tsonga lost to the Big Bomber. Maybe the ESPN/Tennis Channel folks find Karlovic's game as unwatchable as I do, because they didn't show any of the match. Next up for Karlovic is everybody's favorite hunk Fernando Verdasco. I'm praying Karlovic doesn't blast out two top 10 seeds in a row.

Wow, isn't Haas having a nice little renaissance? Almost taking out the Fed in Paris, and coming out and playing so well to finish off a very talented Cilic?? Good for him. I don't like his juvenile temper tantrums, but I do like his tennis and the great story of him being the oldest guy left in the draw and playing so well.

While I guess it's understandable that there'd be a lot of Federer-marketing after his 14th slam win, it's really nauseating at this point. I'm not sure which commercial makes me want to puke the most, the trophies-on-the-jet one, or the "nickname" one, where he gushes about his own nicknames. Funny, he doesn't mention Tammy Faye Fedvotna, for some strange reason.

I was so rooting for Jesse Levine. Hope to hear more from him soon, maybe at the US Open. He made Wawrinka work for the win though.

Oh boy....Juanqui's at it again. What is it with him coming into slams sometimes having done nothing of note for months, and suddenly taking out players and moving through the draw?

Grass is Juanqui's best surface at this stage of his career. He did well at Queens also. And in 07 at Wimbledon he was maybe the only player other than Nadal to take a set from Federer (going from memory here).

I think it's a bit like Hewitt -- both hit the ball so cleanly and take it so early. It translates better to grass than the games of the some of the young players.

Gilles vs. Juanqui in the fourth round is so sexy it hurts. Could be a great match too.

Rudy, as you note, Djokovic seems to be playing better. A good omen going into harcourts...or maybe something more?

Sad for Cilic, but pleased for Haas.

hockeytom, I've become a fan of Jesse Levine too. To think, he hadn't won a single tour-level match all year prior to Wimbledon, so qualifying and then winning a couple of rounds at the Big Dub is huge for him. Hopefully he boosts his ranking enough to get a direct entry into the US Open so that he doesn't depend on a wild card or (eek!) have to qualify.

It looked like Tommy Haas has been bashing the ball a lot harder at this Wimbledon, and whaddya know, after apparently months and months of begging, pleading, and even threatening from his fiancee, Tommy finally made the big switch from all gut (how old school) to gut/Luxilon hybrid stringing.

It's doubtful I'll see much more of Phillip Petzschner (lost in straights to Lleyton Hewitt), but WOW, I think he's the best-looking guy on the ATP Tour. Yeah, even handsomer than Fernando.

OK, on to tomorrow's matches ... five of the R16 matches are kinda predictable: I expect Lleyton to keep up his "old guard" form, plus Stepanek suffered a knee injury in his last match. Speaking of the old guard, I expect Tommy to get through over Andreev. Stan Wawrinka matched his best ever Wimbledon performance, but that'll be it against Andy M. Dudi has no chance against Novak (gawd, I hope I don't regret that prediction), and Roger will bitch-slap Soderling outta SW19. Andy R should win over Berdych, but ya just never know with someone of Berdych's talent. Ferrero vs. Simon is a pick 'em despite the difference in ranking. The match that has me the most nervous is Karlovic vs. Verdasco. Apparently Fernando has talked far more with Andre Agassi than I realized, and he'll need every pearl of wisdom from the game's best returner to figure out how to beat Karlovic.

I guess the yoke will now be "No one beats Soderling 12 times?"

Not really that funny a yoke. Especially with a straight set win.

Well, Fed may have won in straight sets but with two tie-breaks it was hardly a blow out. I still don't think Federer returns anywhere near as well as he did in 2005-2006.

Murray headed for a fifth set with Wawrinka--anybody watching this? I gotta think everybody in the draw is pulling big time for Stan.

It's Monday Night Wimbledon!

Man this is a GREAT match! I can't believe that Wawrinka has only won one title in his career. And I'm torn...I love Stan's game and think he's just so damn sexy but I am really rooting for a Brit to finally wijn Wimbledon. The atmosphere for a Federer-Murray final would be great come Sunday morning.