The women's seedings (oops, I guess I should have said "Ladies", oh well) hardly varied at the top, with #s 6-10 switching just a notch or two. The one who got a little lucky was Lisa Raymond, who gets into the top 16, going from 26 to 16th. The next biggest "jumper" is Alexandra Stevenson, who goes up 5 places. Gee, are they still considering her miracle semi 3 years ago? That seems pretty generous. Also, how does clay-court tiny tot Amanda Coetzer get bumped up 4 notches?

Anyway, here are the seedings, with the player's WTA ranking in parentheses:
1. Venus Williams, United States (1)
2. Serena Williams, United States (2)
3. Jennifer Capriati, United States (3)
4. Monica Seles, United States (4)
5. Kim Clijsters, Belgium (5)
6. Justine Henin, Belgium (7)
7. Jelena Dokic, Yugoslavia (8)
8. Sandrine Testud, France (10)
9. Amelie Mauresmo, France (11)
10. Silvia Farina Elia, Italy (12)
11. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia (13)
12. Elena Dementieva, Russia (14)
13. Meghann Shaughnessy, United States (15)
14. Iroda Tulyaganova, Uzbekistan (16)
15. Anna Smashnova, Israel (17)
16. Lisa Raymond, United States (26)
17. Patty Schnyder, Switzerland (18)
18. Anastasia Myskina, Russia (19)
19. Magdalena Maleeva, Bulgaria (20)
20. Tamarine Tanasugarn, Thailand (21)
21. Tatiana Panova, Russia (22)
22. Anne Kremer, Luxembourg (23)
23. Iva Majoli, Croatia (25)
24. Alexandra Stevenson, United States (29)
25. Nathalie Dechy, France (27)
26. Daja Bedanova, Czech Republic (28)
27. Ai Sugiyama, Japan (30)
28. Paola Suarez, Argentina (32)
29. Barbara Schett, Austria (33)
30. Clarisa Fernandez, Argentina (34)
31. Nicole Pratt, Australia (35)
32. Amanda Coetzer, South Africa (36)

Predictions??? Well, I'll go out on a limb and say either Venus or Serena (LOL). Yeah, that was a big gamble, huh? Even though Serena is playing the best tennis by far on the tour, Venus has three weeks to pull it together, and I think she will. Capriati is pretty hungry, after failing to defend at Roland Garros. She'll get to the semis, where she'll get killed by one of the Williams.

The Ladie's Draw is out, if all seeds hold, it looks like this for the round of 16 and quarters:

Round of 16 to Quarters
Top Half
(Venus vs Raymond) vs (Clistjers vs Farin-Elia)
(Seles vs Smashnova) vs (Henin vs Dementieva)

Bottom Half
(Testud vs Mauresmo) vs (Capriati vs Shaughnessy)
(Dokic vs Hantuchova) vs (Serena vs Tulyaganova)

The Bottom half of the draw appears to be the lighter half, with Capriati having the easiest draw.

I agree. I think Capriati got the easiest draw imaginable (assuming she doesn't under estimate her first opponent, Husarova). For being the #1 seed, Venus has her work cut out for her. But having watched her sister on the podium at the last event, I think she's gonna have that determined, stop-at-nothing look on her face to the end. Barring injury, i think she'll win this tourney on will power alone. I don't think it will be Testud in the semi vs. Capriati. Clijsters will play angry tennis and give Venus a run. I'm not banking on Henin being mentally tough here. Seles will struggle through some close matches. I love me some Serena, but she could fall victim to a case of post-win let up. She'll need to be even more focused here.

Okay, I'm not the ranking point wiz here, but doesn't Monica Seles have a solid shot at grabbing the #3 spot at Wimbledon this year? She's only behind Capriati by 387 pts and is not defending any points. If she makes the semis and Jenny doesn't, it's a lock, right? Sure, she's got Henin to get through, but it looks good for her to at least get within slapping distance. Of course, Seles will have to defend all those points she won in the hardcourt season last year, but she only has to make the Quarters at the US open gain points there.

Is it just me, or is she quietly having a great year?

[ June 19, 2002: Message edited by: curtj ]

This is the hardest #1 seeding that I have ever witnessed in a Slam. Jen's waltzed into the semis at the French. But Venus has a tough road at this year's Wimby. But I think that the chance to follow Graf and Navratilova and win three consecutive Wimby's will motivation enough - even to beat Sister Girl Serena.

Capriati does have the easiest draw by far especially given that Sandrine Testud is the next highest player in her bracket. (btw, I predict Sandrine will lose to Mary Pierce in the second round. But don't sleep on Bedanova - she just knocked off Dokic at Eastbourne

Surprise prediction: Chanda against another Williams Sister in the Round of 16

Monica's been having a great year, and it's great to see. I think most of her rise in the rankings is due to her playing a more complete schedule. She was out injured for most of last spring, so she had no points to defend at the French Open, but she also missed a bunch of other tournaments last year, like Miami and Paris. She picked up a lot of points at those tournaments this year, making the semis of both. And when she was playing last year, she was going out early (first or second round at Indian Wells, compared to SF this year; round of 16 at Madrid, compared to winning it this year). So she is making up a lot of ground. I wonder if she will be motivated to defend all those points she earned at the lower tier tournaments she played last Fall. As I recall, she was sort of forced to go out and sweep up a bunch of tier III and IV points to stay in the top 10 because she refused to defend her finals points from the '00 Chase tournament (being held in Germany). With this year's Chase in LA (is that official?), maybe she won't have to schlepp from Brazil to China to wherever this year. I think she's got a good shot at Number 3 after WB. Pretty impressive -- No. 10 to 3 in about 6 months. I know -- helped by the absence of LD and MH, but if Monica surpasses Capriati, who has a grand slam this year, that will be pretty amazing.

And isn't it going to be a close call for No. 1 between V and S? S is only defending QF points, and she's only 280 points behind V who is defending a win. So V can't earn many more additional points, while S can make up 280 by, what, making the Semis? the finals? I'm not sure of the numbers, but even if Venus wins, I think S has a good shot at No. 1. Pretty amazing year for her, too.

Mauresmo and Clijsters both lost today in straight sets to unseeded players. Both Amelie and Kim were looking for confidence boosters going into Wimbledon. Oops. Testud and Dokic also suffered similar defeats, probably shaking their nerves before the slam as well. What a perfect example of why Dokic should take a week off now and then.

With the exception of Henin, I couldn't pick four players more in need of going into Wimby with a win. That should give some of the dark horses hope to get through a few more rounds. Unless you happen to be a dark horse named Shaughnessy, who also lost today.

Dokkick wuz right! Why the #1 seed got put on a "show court" is wrong! Yes Navratilova can draw the crowd, but show some respect to the #1seed! Otherwise don't seed the players! Maybe Jellana wuz wrong, and defitenly distracted, but she has reason to be!

Listen, Jelena ain't #1 yet anywhere regardless of what she got seeded at some pre-wimby warm-up..if she can't get over playing on another court while one of the greatest players who's ever lived plays on center court, then she should just pack up and go home and cry for a while...Diva much? Play tennis, little girl. Work on your serve, for god's sake.

When Martina heard of Dokic's reaction to her side court assignment, Martina responded that she had been assigned to side courts a few times at Wimbledon, even after she had won it a zillion times, even though she was the #1 player in the world and seeded first. Dokic has a little hissy because she got bumped for The Legend? Jelena, whose highest ranking ever was #6 and has never even made it into the Wimbledon final, much less won it, needs to lose the "F*ck you, I'm a STAR!" attitude. I'm really surprised by Dokic's behavior. I mean, with a father like hers, you'd think she'd be so well-raised.

Lleyton Hewitt didn't have a problem with Sampras playing on the show court, and Hewitt is a real #1. But what do you expect from somebody who expects that the Australian open will give her an easier draw because she's playing for Australia?

Here's how I see the women turning out. I will definitely change my predix after the results from this weekend's events...

Rd of 16
V. Williams d. Raymond
Clijsters d. Frazier
Seles d. Smashnova
Henin d. Dementieva
Myskina d. Pierce
Capriati d. Daniilidou
Hantuchova d. Dokic
S. Williams d. Rubin

Quarters
V. Williams d. Clijsters
Henin d. Seles
Capriati d. Myskina
Hantuchova d. S. Williams

Semi's
V. Williams d. Henin
Hantuchova d. Capriati

Final
V. Williams d. Hantuchova

WOW, B Man! Talk about going out on a limb!! Daniela Hantuchova defeating Serena Williams??? Well, predictions are no fun unless you take a few risks. Daniela's got game, that's for sure, but I'd be surprised if she gets it together to upset Serena. But I certainly respect your opinions, so what's your reasoning?

We're together on Venus, however. Even if she hasn't played her best tennis so far this season, I think she'll figure everything out and defend her title. When she's playing well, Venus is by far the best grass court tennis player out there.

I hope we can put the "Capriati has an easy draw" talk to rest now.

Her eighth contains, among others, Shaughnessy, Kostanic, DANIILIDOU!, Stevenson (ouch), Bedanova (Dokic's master), and Husarova. One qualifier and one wildcard, also.

Easiest Draw? Clijsters's eighth contains Farina Elia (toast), Frazier, Hopkins, Rittner, Gagliardi, Maleeva (eh), Coetzer (toast), Gubacsi, Likhovtseva, Reeves, two qualifiers, and three wildcards!,

Here's my picks:

Fourth Round -
Venus over Raymond
Likhovtseva over Maleeva
Tanasugarn over Seles
Henin over Zvonareva

Myskina over Pratt
Capriati over Daniilidou
Hantuchova over Dokic
Serena over Rubin

Quarters -
Capriati over Myskina
Serena over Hantuchova
Venus over Likhovtseva
Henin over Tanasugarn

Semis -
Serena over Capriati AGAIN
Venus over Henin

Finals -
Serena over Venus

Bank on these First Round "upsets":
Cara Black over Barbara Schett
Tina Pisnik over Iva Majoli
Amy Frazier over Silvia Farina Elia

Would love to see First Round:
How Jill Craybas responds to double-bagle from Suarez, her first-round opponent

Best potential second-round matches:
Pierce v. Testud
Serna v. Mauresmo
Daniilidou v. Stevenson!!
Tulyaganova v. Rubin

Most excited about:
Zvereva back in singles, if only for this one shot

Can I just take the next two weeks off of work??

Why doesn't women's doubles get more airtime?

Here are some of the pairings:

Conchita Martinez & Mary Pierce (3 single Grand Slams combined, plus one doubles by Pierce)

Capriati & Hantuchova (3 slams + "the future")

Kournikova & Rubin (the most famous woman in tennis (with two doubles slams) + my favorite player (with one doubles slam))

Venus & Serena (6 singles slams, 4 doubles slams)

Navratilova & Zvereva (18 singles slams + 49 doubles slams combined!!!!!!)

Not to mention Raymond & Stubbs (3 grand slams together), the return of Nathalie Tauziat, two-time defending French Open champions Suaraz & Ruano Pascual, the Serra Zanetti sisters... I don't know, it seems to me like more attention should be paid to the massive collection of talent on display over there.

And you know that if Hingis & Davenport were healthy, they'd be participating, too.

Anyway.

Jake, i don't know whether to be more surprised about you picking Seles to lose in the 4th or about seeing someone else as excited about womens doubles. Okay, i guess your Seles pick made me gasp outloud. I hope she proves you wrong, but we do know grass is not her favorite.

The doubles field is PACKED. What a treat since the big girls mostly ignored doubles at the French. Capriati and Hantuchova make a scarey pair.Did they get a subjective 16 seed based on talent or have they played together before?? If they gel, they could give Raymond/Stubbs trouble. Whover wins that battle could end up in a great cat fight with the Williams duo.

'Course, I'd love nothing more than to see Anna Kornikova beat Capriati, if only in doubles. Too bad Anna & Chanda (it has a cute ring to it) did not fare well at the last tune-up.

Lots to watch!

ESPN Magazine on Hantuchova (with photos!):
http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no13hantuchova.html

Hey, B Man, I loved your Wimbledon preview, and agree that Venus will return to dominance on her beloved English lawns. But what about Serena? You predict that Daniela will pull off an upset and beat Serena in the semis, but you don't have a paragraph on Serena out of the seven top players you named.

Hey BoSox, THANKS for the feedback!

I don't like Serena on grass. I'm surprised, honestly, that she's been as successful as she has been at Wimbledon.

I think Serena has some bad tendencies. When a match gets tight or she gets in one of those bad patches, she displays very poor instincts: hacking at the ball instead of executing a proper forehand slice, which is stoopid anyway; going for low/no percentage shots when she is frustrated; bad volleys when it's up to her to take initiave (vs. when she hits a reflex volley).

A solid serve and volley player OR someone who can hang with her pace can challenge Serena on grass. That's just my two cents, though...

I believe that Venus will come out on top again at good ole Wimby. She's the one on the grass, her weapons are brutal and she knows how to play on the green stuff. Two slams have passed since she won her last one and I doubt that sits very well with her. My believe is that the Belgiums will get it back together during these two weeks and that Jennifer will fall apart. Monica's been vulnerable on grass for most of her career but her confidence is high this year and she's in better shape than she's been her last few trips to Wimby. Some of the younger players, Daniela and Myskina are at the top of that list, will certainly make an impact this year.

The Doubles action is going to be spectacular. I'm impressed that so many top women are playing. It's very smart on grass to get out there and hit at the net as much as possible. It's obvious that many top players feel the same way. I hope we see good grass court tennis instead of just women's power tennis on grass. The French Open was dominated by power tennis not great clay court tennis. But, the women's game is power tennis nowadays and that is likely to be what we'll see.

What do you guys think of Sabatini's comments regarding the Williams' sisters?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/tennis/20...23/notebook_ap/

I loved Sabatini as a player, but I think she's a bit off base here. Nothing could be duller then the post-Seles stabbing period in women's tennis, where we had to endure grim-faced Steffi Graf and a bunch of pretenders. I think there's more depth in the game today, and I think the sisters, by virtue of the fact that they don't seem to have that singleminded devotion to the game, simply make it a more fun game to watch.

Those remarks are completely unfair. Where was the artistry when Chris Evert and Tracy Austin lobbed moonballs at each other? It was Martina's athleticism that made the game worth watching.

And yes, I agree with Munson man that post-1993 tennis was exceedingly boring because of the Graf domination (or as Navratilova called it "Steffi Graf and the Seven Dwarfs".)

The fact is there are tennis "artists" in the Lenglen, Bueno, Goolagong vein. Now there's Henin and Hingis and a few more among the lower ranked players.

I think that Sabatini needs to remember her own career before she criticizes the Williams.

I'm going to only make small changes to make predictions for the ladies.

I'm officially going to worry about the bottom part of the Top Half: I'm pulling my Smashnova pick, but still wholly endorse her presence on my Top 7 list because her anticipated match vs. Tanasugarn is Anna S.'s to win or lose. Given that Tammy T. has a better record at Wimbly, though, I'm going with the Thai player.

That said, I think Tammy can give Monica all sorts of trouble on grass.

Further, with Henin back in something of a slump, I worry about how well she'll handle Dementieva. She owns their head-to-head series, and Elena has sucked of late, but if things get close, Justine has more pressure...

My official new picks:

Rd of 16
V. Williams d. Raymond
Clijsters d. Frazier
Seles d. Tanasugarn
Henin d. Dementieva
Myskina d. Pierce
Capriati d. Daniilidou
Hantuchova d. Dokic
S. Williams d. Rubin

Quarters
V. Williams d. Clijsters
Henin d. Seles
Capriati d. Myskina
Hantuchova d. S. Williams

Semi's
V. Williams d. Henin
Hantuchova d. Capriati

Final
V. Williams d. Hantuchova

Thank you for all of the praise of Monica's year.. it seems like nobody counts her in these tournaments anymore, least of all that BITCH pam shriver (who said she'd be lucky to win a couple of rounds) and pat mcenroe on NBC (did you hear what he said about her at the french???) She IS having a very good year -- maybe not the monica year of yore -- but a very solid year. Does anyone remember her making the semis at the australian AND beating venus?!? I mean, c'mon.. that has to count for something. And yeah, she was playing a few piddly tournaments last year but I watched her play the China event (she absolutely crushed the field) adn I got a sense she was there partly because she'd never played an event there and was curious (also I'm sure she got a generous bonus...) And what's all this talk about her retirement?? Just let her play and shut up already!

My Wimbledon predictions: Serena is out early (third round), Monica will make the semis, Pierce is out first round, zvereva will make a surprising run to the fourth round and Capriati will win the whole thing (over Venus in hte final).

Funny, I would have said Dementieva seemed to be pulling it together again. After a horrendous clay-court season, she got through three rounds at the French before falling to Clarisa Fernandez and made the final at 's Herteganbosch. Admittedly, she did fall to Daniilidou, and her biggest win was against Maleeva, but it's still a decent run. Henin definitely will need to be on her toes (though she crushed Elena when they met in Oz).

Chris Evert and Tracy Austin never lobbed moonballs at each other. They both hit flat from the baseline.

Andrea Jaeger perfected the moonball.

arantxa and conchita are moonball artists par excellance! YAWN!

b man: are you sure with daniela? she's a good player, but still a dabbler when it comes to the big league.

tzeile, I dunno what it is about Dani
I think she's got a really great, clean game
I think she can come up with the goods when she faces Dokic...If Martina N. gives her some advice, she can really thwart Serena.

I don't know why I'm so sure of it, I just am
But I've been sure of other things that ended up wrong, so we'll have to wait and see I guess.

Still, Dani H. has a great game and should make an impact at this event.

A Wimbledon shocker:

ANNA KOURNIKOVA LOST IN THE FIRST ROUND!!

I know, I know, hard to believe. Almost as hard as her comments afterward that she was pleased with the way she played, and that she does not have too many interests outside of tennis.

Munson Man, I watched parts of her match on TV
She's a fiesty little thing, that Anna K.
She's a real showman and, I can't believe I'm saying this...she's not bad for tennis.


ALSO: did anyone see Chanda Rubin? She looks great. Really! She's trimmed down quite a bit.

You know, Anna just needs some tuning up in the brain department. As Martina N. was saying, Anna's shot selection is loony at times. Just listening to Martina N. for a little while was like getting a free tennis lesson - the woman knows her game. Anna is thisclose to being a joke..she's been around too long and demonstrated too much talent to be such a terrible underachiever...all ego, all the time...no interests outside of tennis? yes, she's clearly so uninterested in making $$$$$$$$$

It's nice to see Chanda Rubin having such a good year; she's a talented player.

Monica Seles just established a new record for the shortest match at Wimbledon. She double-bageled Eva Bes of Spain in 37 minutes!!!

Bes had only one winner and won only 15 points in the match.

[ June 25, 2002: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

Wow. Go Monica! I can't imagine she will win here, but I'm hoping to see her go deep into week two. Anyone see what kind of shape she's in? I wish she'd just drop that extra 20#s and really rip through some tournaments. Be good to see the old Monica back. She's got to see some inspiration in Jennifer's comeback (if she can I can), and without Hingis and Davenport in the mix for a while, she's got some serious opportunities. Maybe there are other distractions in her life. Sure seems that way lately.

I read Navratilova's playing mixed with Woodbridge. What happened to Stubbs? Maybe he can help protect her serve, though mixed doubles never turns out the way you think it will.

[quote]Originally posted by bridgeportjake:
Would love to see First Round:
How Jill Craybas responds to double-bagle from Suarez, her first-round opponent

---

well, jake, jill came up with the goods. (she's my favorite player, btw) after losing her three encounters w/suarez oh and oh, one and one, and two and two she pulled out a thrilling 7-5 in the third victory today.

i guess jill's 80 MPH first serve is a "weapon" on grass....

Damn, I've been watching Wimby but no Monica yet...37 minutes, that's just awesome....and she certainly doesn't have twenty lbs left to lose, maybe 10 but she needs the power...It's great to see her get a first round match out of the way like that...Venus looked good, but Henin was very fragile...

[quote]Originally posted by wonder617:
Wow. Go Monica! I can't imagine she will win here, but I'm hoping to see her go deep into week two. Anyone see what kind of shape she's in? I wish she'd just drop that extra 20#s and really rip through some tournaments. Be good to see the old Monica back. She's got to see some inspiration in Jennifer's comeback (if she can I can), and without Hingis and Davenport in the mix for a while, she's got some serious opportunities. Maybe there are other distractions in her life. Sure seems that way lately.

---

Actually, Monica's had a pretty good year, specifically because she's been injury-free, and because she is clearly in the best shape she's been in in quite some time, thanks to Mike Sell and a nutritutionist she's been working with as well. I think saying she needs to lose twenty more pounds is a bit harsh. One thing (of the many) that I like about Monica is her recognition of the fact that she's no longer 18 years old, and is never going to be able to go back to having the body of an 18-year old.

[quote]Originally posted by Munson Man:

One thing (of the many) that I like about Monica is her recognition of the fact that she's no longer 18 years old, and is never going to be able to go back to having the body of an 18-year old.

---

tru dat. but i think she should realize that those players who remained successful as they aged (navratilova, evert, even graf) were as fit or fitter than they were at 18...

My already deep respect for Monica would grow by leaps and bounds if we found out she is getting extra special attention from her coach, Mike Sell, off the court too. <snicker>

[quote]Originally posted by faydman:
but i think she should realize that those players who remained successful as they aged (navratilova, evert, even graf) were as fit or fitter than they were at 18...

---

So true. Evert was more fit and trim towards the end of her career than early on. And Martina was ridiculously out of shape. Her fitness level is what motivated Evert to get in the best shape of her career. I just don't think Monica has the drive. With her stabbing and the death of her father, she has other priorities. I'd love to see her win another Slam, but so long as she is happy, she has nothing left to prove. Everyone knows if not for the stabbing, she'd have a bunch more French, US and Aussie titles and most likely a Wimbledon or two.

I guess this was the day to be Asian in England (if not in Korea...)

Among the winners were two Indonesians (in what must be a Wimbledon first!), Prakusya and Widjaja, a Thai (Tammy - what a comeback from down a set & a break!!), Sugiyama from Japan, and Meilen Tu, an American of Chinese(?) origin. On the boys' side, Michael Chang also got a nice first-round win. Yesterday saw Srichaphan of Thailand, Lee of Korea, Tulyaganova of Uzbekistan, and, surprisingly, Saori Obata of Japan.

Then again, you also had Asians among the losers, including Janet Lee of Taiwan, the Southeast Asian Brit Keothavong, and the Russian-born Israeli Smashnova. Also Cecil Mamiit, an American of Filipino extraction.

ANYWAY, Smash & Suarez were the only seeds unable to advance today - neither situation a shocker. I'm kind of surprised that Majoli and Schett both advanced, actually. I also thought Frazier might take it from Farina Elia.

As far as tomorrow's action goes, we've got a few highlights. Testud v. Pierce - extremely hard to know what to expect, but since Testud has looked pretty bad recently and Pierce better than expected, might as well think that Mary's confidence will lift her past Sandrine, with a great chance of beating Weingartner or Granville in the third round as well.

Grande has a shot against Mauresmo, keep an eye on that match.

Tulyaganova/Rubin ... Chanda clearly should win right now, if recent performance is any indication. And you're right, BMan, Chanda's looking great right now. Very confident!

In doubles, Prakusya & Widjaja face off AGAINST each other.

But otherwise, as usual, it's "Wait until next week," when the match-ups will be really, really, good.

[quote] I think saying she needs to lose twenty more pounds is a bit harsh.

---

Last time I saw her on television, she looked huge, swollen even, with a visible tire around her waist, and it just totally depressed me. I don't say it to be harsh -- I'm a huge Monica fan -- but she was probably at 165-70 (her official WTA bio puts her at 155#; she is over 5'10" after all) and she needs to get back to the 150 range to be in fighting shape.

I agree with many of the comments about tomorrow's matches. I took the week off so I could sit around and watch. I know...I'm a very sad man.

Back to the point at hand, here's what I'm most looking forward to:

Tulyaganova vs. Rubin
Rubin in three, I hope ~ she looks fit and is playing great. Iroda's got weapons (esp. her serve) but Chanda has more mentalk steel, I think.

Myskina vs. Arn
Anastasia looked vulnerable in her first round match; could the pressure be mounting?

Poutchek vs. Dechy
Dechy's worked hard to get seeded, but Poutchek is another really hot player. This could be a mild upset, in Poutchek's favor.

Pierce vs. Testud
Just to see how well Mary plays. She's never lost to Sandrine.

Schiavone vs. S. Williams
Can the Italian make it competitive, or will Serena beat her off the court?

Monica's fitness hasn't been an issue this year. She's played great, she's #4 in the world and she's been on tour for thirteen years. She beat the #1 player (who's seven or eight years younger) in the world at the Australian Open. She beat Daniela Hantuckova (who's ten years younger) at the French, the fastest rising and one of the quickest 18 yr old's on tour - And Monica just set a record for fastest match at Wimbledon. Monica's fitness is just fine, thank you.
In Monica's post-match interview with Mary Carillo (who I love but darn she says the strangest things sometimes and i hope to god we don't have to listen to her mock english accent this whole two weeks), Monica sounded very resigned and accepting of the whole 2.5 years off the tour and much more emphatic about how difficult it was to lose her father, her only coach..He was sick alot during 96 and 97 and then of course passed away in 98 - Monica was very distracted during those years because of his constant hospital stays etc, her training was all over the place because of it...Imagine Hingis without her mother (that was an ugly period), the Williams without their Mother or Father, and you know how incredibly difficult it would be for them to perform up to their present standard. And Mr. Seles was by all accounts one of the most amazing tennis dad/coaches ever. Monica's endured two major traumas during her career and she's still fighting it out in the top five. And unlike lucky and grouchy Ms. JenCap, Monica does it with sportsmanship and dignity. She's simply one of the most amazing athletes ever in both performance and character. She deserves all the accolades.

Chanda smoked Iroda Tulyaganova, 3 & 1.
Mo (Mauresmo) had an easy time vs. Grande, too.

Some big upsets may be coming on the men's side. Marat Safin is down 2 sets to Olivier Rochus, and Sampras is down a break in the 2nd set after losing the first to Bastl.

You could see this coming from a mile away. mary Pierce took out Sandrine Testud in straight sets. She and Rubin are a couple of dangerous floaters.

A friend emailed me this the other day, he was watching Martina N. interview Venus on TNT:

<<Martina: "If I could have any of your shots, I would love to have your first serve. Would you want any of my shots?"

Venus: "No, not really.">>

LOL!

Jelena Dokic ... gurlllll ... what's up with you? Winning 8-6 in the third against Kveta "buy a vowel" Hrdlickova does not bode well for your chances against either Nathalie Dechy (a quietly consistent player) in the third or Hantuchova in the fourth. If this is supposed to be your break out year at Wimbledon, your ticket to the Top 5, you'd better fix things, and fast.

Another great win for Chanda, who would seem to be on a collision course with Serena in a must-see fourth round match. Her confidence right now is such that a set off of Serena is certainly feasible, and a win is not impossible.

Myskina/Mauresmo will be the most anticipated women's match on Friday. But Hantuchova/Matevzic could be another interesting one. Is Maja finally going to show the promise that she seems to have been squandering this year? She lost handliy to Hantuchova in Australia, but her win over Kremer was pretty sweet. And Hantuchova got taken to three sets by Sucha.

And how about Laura Granville? The Stanford standout is in the third round of her first Wimbledon, about to face Mary Pierce (who's finally back in the Top 50)! A really interesting match - can Granville pull a James Blake and transfer college success to pro wins?

Capriati is on a mission, but Bedanova should not be taken lightly. The #1 Czech is 7-2 on grass this year, including wins over Likhovtseva (who's playing quite well recently) and Dokic. Then JCap will likely have to face Daniilidou. Yikes!

In general, a very fun bottom half of the draw, with four Americans left, the top three up&comers in the WTA (Myskina, Daniilidou & Hantuchova), and of course Mary Pierce & Mauresmo! Best of all - a guaranteed newcomer to the Wimbledon finals!