9:11PM
CBSSports.com: Second week, third round brings big tests, big answers
9:11 PM
WIMBLEDON, England -- You could start with a pun, that with all the Russian women at Wimbledon, none of whom has won, it's over when it's "ova." You could start with the fact that Switzerland, famous for cheese and watches, has two men in the third round, while America, famous for who knows what, has only one.
Or you could start with the thought that the second week of the 123rd All England Lawn Tennis Championships has the potential to produce all sorts of tempting new stories but in the end undoubtedly will provide the same ones as in the past. With minor variations.
They're back Monday. Everybody who made it through the first week, made it to the fourth round, will be playing. After a day on which nobody played.
Which is why Wimbledon is Wimbledon. Or, more accurately, why the Borough of Merton, where the town and club are located, is what it is.
The residents need a break from the cars and crowds. The grass courts need a break from the players. The players need a break from each other, although they did practice, and from the media.
The other Grand Slams, the Australian, the French, the U.S. Open, go on through Sunday. Not Wimbledon, unless rain has tormented play earlier in the event.
That hasn't been the case, as you are aware. The new roof over Centre Court was closed only once, Saturday evening, but no one took the court.
In Sunday's Observer, Will Buckley, not the only one weary of tales of the roof, alluded to the television network and complained that the BBC "obsesses over a cover story that tells us nothing."
The third-round matches will tell us a great deal:
Whether Andy Murray, the No. 3 seed, the Scotsman, the great hope to end Britain's 73-year silence in men's singles (no champion since Fred Perry in 1936), can get past the other guy from Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka.
Whether Andy Roddick, the last U.S. male remaining in singles, has enough game to beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, whom Roddick said is streaky, "rarely middle of the road. He's either real good or not so good. Right now you expect to get the best of him."
Whether Melanie Oudin, the 17-year-old Munchkin from Marietta, Ga., outside Atlanta, can keep going on a miracle run that began three weeks ago when she survived two match points in the first round of qualifying and continued through a win over No. 5 Jelena Jankovic. Monday, the 5-foot-6 Oudin meets Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, out on Court 18, the quasi-big time.
The other results we take for granted, that Venus Williams, trying for a third straight Wimbledon title and sixth overall, will whip Ana Ivanovic, as in the 2007 semifinals. On a roll? Venus has won 17 straight matches here, 29 straight sets.
That Roger Federer of Switzerland will thump his pigeon, Robin Soderling of Sweden, whom he beat in the French final three weeks ago, improving his record against him to 10-0. That's perfect, if you were wondering.
Britain's in a dither. The national rugby team was beaten Saturday 28-25 in South Africa, a performance that earned the headline, "Brilliant Lions Succumb to Epic Defeat."
The Ashes, the historic cricket competition between England and Australia, resumes July 8 in Wales.
And Murray is looking very much as if he'll be around for the last day of Wimbledon.
"Ice-cool Murray a cert for final, say stars," was the back-pager in the Sunday Mail. That translates as John McEnroe, Boris Becker and John Lloyd, Chris Evert's ex, predicting Murray will be in the final against Federer.
"I'd obviously love to get to the final," said Murray, classically reticent, "but there is still a lot of tennis to be played." Substitute football for tennis, and it sounds like a sound bite on any given Sunday in the NFL.
Venus, too, was conversant in the cliches. "She's talented and she does everything well," Venus said of Ivanovic, who has slipped to No. 13 after briefly rising to first following her 2008 French Open win.
Federer insisted the second week of a Grand Slam is when the tournament gets interesting for him. "Not necessarily," Venus responded when asked her reaction. "We think different. I take it match by match and figure out whatever I need to figure out."
It was reported that Venus and sister Serena, also into the fourth round, have been e-mailing Melanie Oudin, although they are only acquaintances through the Fed Cup team.
"They say things like, 'You go girl,'" Cliff Klingbeil, a friend of the Oudin family, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "Melanie can't believe the Williams sisters even know who she is."
We all know what Wimbledon is, the tennis tournament that takes a day off and comes back with a vengeance.
- - - - - -
http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/11903142
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.
Or you could start with the thought that the second week of the 123rd All England Lawn Tennis Championships has the potential to produce all sorts of tempting new stories but in the end undoubtedly will provide the same ones as in the past. With minor variations.
They're back Monday. Everybody who made it through the first week, made it to the fourth round, will be playing. After a day on which nobody played.
Which is why Wimbledon is Wimbledon. Or, more accurately, why the Borough of Merton, where the town and club are located, is what it is.
The residents need a break from the cars and crowds. The grass courts need a break from the players. The players need a break from each other, although they did practice, and from the media.
The other Grand Slams, the Australian, the French, the U.S. Open, go on through Sunday. Not Wimbledon, unless rain has tormented play earlier in the event.
That hasn't been the case, as you are aware. The new roof over Centre Court was closed only once, Saturday evening, but no one took the court.
In Sunday's Observer, Will Buckley, not the only one weary of tales of the roof, alluded to the television network and complained that the BBC "obsesses over a cover story that tells us nothing."
The third-round matches will tell us a great deal:
Whether Andy Murray, the No. 3 seed, the Scotsman, the great hope to end Britain's 73-year silence in men's singles (no champion since Fred Perry in 1936), can get past the other guy from Switzerland, Stanislas Wawrinka.
Whether Andy Roddick, the last U.S. male remaining in singles, has enough game to beat Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, whom Roddick said is streaky, "rarely middle of the road. He's either real good or not so good. Right now you expect to get the best of him."
Whether Melanie Oudin, the 17-year-old Munchkin from Marietta, Ga., outside Atlanta, can keep going on a miracle run that began three weeks ago when she survived two match points in the first round of qualifying and continued through a win over No. 5 Jelena Jankovic. Monday, the 5-foot-6 Oudin meets Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, out on Court 18, the quasi-big time.
The other results we take for granted, that Venus Williams, trying for a third straight Wimbledon title and sixth overall, will whip Ana Ivanovic, as in the 2007 semifinals. On a roll? Venus has won 17 straight matches here, 29 straight sets.
That Roger Federer of Switzerland will thump his pigeon, Robin Soderling of Sweden, whom he beat in the French final three weeks ago, improving his record against him to 10-0. That's perfect, if you were wondering.
Britain's in a dither. The national rugby team was beaten Saturday 28-25 in South Africa, a performance that earned the headline, "Brilliant Lions Succumb to Epic Defeat."
The Ashes, the historic cricket competition between England and Australia, resumes July 8 in Wales.
And Murray is looking very much as if he'll be around for the last day of Wimbledon.
"Ice-cool Murray a cert for final, say stars," was the back-pager in the Sunday Mail. That translates as John McEnroe, Boris Becker and John Lloyd, Chris Evert's ex, predicting Murray will be in the final against Federer.
"I'd obviously love to get to the final," said Murray, classically reticent, "but there is still a lot of tennis to be played." Substitute football for tennis, and it sounds like a sound bite on any given Sunday in the NFL.
Venus, too, was conversant in the cliches. "She's talented and she does everything well," Venus said of Ivanovic, who has slipped to No. 13 after briefly rising to first following her 2008 French Open win.
Federer insisted the second week of a Grand Slam is when the tournament gets interesting for him. "Not necessarily," Venus responded when asked her reaction. "We think different. I take it match by match and figure out whatever I need to figure out."
It was reported that Venus and sister Serena, also into the fourth round, have been e-mailing Melanie Oudin, although they are only acquaintances through the Fed Cup team.
"They say things like, 'You go girl,'" Cliff Klingbeil, a friend of the Oudin family, told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "Melanie can't believe the Williams sisters even know who she is."
We all know what Wimbledon is, the tennis tournament that takes a day off and comes back with a vengeance.
- - - - - -
http://www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/11903142
© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.
Reader Comments (2)
It is actually installation so that you can acquisition bargain a essay generally there the following correct niche. Likeable article, quite definitely practical
There are definitely a variety of particulars like that to take into consideration. That could be a nice point to bring up. I offer the ideas above as normal inspiration but clearly there are questions just like the one you carry up where a very powerful thing will likely be working in sincere good faith. I don?t know if best practices have emerged around things like that, but I'm sure that your job is clearly recognized as a good game. Each boys and girls feel the affect of just a second’s pleasure, for the rest of their lives.