Royal couple in Wimbledon visit

from: Wimbledon.com

Wimbledon's magical Monday in the sunshine has become a royal occasion, with a visit by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

HRH Prince William and his new wife Catherine were given a rapturous reception from the Centre Court crowd as they took their places in the Royal Box before the start of the match between Andy Murray and Richard Gasquet.

For the visit, the Duchess is wearing a white tiered ruffle dress with circle details on the shoulder strap. The Duke is wearing a blue suit.

It is a visit that had not been previously announced but their presence may not come as a big surprise. William has always been a keen supporter of British sport at the highest level and Catherine's family are well-known as tennis fans. Earlier this month, the Duchess's sister Pippa enjoyed a day watching the action at Queen's Club.

And the then Kate Middleton came to The Championships in a private capacity in 2008 and afterwards sent a handwritten note thanking officials who had hosted her.

The note from 2008 reads, "Dear Sir. Thank you for your kind hospitality at Wimbledon last week. My friend and I had such a fantastic time and it was great to be able to enjoy the day knowing that we could have a little peace and quite if things got a little too hectic.

"It was a wonderfully relaxed day and we even spent part of it on the 'Henman/Murray Hill', which was great fun. I really was not expecting to be looked after with such hospitality and I certainly wasn't expecting to see any of the Centre Court games. I do hope the end of the tournament runs smoothly and this fantastic weather lasts 'till the end of the week. Thank you again for making it such a fun and easy visit."

On this occasion, the Duchess will be watching the action from the Royal Box, which also includes two Kings among its guests. They are Billie Jean King, the six-time ladies' singles champion, and Sir Mervyn King, the recently knighted governor of the Bank of England.

Other guests include: F1 driver Mark Webber; Olympic rowing gold medallist Zac Purchase; Chris Kermode, the tournament director of the AEGON Championships and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals; and Tony and Jane Henman, parents of Tim Henman who enthralled many a second Monday at Wimbledon during his career.

The Duke and Duchess's presence in the Royal Box marks the second major royal visit during the 125th Championships. Last week, the Duchess of Cornwall was in the Royal Box to watch the thrilling match between Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm. Beforehand, she met six ballboys and ballgirls on the players' lawn.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands - WTA Pre-Wimbledon Party

Not only is American tennis player of Bethanie Mattek-Sands ahead of Venus Williams in the WTA rankings, she's also managed to surpass the elder Williams sister in terms of outrageous outfits. The 31st-ranked Mattek-Sands turned heads at Thursday night's Wimbledon player's party in a dress designed by Lady Gaga's designer, Alex Noble.

The neon yellow dress featured a corset with attached tennis balls, a flowing skirt and a headdress that wouldn't have been out of place at the royal wedding.

The 26-year-old was still in Eastbourne on Thursday playing in the doubles competition of the Wimbledon tuneup and had to take a helicopter to London to attend the party. An hour after landing, following a quick fitting and sit-down in the makeup chair, Mattek-Sands walked the red carpet in the inspired frock.

Mattek-Sands met with Noble twice in Madrid, once to discuss the concept for the dress and another for a fitting. "I had a blast working with him," she said. "It's the funky dress I wanted."

The hat was one of her favorite flourishes. "When you're in England you have to have some cool headwear," she said. (Princess Beatrice: "Yup.")

Mattek-Sands is seeded No. 30 at the tournament, the first time she's ever been seeded there. She said she's confident entering Wimbledon despite the fact that she hasn't had a lot of practice on grass this year.

Her outfit on the courts of the All England Club won't be as wild as it was at the player's party or in other matches thanks to Wimbledon's "almost entirely white" clothing rule (the eye black and jail stripes will be a no-no). That's not to say she doesn't have something up her sleeve, though.

"Noble designed something for me to walk out onto the court with," Mattek-Sands said.

If it's not an egg, consider me disappointed.

Latest from the Wimbledon lawns

from: Wimbledon

Lucky losers on red alert

The withdrawal of Kim Clijsters after she aggravated her ankle injury at 's-Hertogenbosch meant that 2010 semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova moved up into the top 32 and thus is one of the seeds.

In the men's draw, Sam Querrey and Benjamin Becker have been forced to withdraw, each of them suffering from elbow injuries. Their places in the main draw will be taken by lucky losers, i.e. the highest-ranked players from those defeated in the final round of qualifying. Lukasz Kubot and Flavio Cipolla, seeded No.2 and No.9 respectively, stand to benefit should they lose on Thursday, but they would obviously prefer the ranking points, prize money and of course confidence that goes with a third-round win in qualifying.

Pippa watches practice

The courts were a hive of activity on Wednesday, with dozens of players on site to practice ahead of The Championships. Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal had a hit at various times during the day, with Maria Sharapova also on Court 14 early in the morning.

Thomaz Bellucci and Ivo Karlovic were spotted over lunchtime, while Court 7 saw a Swiss derby, albeit a very relaxed one. Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka had a leisurely knock-up at 1 pm, with former Federer and current Wawrinka coach Peter Lundgren officiating. Up on the clubhouse balcony, avid tennis fan Pippa Middleton watched the proceedings along with Jane Henman, mother of Tim who took part in Junior Wimbledon as a youngster.

Vera ends Serena's comeback
After playing - and winning - her first match in 49 weeks at Eastbourne on Tuesday against the above-mentioned Tsvetana Pironkova, Serena Williams was halted on her comeback trail against the woman she defeated in last year's Wimbledon final. Vera Zvonareva, who will be No.2 seed at The Championships after the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, came from behind to win 3-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 in an epic match which lasted over three hours.
Though Serena will be disappointed to have lost, the fact that she was given such a thorough test of her capabilities can only stand her in good stead for next week, where she will be now seeded No.7.

Nadal Balks Federer for Record: 6 French Open Titles

from: MiamiTennis News

For the second consecutive day, the French Open became a part of history as Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer 7-5,7-6,5-7,6-1 to equal Bjorn Borg with six French Open titles. Nadal also became the seventh man in the exclusive club of those with 10 or more major trophies.

The last time the two clashed in a final at a major was the 2009 Australian Open. This was the twenty-fifth meeting between Nadal and Federer, their fifth at Roland Garros and their fourth final.

In 2008, Nadal blew Federer off the court 6-1,6-3,6-0. After ending Novak Djokovic’s 2011 unbeaten run at 41 matches, Federer came in rejuvenated and relaxed, it was evident in the first set.

Subsequent to guarding serve, on a backhand error by Nadal, Federer had double break point. Despite Nadal getting to deuce, on his fourth opportunity, Federer seized the break and consolidated for 3-0.

After constructing a 5-2 advantage, as Nadal’s forehand sailed long, Federer had set point. However, with the dropshot missing its mark, Nadal was at deuce and later captured the game.

Serving for the initial set, Federer’s first serve which was instrumental in building his lead deserted him. Federer netted a backhand to hand Nadal break point. When the Swiss misfired on a volley after a passing shot, the players were back on serve.

Once Nadal leveled the set at 5 all, with a nice volley winner, he manufactured a second break point in the 11th game. With Federer dumping the forehand into the net, Nadal secured the break and closed out the set 7-5.

To open the second set, Federer dropped his serve at love and with a hold, Nadal was on a run of seven straight games. Finally, Federer toughed out a game to keep his disadvantage at one game.

Later on, Federer again dismissed double break point to stay in touch at 2-3. With Nadal pushing a forehand out of play, Federer had his third break point chance in the eighth game. With his rival’s backhand miscue, Federer squared the second set at 4 all.

Yet, as a result of a forehand landing wide, Federer stared at double break point. Despite getting to deuce, Federer produced two successive errors to surrender the break to Nadal for 5-4.

With Nadal at set point, Federer provoked him into a mistake resulting in deuce. At that instance, showers arrived causing a delay. This helped Federer to collect his thoughts. When the players resumed the contest, Federer overcame another set point and broke for 5 all.

The second set was decided ultimately by a tiebreaker. Because of a forehand miscue by Federer, Nadal had the mini-break and sprinted to 4-0 lead. Nadal dominated and took the tiebreaker 7-3.

Consequently, the result seemed no longer in doubt. Following being on serve, Federer buried a backhand dropshot into the net to hand Nadal triple break point. When the Swiss’ forehand went wide, Nadal secured a 4-2 edge in the third set.

Uncharacteristically, Nadal lost his serve at love to allow Federer back into the set. Federer capitalized and got to 4 all. With the first serve back on track, Federer kept in touch with Nadal and by forcing three errors in a row obtained triple break point.

By striking a forehand up the line winner, Federer banked the break and served out the third set to extend the match.

Going into the fourth hour of competition, Federer seemed to have momentum in his corner and started the fourth by fabricating triple break point. But, with clutch serving, Nadal managed to hold.

Then, with Federer serving at 1-2, he donated a double fault to face triple break point. Nadal capitalized and had a 4-1 advantage.

With a forehand volley winner, Nadal arrived at his second break point in the next game. When Federer sliced a backhand into the net, Nadal had absolute control of the match ahead 5-1.

On triple championship point, Federer’s forehand sailed long giving Nadal a historic sixth ‘Coupe des Mousquetaires’.

Today, Nadal improved his record to 17-8 against Federer, with a 7-2 mark in major finals. In denying Federer his 17th major, Nadal became the second youngest person behind Borg to claim ten majors and is now on par with Bill Tilden.

After the match, Federer congratulated Nadal on a “super match” and acknowledged “you are without a doubt the best on clay”. Federer stated “it’s a shame that I could not win. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the way I fought . . .and I am always grateful for the warm welcome and the support that I find” at Roland Garros.

Nadal also tipped his hat to Federer on a good two weeks and the fact that he “played a good match”. The Spaniard thanked the public and his team for their support saying “without you this would not be possible”.

With this victory, Nadal prevents Djokovic from climbing to number one. The top ranking will be on the line again at Wimbledon in two weeks time with Nadal being the defending champion.

They're having a tennis tournament in Rome right now

from Reuters:

Nadal rediscovered his lost spark to reach the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters on Thursday, defeating fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-4 6-2.

The world number one flirted with danger in the previous round when he struggled past Italian qualifier Paolo Lorenzi in three sets but against Lopez he looked much more like the player who won 37 consecutive matches on his favorite clay until being stopped by Novak Djokovic in Madrid on Sunday.

Nadal, champion in Rome for five of the past six years, stamped his authority at the start of the match as won the opening three games against the rangy Lopez.

With his forehand back to its destructive best Nadal looked on course for a trouble-free passage against his close friend who he had never lost to on clay, but his early fire fizzled out as the unseeded Lopez hit back to break and level at 4-4.

One snatched forehand was reminiscent of some of his scruffy play against Lorenzi the previous day when he came within two games of a shock defeat but he quickly regained control.

Nadal held serve for a 5-4 lead and Lopez buckled in the 10th game. missing a volley, netting an attempted drop shot and then watching as Nadal unleashed a fierce backhand crosscourt winner to take the set.

Nadal waited until the sixth game of the second set to launch a match-ending attack, firing another flashing backhand pass and then winning a 26-stroke rally with a savage forehand to break the Lopez serve.

The five-times French Open champion finished the match in style and one more victory against either Mardy Fish or Marin Cilic will ensure that he stays ahead of Djokovic in the rankings going to Roland Garros.

Man-of-the-moment Djokovic, who faces Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka later on Thursday, can claim the world number one ranking if he wins the title in Rome and Nadal fails to reach the semi-finals.

See?  I told you so

Roger Federer has confidence in Roger Federer

from Reuters:

Roger Federer rejects the idea that the balance of power in men's tennis has tipped toward Novak Djokovic after a 32-match winning run and believes he can still beat Pete Sampras's record for time spent as world number one.

The Swiss world number three, who has a record 16 grand slam titles to his name, has been left in the shade by Rafa Nadal for much of the past 12 months and has now seen Djokovic supplant him as the Spaniard's main rival.

However, Federer feels he can reclaim his throne and move ahead of American great Sampras who spent a total of 286 weeks as world number one to Federer's current 285.

"It's still important for me to get back to being world number one," Federer told reporters in Italy ahead of his second round match against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Rome Masters. "I mentioned after Wimbledon it was a goal of mine.

"It's still very real and possible. I think I can do it if I win one of those grand slams."

Serbia's Djokovic could become the first player other than Federer or Nadal to hold the top ranking since 2004 if he wins the Rome Masters this week, but Federer remains confident he can still challenge the top two.

"They (Djokovic and Nadal) are playing better than me but I'm close to winning those tournaments," said Federer, who lost to Nadal in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters last week.

"It's not as if I'm losing in the first or second rounds.

"I feel I'm playing well myself. Apart from Novak not losing all year not much has changed in the game. Everybody can play well on all surfaces these days.

"It doesn't feel more different apart from having three more questions to answer at a press conference, but they deserve their press and it's all good stories."

This is kind of a dumb story.  If you go up to any top-10 player and ask them if they can be number one, they're not going to say "Nah, I'm not half as good as Novak or Rafael, those guys are ridiculous."

United States Tennis Players Suck

from IOL:

For the first time in the history of tennis rankings, no American man or woman stood inside the Top 10 on either the WTA or ATP list on Monday, a historic low for one of the former world powers of the sport.

The US, which once dominated on the courts, seems to be afflicted by the same disease which is bothering fellow Grand Slam nations Australia (Lleyton Hewitt at 66th is the only Aussie in the Top 100) and Britain, who can only count on world No 4 Andy Murray.

The bottom dropped out of a three-decade run for the US when inactive Serena Williams, who last played at Wimbledon in July, tumbled to 17th on the WTA list after clinging onto 10th for months under the convoluted mathematics of the system.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion has been struck by a series of injuries and illness since winning Wimbledon in 2010 – and has never put her sport as absolute first in her life.

The US tennis footprint has declined dramatically, with the nation that produced the likes of Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Tracy Austin, Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams, Serena Williams and naturalised European trio of Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles and Ivan Lendl now reduced to just another tennis-playing contender.

American Connnors set the template as the first man to earn the No 1 ranking in 1974. Andy Roddick was the most recent before the rise of the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal duopoly which has dominated until only recently.

Despite millions in the treasury of the national federation, youth development has not produced a new hope from the teenaged ranks with little of promise coming down the pipeline.

Let's face it: tennis just isn't as cool as ... what are the kids doing these days?  The Myspace?