Strawberries & Cream… Wimbledon updates… again

Huge upset today in the 3rd round…

Laura Granville has defeated Martina Hingis on the ‘Graveyard of Champions’ – court 2. Granville beat Hingis, 6-4, 6-2. Not even close.

In other matches of note:

• Serena Williams wins (is ‘win’ an appropriate description? How about DEMOLISHED?) 6-1, 6-0 against Milagros Sequera.
• Justin Henin straight sets victor, 6-4, 6-1 over Elena Vesnina.
• Daniela Hantuchova had a difficult win over Katarina Srebotnik – 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.
• In what should’ve been his first challenge of the tournament, Federer defeated Marat Safin with little real difficulty, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
• Fernando Gonzalez (5th seed) was upset by Janko Tipsarevic. 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-8.
• James Blake (9th seed) beaten by the 20th seeded Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7).
• Andy Roddick cruised past Fernando Verdasco 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).

Strawberries & Cream… Wimbledon updates…

• Tim Henman gone. Beaten by Feliciano Lopez, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 2-6, 6-1
• Rafael Nadal breezes through in 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 against Werner Eschauer
• Federer through 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 versus Juan Martin Del Potro
• Hewitt defeats Simone Bolelli in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
• James Blake wins 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 against Pavel
• Journeyman Aussie Wayne Arthurs defeats 11th seed Tommy Robredo 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-3
• Sharapova wins 6-0, 6-3 over Severine Bremond
• Venus proves too much for Hana Sromova winning 6-2, 6-2
• Amelie Mauresmo wins 6-1, 6-2 over Yvonne Meusburger
• Dinara Safina is upset by Akiko Morigami losing 4-6, 5-7

Top Sports Stories in Japan… (June 29)

Today’s top sport headlines in Japan…

• Sumo dies during training… [Mainichi Shimbun]
• Morigami advances at Wimbledon… [Japan Times]
• A preview on Japan Athletics… [Daily Yomiuri]

Wimbledon, Rd 2 updates

Before rain hit…

• Andy Roddick wins through the second round, defeating Danai Udomchoke in straight sets – 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
• 5th seed Fernando Gonzalez won in 4 against Allejandro Falla – 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1).
• Justine Henin won in straight sets – 6-4, 6-1 – over Vera Dushevina.
• Serena Williams accounted for Alicia Molik of Australia in 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
• Laura Granville upset 20th seed Sybille Bammer of Austria, 6-1, 6-4.
• Jelena Jankovic easily accounted for Jarmila Gajdosova – 6-1, 6-1.
• Martina Hingis smashed Aiko Nakamura 6-1, 6-2.

Wimbledon more of Round 1…

Well, Tim Henman did get past Carlos Moya in a marathon fifth set – winning the finalone 13-11. (6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2, 13-11).

Rafael Nadal blew past Mardy Fish in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

James Blake & Lleyton Hewitt both had straight sets wins.

Journeyman Nicolas Kiefer had an upset win over 30th seed Fillipo Volandri, 6-3, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1.

In the women’s side of the draw, Maria Sharapova was too good for Yung-Jan Chan, winning 6-1, 7-5.

Jelena Jankovic demolished Great Britain’s Anne Keothavong 6-2, 6-0.

Venus Williams crept through after losing the first set, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.

And Japan’s Ai Sugiyama had a straight sets victory, defeating Melanie South 6-3, 6-2.

Wimbledon update… day 1

Highlights from Day 1…

Play is suspended – surprise, surprise… RAIN – and Tim Henman is locked in a fierce battle with Carlos Moya: 6-3, 1-6, 5-7, 6-2… and 5-5 in the final set! Looks to be a great finish on the way…

Roger Federer defeated Teimuraz Gabashvili (Rus) in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Andy Roddick beat Justin Gimelstob with few troubles: 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).

A minor upset with Florent Serra (Fra) defeating #27 seed, Philipp Kohlschrieber 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4.

Justine Henin had no difficulties winning her first, destroying Jorgelina Cravero 6-3, 6-0.

Lourdes Domingo Lino was no match for Serena, losing to her 5-7, 0-6.

After a scare in the first set, Martina Hingis came back to win, 6-7 (7/1), 7-5, 6-0.

Wimbledon update… day 1.

All play on opening day delayed due to rain…

Strawberries & Cream … Wimbledon is here

So Wimbledon’s about to commence, and damn if it isn’t shaping up to be a good tournament this year! Will Roger continue his Tiger-like dominance of the non-clay game? Can Serena turn back time & return to fortune? How many thousands of pounds of strawberries & cream will be consumed (avg. is 62,000 pounds of strawberries & about 1,500 gallons of cream!)?

Some of the better first round men’s matches…

• Rik de Voest vs Marat Safin (26) – it will be interesting to see how the big guy’s playing!
• Andy Roddick vs Justin Gimelstob – Gimelstob will be no push-over…
• Carlos Moya (25) vs Tim Henman – Will this be the year Tim does it? Nah… he’s going to be hard-pressed to make it past the first round. Andy Murray’s a MUCH better chance!
• Rafael Nadal vs Mardy Fish – Fish’ll make it tough for Nadal’s non-preferred surface…

Women’s draw…

• Martina Hingis (9) vs Naomi Cavaday – Martina’s going to cream her, but good to see Martina back at the grass in the top 10.
• Jamea Jackson vs Amelie Mauresmo (2) – Jackson will have to play the game of her life to upset Mauresmo, the reigning champion.

Hard to pick upsets, even tho’ at Wimbledon, there always are. That’s just lawn.

My early picks for this are Roger Federer (but I expect good things from Andy Murray this year), and I think this year, Justine Henin finally gets it done.