Top ranked Ana Ivanovic lost Zheng Jie, the 133rd-ranked player in the world. Ian Walton/Getty Images Jon Wertheim's Mailbag Jon Wertheim will answer questions from SI.com users in his mailbag every Wednesday. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Wertheim on Twitter

If Nadal went straight from Paris to Wimbledon, skipped any grass court warm-ups, and lost to Ivan Navarro (ATP #133) or Joseph Sirianni (ATP #154), you would question his judgement ... I hope. Same for Ivanovic and Sharapova?
-- Gerry Gollin, Redlands, CA

• Absolutely. It's no coincidence that Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic blew off the grasscourt tune-ups and were so flat here. They both clearly intended to use the early rounds as practice, but you can't do that any more in the women's game. This field is deep and the first week is no longer a cakewalk. The WTA's marketing machine got a flat tire this week. But if no other good comes of these results, I suspect the field for the 2009 Eastbourne tune-up event will be radically improved!

Jon what do you think is going on with Sharapova? She went from being the most consistent player of the past three years (with Henin) to back to back early losses in slams. Personally I think she needs to lower that toss of hers which gets her into too many doubles, but I'm sure you could name a few other things for her to fix.
-- Bob K., Austin, Texas

• This is strictly speculation, but her serve was so bad yesterday. I wonder if her shoulder is giving her trouble again. That result yesterday was obviously baffling, but it's in keeping with recent history. She loses at the U.S. Open, to Aggie Radwanska, a loss that looks less brutal a year later (Radwanksa won today) but was still troubling. She plays a great match in Madrid to end 2007 and then blazes through the Australian Open looking like a dominant players. She stumbles on clay and squanders a match point, losing in Paris. Then she loses here to a player not even in the top 150? Straightening out her serve is a must. She also seemed to be late on a lot of balls yesterday. I assume that's mostly the grass, but maybe compacting her backswing would help.

I just love Andy Roddick's candor in interviews. It's always a lot of fun to hear his post-match interviews like the one yesterday after his loss to Tipsaervic. Yes he might have been a bit testy in some interviews in recent years, BUT some of the questions from the journalists are asinine and repeating the same issues over and over. Yesterday his assessment of himself choking and being so frank was really refreshing too. I know he tries hard and I hope he does a "Marat" soon maybe in US Open.
-- Subhadeep Gan, Cincinnati

• I agree completely. Though I can't recall any asinine questions. For those who ask me, "What do you see in Andy Roddick?" I encourage you to check out this press conference. For all the self-delusion in sports, Roddick knows exactly what the reality of his situation is, both micro (I choked by playing two of the worst shots ever) and macro (it's all about winning another Slam.) Really, this session was exceptional in its honest self-assessment.

Jon: How about some belated props to Bethany Mattek? Granted, Bartoli isn't the player she was last year, but Bethanie played a smart game and she has quietly been putting together a good year.
-- J. Diersing, San Diego

• Amen. Props to Mattek. And Bartoli was starting to play well again, too, so don't discount the caliber of opponent too much. Always like it when these veterans can score some nice results. Mattek has been a pro for almost ten years and hasn't even won $1 million for her career. Still, she comes here playing some of her best tennis and wins three matches. And even if she doesn't win another point on the grass here, she leaves Wimbledon $100,000 richer. Good for her.

Here's what annoys me Jon, the overuse of the term "upset":

2007: 3rd round
2006: 3rd round
2005: 1st round
2004: DNP
2003: 2nd round
2002: 2nd round

Yet everyone is calling James Blake's loss in the 2nd round this year an "upset" when it would have been more shocking had he actually made the 4th round.
-- David, Chicago

• Disagree. Was Blake's loss a titanic upset? No. Was it Sharapova- Kudryavtseva? No. But upset with a little "u"? Absolutely. We're talking about a top-10 player who excels on fast courts (his lackluster Wimbledon record notwithstanding) and even has John Mayer in his box! For him to fall to Rainer Schuettler, a 32-year-old, currently ranked 94th, whose profile is so modest he doesn't even get a page in the ATP media guide? That definitely qualifies as an upset.

Wimbledon can call itself "The Championships" for the same reason the U.S. Open calls itself "The Open", as if there were just one.
-- J. Butt, St. John's, NL, Canada

• Touché.

Still trying to figure out how David Ferrer managed to get seeded ahead of Roddick?
-- Madhu B., Dallas, Texas

• You are? I'm thinking seeding looks a lot more reasonable than it did at the start of the tournament.

Is there some sort of tennis language where it is forbidden for commentators to use the possessive form of words? Why is it always "the serve of Roger Federer", or "the coach of Lleyton Hewitt", etc. -- never Roger Federer's serve, etc.
-- Lucy McMorris, Durham, NC

• And we wonder about athletes' sense of entitlement.

I nominate Frank Dancevic and Serena Williams for long-lost siblings (in the hair department, at least)!!!!!!!!!!
-- Barbara Beck, Rochester, MN

• Frank Dancevic = Bob Terwilliger?

Is it only coincidence that the only U.S. singles players still alive after Thursday are also still alive in Doubles. Methinks only partially.
-- Jerry White, Mineral, VA

• I think it's total coincidence. Jerry is our resident doubles lover -- and we commend him for this -- but it's not as though Maria Sharapova would have won her match yesterday had she also entered the doubles draw. Logistically, it just doesn't make sense for the contenders to play in both draws.

Since it's Wimbledon, someone has to ask a question about our favorite tennis-playing Brit, Tiger Tim! Have you heard his BBC commentary? If so, what do you think?
-- RZ, Los Angeles

• I rather like Tim Henman. Strong debut effort far as I'm concerned. He broadcasts like he plays: steadily and with more nuance and whim than you might suspect looking at the guy. In keeping with the theme of the last fifteen years or so, he's certainly better than that Rusedski cat.

London Calling

A normal day that ended with another shocker. Here's what I thought about Day 5.

Shots, miscellany

• Over the years, many of you have asked, "When will a gay male player finally come out of the closet?" Now, one has. Francisco Rodriguez, a South American whose ranking topped out at No. 373, is the subject of a story by writer David Torope in the August issue of Out magazine.

• BIG D., of L.A. writes: "Another reason to root for Rafa -- here is a link to the blog he keeps for The Times."

• Cam Bennett of Geelong, Australia writes: "Make sure you give Wimbledon Live a wrap sometime during 'the fortnight' ... Live feeds from eight courts, plus all of those matches on demand once a day's play is over. Stunning service to the World's tennis fans!"

• Thanks to Dick F. of New York for forwarding this YouTube link re: Wimbledon's history.

• The International Tennis Hall of Fame has announced that the first wild card for the 2008 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships has been given to Prakash Amritraj of India.

• Gigi of Valdosta, GA : I think Novak Djokovic looks more like Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes, Gilmore Girls.