It often seems only one name is mentioned during the woefully compressed grass court season -- Sampras, Sampras, Sampras. Not that the best to ever play on the surface doesn't deserve the accolades, but you have to be impressed with the work a couple of other players have done on the lawns this season.
Each cruised through his tournament last week with hardly a challenge -- Hewitt winning the Heineken Trophy and Johansson the Nottingham Open.
The fields in those tournaments aren't as deep (especially the week before a Grand Slam), but any time a player can put together a run like both Hewitt and Johansson have since the French Open, you have to keep an eye on them.
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| Back with a vengeance |
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With each match she played at Eastbourne in her return from a three-month layoff, '99 Wimbledon champ Lindsay Davenport looked better and better. Her opponents weren't particularly spectacular, but Davenport still dropped only four total games in her semifinal and final victories over Chanda Rubin and Magui Serna, respectively. Does this mean the powerful American is back to full strength? Probably not. But Davenport seemed downright giddy just to be back on the court, and she should at least make it into the second week at Wimbledon. |
| Rising above the surface |
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There's just something slightly disingenuous about Justine Henin's repeated insistences that she's really a clay-courter at heart. She won two hardcourt Australian Open tuneups in January, and last week took home the title on grass at the Heineken Trophy, beating Belgian rival Kim Clijsters. Throw in that trip to the semifinals at the French Open a few weeks ago and it's clear the skinny, scrappy 19-year-old has the weapons to be a threat on any surface. She has a decent draw at Wimbledon, in the same quarter as Martina Hingis, so she may be able to make a run at the All England Club.
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Approximate number of tennis balls that will be used during the roughly 650 matches played during The Championships at Wimbledon. |
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Guillermo Canas The Argentine clay-courter did well in making it to the Heineken Trophy final before joining Hewitt's list of victims, even if he didn't have to beat any established grass veterans along the way.
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DOUBLE FAULT
Dubravko Rajcevic The convicted stalker of Hingis thinks he should be set free, or at the very least be given a new trial, after it was revealed that Hingis is now dating the prosecuting attorney in the case. Good luck with that. |
ACE
Todd Woodbridge The Aussie doubles specialist pulled off a rare feat in the final round of qualifying for Wimbledon, beating Johan Ortegren 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. It was the first triple bagel in eight years on tour. |
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American Andy Roddick, on the eve of his Wimbledon debut, rose to a career-high ranking of No. 33 in the entry system. Roddick, who finished last year at No. 158, is now fourth among U.S. players in the rankings, trailing only Andre Agassi (2), Sampras (6) and Jan-Michael Gambill (16). |
Magnus Norman, who finished last year ranked No. 4 in the world, continues to plummet. The Swede withdrew from Wimbledon to nurse a nagging hip injury that has affected him for months. He has lost eight of his last nine matches stretching back to a second-round exit in Monte Carlo.
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British bookmakers William Hill will no longer accept bets on streakers at Wimbledon after figuring out that some of those who placed bets then ended up doing the old strip-and-dash themselves.
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Eighteen former NCAA singles or doubles champions are playing at Wimbledon, including 1992 and '93 singles winner Lisa Raymond (Florida) and 1998 triple crown winner (singles, doubles and team titles) Bob Bryan of Stanford. The most notable former champ in the field, though, is Mahesh Bhupathi, who won the '95 doubles title for Mississippi and will be a favorite for the Wimbledon title with Leander Paes.
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More Wimbledon numbers: About 59,400 pounds of strawberries will be sold during the fortnight, along with 90,000 pints of beer. |
Seven of the eight wild cards in the women's field went to British players -- no surprise, as those slots usually go to natives of the host country. The only shame for Britain is that most will be lucky to survive the first round. The highest ranked of the Brit wild cards is Louise Latimer, No. 161 in the world. The lowest is Anne Keothavong, who is 282nd. |
Incidentally, the one non-British women's wild card is American Alexandra Stevenson, a '99 semifinalist who is ranked 114th. On the men's side, six of the eight wild cards went to Brits, with Goran Ivanisevic and Kristian Pless the exceptions.
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| "It's something different, there's no real reason, just decided to cut it off. Now is as good a time as ever to do it. Some friends from Australia came over here and they have done it as well. We were going to do it if we had won the Davis Cup final in Spain." |
| Hewitt, on his new closely cropped haircut.
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| "If you want great tennis players, you're going to have to start looking around in the ghettos."
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| Tennis dad Richard Williams, on Britain's inability to develop young talent with its system of private clubs that can cost $8,400 a year for membership. |
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| This week - ATP Tour |
| Sampras goes for his fifth title in a row at the All England Club. |
| This week - WTA Tour |
| Venus Williams tries to defend her crown and Jennifer Capriati tries to keep the Grand Slam dream alive at Wimbledon. |
| Next week - ATP Tour |
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The Championships move into the second week. |
| Next week - WTA Tour |
| Wimbledon comes to its conclusion.
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