WTA June 25-July 8 2007 The Championships Wimbledon, GBR Grand Slam - stats - history outdoor: grass - 128 players Prize$: £4,946,960 (women's) tourney sched - website map - venue Matches: current - completed - order IBM Real-Time Scoreboard Draws: ladies singles, .pdf - mix doub     Ladies': qualifying - singles - doubles     Men's: qualifying - singles - doubles photos - news - interviews - notes Yahoo! news photos: US - UK - WTA TV Sched: USA - UK - net video ($) Radio Wimbledon: - Centre C. - C. 1 BBC Radio: Five Live - Sports Extra BBC videos - Wimbledon wallpaper UK radar - London: forecast - map # 1 J Henin, # 2 M Sharapova # 3 J Jankovic, # 4 A Mauresmo

tourney archive: previous tourney page     next tourney page Wimbledon: #20 Marion Bartoli 5' 6¾" 128 lb, RH, 2H-FH&BH Wimbledon: #31 Venus Williams 6' 1" 160 lb, RH, 2H-BH Wimbledon: 4th Wimbledon Title 6th Grand Slam Singles Title

Early round play at  Wimbledon begins at  noon local time. All England Club - click for sat pic-street map Latitude: 51.434113 Longitude: -0.214491 goto link for World Wind MultiMap's photo-map - venue map, .pdf     The Championships at Wimbledon have 32 seeds, with no 1st-round byes. There are 12 qualifiers and 8 wild cards in the main draw. Qualifying finals are on Thursday.     London (daylight savings) time is GMT (UCT, ZULU) + 1 hour (US Pacific Daylight Time +8, EDT +5). Early round play begins at noon local time, QFs & SFs at 1pm, and the Final at 2pm on Saturday. Plan your trip Local Radar Detailed Forecast

On Saturday in London, in the final of The Championships at Wimbledon, the 2000, '01 & '05 champion, 27 year old 23rd seeded # 31 Venus Williams from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida weathered a close 1st set, and defeated 22 year old 18th seeded # 20 Marion Bartoli of France (residence: Geneva, Switzerland), 6-4, 6-1 (photos shown).     Venus broke Marion's serve on a double fault in the 2nd game of the 1st set, and held to take a 3-0 lead. When Venus held a break point to go up 4-0 in the next game, a rout appeared possible. But Marion held, and then broke Venus and held again to tie the score at 3-3. Both players then held until Marion, serving to stay in the 1st set at 4-5, double faulted again giving Venus 2 set points; Venus took the set on the second opportunity. AELTC match report     The second set was nearly all Venus. It was Venus's 4th Wimbledon singles title, coming in her sixth All England Tennis Club final in the last eight years. The payoff is the largest ever at Wimbledon: $1,395,871. ESPN video: Venus Tops Marion     Venus said: "This win, it's so much different from the others, because the other ones I felt like I was playing in championship form from minute one. Here I really had to focus on my game, you know, overcome a lot of challenges, including obviously being seeded low, those kinds of things...     "This is quite obviously a great surface for me. I think I know how to play this surface also. I feel like I know when to play it high or when to play it low. I know pretty much how the ball's going to bounce." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save - ESPN video: Chat with Venus     Venus put 70% of her 1st serves in the box, averaging 113 mph (peak 125 mph), and won 77% of her 1st serve points (Marion: 63%, 97 mph avg, 104 mph peak, 60%). Venus's 2nd serves averaged only 84 mph, and she won 47% of her 2nd serve points,up from 20% in the semis (Marion: also 84 mph on 2nd serves; 39%). Venus hit 29 winners with only 12 unforced errors; Marion hit 7 winners, with 9 unforced errors. match stats     Marion said: "Venus play some unbelievable tennis. She reached some balls like I never see one person reach some ball like that on a tennis court, and she would even hit it harder back to me.     "She served 120 miles on first serve. Sometimes was hurting my wrist so bad because the ball was coming so fast to me. So I really try my best I think, and I play a great match, but at the end she was just too good.     "I can't say a player can beat her when she play like this on grass. I mean, it's not possible to beat her. She's just too good, you know." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save     Venus and Marion had never before met on the field of combat.     Venus Williams is now 35-20 in WTA singles finals; her 34th title came at Memphis earlier this year. Venus has a 51-7 record on the chlorophyll courts at the All England Tennis Club. She is now 6-6 in Grand Slam tourney finals. Former # 1 Venus will rise back to # 17 in the WTA singles rankings on Monday.     Marion Bartoli is now 3-3 in WTA singles finals. Marion had never before been beyond the 3rd round at Wimbledon; her best prior performance in a Grand Slam tourney was reaching the 4th round at Roland Garros last month. Marion's record at Wimbledon is now 10-5; she will add $580,031 to her $1,560,063 career earnings prior to The Championships. Despite losing the final, Marion's ranking on Monday will be a career high # 11.     On Sunday at Wimbledon 2nd seeded Cara Black & Liezel Huber defeated 4th seeded Ai Sugiyama & Katarina Srebotnik in the ladies' doubles final, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The girls' singles final, usually played on Saturday, was also played on Sunday, as were the girls' doubles final, and the mixed doubles final, due to the rain delays.     Men's singles final: s1 Roger Federer d s2 Rafael Nadal 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2     Rain, which delayed play on opening Monday, and also stopped play at Wimbledon on Wednesday, stopped play with a brief downpour on Friday, but play resumed fairly quickly. On middle Saturday, however, rain delayed the start of play until almost 3pm--and ended play less than 2 hours later.     Rain delayed play on every day of week two until Friday. Tuesday is normally ladies' quarterfinals day, but due to rain had only 4th round matches scheduled. Quarterfinals were postponed to Wednesday and Thursday, and the semis postponed to Friday.

WTA SCOREBOARD: The Championships at Wimbledon s=seed, #=rank, *=upset, LL=lucky loser ranks are for the previous week How do players get into the "draw"? prizes in US $ are at June 20 conversion rate On Thursday, June 21, 2007, attendees of the Branson-sponsored WTA player party at Kensington Roof Gardens included 2003 champ Serena Williams and 2000, '01 & '05 champ Venus Williams, 1997 champ Martina Hingis, Mary Pierce (currently sidelined by injury), Tatiana Golovin, and 2004 champ Maria Sharapova... Venus Williams and Martina Hingis worked out on Wimbledon practice courts on Saturday... On Monday, Nicole Vaidisova and Elena Dementieva, perhaps suspecting they might not play their 1st round matches until Wednesday in rainy London, decided to chow down with WTA sponsor Whirlpool gear and their WTA Love Food cookbooks... On Tuesday, Zi Yan presented a racquet to one of the execs for the new, enlarged, China Open tourney Special Report: Svetlana's Hair! Svetlana Kuznetsova is shown on Mar 16, 2007 at Indian Wells, on Jun 3, '07 at Roland Garros, and on Jul 3, '07 at Wimbledon. How does this work? How does a mild-mannered WTA player grow about 2 feet of hair (accounting for braids) in less than 4 months? Hair tonic? Beer shampoo? Stealing from Anna Chakvetadze's lunchbox? Only Sveta knows for sure (and old bald guys want to know).

Wimbledon, 1st Round Mon-Tue Jun 25-26 noon loser's prize: £10,000 = US $19,941 (2006: $14,589); points: 2 rain delayed play on Monday #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #119 q Jorgelina Cravero ARG 6-3, 6-0 Mon Justine driving a forehand, and Jorgelina serving     Justine won the Eastbourne title on Saturday. Justine said: "The grass is slower here than it was in Eastbourne I thought. I needed a little bit of time to get used to the surface. It's not easy to come for a tournament and forget about it and get ready on the next one, especially for a Grand Slam.     "But that's what I wanted to do. I have no regrets about that because that gave me a lot of confidence. I just needed a few games to get used to another rhythm.     "The day has been long also. It's good to win this way, and that we could finish tonight." postmatch interview     Justine, now 25, refuted a Belgian press report that claimed she would retire in two years due to injuries. Justine said: "No, I think it's been a little kind of mistake in that... It's going to be in four, five more years, I don't know, three more years. Depends on my injuries, but not in two for sure." #2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d #50 Yung-Jan Chan TPE 6-1, 7-5 Tue Maria delivering a twist serve, Yung-Jan fielding a backhand, Maria following a backhand, and after winning a point     Maria said: "I was happy with the way I started, with the way I controlled the match. Didn't feel like I did the same thing the second set. I was a little bit passive, especially on [Yung-Jan's] second serves, which I attacked really well in the first but didn't really take advantage of in the second. I think that was clearly the difference, especially in the score...     "I served pretty well, was able to hold my serve when I needed to. I lost that one break in the second. Other than that, if you look at what really was the difference, I think it was just I wasn't as aggressive on my return game." AP story #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #179 wc Anne Keothavong GBR 6-2, 6-0 ppd-Tue Anne following a cannonball serve, Jelena following a backhand drive, and after match point #4 s4 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #156 Jamea Jackson USA 6-1, 6-3 Tue Jamea's forehand drive, and Amelie about to swat a backhand     Amelie said: "It's great to be back as the defending champion here. I feel good. This year is a little bit different because really I didn't feel that well at the French Open, so it definitely makes it better here this year for me." postmatch interview #5 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #42 Julia Vakulenko UKR 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 Tue Julia about to launch a forehand, Svetlana driving one, and after winning a point #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #137 Melinda Czink HUN 6-0, 7-6(3) ppd-Wed Melinda's lefty forehand, and Ana's backhand     Ana said: "I started a very good match. I think I played some really good tennis. But then [Melinda] started being much more aggressive. I didn't adjust to that really quickly. I was more trying to still just put the ball in, and she used that opportunity.     "[A rain delay during the 2nd set] helped me a lot because I could take some time and realize what I'm doing wrong. Then from the first moment when I was back on the court, to step more forward and be more aggressive again." postmatch interview #7 s7 Serena Williams USA d #57 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP 7-5, 6-0 Mon Serena's forehand, and Lourdes volleying a backhand     Serena is playing with a slight hamstring injury, but her leg is not taped. Serena said: "I don't think it's a pulled hamstring, it's just a tight hamstring... It's doing okay. I'm just taking it a day at a time. It's getting better better than it was a couple days ago. Flared up, but it's getting better now slowly but surely... Didn't really affect me too much at the French.     "As for my preparation, I took a couple days off here and there, but I was consistently hitting, which is more than I usually do... It's gotten better since I've been getting treatment on it... When it's taped it hurts my other leg. Like the rubbing, I get a burn on my other leg. I hate it." postmatch interview #8 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #84 Angelique Kerber GER 7-5, 6-3 ppd-Tue #9 s9 Martina Hingis SUI d #233 wc Naomi Cavaday GBR 6(1)-7, 7-5, 6-0 Mon Martina following her serve, lefty Naomi driving a forehand, Martina about to swat a backhand, and after match point     Due to injuries, 1997 Wimbledon champion Martina was playing in only her third match since March. It took her a while to find her rhythm, as they say, in cold (61°F), rainy London, but after facing two break points trailing 4-5 in the 2nd set, Martina won 9 straight games.     About her hip injury, Martina said: "Last Tuesday my doctor said the injury was about 60% or 70% healed. But I didn’t want to miss Wimbledon, no matter what. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest decision. The doctor said I can’t make the injury worse or reinjure it, and that it was up to me. I only just started hitting again last Friday.     "Obviously that wasn’t the ideal preparation coming into Wimbledon, and I felt a little tender at the start of this match. Now I’m just glad I don’t have to play again for a couple of days." Wimbledon story     About playing on Court 2, the Graveyard of Champions, Martina said: "I've never lost on Court 2. I know it's a graveyard of champions, but it's never been to me... Somehow I never felt like, 'Okay, she's on top of me.' I was always hanging in there. It was never like on my mind that I'm going to lose. I was right there with her." postmatch interview     Naomi said: "To play that type of champion is obviously a great honour. I had a fantastic crowd, big buzz, loads of positives I can take from it. But I'm incredibly gutted right now that I didn't take it...     "[Martina] definitely was a big idol for me growing up. I watched her with interest. I loved the way she played. When she came back to the game, I was really, really happy. I think she brings so much to the game of tennis. You know, she's just great." postmatch interview #10 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #310 wc Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS 6-0, 6-1 ppd-Tue Daniela showing slice as she prepares to swat a backhand, and Anastasia congratulating Daniela after match point     Daniela said: "I felt like I was doing everything right today on the court, and tactically I think I played very smart. The last few weeks, I started to feel really good on grass, and I think I had two very good tournaments, so I was coming in very confident into this one...     "It's a great feeling to be back in the top ten. I know how to appreciate it this time, you know, where before maybe I was taking too many things for granted and didn't really realize what I was doing." postmatch interview #11 s11 Nadia Petrova RUS d #72 Vania King USA 6-0, 6-1 Tue #12 s12 Elena Dementieva RUS d #48 Nathalie Dechy FRA 6-2, 7-6(7) ppd-Wed Nathalie waiting to swat a backhand, Elena driving a forehand, and after match point #13 s13 Dinara Safina RUS d #39 Kateryna Bondarenko UKR 7-5, 7-6(7) ppd-Wed Dinara driving a forehand, and Kateryna's backhand #14 s14 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #65 Karin Knapp ITA 7-6(6), 6-2 ppd-Wed Nicole about to connect with forehand and backhand #15 s15 Patty Schnyder SUI d #76 Camille Pin FRA 6-1, 4-6, 8-6 Mon Patty smiling before the match, Camille fielding a backhand, and Patty firing a forehand     Patty trailed 1-5 in the 3rd set, then won 7 of the next 8 games to win the match.     Patty said: "I shouldn't be down 5-1. But that's what happened. The only thing I thought was "Now you just go and just think of it being clay, and play at forehand and go to the position you like, more further in the back,' and that's how I think I could rally better. Yeah, somehow I won. But [Camille] also helped me. I mean, she couldn't finish it off...     "I don't have a good record on grass... I played a great first set, I just couldn't keep it up. So then I struggle with confidence, I get upset, and it's really always up and down what I go through on grass court matches. It was really good to come through a difficult one." postmatch interview #16 s16 Shahar Peer ISR d #55 Tamarine Tanasugarn THA 7-5, 6-2 Mon Tammy trying to stay warm before the match, and Shahar about to connect with a backhand drive #17 s17 Tatiana Golovin FRA d #127 q Su-Wei Hsieh TPE 5-7, 6-3, 8-6 ppd-Wed Tatiana dispatching a forehand, Su-Wei about to swat her 2-handed forehand, and Tatiana likewise with a backhand     Tatiana's previous match was in the Fed Cup quarterfinals in April, after which she was sidelined by a right ankle injury.     Tatiana said: "I've only had a week of practice before coming here. Obviously I wasn't expecting to play great tennis, or the level of tennis that I played when I stopped, but I did think I did some pretty good things out there. The most important thing is my ankle held up and it wasn't hurting, and even when I was down 5-3 in the third I still wanted to be out there, and I still wanted to fight, and I think that's kind of what made the difference, because I just really didn't see myself going home right away...     "I think as the match went on I was getting a rhythm and starting to get a feel again. I just didn't want to leave the tournament today [smiling]. I'm happy about that." postmatch interview #20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #73 Flavia Pennetta ITA 6-3, 6-1 Mon Marion's backhand drive #21 s19 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #412 wc Elena Baltacha GBR 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-2 ppd-Tue Elena driving a backhand (no pics of Katarina were available)     Elena said: "I was there with [Katarina]. We played a great standard match. To think what I've done in three months, from literally going from qualifying, which I was actually losing qualifying of challengers in the beginning of March and I wasn't ready to play, but I thought I might as well start from somewhere.     "My ranking dropped to 890. To think in three months' time, I've managed to get my ranking to 270, qualified at Eastbourne last week, beat Anne, British No. 1. That's not bad in three months. We've got to be realistic here.     "This girl is 21 in the world. I was up to the pace of the game. There's a few things that need to get better, but I think as long as I keep getting better, I think I've got a really good future ahead of me. Hopefully, touch wood, I'm not going to have any more problems." postmatch interview #22 s20 Sybille Bammer AUT d #102 Varvara Lepchenko UZB 6-2, 6-2 Mon #23 s21 Tathiana Garbin ITA d #192 q Zi Yan CHN 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 ppd-Wed Tathiana looking to slice a backhand, and Zi driving one *#97 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #24 s22 A Medina Garrigues ESP 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 ppd-Wed #25 s24 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #61 Jill Craybas USA 6-1, 6-2 ppd-Tue #26 s25 Lucie Safarova CZE d #122 Zuzana Ondraskova CZE 7-5, 6-2 Mon #27 s26 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #204 wc Melanie South GBR 6-3, 6-2 Tue Ai after winning a point     Ai said: "I'm very pleased the way I played today. I played [Melanie] last year once, and it was a really close one, and I know it's going to be really tough, on grass especially. But I think as a first match, I think I was a good match for me...     "Now I'm playing again a young one, play against Cornet. She just beat Kirilenko, so it's going to be a tough one.     "I'm really happy to be here again. This is my 15th time [in the Wimbledon main draw], so I'm enjoying right now to be here and playing, so hopefully I can stay as long as I can." postmatch interview #28 s27 Samantha Stosur AUS d #206 q Kristina Brandi PUR 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 ppd-Tue Kristina and Sam swatting backhands #29 s28 Mara Santangelo ITA d #174 q Ayumi Morita JPN 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 ppd-Wed 17-year-old Ayumi following a cannonball serve, and Mara about to belt a backhand #30 s29 Francesca Schiavone ITA d #120 Anne Kremer LUX 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 ppd-Wed Anne driving a backhand, and Fresca after winning a point #31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #59 Alla Kudryavtseva RUS 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 Tue Venus firing a forehand, Alla driving one on the run, and Venus after match point     Venus said: "It was definitely a well competed match. I think the fans enjoy that. It was nice because I could definitely feel that they were enjoying when I was playing well and coming back...     "The first set went so fast, and my balls were just flying out and I didn't have any answers. That really bothered me because when things are going wrong, I can figure it out and change my game or adjust. But that first set, I was like, 'Okay, what am I doing wrong?' Because there has to be something if it's not going in." postmatch interview     Alla said: "I think I had a better chance to beat [Venus] in the second set actually, even though I was 2 Love up, love 30, then 2-1, 40-15, a couple advantages on my serve later in the set, and I think if I would have used those chances I would have way better chances.     "In the third set she played good. She played the way she should play. I played a little bit above my level probably, so that's how I could keep up stay the same leg with her." postmatch interview     Alla, who started in Moscow and moved to Miami for a while, is now based in Bradenton, Florida. Alla said: "I was based in Russia and I had a Russian coach, and then I met Nick [Bollettieri], and he offered me the conditions in the States are way better than Moscow. You have a lot of courts, you have great weather, you don't have to play indoors for six months of the year. Well, it's just easier." *#68 Elena Vesnina RUS d #32 s30 Olga Poutchkova RUS 6-1, 6-3 ppd-Tue #33 s31 Michaella Krajicek NED d #81 Tzipora Obziler ISR 6-2, 6(6)-7, 6-1 Mon-Tue Michaella's backhand drive #34 s32 Martina Muller GER d #166 Anna Smashnova ISR 6-0, 6-0 ppd-Wed Anna signing autographs in Miami in March, 2005, and winning her 12th WTA singles title in Budapest on July 30, 2006     5' 2" 30 year old Anna Smashnova, who has been slowed by injuries in the past year, announced in March she would retire after this year's Wimbledon. Anna, who reached a career high rank of # 15 in 2003, has won over $2.2 million in career prize money, and finishes with a 401-304 career match record. Anna's record in WTA singles finals: 12-1. Haaretz story - WTA profile *#44 Eleni Daniilidou GRE d #35 Gisela Dulko ARG 5-7, 6-3, 8-6 Mon-Tue Eleni about to slice a backhand, and Gisela driving her 2-hander *#105 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK d #36 Meghann Shaughnessy USA 6-2, 6-4 ppd-Tue #37 Severine Bremond FRA d #95 Ekaterina Bychkova RUS 6-4, 6-4 Tue-dark-Wed #38 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #110 Tsvetana Pironkova BUL 6-2, 6-1 ppd-Wed #40 Nicole Pratt AUS d #113 q Casey Dellacqua AUS 6-3, 6-4 ppd-Wed #41 Meilen Tu USA d #71 Edina Gallovits ROU 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 ppd-Wed *#140 LL Alize Cornet FRA d #43 Maria Kirilenko RUS 6-4, 6-4 Tue #45 Emilie Loit FRA d #108 Tiantian Sun CHN 6-3, 6-1 ppd-Tue Tiantian about to belt a backhand drive (no photos of Emilie were available) #46 Sania Mirza IND d #80 Yaroslava Shvedova RUS 6-0, 6-3 Tue Sania's fine forehand *#169 q Hana Sromova CZE d #47 Shuai Peng CHN 6-4, 6-4 Tue #49 Elena Likhovtseva RUS d #67 Maria Elena Camerin ITA 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 ppd-Tue *#101 Yvonne Meusburger AUT d #51 Virginie Razzano FRA 6-4, 7-5 Tue #52 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #86 Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO 6-3, 6-1 ppd-Wed #53 Roberta Vinci ITA d #77 Ashley Harkleroad USA 6-2, 6-1 Mon #54 Tamira Paszek AUT d #145 q Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE 6-4, 7-6(3) ppd-Wed #56 Milagros Sequera VEN d #114 Julia Schruff GER 6-3, 6-2 ppd-Tue #58 Kaia Kanepi EST d #94 Tatjana Malek GER 6-1, 6-4 Mon #60 Aravane Rezai FRA d #82 Shenay Perry USA 6-2, 7-6(4) ppd-Wed #62 Akiko Morigami JPN d #103 Alberta Brianti ITA 6-4, 6-0 ppd-Wed *#118 Bethanie Mattek USA d #64 Vasilisa Bardina RUS 6-1, 6-0 Tue *#74 Alicia Molik AUS d #69 Anastasia Rodionova RUS 6-3, 6-2 Mon #70 q Agnes Szavay HUN d #98 Eva Birnerova CZE 6-4, 6-1 ppd-Tue #75 Laura Granville USA d #92 Aleksandra Wozniak CAN 7-6(4), 6-3 Mon #78 Vera Dushevina RUS d #89 Timea Bacsinszky SUI 6-4, 7-5 Mon #85 Aiko Nakamura JPN d #134 Martina Sucha SVK 7-5, 6-2 Mon Aiko waiting to lightly tap a backhand #88 Tatiana Poutchek BLR d #159 wc Viktoriya Kutuzova UKR 6-4, 6-2 ppd-Tue *#96 Iveta Benesova CZE d #93 Catalina Castano COL 6-0, 7-5 ppd-Wed *#154 q Olga Govortsova BLR d #99 Greta Arn GER 6(5)-7 7-6(4) 6-1 Mon-Tue Olga's backhand drive #104 wc Caroline Wozniacki DEN d #132 Anastasiya Yakimova BLR 7-5, 6-2 ppd-Wed Anastasiya driving a backhand, 2006 Wimbledon juniors champ Caroline's running forehand, and after winning a point *#188 wc Katie O'Brien GBR d #106 Sandra Kloesel GER 6-3, 7-5 Mon-Tue     Katie said: "I started last night, quite late last night. Went on quite unexpectedly. Difficult conditions. The court was even wet before we started. I managed to get a 5-3 lead, so I was obviously quite pleased going in this morning, that I had that cushion...     "Broke serve to win the set 6-3. Then I lost my serve beginning of the second set. I was 5-3 down. I kind of just kept fighting and found a way to win 7-5...     "I think I probably had the most favorable draw out of all the Brits. Yeah, I'm really glad that I've managed to do British women a favor." postmatch interview *#189 q Nika Ozegovic CRO d #109 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER 6-3, 6-2 ppd-Tue     Anna-Lena said: "It's now exactly one year that I'd say that I dropped my level a little bit, then there came the thing with my [former] coach [Rafael Font de Mora], and it's still going on...     "He goes up to my opponent, and someone is coming up to me and telling me, 'He gave them all the tactics' how she had to play me today. When you know that, it's always in your head and you just can't throw it away...     "I don't want to go down to his level. It's just sad to see a guy doing things like this... I have to learn to deal with it. But it's not that easy." postmatch interview *#202 q Tatiana Perebiynis UKR d #131 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI 6-3, 6-3 ppd-Wed

Wimbledon, 2nd Round Wed Jun 27 noon Thu Jun 28 11am loser's prize: £16,325 = US $32,554 (2006: $23,832); points: 60 rain delayed play on Wednesday #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #78 Vera Dushevina RUS 6-0, 6-4 Wed Justine and Vera driving forehands, and Justine watching the Hawkeye replay after match point     About the topless Centre Court, from which the long-standing partial roof has been removed to make room for a fully closeable retractable roof in 2009, Justine said: "It doesn’t feel like the same court, it didn’t feel familiar. I liked it in the old days, so it’s a bit sad. – it was a beautiful Centre Court. It’s better for some, but I miss the old one. It certainly changes things a lot. There’s more light, and it’s a bit less cozy. You feel that the fans are further away." postmatch interview #2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d #37 Severine Bremond FRA 6-0, 6-3 Thu Severine dispatching a serve Mariaward, Maria's flying forehand, Severine having less fun than last year (she reached the QFs) Maria fielding a backhand, and after match point     Maria said: "I think I played a really solid first set. It was really hard with the conditions, because the wind was swirling, so I was quite happy that. I was able to hold my serve after getting that break in the second set. And I was able to follow through...     "I think [Severine is] a very tough grass court player. She has good slice, serves, and volleys. Clearly that's what she did last year to get to the quarterfinal. In the past when I used to play those kind of opponents, I wasn't patient enough. I used to go for too much off the slices, try to win the point as quickly as I could. That's one of the things that I've definitely improved... I'm much more patient.     "I still didn't feel like I came in as much as he could have, especially in the second set. I had so many opportunities that I didn't take. But, it's still a work in progress." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save     About her 3rd round opponent, Ai Sugiyama, Maria said: "[Ai's] a fighter. She's feisty. She gets a lot of balls back. I'll definitely need to be looking to come in more, unlike in the second set today. I played her on grass when I won here. It was a pretty tough match, but that was a long time ago and this is going to be a new one." #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #105 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK 6-1, 6-1 Wed Jelena's backhand drive     Jelena said: "I think I'm the player who has the most matches played on grass [this year] and I feel quite confident. In general I enjoy playing more on faster surfaces. It suits my game a lot better than clay. So I really enjoy my time here in Wimbledon, and hopefully I can make it.     "I'm happy with my performance today for my second round. It was good winning 6-1, 6-1. It's not something that happens often. It's so tough to break anyone, and I was quite focused today and did quite well." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download and save #4 s4 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #101 Yvonne Meusburger AUT 6-1, 6-2 Thu Amelie's flying forehand #5 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #118 Bethanie Mattek USA 7-6(2), 6-4 Thu Svetlana after lightly tapping a backhand #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #41 Meilen Tu USA 6-4, 6-3 Thu Ana firing a cannonball (14 aces in her first two matches), Meilen fielding a backhand, and Ana after winning a point     Ana said: "It was a very tough match for me. I don't know how much score indicates that, but it was fight. [Meilen] played really well today. We had lot of long rallies. It was tough. But my serve was working very well today. I was mixing it a lot. That helped me a lot to get through today's match." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save #7 s7 Serena Williams USA d #74 Alicia Molik AUS 7-6(4), 6-3 Wed Serena driving a backhand, after match point, and Alicia congratulating Serena     Serena said: "[Alicia] was serving really well. She's playing really well on the grass court. She has one of the biggest serves in women's tennis. She has a very consistent serve. She's hitting a lot of slice. She's really a good grass court player. If she hadn't have played me, she probably would have gotten really far in this tournament. I knew that going in. It was just a match like that...     "I'm excited to get through today because I knew it wasn't going to be really easy at all." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download and save #8 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS d #88 Tatiana Poutchek BLR 6-2, 6-1 ppd-Thu Anna's backhand drive #9 s9 Martina Hingis SUI d #85 Aiko Nakamura JPN 6-1, 6-2 Wed Martina and Aiko driving forehands, and Martina driving a backhand     Martina said: "I could only be happy that I was still in the draw. So try to make the best out of it.     "I think today first game was pretty key, first couple games, because I held serve being down 40-15. Then also [Aiko] had game points on her own serve and didn't make it. Then I just kind of swept through it, through the first set, broke her down a little bit mentally...     "I think the score [was not as close as] what the match kind of showed, because 6-1, 6-2, I beat her like that last time we played in Australia. It was definitely much more difficult today, especially in the beginning. I just tried to focus and keep the momentum." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download and save #10 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #49 Elena Likhovtseva RUS 7-5, 7-6(3) ppd-Thu Daniela serving, Elena ready, and Elena and Daniela driving backhands #11 s11 Nadia Petrova RUS d #46 Sania Mirza IND 6-2, 6-2 Thu Sania and Nadia driving backhands     Sania said: "I had a lot of break points, which I could have converted a lot of times, but either [Nadia] came up with a big serve, or I was putting too much pressure on myself because I knew that she was going to hit a big serve the next time around and I really wanted to finish the point. So I was forcing the issue of it. I think she served really well today, and I knew that, though, she's one of the bigger servers on the circuit...     "I felt like I was on the defensive all the time... Every time I did attack, I won the point. I felt that I was always three feet behind the baseline when I should have been on the baseline. She got me moving better than I got her moving. I know that she likes her backhand more than her forehand... It was a match where, even though after losing 2 and 2, you still feel you could have won that match because you have had so many chances.     "I started off really well, Love-30 on someone serving so big. You have to get those games. I just feel I didn't convert the points that I should have, which I did better in the first match that I played, because every time I got a break point I converted it. But I couldn't do that today for whatever reason." postmatch interview     Sania is seeded 16th in doubles, partnered with Israeli Shahar Peer. Muslim Sania said: "We've grown up together. We're great friends. So we said, why not? It didn't cause controversy, the controversy was caused by you guys, so let's not even go there now. We're playing, and it's very hard she didn't have a partner, I didn't have a partner. I played with six different partners in six different tournaments the last six weeks...     "I think we were both very lucky to find each other, because it's someone who suits each other's game. I have a big forehand, she has a big backhand. We've done well in the past... We're playing tennis, we're not making statements. We're just here to play tennis and we're here to perform and be the best we can be." #12 s12 Elena Dementieva RUS d #96 Iveta Benesova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Thu Elena following a forehand, lefty Iveta driving a backhand, and Elena after match point *#62 Akiko Morigami JPN d #13 s13 Dinara Safina RUS 6-4, 7-5 Thu Akiko's 2-handed forehand, and Dinara and Akiko driving 2-handed backhands     Akiko said: "I know that [Dinara is] a really, really good player, but I've been playing a lot of top ten players well, so I really didn't think, like, 'Oh, I'm playing against No. 13 in the world.' I just tried to focus on my game and was very aggressive...     "I'm pretty satisfied how I played today. I played pretty aggressive, and maybe grass court is not her favorite surface. But I tried to focus on my game, and I'm pretty satisfied how I played today. postmatch interview     Akiko will play 2000, '01 & '05 Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the 3rd round on Saturday.     Akiko said: "I played against [Venus] at the beginning of this year. I lost to her 6-1 in the third, and it was a pretty close match. I'm just going to play my game and just really don't think what the opponent is going to be." #14 s14 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #40 Nicole Pratt AUS 6-3, 6-2 Thu Nicole V's forehand drive, and both Nicoles driving backhands #15 s15 Patty Schnyder SUI d #53 Roberta Vinci ITA 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 ppd-Thu Patty after winning a point (match point?) #16 s16 Shahar Peer ISR d #58 Kaia Kanepi EST 6-4, 7-5 Wed Shahar's backhand *#54 Tamira Paszek AUT d #17 s17 Tatiana Golovin FRA 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 Thu Tamira's forehand drive, and Tatiana after slicing a serve     Tatiana was playing only her second match after being out two months with an ankle injury. Tatiana said: "It wasn't really an ideal situation for me, but like I said, it's the tournament and you deal with what comes. I got through yesterday and obviously today was a little bit tougher for me. I was making a few too many mistakes, I think. But [Tamira] was definitely solid, and I wasn't expecting to play any better than I did." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save #20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #154 q Olga Govortsova BLR 7-5, 6-2 Wed Olga and Marion driving forehand and backhand #21 s19 Katarina Srebotnik SLO d #189 q Nika Ozegovic CRO 6-1, 6-1 ppd-Thu *#75 Laura Granville USA d #22 s20 Sybille Bammer AUT 6-1, 6-4 Wed *#52 Victoria Azarenka BLR d #23 s21 Tathiana Garbin ITA 6-1, 6-3 Thu Victoria's forehand drive #25 s24 Alona Bondarenko UKR d #70 q Agnes Szavay HUN 6-2, 6-3 ppd-Thu #26 s25 Lucie Safarova CZE d #44 Eleni Daniilidou GRE 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Wed-rain-Thu Lucie driving a forehand #27 s26 Ai Sugiyama JPN d #140 LL Alize Cornet FRA 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 Thu Alize's forehand drive, and Ai following a backhand     Ai said: "I think first set I got a little tight at the end, but also, Cornet, my opponent, the young French player, compete really good in the first set.     "But in the second set I tried to be a little bit more aggressive going to the court. I was maybe a little bit behind the baseline in the first set, but tried to be a little bit close to the baseline or inside the baseline to be aggressive. And that works really good in the second set, and it went my way and I won the [set] 6-0 and got the good rhythm from it. Also, it was huge that I broke her serve first game of the third set." postmatch interview *#56 Milagros Sequera VEN d #28 s27 Samantha Stosur AUS 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 Wed #29 s28 Mara Santangelo ITA d #104 wc Caroline Wozniacki DEN 6-0, 7-6(4) Thu *#60 Aravane Rezai FRA d #30 s29 Francesca Schiavone ITA 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 Thu Aravane's forehand drive #31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #169 q Hana Sromova CZE 6-2, 6-2 Thu Venus firing a stationary forehand, and one on the run     Venus said: "I think my serve is pretty dynamic right now. It's definitely winning me a lot of points. I feel like my return is really nice. I feel like I'm moving well. I'm solid. I feel like I have a good base to just keep playing aggressively on." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save #33 s31 Michaella Krajicek NED d #188 wc Katie O'Brien GBR 6-0, 6-1 ppd-Thu Michaella's forehand drive, and Katie about to slice a low backhand     Michaella said: "I think [Katie] was nervous, that's for sure, especially in the first set. She looked really tight. But on the other side, I think I played one a very solid match." postmatch interview - interview video: watch now - download & save     Katie said: "I knew I'd been playing much better the last couple of weeks and I just wanted to try and prove myself. In the end [Michaella] served really well. It was really difficult to break her serve.     "I think I actually probably beat myself through most of the match. Made a few too many errors. Serve let me down as well. Just a disappointing day...     "Off the ground, she wasn't really putting me under that much pressure. I was the one making the errors myself. I mean, obviously she's a step up in class to what I've been used to, so maybe I was a little bit kind of overwhelmed by that. But she wasn't really putting me under that much pressure. I think I was maybe just pressing too hard. Maybe I should have been a bit smarter, you know, bided my time a bit more, been a little bit more patient." postmatch interview *#38 Agnieszka Radwanska POL d #34 s32 Martina Muller GER 6-1, 4-0 retired Thu Agnieszka driving a forehand *#68 Elena Vesnina RUS d #45 Emilie Loit FRA 6-1, 6-2 Wed #97 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP d #202 q Tatiana Perebiynis UKR 7-5, 6-2 Thu Thursday doubles: Venus & Serena Williams d Anne Keothavong & Claire Curran 6-1, 6-3

Wimbledon, 3rd Round Fri-Sat Jun 29-30 11am loser's prize: £27,050 = US $53,940 (2006: $39,368); points: 90 Friday: rain delayed play     Saturday: less than 2hrs play due to rain #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #68 Elena Vesnina RUS 6-1, 6-3 Fri Justine and Elena delivering backhand volley and drive, and Elena congratulating Justine after match point     Justine has lost only 11 games in her first three matches.     Justine said: "I think it's been good for me this week. I had pretty easy matches, but it was good coming from Eastbourne. I was a little bit tired at the beginning of the week. I could do very good things during my first three matches. Especially today I'm very happy the way I played, very aggressive, very consistent. It's been pretty good.     "My next match is going to be different. We have to start again every day. It's good I don't spend a lot of time on the court because physically I really need to rest a little bit. It's going to be good for my next match, I hope." postmatch interview #2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS d #27 s26 Ai Sugiyama JPN 6-3, 6-3 Sat Maria serving, Ai and Maria driving backhands, and Maria after match point     It was drizzling during the match, and began to rain harder just before match point.     Maria said: "I heard the weather is not supposed to be good for the rest of the day, so it was really good to finish... I was starting to get agitated. I saw the rain in the middle of the second set. I knew if it keeps going, obviously the grass is going to get wet. I didn't want it to be too dangerous to play out there." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     Maria put 81% of her 1st serves in the box, averaging 105 mph, and won 74% of those points (Ai: 66%, 99 mph, and 51%). Maria also hit 30 winners with only 16 unforced errors (Ai: 8 winners, 7 errors). match stats Maria at her postmatch presscon         Maria said: "My serve worked really well today. I had a great percentage of first serves. The average speed was higher than it's been in the last few months, which is great. It's definitely something that will help me going on from here... I felt like I was hitting it well, hitting the spots good, serving smart at the right times, but I didn't really know that I had such a good percentage until I came off. Once you're in the match, you just try to focus on doing the right things. But when you come off, you see it on paper, it's a bigger satisfaction."     Maria has been spending 2 to 2½ hours a day receiving treatment for her injured right shoulder. Maria said: "Ice, massage, strength, needle work [acupuncture]. You name it, I do it really."     Ai said: "I think [Maria] was serving good, also attacking the receive really good. Her ball was really deep. Sometimes hit the chalk, couple times service, and also the groundstrokes. She was the one who was moving me around.     "I wanted to, when I had the chance, to come into the net or had a chance to do something with the ball, I really probably hesitate a little bit. Most of the time she was the one who was moving me around, so that's really hard.     "The thing is, if I miss one shot... she's going to do something. Against the top players, once you got a chance, you have to really take it, take a risk to do something a little bit more extra." postmatch interview #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB d #26 s25 Lucie Safarova CZE 5-7, 6(4)-7, 6-2 Fri Jelena launching a twist serve, lefty Lucie driving a backhand, Lucie firing a cannonball serve, Jelena's backhand drive, and Jelena in front of the Hawkeye replay display after winning a call challenge     Jelena said: "It was a big battle out there. At some point I was thinking, my God, is there any way out? I thought that [Lucie] played really well. She has nothing to lose, so she was just swinging at the ball, and she's making some unbelievable shots.     "I was generally not feeling that well. I was feeling heavy in my legs and not really moving well, which makes a huge difference, because I was late on half of the shots. If you are late half a step, then you give her the chance to play her points and play her game...     "Winning that second set 7-6 gave me confidence when I came back in the third, and then in the third I was solid and won it quite easy, was very focused...     "When you play a player like Safarova, she's quite dangerous, and it's very difficult... She was lucky a few times, my break point, hitting a let, and then I make a bad error, and when it all adds up, she got the break...     "When you have one set under your belt, it's a big difference than when you're fighting to win the second and then have to play the third. Well, now it's finished and now I'm in the fourth round, so that's in the past now." AP story #4 s4 Amelie Mauresmo FRA d #29 s28 Mara Santangelo ITA 6-1, 6-2 Sat Amelie serving, Mara's backhand drive, Amelie running down a forehand, and after match point     Amelie said: "I always like to think that I have few things here and there to improve. Little bit on the serve still, although it was much better than the first couple matches. Overall I thought I played some good match, really going forward kind of tennis. And that's what has been working well for me here. So I'll just keep going...     "We didn't really know when we were going to go on if we were going to go on today because it didn't really look that good. I'm just glad also that I was able to go on and finish quickly so that I have this third round behind me." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save #5 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #38 Agnieszka Radwanska POL 6-2, 6-3 Sat-rain-Mon Agnieszka driving a backhand, and Svetlana following one #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #60 Aravane Rezai FRA 6-3, 6-2 Sat-rain-Mon Ana serving, Aravane and Ana driving backhands, and Ana after match point     Ana said: "I'm very happy about the win today. It was tough. We had to stop on Saturday and then continue two days later, but first set I played really good and she also played very good tennis, and I was very excited to win that set because I think we both played great.     "And today it was important, the first game, and I managed to break her, although she had advantage when we continued. And that gave me confidence to play better and to relax a little bit more and just enjoy the tennis. I was really happy that I could serve out also very well." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save Ana playing "Meet the Press"         About playing Nadia Petrova in the 4th round, Ana said: "It's going to be definitely a very tough match because she's a great player, and on grass she has very good potential with her serve and strokes. She hits pretty hard and very flat serve, so I think it's important for me to keep level and high percentage on my serve and try to put her under pressure on the return and just to move more forward and try to be aggressive and dominate first." #7 s7 Serena Williams USA d #56 Milagros Sequera VEN 6-1, 6-0 Fri Milagros and Serena driving backhands, and Serena after match point     Serena said: "I'm playing really well. I'm feeling really good. I'm feeling really positive. I'm feeling like, you know, I'm going to get there...     "My hamstring is a lot better, which I'm really excited about. It's the first time it's felt this good. So it's just, you know, all coming together." postmatch interview     Serena will play Daniela Hantuchova in the 4th round on Monday. Serena leads Daniela 5-1 in career matches, but their last 3 meetings, all last year, have all been close.     Serena said: "I've played [Daniela] a lot. I think she's beaten me once in a Grand Slam [2006 Australian Open, 3rd round, 6-1, 7-6(5)]. I know it's definitely going to be a tough match. It's going to be interesting. She serving well, moving well. She's really fit. I'm serving well, I'm moving well, and I'm really fit. It's going to be exciting." *#33 s31 Michaella Krajicek NED d #8 s8 Anna Chakvetadze RUS 7-6(8), 6(5)-7, 6-2 Fri Michaella following a forehand, Anna, Michella, and Anna again, driving backhands, and Michaella after match point *#75 Laura Granville USA d #9 s9 Martina Hingis SUI 6-4, 6-2 Fri Martina firing a forehand, Laura belting a backhand, and after match point     Martina is still hampered by a hip injury incurred in March, which has only partially healed, and which caused her to miss the Family Circle Cup, Italian Open, and French Open.     Martina said: "[Laura] started off well. I think she served very well, made it hard for me to get into rallies, high percentage first serve. Didn't have too many chances on her serve. Second set definitely had chances, but she didn't really miss much. She dictated well from the baseline. It was like 30-all, 30-love, deuces back and forth. She ended up winning the games, which were important, yup...     "Every time I had like second serve opportunities, I'd miss some easy ones. Especially in the first set... it felt like everything I missed by a couple inches. The confidence goes down when you want to be attacking. My serve probably wasn't the greatest either. I don't know. Just like here and there, a point here, a point there, felt like would maybe help me get out of things, but didn't. So keep going...     "I see this definitely as a success, having won a couple rounds, come through the second after being down match points in the first match. But definitely had chances to get over. You know, the draw was quite open. Wish I had done better. At the end of the day, like I said, I'm happy that I'm getting healthier again. That's the most important thing...     "There is something going on [with the hip injury], still some inflammation. I mean, I haven't really been able to run that much. Workouts are just the bike, things without pounding. I used to run a couple hours a day. When you can't do that, definitely there is some cardio work which needs to be done, but I haven't been able to do that yet. We'll see. When I get back home, do some couple more tests, MRI, see how it is. Right now, during the tournament, I didn't want to know how bad I am [laughter]...     "I tried everything possible. I was doing like rehab and stuff four, five hours a day, lots of stretching, lots of relaxing the muscles. So actually the bone has, you know, some space to breathe, can heal. But, I mean, pounding and playing tennis and still working out doesn't help...     "I said after Berlin, I won't come back until I'm super percent healthy. But then it gets kind of tiring when you just watch others. That's why I didn't want to miss out. I mean, I had to miss out on the French Open. I just didn't want to miss Wimbledon. I mean, probably at the end of the day, it wasn't like the smartest thing, but at least I gave myself a chance.     "I'm getting into better condition instead of not doing anything. Yeah, I mean, like this time around, the US Open is a long way ahead. Hopefully until then I can definitely do whatever I need to do, and have some good preparation now four or five weeks until the next tournament...     "I was happy to go on Court 2 again. Laura, I definitely have to give her credit. She played well. She took advantage of me having not always the best points played, maybe not the best day at the office. But she didn't let me really come back. I mean, I had my chances. I didn't take them. Especially in the second set, the 3-all game was pretty big when she walked away with that. It was kind of difficult to keep going." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     Laura said: "I was definitely struggling during the clay court season. I didn't win a match. I felt pretty good at the beginning of the year, and then the clay season definitely set me back a little bit confidence wise. But this tournament has made up for it..."     "I definitely don't think [Martina] was a hundred percent. But I was happy the way I played in the first set. I thought I was aggressive, moved her around. I think she helped me out a lot in the second set. I got a little tight. But you have to take those opportunities. Like she wasn't a hundred percent, so I still had to go for it." postmatch interview #10 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK d #21 s19 Katarina Srebotnik SLO 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Fri Daniela's forehand volley, Katarina's backhand drive, and Daniela after match point     Daniela said: "I was enjoying the battle, having to fight for every point, and I'm really pleased to be in the fourth round...     "I'm always prepared to be on the court as long as it takes to get a win, and I think the more I'm on the court, the better for me, because I think physically I'm fit, and I don't care if it's 40 minutes or three hours...     "Winning these type of matches gives me so much confidence, and I think I've done that really well these past few months." postmatch interview #11 s11 Nadia Petrova RUS d #97 Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP 6-3, 7-6(3) Sat-rain-Mon Nadia serving with a little twist, Vivi about to launch a backhand, and Nadia driving one *#54 Tamira Paszek AUT d #12 s12 Elena Dementieva RUS 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 Sat-rain-Mon Tamira driving a forehand, Elena following a backhand, and Tamira about to connect with one     This is 16 year old Tamira's biggest victory to date. Her career prize money prior to Wimbledon was about $149,000; for reaching the 4th round she will receive over $94,000 (minus taxes, of course).     Tamira was serving for the match at 5-3, 30-love, when the rain began to fall again. Tamira said: "It starts drizzling. You're serving 5-3 in the third set. Why get nervous? Keep focused and try to play your game. You cannot change it anyway...     "I never do any expectations before a tournament. I just go there, try to perform my best, and be happy with my performance...     "[Elena is] one of the best competitors on the tour. She's a great fighter. I respect her a lot. She has probably the best baseline game on the tour. So I knew I need to run, I need to move, I need to play my best tennis to win that match." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save #14 s14 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #52 Victoria Azarenka BLR 6-4, 6-2 Sat-rain-Mon Nicole driving a forehand, Victoria driving a backhand, Nicole about to slice one, and after match point #15 s15 Patty Schnyder SUI d #25 s24 Alona Bondarenko UKR 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 Fri Patty spinning a forehand, Alona launching a backhand, and Patty after match point     Patty has been a semifinalist at the Australian Open, and a quarterfinalist at the French Open and the US Open, but this is the first time she has reached the 4th round at Wimbledon.     Patty said: "I'm very happy and surprised at the same time. I just kept going and trying my best, and this year it really worked out nicely.     "We had so many close games, so many good rallies in that third set... I was a better server at the end, definitely. It was just very tight, and also a bit lucky, of course." postmatch interview     Patty will play 6-time Grand Slam tourney champion Justine Henin in the 4th round on Monday. Justine leads Patty 7-1 in career matches, but 5 of their 8 meetings (which date back to 2001) have been 3-setters, and Patty's one win over Justine came last year (in the Charleston semis, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2). This will be their first meeting on a chlorophyll court.     Patty said: "It's not my favorite surface, and I'm struggling with really keeping my performance at the same level throughout the match. But I'm really happy that I have a chance to play Justine and to be in the fourth round. In the past we have some good matches, some tight matches... I just want to play a good match and then we'll see what's happening. She's really the champ out there on the women's tour, winning so many titles this year. So she's the big favorite." *#20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #16 s16 Shahar Peer ISR 6-3, 6-2 Fri Shahar and Marion driving forehand and backhand     Marion said: "I've put a lot of work the last couple of years, maybe more, and getting more experience. I think my physical [condition] has improved a lot, and I'm able to compete against the top players for each match. And I think the quality of my game from the baseline has improved a lot as well as my serve, so I think everything is coming together and I'm a more complete player all around." postmatch interview     About playing Jelena Jankovic in the 4th round on Monday, Marion said: "Of course, she's another step up. But everybody can have a bad day one day, and also I will have nothing to lose. I will have two days off. Tomorrow I'm playing doubles. I will have all the time to think about this match and get ready, and I think if I compete at my best, I can definitely have my chance in this match." #31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #62 Akiko Morigami JPN 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 Sat-rain-Mon Akiko about to swat a 2-handed forehand, Venus driving a backhand, and after match point     Akiko said: "I try to not think about who I'm playing against, even though when I was up 5-3 in the third, obviously she's a champion, she's not going to give me anything, I have to go get it. But that was the most tough part, as well. I really think she stepped up when she needed to...     "I think I came out pretty good, especially the first couple games. I tried to focus on my things, but she's obviously a champion. She's always playing well towards the end, and she served up pretty good. But it's a little bit frustrating for me, but I definitely have to give a lot of credit for her...     "I hit a pretty good forehand down the line, then I came into the net and she hits an unbelievable angle. I got it, I thought it was a perfect drop volley, but she got to it and she made a shot. She was really long. I mean, everything long. Long arm, long legs. Everything for her is maybe three steps, and me, I have to move maybe ten more steps more than her. I was like, 'Gosh, she's so long.'" postmatch interview Friday doubles: Shahar Peer & Sania Mirza d Sofia Arvidsson & Lilia Osterloh 7-5, 6-3

Wimbledon, 4th Round, Mon-Tue Jul 2-3 11am all courts due to rain loser's prize: £47,250 = US $94,221 (2006: $72,332); points: 140 rain delayed play on Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #15 s15 Patty Schnyder SUI 6-2, 6-2 Mon Justine and Patty driving forehands, and Justine after match point     Justine said: "I was a little bit surprised that the match was that quick. I was ready to have a good fight... I knew that it's not the best surface of Patty. I thought I was really focused on my serve. It was pretty tough conditions out there: very windy. But I could keep control of the match. I could take it at the beginning of the match and keep it till the end...     "I did my job perfectly until now. Just going to try to keep going. Had a lot of matches in the last few weeks, which is good. It gives confidence. And I know every match is different. Every day is different situation, different conditions, different kind of player. I'm really concerned of fighting very hard on every point. We're going to see what's going to happen...     "[The weather has been] tough. It's pretty sad for everyone I mean, for the players, the fans, the tournament, everyone. The conditions, it's pretty humid and it's windy out there, very windy. Especially now on the Centre Court with no roof anymore, it's more wind I think." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     About coping with rain delays, Patty said: "I just listen to music and talk with my team, some players maybe, hang out in the locker room. But I was lucky, especially that Saturday, I knew I was not on the schedule, so I was really relaxed, I had no nerves going. But in the beginning of the week, yeah, my first round match I had to wait like eight hours to finish it, and it was tough...     "They always keep your time like half hour wise, they push it further in the day, so it's not like you know you're going to have three hours." postmatch interview *#31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #2 s2 Maria Sharapova RUS 6-1, 6-3 Tue-rain-Wed Maria slicing a serve, Venus and Maria driving backhands, and Venus driving a forehand     Venus said: "I think I played solid today. I think that my serve definitely was a weapon. My return definitely was very, very good. I think when it was time, I played the percentages. When I had a chance, I went for it. Sometimes I made something happen. It was solid." postmatch interview     Maria said: "Not a great one in the first set for me. Didn't really have a rhythm. I don't know if it was the wind or a slow start. She got off to a fast start. I just didn't feel really comfortable in the first set. In the third game in the second, I started feeling good. I started serving a lot better.     "But at the end of the day [Venus] was averaging, her first serve, 115 miles per hour, where my first serve, the fastest one was 115. So I think I couldn't really give myself any chances on the return. I think that put a little extra pressure on my serve. Even though I didn't serve that bad in the second set she just was on top of it...     "You really can't be surprised, because I know what she's capable of. I know she can produce great tennis. That's what has won her so many Grand Slams, kept her at the top." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save *#20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #3 s3 Jelena Jankovic SRB 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 ppd-Tue Marion's 2-handed forehand (which she delivers from a backhand grip), Jelena's forehand, Marion's backhand, and Jelena congratulating Marion after match point     Marion said: "It's not a big surprise for me. I'm a top 20 player. I'm not 200 in the world. I think I could be in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Not that big surprise...     "I think at the end I was a little stronger physically than [Jelena]. She looked a little tired. She doesn't know what really was the tactic against me at the end is what I felt. She was playing just the ball... And I think the game at 4-3, love-40, when I hold my serve, it was really the key of the match...     "I was happy, but not overhappy. It's normal for me to win some matches at this stage. That's what I'm working for. That's why I'm working like this 16 years to be on that stage, on big courts with the crowd really happy to see me I think on the court and to win against some top players. That's what I'm working every day for. So, yeah, I think it was quite normal at the end." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save *#14 s14 Nicole Vaidisova CZE d #4 s4 Amelie Mauresmo FRA 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-1 Tue Amelie serving, and Nicole driving a backhand, about to swat a forehand, and after match point     It was Nicole's 3rd straight win over Amelie. Nicole reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2006, and at the 2007 Australian Open in January, but spent much of this spring sidelined by a right wrist injury.             Nicole said: "It was definitely a great win today. I feel really good about my game... I'm not a huge fan of grass, a little challenge for me. I've been improving every match. Just very excited and looking forward to the next one. So not really thinking of rounds further and further ahead...     "[Amelie] had three set points in the first set. I just kept there trying to stay positive, fight for every point. In the second set I lost a couple games just because I wasn't as concentrated...     "[During rain delays] you walk all those stairs up, the locker room in back. It's pretty much a long walk. So that really gets you tired. But you have to get used to it. You sit there, you wait, you talk to your dad or someone for a second. You go on again... Nicole alerting the media     "After the first two sets you go out there thinking, 'Okay, this is going to be another tough battle.' But I started off very well after she won the second, and I just took the lead right away. So I just kept focused, not thinking if she's playing less [well] or if she's making maybe too many errors. I tried really just to focus on my game, what I'm doing." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     Amelie said: "Everything went wrong today. The serve was definitely not working really well today. I had some up and downs throughout the first week, and it showed a little bit more today when you play a better opponent, and when it's a little tighter in terms of score... The rest of the game didn't work very well. Probably confidence. I'm struggling to get the confidence back. That's probably an explanation to what I produce in terms of tennis today...     "[Nicole] was in a much better rhythm throughout the whole match than I was... She definitely played better than me today. That's for sure." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save #5 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS d #54 Tamira Paszek AUT 6-3, 6-2 Tue Tamira about to slice a backhand, Svetlana volleying one, and Tamira congratulating Svetlana after match point     Svetlana said: "I started very well. I did break straightaway, so it was lots of confidence for me. I've been serving extremely well so I am very happy with my performance...     "[Tamira] started very well, but during the match I put in more and more pressure on her. She was playing worse, worse, worse...     "She's only 16. For her, fourth round of Wimbledon is a good achievement. She's playing good. Her game on the grass court is dangerous because she has very good backhand, good serve. I mean, there is lots of things she needs to get better, but she has lots of time to do that." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #11 s11 Nadia Petrova RUS 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 Tue Nadia driving a backhand, Ana before one and after another, and after match point     As Ana was serving for the match, leading 5-4 in the 3rd set, rain stopped play with the score 15-15. But after the delay, Ana finished without difficulty.     Ana said: "It was very tough match today, especially with so many stop and gos. It was very, very tough out there.     "In the first set I played some really good tennis. I was doing everything right. I was hardly making any mistakes. We had to stop. When I came back, I lost little bit concentration and I felt little bit empty inside, not so in the fighting spirit.     "But then that stop we had in the third set, it helped me a lot to calm down, come back on the court and try to fight through it. My shots and my serve were not working as well today, but sometimes you have to win when you don't play your best tennis. That was a little bit key today, so I'm happy to get through." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save #7 s7 Serena Williams USA d #10 s10 Daniela Hantuchova SVK 6-2, 6(2)-7, 6-2 Mon Serena, keeping her legs warm with long pants due to cramps, following a backhand, Danilela volleying one, Serena running down a forehand, and after match point     Serena fell to the ground in pain late in the 2nd set, after which she was clearly having great difficulty playing due to continued pain. Then there was a rain delay, the second of the match.     Serena said: "I thought about not finishing, but very briefly. I thought I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hadn't at least tried... I feel good about the accomplishment. I've never dealt with such pain. I can't believe I won really...     "I think I was definitely saved by the rain. I couldn't move before the rain. Just everything stopped. I was definitely saved by the rain...     "I had a very bad acute muscle spasm in my left calf. Acute, as you know, is a really intense pain... I've never had an injury like this ever, ever. So I didn't know what it was." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     Daniela said: "You never want something like this to happen. It's so hard to play against somebody that you know is struggling, and you kind of feel sorry. At the same time you have to be tough and still play your game. Mentally it was very, very tough, plus having to deal with the rain, so the conditions were difficult...     "When somebody's cramping, usually it's because you're getting tired. [During the rain delay Serena] had a couple of hours to rest. After that I think, you know, she played very well...     "In the third set, I don't think there was anything wrong at all. I think she was moving very well. I don't think there can be too much wrong when you serve 120 miles an hour. It was definitely a tough set, but I still felt like I had my chances, but I didn't take them." postmatch interview #33 s31 Michaella Krajicek NED v #75 Laura Granville USA 6-3, 6-4 Mon Michaella and Laura driving forehand and backhand, and Michaella after winning a point     Laura said: "I could have played a little better, but [Michaella] served really well and I had some break points, but I think on a bunch of them she hits aces and good serves. You know, I give her a ton of credit. She played great...     "Definitely I'm very happy. I feel like I have more belief in myself, more confidence. In some of the matches I think I proved a lot to myself. I just have to take a lot of positives from this, and take that into the summer season in the U.S. on the hard courts." postmatch interview

Wimbledon, QFs, ppd-Wed Jul 4 & Thu Jul 5 11am & noon loser's prize: £88,550 = US $176,578 (2006: $142,270); points: 250 Wednesday: rain delayed play #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL d #7 s7 Serena Williams USA 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 Wed Justine driving a forehand, Serena after a swinging volley, Justine after dropshotting a short ball, and after winning a point     Justine said: "It's been a good fight. I was a little bit disappointed to lose a single set this week. Couldn't hold my serve twice at the end of the [2nd] set. I was really very close to finish the match, but I wasn't good enough.     "Very good reaction beginning of the third set. [Serena] served very well. My shoulder is a little bit painful now because it's been pretty strong serves. Yeah, it's the kind of victory that gives a lot of confidence that I really needed here...     "Clay remains my best surface and grass with hard court her best surface. It's a lot of differences. She served very hard. I had pretty good returns when we see that it was 120 usually or 115. I was pretty good on the return. Then she's hitting the ball very hard. She can control a little bit more the court than she does on clay. She's much better here, for sure...     "I didn't see that she had a lot of trouble to move. Maybe a little bit at the beginning of the match. After that, I think she could run pretty much, especially on the dropshots and everything. She served great." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save     Serena said: "My leg's doing better. In my last match I had fell and sprained my thumb so I can't really hit backhands... My leg's doing really well. It's gotten a lot better. It's been doing a lot better. I mean, I'm still feeling a lot of pain, but with the taping that was done, all the treatment I've been doing, it's been doing a lot, lot better compared to the first day. Yesterday wasn't so good, but today is much better...     "I thought [Justine] played a very high quality game. I thought she played probably some of her best tennis...     "Considering my circumstances, my leg, and most of all having no backhand and no shot, I think I did pretty well. I think it's just if I'd have been healthy, I think I would have won, a hundred percent." postmatch interview interview video: watch now - download & save *#31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #5 s5 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS 6-3 6-4 Thu Venus about to serve, Svetlana following a little backhand, Venus after fielding a forehand, and after match point     Venus had lost her last two meetings with Svetlana, both on red clay in the Warsaw quarterfinals in 2006 and 2007. They are now tied at 3-3 in career matches.     Venus said: "I think I was just a lot more focused. I think the last match we played, I really made a lot of errors, just so much. I was able to cut back on those today, so it helped me a lot.     "I think my return is very, very solid. That helps me. It puts a lot of pressure on their service games. Obviously, my serve is such a weapon for me. All those things really helped." postmatch interview     Svetlana said: "I think [Venus is at the] top of her form in last two, three years. I never played her like in really good form when she was winning a lot. So she just played very well. I think she just played better than me today, and I had to play very well to beat her. I still played good. I didn't play bad, terrible or something. I still had to use all my chances to beat her. She was just playing well." postmatch interview #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB d #14 s14 Nicole Vaidisova CZE 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Thu Nicole firing a cannonball, Ana chasing a forehand, Nicole about to slice a backhand, Ana volleying one, Nicole driving a forehand, Ana belting a backhand, and Nicole congratulating Ana after match point     Nicole held two match points when Ana served trailing 3-5 in the 3rd set, but was unable to convert. Ana held, broke Nicole's serve to reach 5-5, held again, and broke Nicole again to win the match. match report     It was Ana's first time on Centre Court. At most venues players have a chance to practice on Centre Court before playing there. On the grass at Wimbledon, practice on Centre Court cannot be permitted, to avoid wear on the grass (in fact, no matches are played there outside of Championships fortnight).     Ana said: "Today I still probably haven't realized what happened. It was unbelievable match. [Nicole] played very well. It was my first time on the Centre Court. To win like this was amazing, so I'm really, really exciting about my win today...     "I was really intimidated when I first stepped on the court. It was very exciting because I played centre court in Paris, in Australia, US Open, but never here. This was very special tournament for me. Actually to have chance to play on Centre Court, that was already amazing, so I was little bit nervous in the beginning. Obviously didn't have chance to practice there before. But then as the match went on, I tried to focus on my game more. It was really good." postmatch interview     Nicole said: "[Ana is] a great player obviously. She kept hanging on there. I had my chances in the third set especially. I didn't use them. So that's what tennis is all about, you know, using your chances." postmatch interview #20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #33 s31 Michaella Krajicek NED 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Wed Michaella driving a forehand, Marion's backhand drive, and after match point     Marion said: "I was short of sleep so I slept for an hour during the rain delay. I think after that I was feeling much better. So it was good for me to have the rain delay...     "[Monica Seles] was a big inspiration, because before I was playing with one hand. When my dad saw the final in '92 with the French Open, Steffi Graf and Seles, he saw Monica play double handed. He told me the next day to try to play double handed [Marion was 7½ years old] because before I was playing one hand and I was very weak, especially on my forehand side. He told me to try. The next day I play double handed and from that day I never stop...     "[Michaella] has a very different game from Jelena [Jankovic]. She has a huge serve and there is no rallies. You don't have any rhythm against her. She serve each first serve 110 miles, which is a big difference from Jankovic yesterday. She doesn't give you much opportunities on her serve, so you have to be really focusing on your serve first, and then to be able to go to a breakpoint and break her... In the first set, I was not ready to play against that game. I think the rain delay helped me a lot to figure out which way I should play against her." postmatch interview

Wimbledon, SFs, ppd-Fri Jul 6 11am loser's prize: £175,000 = US $348,968 (2006: $281,199); points: 450 *#20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA d #1 s1 Justine Henin BEL 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 Marion serving, Justine's forehand, Marion's 2-handed forehand with backhand grip, Justine fielding a backhand, Marion following a backhand drive, after match point, and Justine congratulating Marion     Marion made 86% of her 1st serves good, and, although they averaged only 95 mph (103 mph peak), won 57% of her 1st serve points (Justine: 63%, 101 mph averge--low for her--110 mph peak, 56%). Justine's worst serving came in the 2nd set, and she actually raised her percentage to 81% in the 3rd set. But Marion made 91% of her 1st serves good in the 3rd set, and converted both of her two break point opportunities, while Justine was 0-4 on 3rd set break points. match stats     Marion said: "The first set I was quite nervous. Especially the wind disturb really my game. I was not feeling the ball good at all. I was not hitting in the good rhythm. My balls was not spinning enough. So I tried to just forget against who I was playing and where I was playing and just try to play my game the best as possible, just try to forget this first set.     "I play better. I get to the end of the second set and I was playing very good. I start very good the first of the third set...     "I think after this tournament I will realize maybe a little more what I'm doing during this tournament. But right now really I don't realize it." postmatch interview     Justine said: "I'm very disappointed now... I don't understand what did happen. But [Marion] played her match and she did a very good job. I played a very good first set, then I had a couple of chances at the end of the second set. Didn't take these chances and the match completely turned over. I didn't feel fresh enough in the third set to compete with her. She played very good tennis...     "She was in confidence... She took the opportunities. But I probably played her game a little bit too much. I had the feeling I didn't know what to do at certain points of the match. It's been pretty hard for me today...     "She's working very, very hard. I think finally after all the sacrifices she did, now she deserves this kind of result. I know how well she could play. But today it was like she could close her eyes and play unbelievable tennis." postmatch interview *#31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #6 s6 Ana Ivanovic SRB 6-2, 6-4 Ana serving, Venus and Ana driving backhands, Venus following a flying forehand, Ana also driving one on the run, Venus following another forehand, after match point, and Ana congratulating Venus     The win put Venus into the Wimbledon final for the sixth time in eight years.     Venus said: "I've had so many great times here. It's really an amazing stat. I guess I'm feeling proud of myself for that stat, but I don't want to take anything for granted going into the final.     "I wasn't thinking about the final at the beginning of the tournament. I was just thinking about the first round, which was pretty tough. It just seems like ages ago now, especially with all the rain. With all the conditions this year, the rain and the wind, I feel like I had to play some of my best tennis to get through that against some great players so it's very exciting." postmatch interview     Venus put 74% of her 1st serves in the box, averaging 111 mph (peak 124 mph), and won 81% of her 1st serve points (Ana: 54%, 105 mph avg, 114 mph peak, 61%). The high percentage was fortunate for Venus; her 2nd serves averaged only 85 mph, and she won only 20% of her 2nd serve points (Ana: 91 mph, 38%). Venus hit 15 winners with 11 unforced errors; Ana hit 16 winners, but had 24 unforced errors. match stats     Ana said: "[Venus] has very powerful serve, and she had I'm sure very high percentage of first serves today. That was the biggest difference. She was very aggressive. She's staying low and hitting the ball quite flat, which is very good on grass because ball doesn't bounce that high. So I think that's why she's playing so well. And last few matches, I had feeling she's playing better and better, so I think she has very good chances in the final." postmatch interview

Wimbledon, Final, Sat Jul 7 2pm loser's prize: £350,000 = US $697,936 (2006: $580,031); points: 700 winner's prize: £700,000 = US $1,395,871 (2006: $1,160,063); points: 1000 #31 s23 Venus Williams USA d #20 s18 Marion Bartoli FRA 6-4, 6-1 Marion serving to Venus, Venus following a forehand drive, Marion driving a backhand, Venus tossing the ball to serve, Marion's forehand drive, Venus driving a backhand, and after match point

Wimbledon, Doubles Final, Sun Jul 8 noon AELTC story losers' prize: £111,440 = US $222,222 (2006: $190,529) winners' prize: £222,900 = US $444,485 (2006: $381,020) cdr5 s2 Cara Black ZIM & Liezel Huber RSA d cdr23 s4 Ai Sugiyama & Katarina Srebotnik 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 Liezel & Cara Wimbledon, Mixed Doubles Final, Sat Jul 7 AELTC story - postmatch interview losers' prize: £45,000 = US $89,734 (2006: $83,525) winners' prize: £90,000 = US $179,469 (2006: $167,049) Jelena Jankovic & Jamie Murray d s5 Alicia Molik & Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 Jelena Jankovic & Jamie Murray Wimbledon, Girls' Singles Final, Sun Jul 8 s6 Urszula Radwanska POL d s8 Madison Brengle USA 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 AELTC story Urszula Radwanska Wimbledon, Girls' Doubles Final, Sun Jul 8 AELTC story s1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova RUS & Urszula Radwanska POL d Misaki Doi JPN & Kurumi Nara JPN 6-4, 2-6, (10-7) Anastasia & Radwanska Wimbledon, Invitation (over 35) Doubles Final, Sun Jul 8 Jana Novotna & Helena Sukova d Ilana Kloss & Rosalyn Nideffer 6-3, 6-3 AELTC story Helena & Jana Wimbledon, Qualifying Finals Thu Jun 21 Q1st loser's prize: £1,575 = US $3,141 (2006: $2,896); 2 points Q2nd loser's prize: £3,150 = US $6,281 (2006: $5,791); 15 points Qfinal loser's prize: £6,300 = US $12,563 (2006: $9,262); 25 points #70 Agnes Szavay HUN d #143 Akgul Amanmuradova UZB 6-1, 6-3 *#119 Jorgelina Cravero ARG d #91 Klara Zakopalova CZE 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 #113 Casey Dellacqua AUS d #168 Petra Cetkovska CZE 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 *#127 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE d #116 Mathilde Johansson FRA 6-2, 1-6, 6-2 *#192 Zi Yan CHN d #121 Ahsha Rolle USA 7-6(7), 6-1 *#189 Nika Ozegovic CRO d #138 Andreja Klepac SLO 6-3 4-6 6-4 *#154 Olga Govortsova BLR d #140 Alize Cornet FRA 7-6(12), 3-6, 6-4 *#202 Tatiana Perebiynis UKR d #141 Stephanie Foretz FRA 6-2, 6-4 #145 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE d #180 Ekaterina Makarova RUS 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-3 *#174 Ayumi Morita JPN d #163 Paola Suarez ARG 7-5, 7-5 #169 Hana Sromova CZE d #173 Alina Jidkova RUS 6-4, 6-4 #206 Kristina Brandi PUR d #222 Anda Perianu ROU 6-1, 6-3 Wimbledon, Withdrawals/Non-entries #18 s18 Na Li CHN rib injury #19 Vera Zvonareva RUS left wrist #63 Jie Zheng CHN left ankle #79 (former # 2) Anastasia Myskina RUS left big toe pain & inflammation #124 Romina Oprandi ITA right arm

The 64 doubles teams, arranged in drawsheet order; teams in red have been eliminated:

TOP HALF s1 Lisa Raymond USA & Samantha Stosur AUS SF Lucie Hradecka CZE & Renata Voracova CZE R1 Elena Baltacha GBR & Naomi Cavaday GBR R1 Stephanie Foretz FRA & Selima Sfar TUN R2 Agnes Szavay HUN & Vladimira Uhlirova CZE R2 Iveta Benesova CZE & Galina Voskoboeva RUS R1 Sofia Arvidsson SWE & Lilia Osterloh USA R1 s16 Sania Mirza IND & Shahar Peer ISR R3 s11 Maria Elena Camerin ITA & Gisela Dulko ARG R1 Michaella Krajicek NED & Agnieszka Radwanska POL R3 Andrea Hlavackova CZE & Sandra Kloesel GER R2 Klaudia Jans POL & Alicja Rosolska POL R1 Lourdes Dominguez Lino ESP & Arantxa Parra Santonja ESP R2 Petra Cetkovska CZE & Lucie Safarova CZE R1 Chunmei Ji CHN & Shengnan Sun CHN R1 s5 Kveta Peschke CZE & Rennae Stubbs AUS QF s4 Katarina Srebotnik SLO & Ai Sugiyama JPN F Andreea Ehritt-Vanc ROU & Anastasia Rodionova RUS R1 Emilie Loit FRA & Nicole Pratt AUS R2 Yuliana Fedak UKR & Kaia Kanepi EST R1 Sarah Borwell GBR & Jade Curtis GBR R1 Marion Bartoli FRA & Meilen Tu USA R3 w/o Nicole Vaidisova CZE & Barbora Zahlavova Strycova CZE R2 s14 Vera Dushevina RUS & Tatiana Perebiynis UKR R1 s10 Elena Likhovtseva RUS & Tiantian Sun CHN QF Olga Poutchkova RUS & Milagros Sequera VEN R1 Anna Fitzpatrick GBR & Emily Webley-Smith GBR R1 Aiko Nakamura JPN & Tamarine Tanasugarn THA R2 Claire Curran GBR & Anne Keothavong GBR R1 Serena Williams USA & Venus Williams USA R2 w/o Natalie Grandin RSA & Camille Pin FRA R1 s8 Anabel Medina Garrigues ESP & Virginia Ruano Pascual ESP R3

BOTTOM HALF s6 Alicia Molik AUS & Mara Santangelo ITA SF Corina Morariu USA & Patty Schnyder SUI R1 Stephanie Cohen-Aloro FRA & Virginie Razzano FRA R1 Alona Bondarenko UKR & Kateryna Bondarenko UKR R2 Su-Wei Hsieh TPE & Alla Kudryavtseva RUS R1 Victoria Azarenka BLR & Anna Chakvetadze RUS R2 Aravane Rezai FRA & Julia Vakulenko UKR R1 s12 Maria Kirilenko RUS & Elena Vesnina RUS R3 s13 Dinara Safina RUS & Roberta Vinci ITA R1 Eleni Daniilidou GRE & Jasmin Woehr GER R2 Ashley Harkleroad USA & Tzipora Obziler ISR R1 QF Shuai Peng CHN & Zi Yan CHN Julie Ditty USA & Raquel Kops-Jones USA R1 Emma Laine FIN & Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ESP R2 Daniela Hantuchova SVK & Ana Ivanovic SRB R1 s3 Yung-Jan Chan TPE & Chia-Jung Chuang TPE R3 s7 Janette Husarova SVK & Meghann Shaughnessy USA R3 Karen Paterson GBR & Melanie South GBR R1 Jarmila Gajdosova SVK & Akiko Morigami JPN R2 Emmanuelle Gagliardi SUI & Francesca Schiavone ITA R1 Anna-Lena Groenefeld GER & Tatjana Malek GER R2 Hana Sromova CZE & Klara Zakopalova CZE R1 Svetlana Kuznetsova RUS & Nadia Petrova RUS QF s9 Tathiana Garbin ITA & Paola Suarez ARG R1 s15 Vania King USA & Jelena Kostanic Tosic CRO R1 Jill Craybas USA & Laura Granville USA R3 Elena Dementieva RUS & Flavia Pennetta ITA R2 Sybille Bammer AUT & Tamira Paszek AUT R1 Bethanie Mattek USA & Bryanne Stewart AUS R2 Martina Muller GER & Gabriela Navratilova CZE R1 Severine Bremond FRA & Nathalie Dechy FRA R1 s2 Cara Black ZIM & Liezel Huber RSA

Tatiana Golovin & Amelie Mauresmo withdrew and were replaced by Andrea Hlavackova & Sandra Kloesel
Vasilisa Bardina & Tatiana Poutchek withdrew and were replaced by Hana Sromova & Klara Zakopalova

    "All players who qualify by ranking for acceptance into the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament will be entered automatically.
    "The ranking points earned by any player who qualifies for acceptance in the Main Draw of a Grand Slam Tournament must count on a player's ranking as one her best of seventeen (17) Tournament results.
    "Any player who is orginally accepted into the main draw, or becomes a direct acceptance and subsequently withdraws and therefore fails to play a Grand Slam Tournament, will automatically receive "0" points for the Tournament and it will count on the player's ranking as one of her best 17 Tournament results."

    (Jun 29, 2007 revised) Patty Schnyder has a new axe. At the French Open Patty was still swinging the Head Flexpoint Prestige, which took her some time to get used to when she started with it last year. At Wimbledon this week she appeared with a bat from Head's new "MicroGEL" line, which looks like the same racquet Amelie Mauresmo, a convert from Dunlop, is wielding.
    The racquet appears to be the MicroGEL Radical (standard, not "Pro," which is black above the bridge; Tamira Paszek is swinging the MicroGEL Radical Pro). The Radical is quite different from the Prestige line Patty has been chopping with for years, lighter (11oz vs 12.2 oz) and more evenly balanced (2 vs 7 pts head light). I could be wrong; Patty's new bat might be a prototype for the MicroGEL Prestige, which according to rumor will become available for purchase late this year or early next. Or Patty has decided she now likes a lighter bat (and possibly was eager to switch--the "Flexpoint" concept was hokey anyway).
    Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Daniela Hantuchova have been swinging prototype bats from Wilson and Prince for months now, without the articles becoming available for sale (Daniela's racquet, placed on sale in July, is the new Prince Ozone Seven, also now used by Jelena Jankovic). Martina Hingis also has a new stick, which looks much like her old Yonex RQS 11, except it is almost all white; it probably has similar specs (the RQS 11 specs are almost identical to her previous racquet, the RQ 7).
    It is hard to figure how racquet makers get an advantage from product endorsements when they do not keep the public informed about what the players are using.

    (Jun 22, 2007) The main draws for The Championships at Wimbledon were held on Friday, June 22, at 10:00am London time. The links are above, and the matchups are below.
    The 32 seeds for the main draw, based on the player's June 18 rankings, were announced on Wednesday, June 20. After the seeds were announced, # 18 Na li withdrew due to a rib injury, and the seeds were renumbered accordingly. Venus Williams, who has reached the final 5 times in the last 7 years, is seeded 23rd, 7 places above her current rank.
    Alize Cornet of France, who lost in her qualifying final, was added to the draw as "Lucky Loser" to replace Na Li.

    (Jun 18, 2007) # 19 Vera Zvonareva has withdrawn from Wimbledon due to the same left wrist injury which has been troubling her for months.
    2004 French Open champion and former WTA # 2 Anastasia Myskina (left big toe), Jie Zheng (left ankle), and Romina Oprandi (right arm) withdrew earlier.
    Vera's withdrawal means that # 33 Michaella Krajicek will likely be the 32nd (last) seed in the 128 player main draw.

    (Jun 18, 2007) 2000 & 2002 Wimbledon ladies doubles champions Venus & Serena Williams have accepted a wild card entry into the 2007 Wimbledon ladies doubles draw. Venus and Serena have played very little doubles since they began incurring injuries a few years ago, and have not played a match as a team since the 2003 Wimbledon. They have won a total of 6 Grand Slam tourney doubles titles.

    (Jun 11, 2007) 2004 French Open champion and former WTA # 2 Anastasia Myskina has withdrawn from Eastbourne and Wimbledon due to continued pain and swelling of the big toe of her left foot, which has still not recovered after surgery in January. Anastasia was defeated by Justine Henin, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5), in the Eastbourne final in 2006.
    Jie Zheng (left ankle) and Romina Oprandi (right arm) have also withdrawn from Wimbledon, making room in the main draw for Catalina Castano, Melinda Czink & Anna Smashnova.

    (May 30, 2007) 2004 French Open champion # 39 (and former # 2) Anastasia Myskina returned to action at Roland Garros on Wednesday. Unfortunately, Anastasia was still troubled by her injured left foot in her 1st round match, losing to # 66 Meghann Shaughnessy 1-6, 0-6.
    'Nastia began suffering from left big toe pain and inflammation last summer, and had not played since January. Since then she has been hosting Russian sports TV shows, having surgery on her injured toe in Germany (January 15, near Stuttgart), recovering, and practicing. Her longtime coach Jens Gerlach has taken a job with the British LTA, and Anastasia is now working with Larisa Savchenko, a "second mother" to her.
    Anastasia said: "I knew that I'm not going to win, but I just wanted to see how my foot was going to feel during the matches... [now the foot is] swollen again.. One hour, it's good, but then I have pain... I can't push, you know, from my foot, from the left foot like I used to run, I can't run...
    "I had a great life these five months in Moscow, so I know how it's going to be after tennis. And it's fine with me. I just want to try again if I can do it... I will do my best. And then I will see." interview - interview video

    (May 23, 2007) The AELTC has installed Hawkeye instant replay gear on Centre Court and Court 1. At Wimbledon in 2007, players on these courts will be allowed three incorrect challenge-video replays in each set, after which they can no longer challenge calls in that set. The US and Australian Opens both utilize the Hawkeye instant replay system on show courts, and allow players to challenge calls and request replays until they lose two challenges in each set. Roland Garros does not yet have any form of instant replay gear installed for French Open call challenges--of course, on clay courts, ball marks are generally used to judge questionable calls. AP story

(Feb 26, 2007 revised March 17) On March 16, it was announced that equal prize money will be paid this year for the French Open at Roland Garros, the last Grand Slam tourney to do so. On February 22, the All England Tennis Club announced that henceforth they would pay equal prize money to men and women who play in The Championships at Wimbledon. The US Open has paid both genders equally since 1973; the Australian Open has for quite some time as well. The differential at Wimbledon and Roland Garros in recent years was only about 5%, so it was very strange that they did not make the move earlier. Some background on equal pay: Wimbledon & US Open Prize Money: (most data from New York Times articles) Year: 1968 1969 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976   Wimbledon Women BJ King £750 A Haydon Jones $3600 E Goolagong $4300 BJ King $6240 BJ King $7500 BJ King $15,400 C Evert $17,700   Wimbledon Men R Laver £2000 R Laver $7200 J Newcombe $9000 S Smith $13,000 J Kodes $12,500 A Ashe $23,000 B Borg $22,250   US Open Women V Wade $6000 M Smith Court $6000 BJ King $7500 BJ King $10,000 M Smith Court $25,000 C Evert $25,000 C Evert $30,000   US Open Men A Ashe $14,000 R Laver $16,000 S Smith $20,000 I Nastase $25,000 J Newcombe $25,000 M Orantes $25,000 J Connors $30,000     At the 1970 Italian Open in Rome, women's singles champ Billie Jean King won $600, while men's champ Ille Nastase received $3,500. King and other women on the pro tour had been getting irate about the difference in pay since the open era began 2 years earlier. At the 1970 US Open women pros protested their lower prize money at a press conference, threatening to boycott the upcoming Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles (run by Jack Kramer), where the men would receive ten times as much prize money as the women.     Gladys Heldman, World Tennis magazine founder and mother of pro player Julie Heldman, offered to promote a women-only alternative tourney in Houston, offering $5,000 in prize money, with the winner receiving $1,500.     Three days before the Houston women's event, the USLTA declared that it would not sanction the tourney, and that they might ban the players from Grand Slam tourneys.     Heldman then hired the nine players committed to the event as employees, with "personal service" contracts for one dollar each. They would still play for the prize money, but if the USLTA suspended the players, they could file an antitrust case for restraint-of-trade.     Heldman also asked Joseph Cullman, head of Philip Morris and a tennis supporter, to have the tobacco company sponsor the Houston tourney. Cullman agreed. A tournament featuring outspoken women fighting for equal pay was a good advertising match for his company's recently introduced Virginia Slims cigarettes.     Cullman raised tourney prize money to $7,500, and the Houston tourney became the first Virginia Slims Women's Pro Tournament. The nine-player draw consisted of world # 2 Bille Jean King, # 4 Nancy Richey, # 5 Julie Heldman, # 6 Rosie Casals, # 10 Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, and Val Ziegenfuss (all Americans), and world # 3 Judy Tegart Dalton and # 7 Kerry Melville (both Australians).     The following day the US players were notified by telegram that they were suspended from the USLTA. They could be locked out of the Grand Slam events of 1971, and they would no longer be eligible for national rankings.     But they played anyway, and the Houston Virginia Slims was a success. On September, 24, 1970, after the 1st round had been played in Houston, UPI reported that the women planned to form their own tennis tour. Heldman arranged two more tourneys in San Francisco and in Richmond, Virginia.     The Virginia Slims events were very successful and generated much media attention. Heldman and Philip Morris expanded to an "official" circuit of eight tourneys for early 1971, each one offering at least $10,000 in prize money. The schedule did not conflict with the Grand Slam tourneys, so the players could compete if not banned.     On February 12, 1971, the USLTA, while holding its annual meeting in Florida, lifted the suspension on the US players. By this time there were 19 women on the Virginia Slims tour.     Margaret Smith Court had not yet joined the Virginia Slims tour (she would later), but Françoise Durr and Ann Haydon Jones had. Slims tour events, with 16 player draws, paid $300 to 1st round losers, and were using yellow tennis balls in tourney play for the first time.     In 1972, unsuccessful talks were held with the intention of merging the Slims tour back into USLTA sanctioned tourneys. On October 3, 1972, the 22 Virginia Slims Tour players (which by this time included Margaret Smith Court) formed a new organization called the Women's International Tennis Federation. Gladys Heldman was made director of the WITF. A schedule of 13 tourneys for winter-spring 1973 was announced (one more spring event was added later). The WITF paid no sanction fees to the USLTA or the ILTF.     While the Women's International Tennis Federation conducted the Virginia Slims-sponsored women's pro tour of 14 events, the USLTA organized a completely separate tour of 8 events. The WITF-Virginia Slims tour featured Billie Jean King, Margaret Smith Court, and Rosie Casals. The USLTA women's tour featured Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, and Virginia Wade.     On September 9, 1972, Billie Jean King, after defeating Kerry Melville at Forest Hills to win the US Open and $10,000, said she would not return in 1973 unless the women were paid the same as the men. The 1972 men's champion, Ille Nastase, won $25,000. Since 1973, women and men have received equal pay at the US Open.     In April, 1973, USLTA and WITF officials met in Boston. An agreement was finally drafted in New York in the last week of April, 1973, and approved by the WITF-Virginia Slims players at Sea Pines, South Carolina on April 30. The USLTA agreed to sanction the remainder of the 1973 Virginia Slims tour, and to incorporate the Slims tour within the USLTA schedule in 1974. Gladys Heldman's tenure as director of the Slims tour came to an end.     The end of the WITF led to the formation of the Women's Tennis Association as a player's union at Wimbledon in June, 1973. WTA president Billie Jean King worked with Edy McGoldrick of the USLTA to organize the new women's tour for 1974, still under Virginia Slims sponsorship. Because the WTA was a player's union, and did not run the women's tennis tour, its formation received little press coverage.     To formalize a new structure for running the women's pro tennis tour, another group was formed: the Women's International Professional Tennis Council. This group consisted of representatives from 3 constituencies: 1) the Grand Slam tourneys (who had the largest voice in the ILTF as well as the USLTA and other national associations); 2) the tour sponsors (Virginia Slims-Philip Morris to begin with); and 3) the WTA (the players).     Later, the Women's Tennis Association name was transferred from the player's union to a new, non-profit corporation created to actually run the women's tour, and that organization is the WTA Tour of today.

    (Jan 6, 2004 revised) Wimbledon will have a new retractable roof for Centre Court in place in 2009, officials announced. Construction will begin after The Championships in July, 2006. The 2007 Championships will be played with no roof at all (the current partial roof removed), a new fixed partial roof will be in place in 2008, and the retractable roof completed in 2009. The roof will take 10 minutes to deploy, so Centre Court rain delays of up to 30 minutes will still be possible, but the roof is being installed to assure TV networks of almost continuous coverage, even if it rains. The arena's capacity will also be increased from 13,800 to 15,000. AELTC Long-Term Plan - original BBC story.

from Ladies of the Court by Michael Mewshaw, (pages 122-123):     Years ago the Competitor's Lounge at Wimbledon had, in theory, been the sacrosanct preserve of players and their guests. But, in practice, it had always been a throbbing hive of hustlers, racquet dealers, clothing reps, agents, tournament directors, assorted groupies, gofers, and camp followers. Now journalists had access to this sanctuary. Flashing a special forty-five minute permit, I passed the guard at the door and, during yet another rain delay, climbed the stairs to the third floor and stopped at the Prize Money Office, where a woman cheerfully explained her job.     Once a player lost, he or she popped in here to pick up a check. A player's agent or manager could collect prize money, but only with written permission. "Even though we know, for example, that Ion Tiriac is Boris Becker's manager, we have to have it in writing before we'll hand over Becker's money," the woman said.     "What if the players want cash?" I asked.     "Then they carry the check to the bank here on the grounds."     "Do you deduct U.K. taxes?"     Indeed she did. Foreigners paid a flat 25% on their winnings, but they received a £150 per diem exclusion before British taxes bit into their purse. The Prize Money Office also deducted WTA dues and fines for code violations. Although it sounded complicated, she assured me that "because of computers, we can get a player in and out in thirty or forty seconds. That's a lot different from the old days." She smiled sweetly. "Now I'm afraid I can't say anything else."     "Do you ever get any strange requests?"     The smile never faltered. "Lots, but I'm not allowed to tell you."

The first Ladies Championships at Wimbledon were held in 1884; the drawsheet is at left (photo from Virginia Wade's indispensable book Ladies of the Court).     The "silver flower basket" valued at 20 guineas awarded to champion Maud Watson is now used as the championship trophy at Birmingham, and is known as the Maude Watson Trophy. The 20 guinea valuation seems too high; the cup is not very large, and 20 guineas then would be well over $2000 US today.     The entry fee of 10 shillings and a sixpence equaled about $2.52 US at the time-- which, adjusted for inflation, would be around $56.60 today.     The other "Miss Watson" whom Maude defeated in the final, 6-8, 6-3, 6-3, was her older sister Lillian. Maude would win the title again in 1885, defeating 1884 semifinalist Blanche Bingley.     Blanche, later Mrs. George Hillyard, would win the title six times, a feat matched only by Dorothea K. Douglass Lambert Chambers (7 titles), Suzanne Lenglen (6), Helen Wills (8), Billie Jean King (6), Martina Navratilova (9), and Steffi Graf (7).

from Hard Courts by John Feinstein (page 306):     Nothing in tennis can match the tension of day one at Wimbledon.     Everyone is tight, nervous, and ready to explode with pent-up energy. The other Grand Slams are very important; Wimbledon is history... Only at Wimbledon does Centre Court stay empty from the day of the final until the Saturday before the tournament begins the next year.     Only at Wimbledon do you walk underneath the huge sign over the door leading to Centre Court, which quotes Rudyard Kipling: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat these two imposters the same."...     ...The weather in England is almost always rotten. Rain cuts practice time, as does a lack of practice courts. At Wimbledon, practice time on the sixteen outside courts is limited to thirty minutes at a time--unless two seeded players are practicing together. Then, they can get an hour. The adjacent practice courts at Aorangi Park (so named because the land was once owned by the government of New Zealand) are not as tight, but still tough to come by. By the time the tournament begins, people are a little tired, a little homesick, frequently frustrated, and very, very nervous.

from Hard Courts by John Feinstein (page 306):     Wimbledon's qualifying tournament is not played at Wimbledon, it is played at the Bank of England tennis club, at Roehampton, about eight miles from the All England Club.     Everyone who has played there--and almost everyone has at some point--will tell you that the toughest tennis tournament in the world is the one at Roehampton. "There is nothing in the world farther from Wimbledon than Roehampton," John McEnroe once said. "You survive there, you're a hell of a tennis player."     ...There are sixteen courts at Roehampton. Unlike the pampered, protected courts at Wimbledon, they are in constant use--and it shows. There are brown patches everywhere--or, to be accurate, green patches on the brown--and after it rains, players would be well advised to show up wearing cleats rather than sneakers.     ...When the players arrive at Roehampton, they report to the referee's tent to sign in; then they await court assignments. Waiting for their matches to be called, most kill the time sitting on a large, grassy knoll that serves as both the players' and the umpires' lounge. The P.A. system is the focal point of all life at Roehampton. Announcements calling players and umpires to their courts, paging people to the telephone, seeking drivers to take players back to hotels, or updating schedules can be heard around the grounds all day long.     The P.A. is just one of a number of distractions players must deal with while they are playing. Admission to Roehampton is free; there are no ushers and no security...     ...the atmosphere is not the kind tennis players are accustomed to--people talking and laughing while strolling past the courts... if one wants to qualify for Wimbledon, one has to earn it.     Roehampton is both a launching pad and a graveyard...

See also: QuickShop: Sporting Goods - Martina Hingis - Anna Kournikova

Current WTA Results & Tennis News (tennis home page) - 2007 WTA Schedule with links & photos

Link to hundreds of postmatch interview videos of WTA players at the 2007 WTA Player Interviews page.

WTA PhotoRankings: the current top 20 Women's Tennis rankings with player photos, links, and bio info.