Wimbledon

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Rafael Nadal will not defend his Wimbledon title.

The top-seeded Spaniard announced Friday he is withdrawing because of tendinitis in his knees.

He is the first reigning Wimbledon men's champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanisevic in 2002 -- and only the second in the last 35 years.

The grass-court Grand Slam tournament begins Monday.

[~gymdiva~]

:eek:

[Goodfellas]

Now maybe Andy Roddick can win :drunk:

[JohnnyMuscles]

Now maybe Andy Roddick can win :drunk:

Haha ya right no way he wins he can't beat Roger and his head is all over the place.

[Tatyana]

It is that time of year again, strawberries and cream and grass courts.

With the new roof over centre court, there are not going to be delayed matches so it may not go on as long as normal, but it is still going to dominate BBC One and Two for the next two to three weeks.

This year England has another hopeful for the first champion since Fred Perry, Andy Murray has won his first match.



http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/index.html

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- When last seen on a Grand Slam stage, Dinara Safina was frittering away yet another chance for a major championship, overwhelmed by self-imposed pressure, overcome by shaky play.

The No. 1-ranked Safina still hasn't watched video of her poor performance in this month's French Open final. Probably for the best.
With far less on the line Tuesday at Wimbledon, she was able to play in a far more impressive fashion, even if she had to take painkillers because of a balky left knee. Still seeking that elusive first major title, Safina beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round at the All England Club.

"My dream was to become No. 1 as a kid. And now, like, to hold a trophy from the Grand Slam -- it's another big dream," said Safina, who is 0-3 in major finals. "I know that I have potential. I know that I have everything to have it."

The younger sister of two-time Grand Slam title winner Marat Safin -- who was upset by Jesse Levine of the United States 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 later Tuesday -- has never been past the third round at the All England Club. She's fared better elsewhere, reaching the past two finals at Roland Garros, along with this year's final at the Australian Open.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andy Roddick has advanced to the second round at Wimbledon by defeating Jeremy Chardy of France 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3.

Roddick, seeded sixth, had only nine unforced errors Tuesday and hit 46 winners, including 20 aces. He lost only eight points on his first serve.

Roddick, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2004 and 2005, improved to 29-8 at Wimbledon. He and Federer are in opposite halves of the bracket again this year.

Chardy was the 2005 boys' champion.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- So far, there's no such thing as a recession at the All England Club.

While the rest of Britain -- and much of the world -- grapples with the global financial downturn, Wimbledon sold more tickets than ever on its opening day.

Thousands lined up for tickets in the sunshine on Tuesday, with courts near capacity for low-profile matches and tables full at the outside Champagne Bar.

"It seems people are saying, 'Forget about the recession. Let's go to Wimbledon and have some fun,"' said All England Club spokesman Johnny Perkins. "People are sitting down and trying to decide what to spend their hard-earned money on. The good news for Wimbledon is, they seem to be spending it here."

Spending a summer day at the grass-court tournament has been a tradition for decades for thousands of Britons, and it seems to be a habit they're unwilling to give up -- strawberries and all -- even in troubled times.

Monday's attendance reached 42,811, an increase of nearly 3,500 from the previous opening day record from 2001. More than 14,000 lined up in the ticket queue Monday -- up by about 1,600 from last year.

Organizers will not release figures for pre-tournament ticket requests, but say they received about 20 percent more than last year.

"It's still massively oversubscribed," said Henry O'Grady, another club spokesman. "If the capacity here was 100,000, there'd be 100,000 here."

In another sign of financial strength, the All England Club recently sold out 2,500 Centre Court seats in five-year blocks for $45,600 each. Buyers have the right to one reserved seat on Centre Court for every day of the tournament between the years 2011-15.

At $9,120 per year, that's nearly five times the price for the best season tickets at nearby Premier League club Chelsea.
The five-year debentures sold out in May and were "significantly oversubscribed," raising a total of $97.8 million, the All England Club said.

"That's how we get money to generate new facilities," Perkins said.
Wimbledon organizers recently completed the construction of the new retractable roof over Centre Court -- the exact cost hasn't been released -- and a new Court 2 with increased capacity.
But not even Wimbledon is pretending to be immune to the outside financial climate.

"Recession-proof would be the wrong term," Perkins said. "(We have) an ability to ride out a recession, perhaps better than some other organizations that may have taken a more short-term view of things. ... A premier event like Wimbledon has a hold on people's emotions."

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- There was a time, not all that long ago, when Maria Sharapova wondered when she would be back at Grand Slam tournaments, let alone winning matches.

Surgery in October on her right shoulder -- a fairly important part of a tennis player's body -- forced Sharapova off the tour for the better part of a year. She returned to singles action last month, and she struggled quite a bit Monday before reaching the second round at Wimbledon.

Sharapova lost four consecutive games at one point, was broken five times and generally seemed on the verge of losing control. The 2004 Wimbledon champion did manage to steady herself just enough to get past qualifier Viktoriya Kutuzova of Ukraine 7-5, 6-4.

"If someone told me four months ago that I'd be here playing Wimbledon, you know, I mean, I wouldn't be surprised, but I would be really happy about the fact," Sharapova said. "And I am happy to be here."

While some women have already played 35 or even 45 singles matches in 2009, Sharapova is 11-3, having only started her season at a clay-court event in Poland in May. She then reached the quarterfinals at the French Open, and the semifinals at a grass-court event in preparation for coming to the All England Club.

Over the weekend, Sharapova played down her chances of a second Wimbledon championship -- and fourth Grand Slam title overall -- because of general rustiness. There were traces of that Monday against Kutuzova, who is ranked 79th and never advanced beyond the second round at a major tournament.

Sharapova trailed 4-1, then 5-3, in the first set. She double-faulted five times in that set alone. When she served for the match at 5-3 in the second, she was broken at love. She faced 10 break points in all.
As a precautionary warmup for her shoulder, Sharapova has taken to throwing around an American football to loosen the joint before practice sessions. And she has adjusted her service motion, something that she acknowledges is something of a work-in-progress.

How long will it take to get her serve up to speed?

"Definitely time; I don't know how long. I don't know how long till everything comes together," she said. "That's why I'm here. If I knew, maybe I wouldn't be here. If I knew it wasn't going to be at this tournament, maybe I'd be home just waiting till I knew when it would come."

The match as a whole was tighter than the final score might indicate: Sharapova won only five more points than her opponent, 69-64. Footing seemed to be a bit of an issue for Sharapova, who tumbled to the grass behind the baseline once in each set, banging a knee each time.

Still, Sharapova figured she could take something positive out of the way she turned things around after the slow start.

"Look, I hung in there," she said. "If she was able to continue at the level that she was playing in the first few games -- where she was just swinging away, everything was deep and hard -- sometimes it's just too good. But, you know, I was able to give her a little bit of her own medicine."

Sharapova used to be ranked No. 1. But all that time off the tour dropped her outside the top 100. She has climbed back to No. 60, and her past success at Wimbledon led the tournament to seed her 24th.

Pleased as she might be to be here, one victory this year at the All England Club is not exactly going to satisfy Sharapova.

So she'll be on the practice courts soon enough, football in tow.
"There are definitely things I'm going to be working on the next day or so. But that's always the case at every single tournament," Sharapova said. "I mean, if you feel perfect, then there's something wrong."

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- British teenager Laura Robson had a promising start to her Wimbledon debut but eventually faded against Daniela Hantuchova, losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the first round.

The 15-year-old Robson was the youngest player in the main draw since Martina Hingis in 1995 and was given a wild card after winning the junior title last year.

Playing in front of a near-capacity crowd on Court 2, Robson showed few signs of jitters in the first set and used her big forehand to break her Slovak opponent twice.

But she made several costly errors in the second set, including two double faults to give Hantuchova the decisive break.
Robson double faulted again to give Hantuchova a crucial break in the third.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Five points into her opening match at Wimbledon, Venus Williams slipped and went sprawling on the grass she loves.

The five-time champion recovered from her stumble at the start Tuesday and defeated Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2.

It was Williams' first appearance on Centre Court since the 2008 final, when she beat sister Serena for her second Wimbledon title in a row.

Venus' tumble was one of several wobbly moments as she began her bid for a three-peat. She double-faulted in the opening game and had to erase two break points. She was passed the first two times she reached the net. She slipped and nearly fell a second time.

Then Williams found her footing, winning 14 consecutive points to help take a 5-1 lead. She had another spurt in the second set after losing serve for 2-all, and swept the final four games.

Williams improved to 51-4 at the All England Club since 2000, when she won the title for the first time. She's seeded third but the tournament favorite with London bookmakers.

The new retractable roof again worked well, keeping rain away for a second successive day. Play began on a cloudless afternoon, prompting an official on the club's public-address system to urge that fans use sun block.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Growing desperate in the final game, Maria Sharapova scrambled to hit one shot left-handed. Twice she challenged calls but lost. Then she lost the match as well.

Sharapova won seven consecutive games during one stretch but let a late lead slip away Wednesday and was beaten by Gisela Dulko, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 in the second round at Wimbledon.

Sharapova saved four match points in a wild, 14-point final game. But on the fifth she pushed an easy forehand long, and she was out of the tournament after two rounds for the second year in a t month following shoulder surgery in October. She's ranked 60th but was seeded 24th because of past success at the All England Club.

Dulko, ranked 45th, matched her best showing at Wimbledon by reaching the third round. She had won a total of only three games in two previous matches against Sharapova, but the Argentine repeatedly won points by hitting drop shots, while Sharapova struggled with her serve and forehand.

The day's first match on Centre Court was played in warm sunshine, and and the new roof remained open for a third consecutive day.

[Goodfellas]

Novak Djokovic has cruised into the third round of Wimbledon with a straight-sets win over Simon Greul of Germany.

The fourth-seeded Djokovic won eight straight games after going down 1-0 in the second set to secure a 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The Serb threw his racket in anger after being broken to start the second set, and also struggled with his serve in the third. He traded breaks twice with Greul before getting a decisive breakthrough to go up 5-4.

Djokovic lost in the second round to Marat Safin here last year, after making the semifinals in 2007. Greul had advanced past the first round for the first time in six tries at Grand Slam tournaments.
Djokovic will next face Mardy Fish of the United States

[Goodfellas]

Last year's semifinalist Zheng Jie of China has been eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon, losing 6-3, 7-5 to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

The 16th-seeded Zheng broke in the first game of the match, but Hantuchova broke back twice and took the first set with a big crosscourt forehand.

Zheng was a wild card in 2008 when she became the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament, beating top-seeded Ana Ivanovic on the way.

She pushed Hantuchova hard in the second set as the pair traded breaks, and saved a match point before the Slovak wrapped it up with a deft forehand volley

[Goodfellas]

Nadia Petrova of Russia has reached the third round at Wimbledon, cruising past Shahar Peer of Israel 6-3 6-2.

The 10th-seeded Petrova broke the 55th-ranked Peer in the fourth game of the first set and never let the Israeli find her stride after that. Petrova hit 26 winners to Peer's 10 and broke her opponent twice in the second set, wrapping up the match when the Israeli sent a forehand long.

Petrova reached the quarterfinals at the All England club last year and will next play the winner between Maria Sharapova and Gisela Dulko of Argentina.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Even on one good leg, Venus Williams is tough to beat at Wimbledon.

The five-time champion wore a strap on her left knee Thursday but still advanced to the third round by beating Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-2.

The tournament favorite, Williams has been hampered by knee trouble in the past, but there was no indication of a problem this week until she walked onto sunny Court 1 bandaged from mid-calf to mid-thigh.

Williams let out a yelp when she appeared to pull up on a backhand in the third game, perhaps because of the knee. Otherwise she moved across the grass freely, charging forward to pounce on short balls. She won 17 points at the net to two for Bondarenko.

The No. 3-seeded Williams lost only six points on her serve, two on double-faults. She slammed three aces in her first service game and finished with six.

She was just as ferocious with her returns. When one serve came at Williams slower than a lorry on the motorway, she eagerly stepped into the court, took a lusty swing and hit a winner.

That took her to set point in the first set, and she whacked another big return on the next point to win the set. There was no letup from there, and she swept the final four games.

[Goodfellas]

Lleyton Hewitt has eliminated fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina to reach the third round at Wimbledon.

Hewitt was broken for the first time when serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set Thursday. The Australian broke right back but double faulted on his first match point in the next game. But del Potro then sent a shot long to give Hewitt a 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 win. The 2002 champion and former No. 1 saved all six break points he faced in the first set.

Del Potro is the highest men's seed to lose so far in the tournament. He also lost in the second round the previous two years at Wimbledon.

Hewitt was cheered on by a group of Australian fans on Centre Court.

[Goodfellas]

Top-ranked Dinara Safina is a step closer to her first Grand Slam title after beating Rossana de Los Rios of Paraguay 6-3, 7-5 in the second round at Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old Russian never faced a break point Thursday and took the first set with a hard forehand down the line. She wrapped up the match with a cross-court backhand.

Safina lost in the final of the Australian Open and French Open this year, but has never been past the third round at Wimbledon

[Goodfellas]

French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova has reached the third round at Wimbledon, defeating Pauline Parmentier of France 6-1, 6-3 in less than an hour.

The fifth-seeded Russian worked Parmentier briskly around the court Thursday and never faced a break point before wrapping up the win in 59 minutes.

Kuznetsova broke twice in each set, including the final game. She sealed the win when Parmentier sent a forehand long.

Kuznetsova, who turns 24 on Saturday, will play Germany's Sabine Lisicki or Patricia Mayr of Austria in the third round.

"I'm fine to put me wherever they want to me put," Kuznetsova said in slightly broken English. "They don't have to put me Centre Court. But with the schedule, this is little bit weird thing. ... But, you know, in Wimbledon you have to expect anything."

Kuznetsova is trying to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to win two consecutive Grand Slam tournaments in the same year.

[Goodfellas]

No. 18-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied past qualifier Tatjana Malek 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4. Last year's French Open winner, No. 13-seeded Ana Ivanovic, beat Sara Errani 7-5, 6-1.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Andy Roddick has advanced to the third round at Wimbledon by beating Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Playing on sunny Court 1, the No. 6-seeded American hit 18 aces Thursday and lost serve only once. He'll next play No. 26 Jurgen Melzer of Austria.

Roddick was runner-up to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2004-05. Roddick has 65 grass-court wins, second only to Federer among active men.

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- The light was fading, and American qualifier Melanie Oudin's lead at Wimbledon was disappearing, too.
The 17-year-old from Marietta, Ga., held on, though, and beat Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the third round in her Wimbledon debut.

"I think I handled the pressure better than she did," the 124th-ranked Oudin said. "It was starting to get dark and we both didn't want the match to be held over."

Oudin led 4-1 in the third set, before the 74th-ranked Shvedova won three games in a row to even the match. But Oudin took the last two games.

She is one of three U.S. women remaining in the tournament. The others? Venus and Serena Williams, who own a total of 17 Grand Slam singles titles.

Oudin, meanwhile, never had won a Grand Slam match until this week.

"It's amazing," she said.

Next up: a match Saturday against No. 6 Jelena Jankovic, last year's U.S. Open runner-up.

"I've watched her on TV, and she was a No. 1 in the world. I'm going to have absolutely nothing to lose," Oudin said. "She has all the pressure on her."

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Fabrice Santoro showed flashes of the deft touch that has delighted the Wimbledon crowd for the last 14 years. It wasn't enough, however, to prevent the oldest man in the men's draw from bowing out at the All England Club for the last time.
Santoro saved 10 of 11 break points in the first set but faded to lose 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 Thursday in the second round of his 14th and final Wimbledon tournament.

"I played well at least for the first hour and a quarter," he said. "But he played better. He was stronger and he served very, very well."
The 36-year-old Santoro was playing an Open era record 68th Grand Slam event and 44th consecutive major, but has said he is retiring at the end of the year.

After the match on the new Court 2, he looked back at the many changes that have come to the All England Club since his debut in 1990. The most notable, he said, is that the courts have become slower.

"Especially on the new court, because the ground is very hard so the court is slow and the bounce is high," he said. "But the facilities are much better. The locker rooms, the restaurant. Now it's an exceptional tournament."

And Santoro isn't done with grass just yet. His next stop will be the tournament in Newport, Rhode Island, where he said the courts fit him a bit better

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- This might just be a record: Boca Prep International School put three players in the third round at Wimbledon.

They're the only three American men left in the Grand Slam tournament.

Qualifier Jesse Levine and No. 6-seeded Andy Roddick won Thursday, joining No. 28 Mardy Fish in the round of 32. All three attended the same small school in Boca Raton, Fla., where Levine still lives.

Levine's run at the All England Club is by far the biggest surprise. Ranked 133rd, he had to win three qualifying matches just to get into the main draw. He upset former No. 1 Marat Safin in the first round, then beat lucky loser Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay 6-2, 6-1, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 on Thursday.

It's Levine's first trip to the third round at a major championship, and he's the last male qualifier still around.

"I could have played a little bit longer," the 21-year-old Levine said. "But I'm glad I didn't have to."

[Goodfellas]

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- When Roger Federer misfired on an important shot Friday, his knees buckled and he stomped behind the baseline, miffed at his mere mortality.

The moment quickly passed, and Federer advanced to the second week at Wimbledon by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Federer lost a set for first time this week, with two errant forehands costing him the tiebreaker. That merely extended his Centre Court workout by half an hour.

"It has been a good first week," he said. "Pretty convincing. I thought this was my best match of the tournament, even though I dropped a set. I'm excited about the second week."

Federer earned a berth in the fourth round Monday against a familiar foe -- Robin Soderling. Federer beat Soderling in the French Open final this month to complete a career Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, tying Pete Sampras' record.

Now the No. 2-seeded Federer seeks his sixth Wimbledon title, and he's a heavy favorite with defending champion Rafael Nadal absent because of bad knees.

"I feel relaxed," Federer said. "I'm so happy to be here. It has always been a pleasure playing at Wimbledon."