Day Three was totally rained out, like, totally on Wednesday at Wimbledon, adding another 74 matches to the backlog. Could be some rare middle-Sunday play this weekend? Let the kids in free, strawberries and cream all around?
It had been five years since a total rain-out, with tomorrow's forecast including...rain. Later in the day.
So today, instead of waiting for ESPN's blathering heads to come on (remember Day One, where they began with so much yapping and "profiling" they failed to show Martina Navratilova, who was playing live at that moment?), why not meander out to your public park and actually PLAY some tennis. Get your fat ass some exercise.
"Tennis really is a lifetime sport," says Christine Tinker, executive director of the British Tennis Coaches Association. She should know, the Brits have been trying to win Wimbledon for a lifetime, or two.
Today at the All England Club the gates will open at 10 a.m. with start of play moving forward one hour in an attempt to hit a few balls before it starts pouring again. The men's doubles matches have been reduced from five sets to three, until the quarters at least. Why not just have them play a pro-set?
Here's a look at who might eventually take to the court today:
Men
(2)Roddick vs. Wang (to finish), Labadze vs. (7)Hewitt, (3)Coria vs. Moodie (to finish), Rusedski vs. Sanguinetti, (1)Federer vs. Falla, (WC)Childs vs. (12)Schalken, Ivanisevic vs. Volandri, (WC)Hilton vs. A.Costa (to finish), Koubek vs. (6)Ferrero, (20)Robredo vs. Starace (to finish), (21)Chela vs. Burgsmuller, (9)Moya vs. Stepanek, (WC)Marray vs. Beck (to finish), (26)Dent vs. R.Delgado (to finish), Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. (33)Luis "Me So" Horna, J.Johansson vs. (14)Fish, Reid vs. (30)Spadea (to finish), (10)Grosjean vs. Carraz in an all-French, Ferrer vs. Hanescu (to finish), Benneteau vs. Berdych, (18)F.Lopez vs. Saulnier, (25)Hrbaty vs. D.Sanchez, (27)Ginepri vs. Verdasco, Popp vs. (15)Massu (to finish), (24)Gonzalez vs. Vassallo Arguello, Soderling vs. (8)Schuettler (to finish), Santoro vs. T.Johansson, T.Martin vs. Canas, (17)Bjorkman vs. Lu, Van scheppingen vs. Pescosolido (to finish), Andreev vs. Van Lottum, Sargsian vs. Tursunov, A.Ram vs. (22)Pavel, Bracciali vs. Gambill, Carlsen vs. Gasquet, Elseneer vs. Karlovic, Dupuis vs. Haas (to finish), Mantilla vs. Pless, and Blanco vs. Enqvist (to finish).
Women
(4)Mauresmo vs. Kostanic, (3)Venus vs. Sprem, (7)Capriati vs. Schaul, (24)Pierce vs. Ruano Pascual, Kapros vs. (2)Myskina, (29)Safina vs. Parra Santonja, Dulko vs. (WC)Navratilova, (31)Frazier vs. (WC)Webley-Smith, Golovin vs. Jidkova, (9)Suarez vs. Perry, Obata vs. (12)Zvonareva, Strycova vs. Talaja, Vakulenko vs. Hopkins, Perebiynis vs. Wheeler, Washington vs. Panova, Sequera vs. (22)Martinez, Sun vs. Garbin, Kleinova vs. Tanasugarn, Sanchez Lorenzo vs. (WC)O'Brien (to finish), Kremer vs. (19)Zuluaga, Srebotnik vs. Chladkova, Peng vs. (14)Farina Elia, Asagoe vs. (26)Raymond, Schett vs. Cervanova, Koukalova vs. (11)Sugiyama, (32)Shaughnessy vs. Llagostera Vives, Grande vs. Santangelo in an all-Italy, Bartoli vs. Camerin, Krasnoroutskaya vs. Nagyova, Ashley vs. (27)Molik, (13)Sharapova vs. Brit (WC)Keothavong (On Court 18? Nice scheduling), (5)Davenport vs. Brandi, (18)Schiavone vs. Casanova, Harkleroad vs. Callens, and Craybas vs. (21)Maleeva.
NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
The Wimbledon Championships were washed out for the 31st time in history on Wednesday, and the first time since 1999. Only 83 of the 128 first round matches have been completed...Former Wimbledon champion Michael Stich yesterday slammed women's tennis, describing 47-year-old Martina Navratilova's first-round victory as a "terrible thing" for the women: "If Martina does go through to the third or fourth round of the Championships, then I think it would be terrible for the women's game. The girl she beat in the first round should just pack up her racket and go home. To lose to Martina -- even on grass -- 6-0, 6-1 is a terrible thing for women's tennis. The result shows there is no depth in the game at all and that you have (only) four or five girls at the top who could win the event."...Is the gun juiced? Carlos Moya hit a 140mph serve in his first round win over Olivier Patience...On the "Weakest Link", Andy Roddick had no answer when Anne Robinson queried the American star on who what former tennis player was nicknamed "Fraulein Forehand" was. Nice sense of history, Andy...All eyes in the UK Thursday will be on the massive England-Portugal Euro Cup match. The quarterfinal game played in Portugal takes place at 7:45pm London time with rioting to ensue around 10pm. Fun fun..Yesterday during the rain delay, Venus snuck out of the Wimbledon complex and visited a number of nearby bookshops where she bought some foreign language study books, while Serena spent the day reading through film scripts she had been sent. We've heard some good advances on the "Booty Call II" script...The tempestuous Russian Anastasia Myskina is really an old softie: "Right now back at home I try to help kids with money, clothes and food (in Moscow). I do what I can...for the homeless, the kids without parents. We help with money to improve their lives because they are really poor kids."...Marat Safin brought out a lame apology Wednesday for saying he hated Wimbledon and wouldn't play anymore...John McEnroe says Paul Annacone is a better fit as a coach for Tim Henman than his previous coach, Larry Stefanki, who also used to coach McEnroe: "I always described Larry as a walking cup of espresso. Tim needs a mellower individual and Annacone is reiterating what he already knows and getting him to believe in himself. He is as well prepared as I have seen him since 2000 and 2001."...How can you not fine Marat Safin after he tanks a match, then in his post-match conference SAYS he tanked? Guess the same way you can NOT drop grass neophyte Guillermo Coria from the No. 3 seeding, yet move No. 10-ranked Serena to the top seeding. Not a lot of backbone at the All England Club this year...Tim Henman and Wayne Ferreira are complaining about the All England Club slowing the grass down, especially Henman after almost finding himself 0-2 sets down against a grass-neophyte baseline-roaming Spaniard: "I was definitely taken by surprise at just how slow the conditions were. It's a tricky scenario for the tournament (because) the show courts have to be used for 13 days and therefore they need to be protected. The ball doesn't go through the court particularly quickly and gives a player of his style time to play the kind of shots he wants to. The way I like to play is to take their time away and obviously when the conditions are slower, he has a little longer...Ten years ago, there was really only one way to play on grass. Now that's not the case." The Wimbledon groundskeepers have disagreed, but you're going to tell us Henman doesn't know his grasscourts?...A new ATP Player Council, the representative body for ATP player members, was selected by the players at Wimbledon. The new Player Council elected returning member Rainer "Shine" Schuettler as its president, with Peru's Luis "Me So" Horna, a new member, and the Bahamas' Mark Knowles, a returning member, as vice presidents, among others. "For me, it's a very interesting and good challenge," Schuettler said. "I look forward to doing the best for the players." For the Euro perspective: "It was great to see so many players wanting to be involved in the running of the ATP circuit," said Horst Klosterkemper, ATP Managing Director-Europe, whose son was once soundly thrashed in singles by a Tennis-X staff member. "I'm also pleased that Ricardo Acioly will continue in his role as Board player representative, as he has demonstrated a strong understanding of player issues and a commitment to" blah blah blah, alright, this isn't a commercial...Thursday Forecast: Intermittent sun and showers.
