Federer 31 Straight on Grass, Canas Caught Doping

Roger Federer has won 31 straight matches on grass. 41 is the record by Bjorn Borg, which he did winning only Wimbledons. Federer is doing it by winning Halle and Wimbledon. Quite a difference...Amelie Mauresmo has reached the semifinals the last two times she's played at Wimbledon...After struggling to win at the French Open, Lindsay Davenport has dropped just five games in two matches...2004 junior champ Gael "Force" Monfils has won eight straight matches at Wimbledon...How wacky was it to see the net actually break and collapse on Centre Court during the Mark Philippoussis-Marat Safin match. Last year Ted Watts gets the score wrong, this year the net breaks. We thought this was Wimbledon, not the Birmingham Challenger...Kudos to Rafael Nadal for playing doubles at Wimbledon. The 19-year-old and Feliciano Lopez won in straight sets Wednesday...Daniele Bracciali beat Andy Roddick in doubles at Rome in May, so he has had a look...When was the last time Serena Williams lost in the first or second round of a Grand Slam? Look that up...How nice has the weather been at Wimbledon? Hardly a drop has fallen thus far, and the weather for tomorrow is suppose to remain clear and warm. Brilliant!...Another Argentine (surprise!) has come under the heat lamp for doping, this time Guillermo Canas who told Argentine media he is under investigation by the ATP over a positive test. Canas says he is pulling out of the Davis Cup tie against Australia next month because of the investigation, but says he has done nothing wrong. "I'm being investigated by the ATP for doping," Canas told La Nacion. "The matter of the positive is difficult. I've never looked to taking anything extra or anything which isn't permitted to gain an advantage in tennis."...Wow, props to ESPN for slapping on some Feliciano "F-Lo" Lopez/Rafael "The Prodigy" Nadal vs. Cibulec/Rikl doubles on Wednesday, that's thinking out of the box, and -- actually showing some doubles. Which on a side note is all recreational players get to play nowadays in the U.S. with the USTA cutting singles tournaments to replace them with hit-and-giggle doubles leagues. No wonder all of America is fat...Justin Gimelstob on grinding around the Challenger circuit trying to get his ranking back up: "It's kind of a roundabout answer but basically it's symbolic of the whole process. You saw it a few years ago with Vince Spadea. I mean, he was -- that famous quote, he was ready to go work at McDonald's or Burger King. I don't think I would need to go to that extent, but you wouldn't believe the places I've been to try to get my ranking back. Even in the last four weeks I was in -- playing a challenge in Pusan, Korea, then I flew to Sacramento to play a challenger. This is my third continent in four weeks. And, you know, it's just -- it's a struggle. But you actually -- being out there and playing and actually, you know, try to enjoy the moment a little bit. Obviously tension gets the best of you, you want to win. But, you know, you don't -- that's what you're fighting for, is that feeling out there, competing against a great player like that. And actually, you know, to come through is just the icing on the cake."...Mark Philippoussis on the invitation to play mixed doubles from Eleni Daniilidou: "I'm not one for mixed doubles. If I ever do, I'd definitely -- I'd play with her. She is a great girl. I was very happy to see her do well."...Taylor "Acci-" Dent on his workout routine when his ankle is not injured: "Where I work out in Southern Cal when I'm healthy is just actually Orange Coast College. I have a physical trainer, his name is Eric Moreno. We get on a rubber track, so it's nice and easy on my body. He just runs me to death. He makes me do it early, too. Seven in the morning. It's rough. So that's off-court stuff. Then on-court, I just kind of do my own thing with the guy who is here with me. His name is Tom Lloyd. He's just kind of a buddy, somebody to pass the time with. We've known each other since we were like eight years old, so he's like my brother."...Svetlana Kuznetsova on Wimbledon compared to the US Open: "Wimbledon is so different, you know. It's completely like black and blue maybe, or white and black, you know, or red and black, whatever, you know. It's just different. It's like Sprite and Coke, you know. Doesn't matter that I love Sprite more than Coke, but it just completely different. But also I would love to do well here."...Lindsay Davenport on the last time she was scared on court: "I mean, I can remember for sure, really scared in 1993 or '94, Miami tournament. I had to play Steffi (Graf) in the quarters. I couldn't believe I was in the quarters. I was just like crying before I went on the court. I was so scared I wouldn't get a game. I lost the first set 6-0. I remember thinking that I wasn't going to get a game. I was petrified about that match. I'm leaning towards '94, but it could be '93. But then the second set went to a tiebreak. I couldn't have been happier when the match was over. I was like running through the locker room. I was so happy I got some games."...Four teenagers are bidding to reach the third round today: qualifier Novak Djokovic, the youngest man to start in the draw (18 years, 1 month, 1 day); Andrew Murray, the second youngest to start (18 years, 1 month, 8 days); Richard Gasquet (19 years, 5 days); and Rafael Nadal (19 years, 20 days)...ESPN.com's Miki Singh: "Following the Justine Henin-Hardenne first-round stunner and Serena Williams' near-defeat, No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova is now the clear choice to win Wimbledon and successfully defend her crown." Huh? We'll take a pissed-off Serena versus the global icon any day -- at this point Serena is ready to reach across the net and strange Sharapova with her own gold-flaked tennis shoe laces...From Barry Lorge writing for ESPN: "'Wimbledon weather' also whets appetites for more than tennis. Martin Joyce, managing director of the catering company that serves The Championships, said that the accent so far has been on lighter foods: freshly filled baguettes, salads, strawberries are selling fantastically well, and obviously drinks are just going out the window.' The favored alcoholic beverage of Wimbledon is Pimms Cup -- a venerable secret recipe that is similar to sloe gin and is mixed with two measures of lemonade and/or ginger beer, then garnished with fruit, mint and an essential ingredient: cucumber. 'At Wimbledon, we put a little strawberry in, just to give it a nice touch,' Joyce said. 'Here at Wimbledon, we invented Pimms No. 1 in draught form, so it comes in 11-gallon barrels, premixed, so it's perfect.'"...From tennisnews.com: "Daily Tennis has learned that the battle lines have been drawn; the European tournament directors and the US tournament directors have agreed, in amicable terms, to disagree. The battle for European players is about to begin. Happily, this battle will not be using guns and knives, but rather, checkbooks and bags of cash. European tournament administrators do not want to hold tournaments and have the stars playing in the US Open Series, soooo they have decided to attract the players' attention in the most logical place of all; the players' wallets. Daily Tennis has learned that Roger Federer has been offered a breathtaking offer if he plays in Europe before the US Open. At press time, he has not responded to the offer. It is likely that a few other players are going to be shown lucrative offers to stay and play on clay. So, for the top European players the question is posed; whether it is better to play on clay with more money in their pockets as they eye the US Open in August, or go to North America to play for the riches of the US Open bonuses if they play well in the US Open Series Gentlemen; reach for your checkbooks." In other words, same old same old...Japan is putting Maria Sharapova on a postage stamp...From Fox Sports: "Defending women's champion Maria Sharapova was recorded by a tabloid newspaper's unofficial "gruntometer" at 101.2 decibels on Centre Court on Tuesday. The noise, almost as loud as a police siren, was said to have broken her previous record."...The BBC was aflutter when commentator Pat Cash, thinking he was off-air, commented with the camera on Lleyton Hewitt's pregnant fiancee Bec Cartwright, saying "I bet she's up the duff." From the BBC: "We would like to apologize on behalf of Pat Cash because we do feel that the term was inappropriate. It is not a term we would have chosen."...Dutch player John van Lottum speaking to BN/DeStem about drugs in tennis: "I wouldn't be surprised if 50 percent of the Top 100 uses. The risk you get caught is really small, if you do it smart. And if it happens you get a small suspension. And the tennis world stays nice for you. Juan Ignacio Chela is a crowd-puller in Amersfoort, Guillermo Coria got a wildcard in Monte Carlo. And adidas signed Chela. A big shame. These guys should be on the front page with a big picture, to make clear they don't play it fair. Colleagues who were around the 60th place in the rankings, like me, disappeared a couple of months from the circuit. They came back with a complete different body...I have big question marks at Guillermo Canas. I played against him on hardcourt, and after a set he was totally tired. He always had small injuries and got fast cramps. Now he is the fittest player in the circuit after Lleyton Hewitt and he makes the 40th place in the rankings. How is that possible? Mariano Puerta is another example. He's No. 300 of the world, is gone for a while. Comes back and makes it No. 30. His ranking gets worse, he's away for a while and gets to No. 30 again. His father is the guy who gave the drugs to Chela. Well, then one and one is two, right?"