Tennis-X.com Notes: No Video Replay, No Brits Seeded at Wimbledon

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARB
After beating Jelena Dokic in the first round of Wimbledon qualifying, then voicing her aim to not only qualify but go on to win the tournament, American Alexandra "Dr. A" Stevenson lost yesterday in the second round of qualifying to Tatiana "Poke-Check" Poutchek...From the Sydney Morning Herald: "It has come a little late for John McEnroe, the former American star whose tirades towards umpires over disputed line calls became a feature of the Wimbledon Championships in the late 1970s and 1980s. But the All England Club is poised to introduce technology that will decide definitively whether a ball is in or out. High-speed cameras mounted around the Centre Court and Court One will capture 3D images of any disputed line call, showing exactly where the ball lands. The images will then be shown on a screen and, according to Wimbledon officials, "will leave no room for doubt." The Hawkeye system, developed by IBM, will have a trial run at this year's championships -- which begin next week -- and is expected to make its debut next year."...Pete Sampras will be featured in upcoming commercials for World TeamTennis, which will be covered in the U.S. on The Tennis Channel and the Outdoor Life Network (OLN)...Lleyton Hewitt and the ATP have come to terms out of court over their 2002 dust-up when Hewitt refused to do an interview in Cincinnati -- the ATP subsequently fined him, and Hewitt subsequently sued for $2.5 million. The terms of the settlement were not made public. Hewitt said: "I am very happy that my differences with the ATP are a thing of the past. This dispute involved matters from many years ago, and I'm pleased with the new leadership and direction of the ATP."...Ivan Ljubicic is 2-6 career at Wimbledon...Could Amelie Mauresmo look less match-tough?...The Wimbledon seeding are out and -- uh, does anyone care about the lone Slam doing their own arbitrary seeding because grasscourts are "special"? Even though these days they play more like hardcourts and are no longer difficult to adapt to? Dropshots even bounce up high enough to be chased down. Stick to the ATP and WTA rankings for the seedings, and turn the grass back into grass...From the WTA on this week's Eastbourne event: "This is also the first women's-only tournament to feature the Top 3 in the last four-and-a-half years, and just the ninth since 1990." -- Do you really want to be promoting the fact you can so rarely get the Top 3-ranked women to play in the same event on your tour? Yikes, enroll your web staff in PR 101...Matches to watch for Thursday: Elena Dementieva vs. Ana Ivanovic, Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic vs. Fabrice "The Magician" Santoro, Dinara Safina vs. 35-year-old wildcard and former Top 10er Brenda Schultz-McCarthy...The Bryan brothers are shooting for their first Wimbledon title, which would complete their career Grand Slam, joining Aussies "The Woodies" Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, Dutchmen Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, and Aussies John Newcombe and Tony Roche, and Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall...Smoke a joint and have a hit, from The Telegraph: "Warders at Kingston Prison in Portsmouth initially took prisoners' enthusiasm for collecting tennis balls accidentally knocked into the yard as a sign that Wimbledon fortnight was imminent. It was not until random testing revealed that 35 percent of inmates were using drugs that it was discovered that the tennis balls contained cannabis and had been hit over the wall by friends of inmates. The scam was revealed yesterday in a report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons that highlights measures the prison has taken to stamp out drug misuse in the past year. At the beginning of April 2006 the number of inmates testing positive for drugs was down to 12.9 per cent -- just above the national prison average of 10.3 per cent."...China's Na Li quit tennis from 2002-2004 to go to university, then decided to give the game another go...From the Andy Roddick blog: "I am currently hooked on the first season of the show Lost. I love that iTunes now has tv shows that you can buy and download. It saves me from having to carry around dvd's. Last week felt really good on the court. I started to serve well again...this is great, because I haven't served well for most of this year...being healthy is a plus also...I cannot wait for Wimbledon!!! And a shout out to the pink ladies for their support last week...and thanks for the t-shirts, even though they were quite "cheeky." Butthead of the Week -- the Italian cheap shot artist who elbowed Brian Mcbride's face in the USA-Italy game...his name does not deserve mention here, but it was ridiculous. Self-Chuck of the Week -- people who wear sunglasses at night and inside during dinner...was not aware that UV protection was needed at these times...walls for all the guilty parties!!! Fine of the Week -- ME!!! I walked down to the court to play my quarterfinal match against Fernando Gonzalez last week and realized I had carried my brother's bag to the court...I had to run back up to the locker room to switch the bags while everyone was waiting...not my proudest moment haha."...From SI.com's Jon Wertheim on the numerous French Open retirements: "I'm astonished -- stunned, you could even say -- by how casually everyone seems to perceive this. There were SIX former French Open champs who were sufficiently healthy to play in the tournament. (Andy) Roddick didn't last a round. (Lindsay) Davenport didn't play. (Nadia) Petrova pulled up lame. The prevailing thinking seems to be: "It's a pity, but the sport is getting more and more physical. What time is lunch?"...German newspapers are reporting that Nicolas Kiefer may withdraw from Wimbledon with injury...For the first time in a decade, no British men have been seeded at Wimbledon.