There is a buzz on the grounds as it is time to get down to crowning a champion.

The dog days of summer tennis are upon as the top players are all enjoying some time off leaving us fans with little chew on.

Wimbledon runner-up and two-time Indianapolis Tennis Championship presented by Lilly champion Andy Roddick, 26, has announced his withdrawal from this year’s tournament.

Aristotle said it best when he said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

If the Williams sisters were to retire with Davenport as of this writing, the U.S. would have no women in the Top 40, and three players in the Top 100 (including the 30+ Jill Craybas, and Ashley Harkleroad who is pregnant). In other words, by the time the Williams retire, U.S. women’s tennis will virtually retire with them.

Okay. So it was the wrong Rafael. It wasn’t Rafael Nadal that Roger Federer beat 6-2, 6-4 earlier today at the Beijing Olympics second round. It was Rafael Arevalo.

Following Roger Federer’s second early exit in as many weeks, the surging Rafael Nadal stands just one win from finally claiming the coveted World No. 1 ranking.

Disbelievers, Rafael Nadal won Toronto, and he won it emphatically losing just one single set. The guy has now won 29 straight matches spanning three different surfaces.

Make it 27 straight wins and climbing now for Rafael Nadal after last night’s impressive 6-7(12), 6-2, 6-1 performance over Richard Gasquet at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last night.

Obviously I’m joking. Such a scenario would unfortunately never, ever happen. And that’s too bad, though. Because in my mind, based on recent results both Roger Federer and Andy Roddick would both benefit from such a trade.