If China is so “crazy for tennis” as one ESPN writer put it, how come there were so many empty seats at the Masters Cup matches, even the final? Fans are so crazy they forgot to go to the event?…

After the match in an on-court interview, Djokovic lambasted Roddick for joking that the Serb was suffering from 16 injuries, drawing boos from the US Open crowd.

Andy Roddick is suddenly looking all the wiser with the combination of skipping the Beijing Olympics and bring Patrick McEnroe on as a temporary coach. Gonzalez looked like he had the Beijing flu on Tuesday night, with barely enough energy to put up a fight.

“After the warm-up I just started to cry,” Safina said. “I said, ‘I cannot push anymore myself.’ He said, ‘We know that you’re not a machine. Just go out there and don’t thinking.’ He told me again, ‘Just please don’t show me any emotions, like these negative emotions. If you want, don’t show even positive. Just go on the court and do whatever you can this day.’…I could not stop from crying, yeah. So I guess he knows how to handle my emotions.”

The “B”-level Americans also headed for the exits, with losses by Ahsha Rolle, Shenay Perry, Vania King, Alexa Glatch, and Asia Muhammad.

Avoid this item. It can help a person get into better shape so as a workout device it is fine, but it is detrimental to one’s tennis swing and timing on the court.

Ginepri opens against world No. 3 Novak Djokovic, while Querrey has two winnable matches before a potential third-round meeting against world No. 2 Rafael Nadal. Blake, the No. 8 seed, opens against big-serving Aussie Chris Guccione, and hopes to make a quarterfinal meeting against world No. 1 Roger Federer.

In a final that will never make the cover of a women’s fitness magazine, Canadian qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak upset No. 6 seed Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-3. Wozniak became the first Canadian since 1988 to win a WTA Tour singles title.

“I can’t believe it’s five,” said Venus of her fifth Wimbledon title in seven finals, and unfailingly producing public relations on the difficulty of playing her sister. “When you play Serena Williams, five seems so far away.”

Nadal is not facing a radically depleted or wounded Roger Federer in the final. Federer won all 10 sets he played in picking up his 5th Halle title. Marcos Baghdatis and Nichols Kiefer stand out as solid wins in the quick transition from clay to grass. The Fed has also posted straight set wins over Robin Soderling, 2002 Wimbledon Champion Lleyton Hewitt, 2004 Wimbledon semifinalist Mario Ancic, and the enigmatic talent of Marat Safin. Nadal made a similarly quick and impressive transition from clay to grass, but he did so with the wind of victory at his back not the sting of humiliation. Federer has looked sharp at Halle and at Wimbledon.

But the real story Monday at the All England Club was the comeback by homecountry hero Andy Murray against the mentally-fragile Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

Other players into the Round of 16 Saturday were (8) Richard Gasquet (d. (28) Gilles Simon in four), (12) Andy Murray (d. Tommy Haas in four), and unseeded Croat Marin Cilic (d. (14) Paul-Henri Mathieu in four).

“I think I know what it takes to win Slams or to go far,” Federer said. So I have the proper preparation. I have the belief…Playing at Wimbledon always creates extra pressure because it’s what’s closest to my heart…I want to prove it to myself I can do it again here.”

The Independent on Roger Federer’s Wimbledon sweater: “This, it almost goes without saying, is a prime example of how not to wear knitwear,” Susannah Frankel wrote. “Federer resembled nothing more than an ageing Harry Potter, although one suspects that this was not the effect he was aiming for.”…

British Lawn Tennis Association coach Brad Gilbert’s charge Alex Bogdanovic lost first round at Wimbledon, and now Gilbert is out the door. It was announced that Gilbert will part ways with the LTA and following Bogdanovic around the Challenger circuit when his contract ends in three months.