anyway, every year second monday is the best day of tennis of the year. first of all, it's wimbledon... can you say "prestige?" secondly, wimbledon is the only grand slam that does not play on the middle sunday (c'mon, "wimbledon" and "tradition" are almost synonymous, don't you think?), so after watching a whole week of 10 hours per day of tennis, all of a sudden we get nothing but highlights on sunday, and then BOOM! second monday comes and ALL the remaining men and women are in action on one day playing their fourth round matches (also the only time that happens in a grand slam). and thirdly, at the end of second monday we've got ALL the quarterfinals (men AND women) lined up. sweet.
and so now we can finally get down to some wimbledon business, here are the contenders:
the conversation starts and ends with roger federer. c'mon, anyone else not yet convinced that he is the greatest tennis player of all time need just wait about six more days 'til the wimbledon final on sunday. nevermind his records, his style of play is not only masterful, but beautiful as well. i don't think there's any other player in the history of the sport to play the game so well in all phases, including aesthetics.
forget andy murray, roddick is my pick to reach the final on the other side of the draw (opposite roger, of course). he's the second best grass court player of the decade and he's playing like it again. i like his chances to disappoint all of england and take out andy murray in the semis (even with his improvements in maturity this year, i still can't stand to watch his matches... i don't like his style of play and i love it when someone takes it to him and takes him out... like my man stanislas wawrinka almost did today). 
whoa, remember this guy? lleyton hewitt? he won here in what, 2001? 2002? i don't even remember, but he's back with an upset win over no. 5 juan martin del potro and playing great. it's a revival of the old guys at this year's wimbledon...
the renissance continues at wimbledon 2009, remember juan carlos ferrero? whoa! he's a wildcard here but i always thought that the grass was great for his game. he was never quite the same after he reached no. 1 in the world following his french open championship and runner-up finish to andy roddick in the us open, the next year he was injury-ridden and never got back up to the level of play he showed in getting to no. 1. but hey, lleyton, juan carlos, even tommy haas (too bad he's got to play djokovic, my third favorite), they're all into the quarterfinals, go old guys.
just like the men's tournament, the women's side starts and ends with one name: williams. but will it be serena or venus this year? serena's no. 2 in the world, venus comes in at no. 3 but has 5 wimbledon titles (including last year's title when she beat serena in the final) to serena's 2. that being said, serena is in great form going into the quarterfinals, but how can you deny venus going for her sixth title (and third consecutive). i think venus is still the one to beat... but if anyone can do it, it's serena.
as happy as i am that BOTH williams sisters are playing great at the same tournament at the same time, i wish there was more competition for them out there. i mean, of course you've got world no. 1 dinara safina (the younger sister of marat safin) who's my third favorite pick to win here, but sharapova just came back from injury and lost in the second round and poor ana ivanovic had to retire after losing the first set today to venus with a thigh injury.
still, a trio of youngsters to be highlighted... victoria azarenka (power hitter up against serena in the quarterfinals... who i'm not quite sold-on yet as a future no. 1 as the commentators suggest), melanie oudin (american teenager who had to win three rounds of qualifying to even get into the main draw, and then once she did, won three more rounds to get into the round of 16, although she lost today, finally some young americans doing well), and my pick of the newbies:
young german with a steffi graf-like game, big serve, big forehand (kinda like ana ivanovic of a year ago), she faces dinara safina next.whew, so after a full day of tennis (and, since it's summertime, also a day that i get to go to the gym when it's not crowded, grab lunch, and still have time to drive down to the beach for an afternoon snorkel) tomorrow it's on to ladies' tuesday. all four women's quarterfinals played tomorrow, so it'll be:
#1 dinara safina vs. sabine lisicki - i pick dinara, but lisicki's got a dangerous game if she can stick to the gameplay and execute
#3 venus williams vs. #11 agnieska radwanska - venus will DEMOLISH radwanska's serve.. easy win
francesca schiavonne vs. #4 elena dementieva - i like dementieva, and this is a great chance for her to get to the semis, good for her
#8 victoria azarenka vs. #2 serena williams - match of the day, this'll be a good one, but serena's got too much fire (mostly in the eyes) for azarenka, straight set win for serena
well, those are the predictions... but there's a reason we play the game, go tennis!
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