Day 1: Rainy Days and Monday

There were no pigeons to blame this time... it was just Wimbledon being Wimbledon.

If we didn't have at least one day essentially decimated by rain, as Day 1 was today, it just wouldn't be the tournament that's alternately so vexing as well as majestic. In fact, if we didn't have a rainy day during the fortnight, THAT'S when we might have to suspect outside influences were plotting something even more unusual down the line.



Love-Love... there was play for only about 30 minutes today, give or take a game or two. Oh, that retractable roof can't get to Centre Court fast enough, can it? 2009 seems so faaaar away.


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15-Love... the matches closest to completion? Well, Martina Hingis leads Olga Savchuk 6-2, Vera Dushevina is up 6-1 over Akiko Morigami, and Eva Birnerova holds a 6-2/0-1 advantage over #28-seed Sofia Arvidsson.
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15-15... Some seem to think that Roger Federer might be vulnerable in this tournament, what with the losses to Nadal playing on his mind, those match points Olivier Rochus held against him a few weeks ago, and the something-less-than-a-walk-in-the-park draw he received. Hmmm, since this weekend's Nottingham champ Richard Gasquet was supposed to be a real test for Federer, does the fact that he quickly took the opening set from the French 20-year old mean that the questions about Federer are really just a little ado about something less than nothing?
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30-15... speaking of Federer, how great was the blazer look he sported today when he walked onto Centre Court?



It's no catsuit (and thank you, Roger, for that), but it'll do rather nicely, I'd say.
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40-15... Martina Navratilova is now #20 in the doubles rankings after her RU result with Liezel Huber at Eastbourne.
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40-30... Cali Girl Alexa Glatch, 16, won her first pro title at a $10K in Fort Worth, Texas over the weekend, defeating Jamie Hampton 6-4/6-1 in the final. So maybe there's ANOTHER American teenager, along with Jamea Jackson (who turned her game around in time to break Kirsten Flipkens today when she was serving for the 1st set at 5-3... putting a big smile on Virginie Pichet's face, hopefully), to keep at least one eye on.
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Game, "DYING A DELICIOUSLY CRUEL DEATH IN STOPPAGE TIME"... I'm not really a soccer fan (hey, I'm an American... we're sociologically allergic to the game), but I do pay some attention to the World Cup. Did you see how Italy defeated Australia with a penalty kick in the closing seconds of stoppage time? What a cool way to end a game, huh? Well, unless you're an Aussie, of course.


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All for Day 1. More Tomorrow.