Month of July , 2007

The second Monday of Wimbledon is traditionally the hottest ticket of the tournament. Since Wimbledon stands alone among the four Grand Slams as the one which does not play on the middle Sunday, the seventh day of this event takes in the fourth round of both the men’s and women’s singles. Add to that the matches carried over from soggy Saturday and, as long as it doesn’t rain again, it should be a sumptuous occasion.

Serena Williams is optimistic about her chances of capturing a third Wimbledon title and says her third round win over Milagros Sequera of Venezuela for the loss of only one game was "absolutely, definitely" her best performance of these Championships.

Tennis warrior Serena Williams played through the pain of a calf strain to fight, battle and scrap her way into the quarter-finals, defeating Daniela Hantuchova in a rain-marred match of tension, drama and high excitement on Centre Court.

Marcos Baghdatis continued to show that last year's run to the semi-final may not be a one-off by impressively beating the 2002 finalist David Nalbandian to reach the last 16.

It may take patience to see her shine in her matches at present, but Venus Williams is ready to relight the fire of her bid to regain her Wimbledon crown even if it means making more successful comebacks than Take That, a newly-discovered favourite of the big music fan.

16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria has knocked out another seed after dumping former French Open finalist Elena Dementieva out of Wimbledon. Paszek came back from a set down to defeat the twelfth seeded Dementieva, 3-6, 6-2. 6-3 in 128 minutes.

Venus Williams made heavy weather of her rain-disrupted clash with Japan's Akiko Morigami before sealing victory in three sets and escaping the “Graveyard of Champions” curse of Court 2.

Fifth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was rarely troubled in her match against former Junior Wimbledon champion Agnieska Radwanska, and powered past the young Pole 6-2, 6-3.

Justine Henin headed the field into the quarter-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the left-handed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland that proved she is in convincing form for the countdown to winning the Wimbledon title for the first time.

Nadia Petrova was asked a few tough questions as Virginia Ruano Pascual staged a late fightback but answered them all to dash the Spanish doubles veteran's hopes of reaching the fourth round for the first time since 1998.

Maria Sharapova seemed to run out of steam the last time she played Venus Williams on grass but has since worked on her stamina to ensure there will be more in the tank when they meet in Wimbledon's fourth round.

Nicolay Davydenko wasted little time finishing off his match with Gael Monfils to book a fourth round encounter with Marcos Baghdatis.

“Everything went wrong today,” said Amelie Mauresmo as she reflected on the loss of her Wimbledon crown after her 7-6, 4-6, 6-1 defeat to Nicole Vaidisova.

Finally, at 4.53pm on day eight of The Championships, Lleyton Hewitt reached the fourth round. He did so with a draining 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Guillermo Canas in a match that was first called on Saturday evening, eventually got on court on Monday afternoon and was finished on Tuesday. The rain has a lot to answer for around here.

France's Marion Bartoli took empathic revenge on Jelena Jankovic for her French Open fourth round defeat by the Serb as she dumped the third seed out of Wimbledon at the same stage.

Janko Tipsarevic won the support of Wimbledon spectators with his five-set victory over fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez but was unable to produce that form against Juan Carlos Ferrero. He lost to the 20th seed, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Serena Williams has labelled her dramatic injury-hampered win over Daniela Hantuchova as one of the "gutsiest" performances she has ever put up on court and revealed that she had been prepared to "die trying" to ensure the victory.

Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia ensured her third appearance in a Wimbledon quarter-final with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 16-year-old Tamira Paszek of Austria on Court 18 today.

Since rare exceptions are being permitted to the newly-introduced ban on smoking in England, all decent folk will surely avert their gaze and refrain from complaining if they spot fumes emerging from the ears and nostrils of those whose job it is to oversee the smooth running of these Championships. Few veteran Wimbledon watchers can remember a more frustrating fortnight than this one. Off come the covers, on come the players, on go the covers, off go the players. In out, in out, shake it all about, as the old “Hokey Cokey” song used to go.

What is it with us? Those of us who watch tennis can’t seem to get the hang of the idea that it is never a good idea to overlook the name Williams when it appears in a Grand Slam draw.