Wimbledon Tennis Grand Slam tournament

[Rudi]

Seedings for Wimbledon 2007

Men's Singles

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI)
2. Rafael NADAL (ESP)
3. Andy RODDICK (USA)
4. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)
5. Fernando GONZALEZ (CHI)
6. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS)
7. Tomas BERDYCH (CZE)
8. Andy MURRAY (GBR)
9. James BLAKE (USA)
10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)
11. Tommy ROBREDO (ESP)
12. Richard GASQUET (FRA)
13. Tommy HAAS (GER)
14. Mikhail YOUZHNY (RUS)
15. Ivan LJUBICIC (CRO)
16. Lleyton HEWITT (AUS)
17. David FERRER (ESP)
18. Mario ANCIC (CRO)
19. Jarkko NIEMINEN (FIN)
20. Jonas BJORKMAN (SWE)
21. Juan Carlos FERRERO (ESP)
22. Dmitry TURSUNOV (RUS)
23. Guillermo CANAS (ARG)
24. David NALBANDIAN (ARG)
25. Juan Ignacio CHELA (ARG)
26. Carlos MOYA (ESP)
27. Marat SAFIN (RUS)
28. Philipp KOHLSCHREIBER (GER)
29. Robin SODERLING (SWE)
30. Agustin CALLERI (ARG)
31. Filippo VOLANDRI (ITA)
32. Juan MONACO (ARG)

Ladies' Singles

1. Justine HENIN (BEL)
2. Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS)
3. Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB)
4. Amelie MAURESMO (FRA)
5. Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
6. Ana IVANOVIC (SRB)
7. Serena WILLIAMS (USA)
8. Anna CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
9. Martina HINGIS (SUI)
10. Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK)
11. Nadia PETROVA (RUS)
12. Elena DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
13. Dinara SAFINA (RUS)
14. Nicole VAIDISOVA (CZE)
15. Patty SCHNYDER (SUI)
16. Shahar PEER (ISR)
17. Tatiana GOLOVIN (FRA)
18. Na LI (CHN)
19. Marion BARTOLI (FRA)
20. Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO)
21. Sybille BAMMER (AUT)
22. Tathiana GARBIN (ITA)
23. Anabel MEDINA GARRIGUES (ESP)
24. Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
25. Alona BONDARENKO (UKR)
26. Lucie SAFAROVA (CZE)
27. Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN)
28. Samantha STOSUR (AUS)
29. Mara SANTANGELO (ITA)
30. Francesca SCHIAVONE (ITA)
31. Olga POUTCHKOVA (RUS)
32. Michaella KRAJICEK (NED)

Men's Doubles

1. Bob BRYAN (USA) & Mike BRYAN (USA)
2. Jonas BJORKMAN (SWE) & Max MIRNYI (BLR)
3. Mark KNOWLES (BAH) & Daniel NESTOR (CAN)
4. Fabrice SANTORO (FRA) & Nenad ZIMONJIC (SRB)
5. Martin DAMM (CZE) & Leander PAES (IND)
6. Paul HANLEY (AUS) & Kevin ULLYETT (ZIM)
7. Jonathan ERLICH (ISR) & Andy RAM (ISR)
8. Simon ASPELIN (SWE) & Julian KNOWLE (AUT)
9. Lukas DLOUHY (CZE) & Pavel VIZNER (CZE)
10. Arnaud CLEMENT (FRA) & Michael LLODRA (FRA)
11. Mahesh BHUPATHI (IND) & Radek STEPANEK (CZE)
12. Ashley FISHER (AUS) & Tripp PHILLIPS (USA)
13. Jaroslav LEVINSKY (CZE) & David SKOCH (CZE)
14. Jeff COETZEE (RSA) & Rogier WASSEN (NED)
15. Martin GARCIA (ARG) & Sebastian PRIETO (ARG)
16. Mariusz FYRSTENBERG (POL) & Lukasz KUBOT (POL)

Ladies' Doubles

1. Lisa RAYMOND (USA) & Samantha STOSUR (AUS)
2. Cara BLACK (ZIM) & Liezel HUBER (RSA)
3. Yung-Jan CHAN (TPE) & Chia-Jung CHUANG (TPE)
4. Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO) & Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN)
5. Kveta PESCHKE (CZE) & Rennae STUBBS (AUS)
6. Alicia MOLIK (AUS) & Mara SANTANGELO (ITA)
7. Janette HUSAROVA (SVK) & Meghann SHAUGHNESSY (USA)
8. Anabel MEDINA GARRIGUES (ESP) & Virginia RUANO PASCUAL (ESP)
9. Tathiana GARBIN (ITA) & Paola SUAREZ (ARG)
10. Elena LIKHOVTSEVA (RUS) & Tiantian SUN (CHN)
11. Maria Elena CAMERIN (ITA) & Gisela DULKO (ARG)
12. Maria KIRILENKO (RUS) & Elena VESNINA (RUS)
13. Dinara SAFINA (RUS) & Roberta VINCI (ITA)
14. Vera DUSHEVINA (RUS) & Tatiana PEREBIYNIS (UKR)
15. Vania KING (USA) & Jelena KOSTANIC TOSIC (CRO)
16. Sania MIRZA (IND) & Shahar PEER (ISR)

[Rudi]

Originally Posted by Analise

... Unlike the other slams, the men must play a best of 5 sets to qualify. ...

the first two qualification rounds are/were best of 3 sets only. the 3rd and final round is/will be best of 5.

[Rudi]

Originally Posted by Analise

... I wonder if this frenchman will have to qualify to play at Wimbledon? ...

second qualifying round: Nicolas Mahut FRA (2) beats Joseph Sirianni AUS 6 :4, 6:4

[Rudi]

williams sisters play the doubles together (again, a 1st since 2003)

they asked for a wild-card, and that was (not surprisingly) granted.

they did win the doubles at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2002.

[Analise]

Originally Posted by Rudi

williams sisters play the doubles together (again, a 1st since 2003)

they asked for a wild-card, and that was (not surprisingly) granted.

they did win the doubles at Wimbledon in 2000 and 2002.

It is perfectly understandable that prevoius winners are granted wild cards. I would enjoy watching them play. Actually, I am more curious than anything else.

I thought I read that the men's quallies at Wimbledon were best of 5. Thanks for letting me know.

[Rudi]

third qualification round (now played best of 5): Nicolas Mahut FRA (2) beats Simon Stadler GER 6:3, 7:6 and 6:1 and gets into the main draw.

[Analise]

Well at least one of the quallies is a best of 5 match.

[Rudi]

Qualification 3rd round winner: they make it into the main draw:

women

Agnes Szavay (Hun)
Kristina Brandi (Pur)
Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe)
Tatiana Perebiynis (Ukr)
Hana Sromova Cze)
Nika Ozegovic (Cro)
Jorgelina Cravero (Arg)
Ayumi Morita (Jpn)
Zi Yan (Chn)
Casey Dellacqua (Aus)
Olga Govortsova (Blr)

Men

Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (Pak)
Sam Warburg (USA)
Bohdan Ulihrach (Cze)
Gilles Muller (Lux)
Mischa Zverev (Ger)
Edouard Roger-Vasselin (Fra)
Bobby Reynolds (USA)
Alejandro Falla (Col)
Nicolas Mahut (Fra)
Tomas Zib (Cze)
Yeu-Tzuoo Wang (Tpe)
Rik De Voest (Rsa)

[Rudi]

James Blake, a day before the Wimbledon draw is out:

The first thing you look at as a male player is if you are in Federer's half of the draw

[Rudi]

In the men's draw, No.1 seed and reigning men's champion, Roger Federer will open the defence of his title on Centre Court on Monday against Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia.

The second seed and last year's runner-up, Rafael Nadal, opens his Wimbledon campaign against Mardy Fish of the USA, while the third seeded Andy Roddick will play Justin Gimelstob in an all-American first round match.

Elsewhere, Eighth seeded Andy Murray of Britain faces Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador in the first round while fellow Briton, Tim Henman plays the 25th seed Carlos Moya of Spain. If Murray and Henman negotiate the first two matches, then they could meet each other in the third round.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Mahut - who came through qualifying after reaching the final at the Artois Championship last week - will once again play fellow Frenchman Arnaud Clement; the man he beat in the semi-final at Queen's.

In the ladies' singles, defending champion Amelie Mauresmo of France will play American Jamea Jackson in the first round; top seed Justine Henin of Belgium will face qualifier Jorgelina Cravero of Argentina in her first round match and the 2004 winner, Maria Sharapova plays Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei.

Elsewhere, two-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams of the USA plays Lourdes Dominguez-Lino of Spain in the first round, while her sister Venus faces Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia

[Rudi]

The most notable aspect of the women's draw for the 121st Championships is the throwing together of world number one and top seed Justine Henin into the same section as two-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who is seeded seventh. The two met at the same stage of the French Open earlier this month, Henin winning in straight sets for the loss of seven games before going on to take the Roland Garros title for the fourth time in five years.

...

In theory there could be an all-Williams final, as there was in both 2002 and 2003, since Venus is in the bottom half of the draw as 23rd seed, facing the possibility of a fourth round clash with the second seed and 2004 champion, Maria Sharapova.

(source: Wimbledon homepage)

[Rudi]

Men's Singles Preview (source: Wimbledon homepage)

Roger Federer's task of trying to win five Wimbledon titles in succession begins on the Centre Court on Monday, when he takes on the Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

...

Marat Safin, the former US and Australian Open champion whose best Wimbledon was in 2001 when he was a quarter-finalist, should be Federer's third round opponent. Tommy Haas of Germany, seeded tenth, is likely to be in line for the fourth round followed by fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the quarter-finals.

Third seed Andy Roddick, who has lost in two Championship finals to Federer, begins against fellow American Justin Gimelstob and has the British No.1 Andy Murray, seeded eighth, in his half of the draw.

Murray - who has still to decide whether he will be able to compete because of wrist injury - beat Roddick at Wimbledon last year. Should they meet this year, it would be at the quarter-final stage.

Second seed Rafael Nadal, who won his third successive French Open title earlier this month, begins his challenge against the world no. 36 Mardy Fish of the USA, who has twice been in the third round at Wimbledon.

Fellow Spaniard, Tommy Robredo should be Nadal's fourth round opponent but it is the seventh seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in his fourth Wimbledon, who could present problems to Nadal in the quarter-finals. Berdych, 21, had his best Wimbledon last year with a place in the fourth round where he was beaten by Federer.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic, in his highest seeded place, fourth, is in line to play Nadal at the semi-final stage having been beaten by the Spaniard at the same stage of the French Open. Djokovic has the prospect of the heavy serving Croat Ivo Karlovic in the third round.

Lleyton Hewitt, winner in 2002 and the only other champion in the draw apart from Federer, is seeded sixteenth and is in the same half of the draw as Nadal. Hewitt opens against the British wildcard entry Richard Bloomfield.

Andy Murray is scheduled to begin against Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador who is playing at Wimbledon for the eighth time. For British fans there is an intriguing prospect of a third round match between Murray and Tim Henman, the former British No 1 who has played in four semi-finals at Wimbledon. Henman opens with a difficult match against Spain's 25th seeded Carlos Moya, a former French champion, who has beaten him five times in nine matches. But this will be their first meeting on grass.

[magiciansampras]

Originally Posted by Rudi

Marat Safin, the former US and Australian Open champion whose best Wimbledon was in 2001 when he was a quarter-finalist, should be Federer's third round opponent. Tommy Haas of Germany, seeded tenth, is likely to be in line for the fourth round followed by fifth seed Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the quarter-finals.

If I'm Federer I don't particularly like this draw. Safin, when he has his mind together, can upset anyone. He has amazing talent and if he wasn't such a head-case he'd likely have many GS's by now.

Haas is also quite dangerous, although what has he done lately?

Originally Posted by Rudi

Third seed Andy Roddick, who has lost in two Championship finals to Federer, begins against fellow American Justin Gimelstob and has the British No.1 Andy Murray, seeded eighth, in his half of the draw.

Murray - who has still to decide whether he will be able to compete because of wrist injury - beat Roddick at Wimbledon last year. Should they meet this year, it would be at the quarter-final stage.

I didn't know that Murray was contemplating not playing.

Anyway, he could be trouble.

[RustyC]

Wow, one Brit in the mens 32. I guess Tim Henman has passed the torch and some other compatriot can go on to not win.

If Federer gets knocked off, it'll be to some unknown in early rounds playing the match of his life when Federer has a bad day. I don't think it'd be to Nadal or those other guys in the final.

[Japhydog]

Originally Posted by RustyC

Wow, one Brit in the mens 32. I guess Tim Henman has passed the torch and some other compatriot can go on to not win.

If Federer gets knocked off, it'll be to some unknown in early rounds playing the match of his life when Federer has a bad day. I don't think it'd be to Nadal or those other guys in the final.

Maybe they should change the name from "Henman Hill" to "Loser Hill?"