WIMBY, DAY 4: GOOD DAY, SUNSHINE

TODAY'S DRAW, 2ND ROUND MATCHES

LADIES

Jelena Jankovic (2) vs Suarez Navarro

--The Serb has two Grand Slam semi-final finishes in 2008, corresponding to the number of GS events thus far this year.

--The Spaniard advanced all the way to the quarters at Roland Garros in her her Grand Slam debut last month.

Maria Sharapova (3) vs Alla Kudryavtseva

--Two of the 18 Russian women (of 128 entries) competing in this event. Sharapova plans to take the court in a topcoat and tails.

--Alla's father, Alexander, was a world champion in Greek Roman wrestling in the 1980s.

Venus Williams (7) vs Anne Keothavong

--Reigning Wimbledon champ bidding for her third Wimbledon title in four years.

--Keothavong is the highest-ranked British woman, which is like having the best haircut in a Hare Krishna cult. She has advanced to the second round just twice in eight appearances here.

MEN'S

Rafael Nadal (2) v Ernests Gulbis

--Rafa is one of a record nine Spaniards here at Wimbledon this fortnight. No one has yet nicknamed them the Spanish Armada.

--Gulbis is the only Latvian man ever to play in a Grand Slam as well as the youngest player currently ranked in the Top 50. I did some research to see who the most famous Latvian of all time might be and instead discovered a long list of Latvians, some 200 or so, with claims to fame. Color me dubious. However, you may be interested to know that Latvia did produce perhaps the tallest women's Olympic basketball player of all time, Uljana Semjonova (that's Pat Summitt, standing next to a summit, on the right).

Andy Roddick (6) vs Janko Tipsarevic

--America's top seed stole model Brooklyn Decker away from curmudgeonly Sports Illustrated NFL writer Paul Dr. Z" Zimmerman. 

--Tipsarevic, another Serb, has a tattoo on his arm that says "Beauty will save the world" (unless it's Brooklyn Decker, who has crushed Dr. Z's)

James Blake (9) vs Rainer Schuettler

-- Blake has yet to win a title this year.

--Schuettler, Blake hopes, stayed out late celebrating Germany's 3-2 win over Turkey in the Euro Cup semis

Andy Murray (12) vs Xavier Malisse 

 --Murray, a Scot, is the highest ranked of the four Brit men (the lowest number in the Open Era) entered. The last time a Brit won the men's singles was 1936, when Fred Perry did so.

--Malisse, a 2002 semifinalist here, is currently without a coach.

Dmitry Tursunov (25) vs Chris Eaton

 --The Russian has advanced to the 3rd round in all four of his previous Wimbledon visits.

-- Eaton, a British wildcard qualifier, entered the tourney ranked 661st in the world. After this week he'll advance to the 400s at least.

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Roger at the Zoo

Roger Federer spent his off-day Tuesday hanging at the London Zoo with rocker parents Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. They're not his parents, of course. That would be scandalous. Federer eschewed a cardigan in favor of a white V-neck T-shirt and jeans.

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Grand Slamming

In a ladies match on Wednesday, Nicole "In" Vaidisova thumped her racket onto the court after a frustrating point. Vaidisova played on another point, failing to realize that she'd cracked the frame of her racket. Vaidisova eventually won the match.

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Wimbledon Word of the Day: "Straw'breeze"

    The Brits are quite economic in pronouncing their favorite SW19 snack, omitting an entire syllable. It isn't straw-ber-ries" here. It's simply "straw-breeze".

In Other Sporting News...

All of London is agog at the transgression that took place in a cricket match between England and New Zealand yesterday. I don't understand cricket well enough to properly explain what transpired (a limitation, some would say, that also aggrieves me in college football), but I do know that an English bloke knocked down a Kiwi as he attempted a single. The only reason I share it with you here is that the Brit who knocked the batsmen down is named Ryan Sidebottom, and that's just one more thing to love about England. People here actually have names that look as if they've come straight out of a P.G. Wodehouse novel or Monty Python sketch.

     Surely, such a malicious act of ill will on the cricket pitch should forever be known as sidebottoming your opponent, no?

*****

London Eye Candy (an entirely non-sanctioned endeavor in which JDub and Beret play hypothetical matchmaker between a male and female player here at Wimbledon)

This is the London Eye, the tallest ferris wheel in Europe. But this section is London Eye Candy, where we admire both the athleticism and aestheticism of the Wimbledon competitors:

Men's Draw: Richard Gasquet, France

                  Richard Gasquet has been plagued with injuries and also consequently -- plagued with good looks. Gasquet, the backhand genius, tore apart American Marty Fish in the first round and plays the veteran Sebastian Grosjean in Rd. 2.

Ladies' Draw: Nicole Vaidisova, Czech Republic

           There's a bustle in our hedgerow whenever Miss Vaidisova, who has advanced to a 3rd-round match versus Casey Dellacqua, takes the court.

REMAK'S REMIX