Day Nine Roundup

Roger Federer vs Fernando Gonzalez



"I'm just going to sit here and chill out while Gonzalez blasts balls over the baseline. Leave alone. Roger conserving energy."

Roger Federer demolished Chilean Fernando Gonzalez 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) in less than two hours. Raise your hand if you DIDN'T know this would happen. Didn't think so.

Lleyton Hewitt vs Feliciano Lopez



"YES! I'm ready to have my ass kicked by Roger Federer!"

Hewitt and Federer's matches lasted about as long as each other, which kind of sucked because I had to keep flipping back and forth between them and they ended about the same time. I don't like it when that happens because I can't watch two matches at once. Hewitt beat Lopez 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). I did get to see the oh-so-interesting "hindrance" call on Lopez, though. I thought it was well-deserved. The line judges or the chair umpire determines when a shot is out, not the players. Jerk.

Thomas Johansson vs David Nalbandian



"If I don't win my semi-final match, there's always the Matthew Lillard look-alike contest!"

Seriously. Compare Johansson (above) with Lillard (below). Freaky.



Thomas Johansson becomes the first Swede in a Wimbledon semi-final since Stefan Edberg in 1993. Yay Sweden! He beat Nalbandian pretty definitively 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-2. Nalbandian might have had more of a shot if he could have converted any of the zillion break points he had in that first set; the momentum could have gone Nalbandian's way and he might have run off with the match. You know how he HATES to play five-setters. His serve was also off and he made a LOT of unforced errors (33 to Johansson's 13). It'll be interesting the next time these two meet up; this was their first meeting ever.

Sebastien Grosjean vs Andy Roddick



"Yay! I'm cute! And funny!"

This was really the only interesting match in the men's quarter-finals. It was also the only one that wasn't a straight-sets victory. It took Andy Roddick five grueling sets to finally defeat Sebastien Grosjean 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and that hinged on Grosjean's first serve going bye-bye in a very big way.

Mixed Doubles



Kim Clijsters and Olivier Rochus sent Venus Williams and Mike Knowles packing in their third round mixed doubles victory on Court 2 today. Appropriately nicknamed the "graveyard of champions," the 8th seeded Williams/Knowles pairing fell in three sets to the 12th seeded Clijsters/Rochus pair, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. I like seeing Kim Clijsters happy. Clijsters and Rochus take on Mary Pierce and Mahesh Bhupathi in the quarter-finals.



This is the pair that I'd like to see win, since Black/Black were eliminated in the second round. Some people think it's selfish of Martina Navratilova to try for a 21st Wimbledon title. I don't. She's 48, she can still compete at this level, and she still has the drive and desire. Why should she stop? Why relegate herself to an elder statesmens' competition (like Tracy Austin and John McEnroe) when she can still go for doubles titles? I think she kicks ASS. She's been a professional tennis player as long as I've been alive, and many players my age are considering hanging up their rackets...but not Martina. She and her partner Mike Bryan take on Kevin Ullyett and Liezel Huber, seeded fourth, in the mixed doubles quarter-final.

Ladies' Doubles



More Martina! Martina and her ladies' doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld won their ladies' doubles quarter-final match today against Vera Douchevina and Shahar Peer 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. It was a pretty good match; there was some great play at the net, though Martina's serve looked a little shaky. For her. For any other player it would kick ass, but Martina's serve is usually rock solid and she double-faulted. The match was high-quality with great serving and relatively few unforced errors from either side. Navratilova/Groenefeld also converted 100% of their break points. Awesome! Navratilova/Groenefeld will play whoever wins the Kuznetsova/Mauresmo vs Likhovtseva/Zvonareva match.



Cara Black and Liezel Huber are getting no attention whatsoever in this tournament. They played their ladies' quarter-final on Centre Court this evening, which was practically a ghost town. I was embarrassed for them. People don't take women's doubles seriously, and that pisses me off.

Their quarterfinal match against Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama was quick and painless at 6-3, 6-2. I bet neither Black nor Huber actually broke a sweat. They take on 11th seeds Bryanne Stewart and Samantha Stosur next.

Men's Doubles

To be honest I couldn't care less about men's doubles, but I should probably mention that the noteworthy men's doubles player Todd Woodbridge of Australia is hanging up his racket after Wimbledon. I think he has more doubles titles than...anyone ever. He and Mahesh Bhupathi lost their second round men's doubles match to Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie, but he's still in the mixed doubles competition with Samantha Stosur; they take on Jonas Bjorkman and Lisa Raymond in the quarter-final.

Another noteworthy name in the men's doubles is Wayne Black. He and his sister Cara Black, the defending mixed doubles champions, lost their second round match after a first round bye, but both are still in the single-sex doubles. He and partner Kevin Ullyett defeated Leander Paes and Nenad Zimonjic for a place in the semi-finals. They take on brothers Bob and Mike Bryan next.