Wimbledon Week One Update

Well the rain has been pouring in SW19 this week, however there has still managed to be some great tennis matches played between the showers!

Lets start with the men and Roger Federer looks invincible on the grass and has swept his way through to the fourth round with most notably a straight sets demolishion of former australian open winner Marat Safin of Russia. Even when he looks like hes not 100% playing he is still powerful enough to win easily. His closest rival this year looks to be Andy Roddick of the USA who is looking to get back to some form on the grass and last night also made it through to the 4th round with a straight sets victory of promising Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. Rafal nadal should never be excluded from any tournament and he has also looked impressive in his first 2 matches though he faces a tough 3rd round opponent in giant Swede Robin Soderling. Soderling definatley has the game and more importantly the serve to wipe out nadals chances however needs to show more consistancy to overcome the young world number 2 from Mallorca.

Other names to watch out for include former finalist David Nalbandian of Argentina, Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus (semi finalist in 2006) and young Czech Tomas Berdych. Also after impressivley beating Lleyton Hewitt at Queens and demolishing Feliciano Lopez late last night look out for young French stat Tsonga. He has looked even more impressive this week at Wimbledon and could be a lively outsider to cause one or two big upsets in the latter stages of this tournament!!!

As for the Brits, well only Tim Henman made it past the 1st round in the mens competition and them after coming back form 2 sets down against Lopez, fell apart in the decider and went down to the Spaniard 6-7 6-7 6-3 6-2 1-6.

In the ladies event, things are hotting up also. Mauresmo, Henin, Sharapova and Serena Williams are still there looking for victory, Henin being the most impressive so far. Also look out for the Serbians again with jankovic and Ivanovic showing good form on the grass and could cause upsets. 3 top seeded ladies which have already fallen are Martina Hingis (did she rush back from injury too soon), Dinara Safina and Anna Chakvetadze, all of which where in the top ten seedings. If only some of the dark horses in the draw could find the confidence to try there shots against the top seeded ladies then we could be in for a terrific second week at Wimbledon. Michaela Krajeck posseses one of the finest serves in the womens game and Marion Bartoli should not be ruled out with her powerful ground strokes and service return. Finally dont forget the other Williams sister, venus, who after a scare in the first round looked impressive against Sromova and although only seeded 23rd should be a dangerous floater in the draw!

As for the Brits, well like in the mens draw only one british girl made it into the 2nd round. Katie O'brien defeated Sandra Kloesel of Germany in round one however fell apart in the 2nd round. Naomi Cavaday waste 2 match points against Martina Hingis but looks promising for the future while crowd favourite Elena baltacha fought hard against seeded Srebotnik of Slovenia only to lose in 3 sets!