Wimbledon, Day 6

Rain wiped out most play today, and since there is no play on middle Sunday, the six remaining 3rd round matches must be completed Monday morning. Two players who did complete their matches were 2004 champion Maria Sharapova, who beat Ai Sugiyama, 6-3, 6-3, and defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, who defeated Mara Santangelo, 6-1, 6-2.

Thanks to Mauresmo, the people who bought Centre Court tickets to see her play got a full refund. The rules state that if you see under an hour of tennis, you get your money back, and Mauresmo dispensed with Santangelo in 57 minutes.

Mauresmo drove her mountain bike into the stadium today, as she does every day, and was stopped by a guard and told she could proceed no farther. New rules? The guard didn't know the rules? The other guards didn't know the rules? Or perhaps today's guard had no clue who was on the bike. A couple of years ago, 2004 U.S. Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova was denied access to the court by a security guard, and she wound up having to point to a giant cut-out of herself to get him to understand that she was a Grand Slam champion, and it was okay for her to enter the court, thank you very much.

All of my picks to win and half of my dark horses are still around. The Graveyard of Champions, Court 2, consumed Martina Hingis yesterday, when she was defeated in straight sets by Laura Granville. But that was really no surprise--Hingis has been out for a long time with a chronic hip injury, and she was just able to start hitting again a few days before Wimbledon began. Some of hoped she could overcome this lack of preparation, but it was, indeed, very hard to overcome. I was sad when I saw her walk off the court. Granville added a touch of class by barely celebrating her win, and by making sure that she left the court first, a reversal of tennis protocol.

My other dark horse to exit was Anna Chakvetadze, who lost yesterday to Michaella Krajicek.

Some fashion notes:

I did not get to see Tatiana Golovin's controversial red undershorts. Her warm-up capri pants, paired with what looked to be a long, (single-breasted or double-breasted?--I had to watch on a computer screen), blazer, however, were simply chic beyond description. Golovin has to be Lacoste's best player representative ever.

Serena Williams looks very good in her new Wimbledon outfit. Sister Venus is wearing shorts, an unusual choice for her, but she reports that her dresses are all too big for her (Reebok couldn't have tossed in a new one?).

The All England Club allows players to have a bit of trim on their white outfits, and my favorite bit of trim I've seen so far was on Kataryna Bondarenko's dress--a large magenta flower emblem on the bottom left-hand side of the skirt. "Large magenta flower" sounds gawdy, but the image was subtle, like a Victorian flower sketch.

Player of the day: Amelie Mauresmo, who served 11 aces, including one on match point.

Serena Williams voted Americans' favorite sportswoman

The results of a Harris poll reveal that Serena Williams is the favorite female sports star of Americans. Last year, her sister Venus took the top spot. Here is the current top 10:

1. Serena Williams
2. Danica Patrick
3. Venus Williams
4. Mia Hamm
5. Maria Sharapova
6. Annika Sorenstam
7. Layla Ali
8. Michelle Wie
9. Anna Kournikova
10. Michelle Kwan

Williams was the top choice among both men and women, and she was the top choice among Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and African Americans.

WTA puts final nail in doubles coffin

The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour has announced that--as part of its "marketing" plan and its plan to "enhance player health"--all doubles matches will involve a super-tiebreak instead of a 3rd set, and there will be no ad point. In other words, doubles play is to be destroyed. The idea is not original: The ATP has already destroyed doubles by using this format.

Taking the excitement out of doubles in order to market it is totally backasswards. There is no tennis without an ad point, and the super-tiebreak is a terrible idea.

Wimbledon, Day 5--the tension is high

Talented but streaky Michaella Krajicek showed the world her best game today when she took out number 8 seed Anna Chakvetadze in three exciting sets

You couldn't have asked for more thrills than we had on the women's side today. I watched as much as I could, and at one point, I had three different matches on at the same time--there lies madness. All three were worth watching though: Jelena Jankovic's dramatic battle against Lucie Safarova, Patty Schnyder's come-from-behind-yet-again moment against Alona Bondarenko, and Michaella Krajicek's dazzling defeat of Anna Chakvetadze.

Schnyder is generally ignored when she plays on grass, which is clearly her weakest surface. But she has really come alive at this Wimbledon tournament, twice coming back from 1-4 in the 3rd set. Alona Bondarenko continues to get better and better, though she was unable to go the distance today. Jankovic and Safarova must both be exhausted. They had a 25-minute rain break, or they might have nearly collapsed.

Player of the day: Michaella Krajicek, who fought for nearly three hours, began the 2nd set with three consecutive aces, and became the first player to take out a top-10 seed.

Speeding through London on the JJ Express

Players on the tour call Jelena Jankovic the JJ Express because she is fast to serve. She has also been speeding through the rankings, despite considering retirement a little over a year ago. She had a very tough, dramatic 3rd round at Wimbledon today, against Lucie Safarova, but she made it through, and will play always-dangerous floater Marion Bartoli in the round of 16.

Doha to host Year-End Championships

Doha has won the competition to host the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Year-End Championships. The even will be held in Doha 2008-2010, and will feature $4.45 million in prize money.

Friday cat blogging--make new friends edition

Ziggy (left), who just turned one, has been in love with both sisters since the day he arrived. Roxie is still somewhat wary of him, but Velma has become fast friends with him, snuggling, playing chase, and even grooming him sometimes.