We've made it to the third round of Wimbledon with almost no surprise results but the matchups for Friday play included some humdingers. Federer/Safin has been much anticipated because the last time they met in a grand slam was the Australian Open semi in 2005, which was the last time R Fed lost to anyone besides Nadal in a grand slam. But there were other lovely matches bound to supply good play.

Blake/Ferrero and Roddick/Verdasco were both match-ups I was keen to watch. The trouble was it took us til 2pm to figure out my mom's satellite dish configuration and so we missed much of the day's play. I'm in Baltimore for my sister's post-nuptial festivities. We tuned in on time to watch the second and third sets of Federer/Safin. Safin has been horrible recently and that is no way to go into a matchup with Federer, who is playing very well. Federer glided through the first two sets and the third provided better play. Glimpses of what makes Safin so great when he's on. His huge backhand. His huge serve. His huge forehand. But Roger was too tough, held serve easily, worked it to a tiebreaker and let inevitability guide him through the break for a straight set win that looked very easy. You had the feeling that had Safin been up against someone slightly less dominant, he might have found his way into the match and into his confidence.

I'm watching Rodick/Verdasco now. Roddick is up two sets and down a break in the third. Verdasco and Roddick have had some good matches with one another and Verdasco is comfortable on grass for a Spaniard. He moves well and he is tall. He's a good returner of the ball. It's the first time so far in the tournament anyone has gotten Roddick's serve in play enough to make a match happen.

I have been critical of A Rod's play thus far, because I still see him playing to his existing strengths, the ones that allow him to steamroll lesser opponents and keep him losing to anyone good. Verdasco is a real opponent though, and it's good to see Andy rising to the occasion of the match. He is relying on his serve and his forehand almost totally, but he is trying to come forward. He's not a great volleyer but he's realized if he cuts his volleys short that they are a mess to deal with. I just don't see him hit enough balls cleanly to trouble Federer and he will have his hands full with Gasquet.

I did not get to see any of the Blake/Ferrero match. It looked like a close struggle. Blake won the first set and then dropped the next two. The fourth went to a tie break and Ferrero came through. Looking at the statistics showed it was a close match but Blake only won 42% of his second serve points and that is enough to lose a match on grass. Ferrero must have been returning well. So much at Wimbledon depends on who wins the serve/return battle. Usually on grass it is won from the server's side. But sometimes a great returner can dominate a match. Agassi did it all the time. Nadal did it last year.

Saturday's matches are bound to be even better. Baghdatis/Nalbandian, Monfils/Davydenko, Hewitt/Canas, Djokovic/Kiefer all play on the men's side. The women's side is still one round away from coming to a boil but there really are a lot of women who can contend for the tournament.

On that note, the best thing I have seen so far in the fortnight was the Williams sisters playing their first round doubles match. It's such a thrill to watch stars playing doubles together and the sisters take that to another level. You can tell they really like each other and like turning their guns on the world back to back. They are tactically very good on the doubles court, which surprised me. Venus is better than Serena, but Serena's serve and return game is brutal, allowing Venus to glide around picking balls off. Mary Carrillo put it well when she said the two of them will take a whack at anything in the strike zone. They played a slight and attractive English pair who had won a tune up tournament and the match was a total chain-whipping. Venus and Serena were hitting so hard, with such accuracy, moving around the court with telepathic fluency. It was great. Plus they are just so big and graceful in their whites, muscles rippling, smiles flashing at each other like two girls playing in the backyard. They seem totally unaware of their opponents.

Luke Jensen said what if Rafa and Rog played together? What if we required all the men to play the dubs in at least two slams per year? Right on Luke. I like it.

 

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