The Wimbledon Championships

[#1]

The Wimbledon Championships starts on Monday.  Here are the Men's seedings.

Men
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland (2)
2. Rafael Nadal, Spain (1)
3. Novak Djokovic, Serbia (3)
4. Andy Murray, Britain (4)
5. Andy Roddick, United States (7)
6. Robin Soderling, Sweden (6)
7. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia (5)
8. Fernando Verdasco, Spain (9)
9. David Ferrer, Spain (11)
10. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France (10)
11. Marin Cilic, Croatia (12)
12. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic (13)
13. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia (14)
14. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain (17)
15. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia (26)
16. Jurgen Melzer, Austria (16)
17. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia (15)
18. Sam Querrey, United States (21)
19. Nicolas Almagro, Spain (18)
20. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland (23)
21. Gael Monfils, France (20)
22. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic (25)
23. Feliciano Lopez, Spain (30)
24. John Isner, United States (19)
25. Ivo Karlovic, Croatia (33)
26. Marcos Baghdatis, Cyprus (27)
27. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil (24)
28. Gilles Simon, France (32)
29. Ernests Gulbis, Latvia (29)
30. Albert Montanes, Spain (31)
31. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany (35)
32. Tommy Robredo, Spain (36)
(tour ranking in parentheses)

[#2]

The ladies Seedings
1. Serena Williams, United States (1)
2. Venus Williams, United States (2)
3. Caroline Wozniacki, Denmark (3)
4. Jelena Jankovic, Serbia (4)
5. Francesca Schiavone, Italy (6)
6. Sam Stosur, Australia (7)
7. Agnieszka Radwanska, Poland (8)
8. Kim Clijsters, Belgium (9)
9. Li Na, China (10)
10. Flavia Pennetta, Italy (11)
11. Marion Bartoli, France (12)
12. Nadia Petrova, Russia (13)
13. Shahar Peer, Israel (14)
14. Victoria Azarenka, Belarus (15)
15. Yanina Wickmayer, Belgium (16)
16. Maria Sharapova, Russia (17)
17. Justine Henin, Belgium (18)
18. Aravane Rezai, France (19)
19. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia (20)
20. Dinara Safina, Russia (21)
21. Vera Zvonareva, Russia (22)
22. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain (23)
23. Zheng Jie, China (24)
24. Daniela Hantuchova, Slovakia (25)
25. Lucie Safarova, Czech Republic (26)
26. Alisa Kleybanova, Russia (27)
27. Maria Kirilenko, Russia (28)
28. Alona Bondarenko, Ukraine (29)
29. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Russia (30)
30. Yaroslava Shvedova, Kazakhstan (31)
31. Alexandra Dulgheru, Romania (32)
32. Sara Errani, Italy (33)
(tour ranking in parentheses)

[#3]

Russia seems well represented in the ladies.

[#4]

Yes, 8 of the 32 are Russian.  It's strange how the tide has turned in recent years from USA/Australia to the old Eastern block countries.

[#5]

Nadal has a bit of a mare of a draw(Soderling, Blake, Youzhny Tsonga, Querrey and er Murray), perhaps helped only by Gulbis pulling out
http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/r1s3.html

[#6]

I believe this Wimbledon is the first in history to have no players from England (male at least) representing.  The only guy who may have qualified instead did another event (which he won) but didn't get a wildcard.

[#7]

Believe that British players only receive a  wildcard if they are rank in the top 250. The player in question entered the other event to raise his ranking but even winning the event he was still outside the top 250.
His mistake was not to enter the qualifiers but to rely on a wildcard .

[#8]

There's also a bit of politics involved here with the LTA. They are looking at the whole funding of our players and a lot of funding has been cut together with their wilicards.
Our No2 Alex Bogdanovic is ranked 166 in the world and not been given a wildcard. He has had 8 in previous years and never moved beyond the first round.  I can't really argue with that

[#9]

BBC Breakfast is running a series this week on British Tennis.  Here's the link to this morning's item:
British Tennis

[#10]

Quote from: artmo

Our No2 Alex Bogdanovic is ranked 166 in the world and not been given a wildcard. He has had 8 in previous years and never moved beyond the first round.  I can't really argue with that

I think ‘Boggo’ is a slightly maligned character; to be fair I think he picked out either the 1 or 2 seeds a couple of times and most people’s experience of him is watching him freeze rabbit like during some very bad Davis Cup defeats. It isn’t his fault that he is the British no.2; if he was ranked say 20 in the country then these issues wouldn’t be raised. Generally speaking, however, I’d probably go along with the decision not to allow him a wildcard and agree with the idea of him losing LTA funding as long as it is redirected properly. This is where I have an issue with the LTA; if the money and WC went to a young, talented, committed player with potential to get to the top then I wouldn’t mind, but despite a fortune to spend each and very year, the LTA are totally incapable of producing any talent at all.
I’ll climb off my soapbox now and apologise to artmo for high jacking his thread about Wimbledon and turning it into a rant about the LTA! 

[#11]

Quote from: randpwar

I’ll climb off my soapbox now and apologise to artmo for high jacking his thread about Wimbledon and turning it into a rant about the LTA!

Not at all randpwar.  It's good to have some constructive comments.

[#12]

There is certainly no shortage of money in the sport.  Wimbledon produces upwards of £30M each year that is given to the LTA,  In addition there are many other initiatives around the country that pour money into tennis.  I play at a commercial club and they give free memberships, courts and some training to youngsters.
I think there needs to be a complete clear out at the LTA with new people taking over.  We need to see how other countries train the up-and-coming players and learn from them.
We shouldn't forget Murray isn't British trained.  He went to a Spanish training centre when I think he was 10.

[#13]

Thought this was funny...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jun/18/wimbledon-andymurray

[#14]

The LTA paid and built indoor courts at my club (Tennis, Squash and Hockey club) they use to run it for a few years but now have handed the running back to the club. Baltacha make full use of these indoor courts, as well as the outdoor courts at the club, and it seem to be paying off for her.

[#15]

What_The_Hell is going on in the Federer game?!