Monday Net Post

[ Ed. note - Another great MNP from Ed McGrogan. Please use this post for Off-Topic discussions (fashion, anyone?), and use the first Wimbledon Crisis Center post, below, to talk about the weather (and anything else that might be relevant in Southwest London today) -- PB]

Last Week's Tournaments

Ordina Open (ATP - Grass - 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands)

- Singles Final: Ivan Ljubicic def. Peter Wessels 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.
- Singles Semifinal: Peter Wessels def. Anthony Dupuis 7-6, 7-6.
- Singles Semifinal: Ivan Ljubicic def. Julien Benneteau 7-6, 3-6, 6-4.
- Singles Bracket

- Doubles Final: Jeff Coetzee/Rogier Wassen def. Martin Damm/Leander Paes 3-6, 7-6, 12-10.
- Doubles Semifinal: Martin Damm/Leander Paes def. Michael Kohlmann/Robert Lindstedt 6-2, 6-3.
- Doubles Semifinal: Jeff Coetzee/Rogier Wassen def. Ernests Gulbis/Ivan Ljubicic (walkover).
- Doubles Bracket

The Nottingham Open (ATP - Grass - Nottingham, England)

- Singles Final: Ivo Karlovic def. Arnaud Clement 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: Arnaud Clement def. Jonas Bjorkman 6-2, 6-4.
- Singles Semifinal: Ivo Karlovic def. Dmitry Tursunov 7-5, 6-4.
- Singles Bracket

- Doubles Final: Eric Butorac/Jamie Murray def. Joshua Goodall/Ross Hutchins 4-6, 6-3, 10-5.
- Doubles Semifinal: Joshua Goodall/Ross Hutchins def. Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram 3-6, 6-3, 10-7.
- Doubles Semifinal: Eric Butorac/Jamie Murray def. Juan Martin del Potro/Andrei Pavel 6-3, 6-3.
- Doubles Bracket

International Women's Open (WTA - Grass - Eastbourne, England)

- Singles Final: Justine Henin def. Amelie Mauresmo 7-5, 6-7, 7-6.
- Singles Semifinal: Justine Henin def. Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Amelie Mauresmo def. Nadia Petrova 6-4, retired.

- Doubles Final: Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur def. Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
- Doubles Semifinal: Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur def. Maria Kirilenko/Elena Likhovtseva 6-2, 6-0.
- Doubles Semifinal: Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs def. Cara Black/Liezel Huber 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

Ordina Open (WTA - Grass - 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands)

- Singles Final: Anna Chakvetadze def. Jelena Jankovic 7-6, 3-6, 6-3.
- Singles Semifinal: Jelena Jankovic def. Dinara Safina 6-3, 3-6, 7-6.
- Singles Semifinal: Anna Chakvetadze def. Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-4.

- Doubles Final: Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang def. Anabe Medina Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual 7-5, 6-2.
- Doubles Semifinal: Yung-Jan Chan/Chia-Jung Chuang def. Sophie Lefevre/Auriele Vedy 6-2, 6-1.
- Doubles Semifinal: Anabe Medina Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual def. Debbrich Feys/Pauline Wong 6-2, 6-2.

• Singles & Doubles Bracket

By the Letter

T…wo late qualifiers for Wimbledon could make some noise in the next two weeks thanks to their history on grass: Nicolas Mahut, finalist from Queen’s Club, made his way through qualifying and upped his lawn record to 8-1 on the year; Wayne Arthurs came back from two sets to love down to defeat Christophe Rochus and also qualify for The Championships.  In 1999, Arthurs held serve for 111 straight games at Wimbledon.
E…lement number 79 – gold – will factor into this year’s Wimbledon tournament in a variety of manners.  The Williams sisters will play with gold-leafed racquets, and judging by this photo, Roger Federer’s apparel could have an auric appearance as well.
N…utritional supplement provider United Nutrition settled a lawsuit with Guillermo Coria this past week, who sued the company for $10 million for alleged faulty vitamin products which led to an ATP Tour suspension.
N…ot to be confused with lyrical icons Nas or Eminem, Vince Spadea nonetheless offers his thoughts on the year’s Championships.
I…ndoor tennis started much earlier this year, as heavy rains at the Nottingham Open forced the semifinals to be moved inside to hard courts.  The biggest beneficiaries were Ivo Karlovic and Arnaud Clement, both of whom advanced to the final (which was played on grass).
S…urface changes clearly haven’t affected Ivo Karlovic’s play this year (see letter above), the Croat has reached the finals in tournaments on clay (Houston), grass (Nottingham), and hard courts (San Jose) in 2007.
W…ild card for doubles was granted to Venus and Serena Williams at this year’s Championships; they last partnered at the All England Club in 2003.
O…rdina Open featured a semifinal with two qualifiers on the men’s side – Peter Wessels and Anthony Dupuis defied the odds and met in the final four, with Wessels coming out on top 7-6, 7-6.
R…eigning Wimbledon finalists Justine Henin and Amelie Mauresmo met in the finals at Eastbourne (the first time this has ever occurred), with the Belgian coming out on top in a successful title defense.
L…ast player to defeat Roger Federer at Wimbledon – Mario Ancic – has pulled out of this year’s tournament due to a prolonged case of mononucleosis.
D…oubles partners Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles are now apparently reconsidering their split, after recent successes at Roland Garros and at Queen’s Club.  "Maybe it makes sense to finish the year in Shanghai," said Nestor. "I've talked with Knowles, he's pushing this idea."

McGrogan's Heroes

ATP - You could forgive Dutch tennis fans if they didn't have very high hopes for a home-grown champion of the Ordina Open this past week in s'-Hertogenbosch.  Coming into this dual-gender grass tournament, the highest ranked men from The Netherlands were Robin Haase (131), Raemon Sluiter (161), and Dennis van Scheppingen (234). We're not exactly talking Richard Krajicek here.  Compound this with the fact that of those three, only Haase was entered in the tournament, and hopes for a Dutchman raising the trophy looked slim.

But the hometown supporters would have much to cheer about throughout the week after Peter Wessels, who navigated through two qualifying matches just to get into the main draw, put on a performance that left many tennis experts puzzled when they checked the scoreboard.

Wessels didn't drop a set on his way to the final, defeating Nicolas Devilder, Carlos Berlocq, Tommy Robredo (the number one seed), and fellow qualifier Anthony Dupuis along the way.  While Wessels fell to Ljubicic in the end, he took the second-seeded Croat to a third set tiebreaker in a very competitive match; Wessels never dropped his serve.  This accomplishment is even more astounding when you consider that Wessels hadn't played in an ATP Tour-level event since October of 2006, and that he finished last year on a nine match losing streak - eight of those matches were in Challenger events.  With this performance, Wessels jumped 267 places to number 221 in the world - and now he's the third ranked Dutchman.

WTA - One of the many things that I admire about tennis players is their stamina - without a doubt, it is second to none when compared to athletes of other sports.  So even though world number three Jelena Jankovic has played in tournaments for the past eight weeks, I'm still surpised when I see her lose, because fatigue simply isn't as large a concern for a player of her elite caliber.  During this seven tournament stretch (factor in two weeks for Roland Garros), she's reached the semifinals or better in all but one event (Berlin), and has won twice.  Point is, when a top seed like Henin, Sharapova, or Jankovic goes down, you should take notice of who pulled off the upset.

For this reason, my Heroine of the Week goes to Anna Chakvetadze, who knocked off Jankovic 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 in s'-Hertogenbosch.  Anna seems like she has been on the tour forever, but she just turned 20 in March.  This title gives her four in an already impressive career, which includes a 172-79 win-loss record, and over $1.5 million in prize money earned.

Of her performances at Grand Slams, Chakvetadze's worst - by far - has been at Wimbledon, where she only has a 2-2 overall record.  However, after losing in the first round in 2005, she advanced to the third round last year.  Anna supporters will hope for this upward trend to continue; her victory this past week on grass seems to suggest it just might.

This Week's Tournament

The Championships, Wimbledon (ATP & WTA - Grass - Wimbledon, England)

• Website
• Gentlemen's Singles Bracket
• Ladies' Singles Bracket
• Gentlemen's Doubles Bracket
• Ladies' Doubles Bracket

Beyond the Bracket

After a tremendously bland first half of 2007 in terms of tennis fashion, the warmth of summer seems to have unearthed some hidden jewels that could be on display in the upcoming months (see here and here).  But don't get too excited just yet, as these pieces won't be on seen on tour for at least two more weeks.  Much like a bouncer advising you to remove your cap when entering an upscale tavern, the All England Club will turn on the "No Vacancy" sign should you try to breach its walls while donning this apparel - or anything non-white, for that matter.

As you surely are aware, Wimbledon enforces a policy where all players must be dressed in predominantly white garb.  Surprisingly (or maybe not, depending on your point of view),  details were rather difficult to uncover when I was researching this custom.  On Wimbledon's official website (www.wimbledon.org), there is an interesting historical chronicle on fashion, but it mainly pertains to women's clothing, and the subsequent reaction of the tennis & country club elites.  In the early 20th century at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC), this was a highly scrutinized topic, as you may have guessed.

More recently, an inquiry was made by the United States Court Tennis Preservation Foundation about the all-white mandate, but while it garnered a response, it probably wasn't as detailed as what the USCTPF had hoped for:

"Basically, perspiration was a problem with coloured clothes, so in 1879 the Irish came up with the idea of all-white tennis clothes for ladies.  Alan [a likely member of the AELTC] says that all he knows about the subject is that the AELTC first introduced the 'predominantly white' rule in 1963 - stating this on the players' entry form - no doubt following the slight colouring of clothing introduced by Ted Tinling."

A. Snell
Assistant Librarian,
Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum

A little vague, wouldn't you say?  (FYI: Ted Tinling was a British fashion designer and tennis player.)

In another modern-day study on Wimbledon attire, read this article courtesy of the BBC - inspired by Rafael Nadal's distinct "pirate pants", an unidentified Wimbledon spokesman only mentions the white-coloured requirements in passing:

"People have played in longer trousers in the past so if [Nadal] wants to play in them he can," a Wimbledon spokesman told BBC Sport.  "We trialled sleeveless tops last year so that's OK too. The green will not be allowed as the Wimbledon dress code stipulates clothes must be almost entirely white."

In the end, my research on this question always led to the same one word answer: tradition.  But being that tradition is one of Wimbledon's most endearing qualities, maybe its best left at that.

*However, if anyone else has other information on the connection between Wimbledon and white, please feel free to comment below.

- Ed McGrogan