The Kolya Klub

Wimbledon issued its seedings today, and while the women were seeded right off the rankings list (that is, the Top 16 women are the Top 16 seeds, if available to play), the rating of the male players was fine-tuned to reflect the performance of the men on grass. I'm not sure if the WTA pros were seeded as per the rankings because of some agreement reached between Wimbledon and the WTA, or because the All England Club believes that women's performance is not nearly as tied to surface (I'm having trouble finding that information). I hope it's the latter, because it lends credibility to the host club's claim to know what it is doing, which in the case of the WTA pros is nothing at all, which is better than doing something dumb (like elevating defending champion Amelie Mauresmo's seeding, given the way she has struggled since her return from surgery). Surface simply isn't a sufficiently decisive factor, mainly because women are less capable of simply overpowering each other with serves on even the fastest of surfaces.

So here are the Wimbledon seedings, with any change from the rankings noted, and my comment where I think it appropriate:

1.*Roger FEDERER* (SUI): No change. Can't they seed this guy higher than this??????
2. Rafael NADAL(ESP): No change. Clay court spec. . . expert my you-know-what.
3. Andy RODDICK (USA): No change. This guy is so into grass that he ought to change his name to Cheech Marin.
4. Novak DJOKOVIC(SRB): Up from No. 5. A bold move by the club; now the Djoker doesn't have to worry about getting schooled by one of the top dogs in the quarters. . .
5. Fernando GONZALEZ(CHI): Up from No. 6. Would you trust Gonzo the way the club does?
6. Nikolay DAVYDENKO(RUS): Down from No. 4. Just call him "Chopped Liver."
7. Tomas BERDYCH(CZE): Up from No. 11. This guy rarely seems capable of winning two matches, never mind two tournaments [one of them called "Wimbledon"], in a row. A dicey promotion at best.
8. Andy MURRAY(GBR): No change. Guess they resisted that urge to make him No. 2 and give him three serves instead of two . . .
9. James BLAKE (USA): No change. Maybe they got painted into a corner.
10. Marcos BAGHDATIS(CYP) Up from No. 16. The guy is playing well - finally. But still . ..
11. Tommy ROBREDO (ESP): Down from No. 7. Joins the Kolya Klub.
12. Richard GASQUET(FRA): No change. I see he beat Vince Spadea the other day!
13. Tommy HAAS(GER): Down from No. 10. That long backswing kills this guy!
14. Mikhail YOUZHNY(RUS): Up from 14. This is the reason Wimbledon reserves the right to fuss with the seedings.
15. Ivan LJUBICIC(CRO): Down from No. 13. Bet he's scared already.
16. Lleyton HEWITT** (AUS): Up from 19. He's won the danged thing. It's all about respect.

I didn't bother evaluating the other 16 seeds, as I don't much like the 32-seed regimen. But FYI, the biggest promotion went to Jonas Bjorkman, the 35-year old veteran who reached the semifinals last year, as well as the 2006 Nottingham final. He moved up from 31st in the rankings to take the No. 20 seeding. Wimbledon loves this guy, and so do we, right?