Went this morning and had breakfast in Wimbledon Village. The second week is so much easier. Much less of a crush everywhere. Can get a seat at a table. I heard I was sitting next to Sienna Miller, but nobody was there to confirm it and the gal was not hitting on anyone’s husband so can’t really confirm it was her.

Got on the grounds and then settled onto Court 1 to watch Venus Williams take on Tamarine Tanasugarn. I have seen a lot of Venus, but never really noticed much of her antics on court. As well I am sure all the tennis bloggers from around the world that never really make it to any of these tournaments miss these important little tidbits. On the other side I am starting to believe that these little dramatic moments by Venus are more to confuse her opponents than they are real.

It is interesting to watch Venus, hem and haw, moan and groan, drop her shoulders and complain to herself. I think that she really fools her opponents by this behavior. One minute she is upset with herself and the next serve she hits is a 126 MPH bomb right by her adversary. It would almost benefit her opponents if they did not even watch what is going on across the court. Don’t get sucked in, because when you do the sound you just heard is a winner zipping by you. And that is just what happened to Tanasugarn in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Even though Venus did not play her best she still made her Thai opponent look like she should have not even made it this deep in the tournament.  It is really shocking how many of these girls have such a pitiful second serve and how many women still return two feet behind the baseline. I say step up destroy the return.

As the day went on I walked around the beautifully manicured grounds and caught some of the American boys making their way through the juniors draw. Ty Trombetta was the first one on today and made it through to the second round. Bradley Klahn joined him next in the round of 16.

The last one left today was Ryan Harrison the highest seeded (7) American left in the draw. Word is he is the hope of American tennis. In my word; we are hopeless.

Harrison shows that anger is the downfall of any good player. He also seemed somewhere else during much of this match. His plan changed on a point by point basis.
Rule #1: Stick with the plan.

Rule #2: Change a losing plan.

 Rule #3: If you are winning see Rule #1

Needless to say Harrison bombed out in straight sets while letting his anger get the best of him. And at this level you cannot allow that to happen. Especially with the audience he had. Agents, coaches, reporters; the whole lot just shook their head in dismay.

Your mental state has so much to do with winning. Which was why Elena Dementieva will be playing in the semis against Venus. In a three set battle of the chokers, Nadia Petrova tried to make a comeback, but was ousted finally by Dementieva, 6-1, 6-7, 6-3. As for another blonde choker Nicole Vaidisova will be ruminating her debacle on court 1 today against Jie Zheng when she was sent home, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

It has been said over and over again. It is what is in the brain of the champions that separate them from the rest. Well that and now a few thousand miles.

Well that’s it for today. 

Oh there was a very bright moment for the Brits today. Laura Robson, the British 14 year old, spanked the No. 1 seeded Melanie Oudin, 6-1, 6-3 in the girls’ draw. Which of course is bad news for Americans, since Oudin is one of ours.