Before I could comment on round 3, Wimbledon women's singles round 4 has nearly completed

Excuse me rain delay, I am still going to comment on round three, thank you. (Actually, I wanted to go out real quick and grab some pics, but therein time failed me earlier. Included here, though, are those pictures of Akiko Morigami, right, and Venus.) USA's Laura Granville beat Martina Hingis 6-4 6-2. Nadia Petrova ended Virginia Ruano Pascual's sweet run 6-3 7-6 (7-3). Interestingly, the number 12 seed Elena Dementieva out to Tamira Paszek 6-3 2-6 3-6. Maria Sharapova took out Ai Sugiyama 6-3 6-3, and Venus defeated Akiko Morigami 6-2 3-6 7-5, all and all not bad for the Imperial charges on the Queen's green.

Already, though, in round 4, Justin Henin and Serena have set up their quarter final match (hey, it was all in the seeding.) Here's what's . . . "upsetting" (see, I'm even implying the terminology of the implication): (relatively unknown) USA's Laura Granville out to relatively unknown Michaella Krajicek. Now, didn't she know (watching WNBA and USA women's basketball) that "we" wanted Laura Granville to . . . you know . . . win to represent, you know. 'Da new'rve of some people! Nadia Petrovia will have her hands full with Ana Ivanovic, Mauresmo is looking good for a quarterfinal berth, and Venus and Sharapova are going to have to duke it out with each other.

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico

Wimbledon women's doubles first round notes

About 24 hours to Venus' singles match with Akiko Morigami, so a quick review of the women's doubles first round: The Republic of China's Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang (the number 3 seed) won their first round match; wait! over no less than the formidable combination of the Daniela Hantuchova and French Open finalist Ana Ivanovic. Also, however, the People's Republic of China's Shuai Peng and Zi Yan defeated USA's Ashley Harkleroad and Israel's Tzipora Obziler. The ROC's pair stand a good chance of squaring off with the PROC's Peng and Yan in round 3. At left, the ROC's Chan Yung-Jan in her singles lost Tuesday to Maria Sharapova.

It seems that Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual are more than home sisters: they are doubles partners. They are set to meet Venus and Serena in round 2 on Court 2 Monday one match after Venus' match with Akiko.

Sania Mirza and Shahar Peer have advanced, as has Meilen Tu and Marion Bartoli along with the number 10 seed Elena Likhovtseva and Tiantian Sun.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Toby Melville

2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships: Torri Edwards 100 meters gold

Her win qualified her to represent the USA at the world championships in Japan.

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Michael Conroy; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/John Gress; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Brent Smith; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Brent Smith; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/AJ Mast

Martina Hingis versus

I was really, really hoping for a good look at Aiko Nakamura, but all they really had there were pictures of "Martina Hingis returns to . . ." and "Switzerland's Martina Hingis plays a return to . . .." So, who am I to refuse a momentary aside for Martina:

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Alessia Pierdomenico; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Sang Tan; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Sang Tan

2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships: (upset Johnson!) De’Hashia "DeeDee" Trotter 400 meter dash gold

The story. (I really hate to borrow the picture and the words, but I can't get it better:) In the picture below, "De'Hashia Trotter from Knoxville, Tennessee (C) races Sanya Richards from Austin, Texas (R) and Mary Wineberg from Cincinnati, Ohio in the women's 400 meter dash finals at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis June 23, 2007. Trotter won the event."

I apologize that I am such a purist in my photography (for example, digital just comes nowhere near film, especially color positive), so I include borrowed pics just as I find them. But just a minor correction of the gamma in the preceding picture put her beautiful facial features back into the photo, with no loss to the blues and reds and white of the flag USA.

Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Brent Smith; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Brent Smith; Yahoo! News/AFP/Jeff Haynes; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Michael Conroy; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Michael Conroy; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Michael Conroy; (modified) Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Contrasting France's Tatiana, Hsieh Su-Wei of the ROC and Switzerland's Patty Schnyder in their Wimbledon whites so far this tourney

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/David Moir; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/David Moir; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/David Moir; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/David Moir

Though three of my favorites are out, there's game in women's singles at Wimbledon: rounds 1 and 2; Photo essay: Tatiana's red on the Queen's green

The seeding is holding pretty well at Wimbledon, leading to a very exciting day of tennis today as the third round gets underway. Just some quick observations on rounds 1 and 2:

Round 1: Emilie Loit of France defeated China's Tiantian Sun 6-3 6-1: the People have got to be displeased. USA's Jill Craybas out to Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine 1-6 2-6. USA's Ashley Harkleroad out to Italy's Roberta Vinci 2-6 1-6. This is more hindsight since I see that she is a factor for round 3, Patty Schnyder very narrowly defeated France's Camille Pin 6-1 6-4 8-6. The Daniela Hantuchova (with a number 10 seed - I'm impressed) on. Possibly hamstring hampered Serena on. Oops, USA's Meghann Shaughnessy out 2-6 4-6 to Jarmila Gajdosova of Slovakia. Greece's Daniilidou (out in the first round on the French clay) on. Oops, USA's Shenay Perry down 6-2 6-7 (4-7) to France's Aravane Rezai (somebody was over-confidently not focused). Veteran doubles great Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain took out her young home sister Anabel Medina Garrigues; Anabel made quite the noice in Paris; sorry about that. Sanya Mirza 6-0 6-3 in her match. Number 11 seeded Petrova took out USA's Vania King 6-0 6-1. USA's Bethanie Mattek 6-1 6-0 over Russia's Vasilisa Bardina. Israel's Anna Smashnova down love love to Germany's Martina Muller. China's Shuai Peng down 4-6 4-6 to Hana Sromova of Czech Republic (the People's Republic can't be too happy with that.) This is really interesting: Tatiana Golovin's injury was tested to the utmost by the Republic of China's Su-Wei Hsieh 5-7 6-3 8-6.

Round 2: Number 17 seeded Tatiana is again tested in three rounds, this time successfully by Austria's Tamira Paszek: Tatiana is out 2-6 6-3 1-6 (I hope the Queen is happy now!). Emilie Loit out. Patty Schnyder on. The Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 7-5 7-6 (7-3) over Likhovtseva! Serena on. Daniilidou out. Martina Hingis, raising the brow of her still fervent fan base, 6-1 6-2 over Japanese Aiko Nakamura. But Aiko's home sister, Akiko Morigami has caused the upset of the event so far on the women's side with her defeat of the number 13 seed Russia's Dinara Safina 6-4 7-5. USA's Laura Granville on! Meilen Tu 4-6 3-6 against French Open finalist Ivanovic. Virginia Ruano Pascual on (opps, didn't see that.) Sania Mirza out to Petrova 2-6 2-6. Mauresmo on. Kutzy on. Dementieva on. Ai Sugiyama on in three sets. Sharapova on. Venus on. The seeds held in all but 7 of the 32 matches.

Round 3 preview: At this posting Justin Henin and Patty Schnyder are on, and will face each other in the next round. Venus faces upstart Japan's Akiko Morigami (quite interesting.) Virginia Ruano Pascual faces Petrova. USA's Laura Granville is waiting for her match with Martina Hingis (whose birthdate is listed as 30 September 1980; is that right: Marina Hingis is 26.)

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AFP/Glenn Campbell; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Toby Melville; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Toby Melville; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/David Moir ; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Toby Melville

Meilen Tu into the second round at Wimbledon!

Official women's singles scores (by draw) Below USA's Jamea Jackson in her 1-6 3-6 loss to defending champion Amelie Mauresmo yesterday (but compare this with later Mauresmo performance in the event.)

Photo sources: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Alastair Grant; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Alastair Grant; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Eddie Keogh;Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Eddie Keogh;Yahoo! News/AFP/Adrian Dennis; Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

It's kind'a hard to stay awake on women's sports right now

But that's not women's fault: they're doing their thing. They're impressing their mark on "sports", and it will unquestionably be a good thing . . . especially for women: and they really need that right about now.

Anyway, I grabbing the decaf, and . . . digging.

Oh yeah, Justine Henin won the Frech Open

Photo source: Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau

Let's see, we were watching . . . oh yeah, the French Open

The only thing in the French Open that has made mainline press was Venus' loss in round three. Excuse me, none, zero, nil, niche of our boys from the US of A made it out of the first round of tournament. Meilen Tu made it to the second round, Mailen Tu!

It was needful to let the odor of objectivity of the mainline dispel. The boys are on their own, I'm not with them.

French Open 07: Days 4 and 5: women's singles second round

China's Na Li 3-6 6-3 6-4 over France's Pauline Parmentier; the Netherlands's Milagros Sequera 6-4 5-7 6-1 over USA's Shenay Perry; Serena 6-0 7-6 (7-3) over Venezuela's Milagros Sequera; Venus knocked out home sister Ashley Harkleroad 6-1 7-6 (10-8); France's Marion Bartoli 0-6 6-2 6-3 over Germany's Andrea Petkovic.

In the bottom half of the draw: Sania Mirza out to Sebia's Ana Ivanovic 1-6 4-6 (news reports are calling it a trouncing, which is true only if you see more in Sania than you are revealing to her); (inte'lesting) Elena Likhovtseva out to Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues 5-7 4-6; the Daniela Hantuchova on to the third round 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 over Russia's Olga Poutchkova; Kutzy took out USA's Meghann Shaughnessy 7-6 (7-4) 6-3; Mauresmo (probably quite unhappily) took out home sister Nathalie Dechy 6-3 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 (but that last set looks like "Okay, enough, I've got an open to win", or Nathalie just ran out of gas, we'll see); (hum) Nicole Pratt of Austalia down 6-0 6-1 to the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova (hum, double hum, and hum again, Safarova huh, hum); USA's Meilen Tu battled Ai Sugiyama, who battled back to end Meilen's (brief) run 3-6 6-1 1-6; Patty Schnyder (who defeated Serena in the quarters of the Italian Open) 6-3 6-2 over Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko (Patty and Serena are pictured from that May 18th match); and, Sharapova took out USA's Jill Craybas 6-2 6-1 (bye, Jill.)

Photo sources (in order) Yahoo! News/AFP/Andreas Solaro; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia

Tatiana Golovin out with foot-injury

Fox Sports Golovin, Peng pull out of French Open

On May 30th last year, I titled a post "The eyes of many French would rather have been on . . ." referring to Tatiana. This year was to be no joke: Tatiana won her first title last month at Amelia Island, and factored significantly in France's Fed Cup play at the event in which she was injured. Looking at my post of last year, she was in the exact same situation with the other foot. She said she learned something: Injured Golovin doubtful for French Open

Actually, I was preparing a post about how I expected Tatiana to shoulder significant French hopes this year, but was pressed for time. I saved the photos, safely.

ex-goddess out of the French Open . . . struck by the love bug?

Halfway down this story, there is an indication of goddess-no-more Martina Hinges' hip injury: Courting takes on a new meaning for love-match couples The photo is of her watching from the sidelines at the Open on day 2.

Who will succeed her? That is too easy. But then again maybe . . .. (Don't tell the woman, but a man is engaged in the satisfaction of pondering.)

Photo source: Yahoo! News/REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

French Open 07: Day 3: Women's singles first round highlights

Even as several second round matches in the top half of the bracket were showing as completed on the draw page, still one first round match was incomplete at this writing: Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia (a qualifier) vs China's Tiantian Sun (not seeded), in the overall scheme of things, an important match (instigat'n.)

But just below that match on the draw page: Anastasia Myskina down to USA'a Meghann Shaughnessy 1-6 0-6. The indemnity! It's not over for Myskina, but whatever she requires to pull it together ought to start falling into place like about now. Also in that section, Sania Mirza 6-1 6-1 over Alberta Brianti of Italy; Eleni Daniilidou of Greece out to Russia's Olga Poutchkova in three; the Daniela Hantuchova on to the second; Russia's Elena Likhovtseva in three pretty tight sets over Yung-Jan Chan of the Republic of China.

In other sections during the first round: fifth seeded Amelie Mauresmo took out USA's Laura Granville 6-0 7-5; USA's Meilen Tu on to the second round (yea, Meilen, you go!); Nathalie Dechy on in three (although she will probably figure more prominently in doubles); Switzerland's Patty Schnyder on in three; Sharapova had to huff and puff over France's Emilie Loit; for that matter Serena was down a set to Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria before winning 12 of their last 13 sets; USA's Shenay Perry on in three; Na Li thanked the rain; Dementieva on; Petrova, Nadia Petrova of last year's championship tourny fame, out in three (oh, the indemnity! the indemnity!); interestingly, USA's Jamea Jackson down to Samantha Stosur of Australia 1-6 2-6 and USA's Vania King out to Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova in three.

I'm running out the door, but two things: firstly, in my cursory examination, two names are missing: Tatiana Golovan and the goddess'. Secondly, keep in mind, this is Justine Henin's element: she is fairly invincible on clay.

French Open 07: Days 1 and 2, Venus, Serena and few others through rainy start

Below, in order, Serena, Venus and Austria's Tamira Paszek who defeated Japans's Aiko Nakamura on day 1.

Photo sources (in order): Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Laurent Baheux; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Laurent Baheux; Yahoo! News/AP Photo/Laurent Baheux