"Wimbledon 2007 Recap"

You have to admit that this year's Wimbledon was entertaining. Congratulations go out to Roger Federer for equaling Bjorn Borg's open era record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and to Venus Williams for winning her fourth crown.

It doesn't seem to matter where Venus Williams is seeded, once she started playing well it was pretty much all over for anyone who played her. Is there anyone out there who had Marion Bartoli making it to the finals? Seriously? I have to admit I had never heard of her before but she obviously had some game to upset the Belgian Quitter in the semis. Maybe "TBQ" had a serious letdown after playing Serena Williams in the quarters. How about Serena's effort in the quarters taking "TBQ" to three sets while playing with a sprained wrist, a broken thumb, a tear in her calf muscle, a strained hamstring, a abscessed tooth and an enlarged gluteus maximus. What courage. What heart. What a crock of B.S. I find it humorous that Dick Enberg and Mary Jane Fernandez were openly rooting for it to rain so Serena Williams could have time to recover in her fourth round match against Hantuchova. Both Williams sisters should have been seeded higher regardless of there current rankings. I know this may shock many people but I am about to say something nice about Richard Williams. Usually (in my humble opinion) he does not show a lot of class. But I did think he showed some in turning to Bartoli's father at the conclusion of the final and congratulating him and offering some kind words. Don't expect this to become a habit though.

What more is there to say about Roger Federer? Rafael Nadal played the best grass court match he could possibly play and it still was not enough. Maybe the seven consecutive days of playing finally caught up to Nadal in the fifth set when he twice failed to convert on double break point. Or maybe it was just King Roger rising to the occasion. The backlog of play due to the rain definitely had it's effect on the outcome of some of the matches. Novak Djokovic had nothing left for his semifinal match against Nadal after back to back long match against Hewitt and Bagdhatis. Richard Gasquet played some of the best tennis I have ever seen to come back from two sets down to Andy Roddick in the quarters. Unfortunately he could not come up with the goods against Federer in the semis and was gone in straight sets. Maybe it is time for Wimbledon to forego tradition and allow play on the middle Sunday. Especially when the forecast calls for rain on Monday.

On a final note the flag bearers for The Heroes of the Huddled Masses, the Bryan Brothers, made it to the finals of the men's doubles where they were beaten by the French team of Arnand Clement and Michael Llodra. A dubious call by the chair umpire cost them the break in the fourth set and ultimately the match. To the Frenchmen's credit, though, they were outplaying the boys and probably would have still won.