Novak Djokovic Tennis: Day 2: The Marathon Wasn't Televised

Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Maria Sharapova, and Jelena Jankovic all advanced in straight sets. The quality of tennis was quite high. Blake was the only one of these to drop a set and he looked as though he was going to mope his way right out fo the first round of Wimbledon. It's that damn Graveyard Court. But he came to life and shellacked Christophe Rochus in the last three sets to advance.

Oh, and Nikolay Davydenko showed up to accept his first-round paycheck as per usual. One and done for the fifth time in his career. Qualifier Benjamin What Have You Done Lately Becker was the recipient of the good fortune.

Wimbledon saw the last singles performances from Fabrice Santoro and Jonas Bjorkman, two veterans that will retire from singles this year.

Weeks ago, Santoro scripted a letter to the AELTC requesting a Centre Court match. In his long career, he'd never played there, never walked the hallowed halls on the way to the sport's most famous court. His wish wash granted, but no exception needed to be made because he drew Andy Murray in the first round. You could imagine all the slicing and dicing and dinking and dropping that happened in that match.

Fabrice, like many of the French, went out in style.

Marathon of the Day

Julia Georges defeated No. 23 seed Katarina Srebotnik, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 16-14. The match went on forever, both players held match points, Katarina dropped every single one of her last seven service games of the match, Julia served for the match six times to finally close it on on her seventh try.

But it wasn't televised. Oh well. That final set was probably a chokefest anyway.

Discovery of the Day

Eduardo Schwank from Argentina is a talented, flashy shotmaker with a big forehand. He returned Andy's big serves pretty well, and even though Andy never faced a break point, the match felt closer than the straight-set score suggests. David Nalbandian, who also crashed out in the first round on day one, watched his compatriot's debut at Wimbledon. David knows how to beat Andy, so I'm sure he gave the youngster a few tips. If Eduardo can get comfortable with his movement on grass, he was slipping way too much, he might actually turn some decent results on the slick stuff before his career is over.

Overheard

Chris Fowler (on viagra as a potential performance enhancer for athletes): Well, so long as the blood gets circulated to the head above the shoulders, which is where most matches are won and lost.

Pam Shriver (on Blake and Christophe Rochus after Rochus tries an ill-advised between-the-leg shot on a crucial point): Bald head serving to bonehead.

Walk the Runway, Lady

Maria Sharapova is giving tuxedo. How butch-femme. She wears shorts on the court for the first time in her career. Wonder what else she's got in her closet?

Photos of the Day