Honerable ATP Mention - Novak Djokovic to rise to number 1 rank...

This year it seemed only a matter of time before Novak Djokovic ascended past Rafael Nadal to claim the top spot on the ATP World Tour rankings.

Djokovic has lost only one match for the year, Roland Garros semi final defeat to Roger Federer 6-7 3-6 6-3 6-7, equating his over all record to 47 -1 this year. After winning his Wimbledon semi final 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3 over Frenchman Jo Wilfred Tsonga Djokovc assured that he would rise to the pinnacle of world number 1.

In the final Djokovic will meet Nadal who had an impressive 5-7 6-2 6-2 6-4 victory over Andy Murray, there for denying him Home Town glory.

Rafael Nadal is the defending champion and was won 20 consecutive matches at the All England Club while Djokovic is into his first Wimbledon Final.

At least for the sake of tennis there is order at the top of men's tennis...take not ladies.

And look, I don't care who wins this one...I love them both, I think we know why :P

Oh yeah before I forget...

...always try and squeeze in some Rafa-love when I can

PS - more impressively he will become the first player other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to become world number 1 since February 1st, 2004...and that man was Andy Roddick.

Kvitova reaches Wimbledon final, Sharapova awaits.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reached her first grand slam tennis final on Thursday when she defeated Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka 6-1 3-6 6-2 in a rollercoaster Wimbledon semi-final.

The 21-year-old, who is the first Czech since Jana Novotna in 1998 to make the title match, will tackle 2004 champion Maria Sharapova in Saturday's finl.

She is also only the fourth left-handed female player to reach the Wimbledon final since tennis turned professional in 1968, and the first since her childhood inspiration Martina Navratilova, who was watching from the Royal Box on Centre Court, in 1990.

"I saw Martina in the locker room and she wished me good luck. I'm so happy but I don't really believe I am in the final," said Kvitova, whose 40 winners to Azarenka's nine were the foundation of her triumph.

Azarenka was playing in her first major semifinal, after losing quarterfinals at 2009 Roland Garros, 2009 Wimbledon, 2010 Australian Open and this year's French Open. She thought about quitting the sport after losing in the first round of an event in Doha in February. She told reporters after the Wimbledon quarter-final that her grandmother had talked her out of it, pointing out to her that life as a tennis player was a lot better than trying to hold down three jobs at the same time.

Kvitova, who trains at the same Czech club as last year's finalist, Tomas Berdych, reached last year's Wimbledon semi-final, where she lost to eventual champion Serena Williams, having never previously won a match on grass.

In the other semi Maria Sharapova recoverd from a sluggish love-3 start to post an impressive 6-4 6-3 win over Sabine Lisicki, who is finally hitting her form after a lengthy injury time off.

The Final, you should know the deal by now...

Maria Sharapova vs Petra Kvitova

Shoulder vs Nervous

Experience vs Eager youth

Kvitova in 3, winning two easy sets after a challenging first, something like 5-7 6-2 6-3.

Whats in a name...

Sometime ago now reader Carlos asked me what my favourite nicknames of players were. Now with no women's play to report on, I decided to take this time to give you a selection of nicknames I like to use from time to time, now my favouritest nicknames in reversological order...

Caroline Wozniacki - Caro, Bunny, Wozza
Kim Clijsters - Kimothy, Aussie Kim (only to be used during AO series)
Vera Zvonerava - Beepa
Li Na - Mulan
Victoria Aarenka - Vika
Maria Sharapova - Masha, Divapova
Francesca Schiavone - Franny, Furby, Iron Woman
Petra Kvitova - Ostrich, Kvits
Marion Bartoli - Sponge Bart
Agnieszka Radwanska - Aggie, Aga, Duchess (only to be used on clay), ARad
Svetlana Kuznetsova - Sveta
Andrea Petkovic - Petko
Anastasia Pavlychenkova - aPavs
Jelena Jankovic - JJ, Wierd Al Jankovic
Julia Goerges - Goolia
Ana Ivanovic - FPI
Yanina Wickmayer - WickiWickiWicki
Serena Williams - ReRe
Maria Kirilenko - Makiri, Princess
Jarmila Gajdosova - Jarka, Jarks
Venus Williams - Vee
Nadia Petrova - Nads
Jelena Dokic - Jay Dee, Jelly
Anna Chakvetadze - AChak, Licki Tounge
Kimiko Date Krumm - Super Woman
Sabine Lisicki - Licki Bean
Alize Cornet - Mo Lolita

Azarenka makes semi final break through. Lisicki, Sharapova and Kvitova to join her.

It was a 'moving' match (pardon the pun) for the highest women's seed left in the draw as she made history. Victoria Azarenka and Tamira Paszek began their match on court 1 however after one game, officials made the decision to move the match to Centre Court.

Azarenka looked very match at home and very dangerous as she was firing winners from all wing to race to 5-1 lead. A little bit of nervous kicked in but Azarenka served it out to 6-3. With victory basically just a question of when not will Victoria started hitting freer as she dominated the second set to wrap a 6-3 6-1 victory and finally making her Grand Slam semi final debut.

Wild Card Sabine Lisicki came into her semi final with only victory on her mind and the Birmingham champion appeared fresher after Bartoli had played oer 8 hours on court winning the first set 6-4. Lisicki held four match points in the second set but Bartoli stepped up when she needed to, and remembered she had just taken out Serena Williams to force a third set by winning a tie breaker. With all of Bartoli's energy gone on winning the second and her pre-point rituals Lisicki was dominant in the third winning eventually 6-4 6-7 6-1.

Maria Sharapova, the only previous Grand Slam champion to make the quarter finals, was brutal in her revenge demolishing of Dominika Cubulkova dropping just two games. Sharapova was seeking revenge for the pairs 2009 Roland Garros quarter final where Cibulkova dropped only two games, and was two points away from double beagling Sharapova. Sharpova will now be Lisicki's opponent in the semi final, Sharapova has won the pairs only previous encounter, in Miami earlier this year 6-0 6-2. But Lisicki has improved in leaps and bounds since then and as not lost on grass yet this year.

The final quarter final was battled out between 2010 Wimbledon surprise semi finalists Petra Kvitova and Tsvetana Pironkova. Now let me just say this, sometimes we have clay court specialists, well in Pironkova we have found a grass court specialist, SW19 just makes her come alive. She won more match at Wimbledon this year that what she had for the rest of year! Anyway, Kvitova proved to strong and continued her very impressive year with a  6-3 6-7 6-2 win and Kvitova will now play Aarenka as both players battle to make their first Grand Slam Final.

SF's

Sharapova vs Lisicki
Azarenka vs Kvitova

No prediction yet, only that...both semi's will go to three.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd for Lucinda;

Bartoli wins "best match of her life" with three 4th round upsets

Marion Bartoli needed five match points to do it, but the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up defeated the four-time champion Serena Williams 6-3 7-6(6) to earn her place in Tuesday's quarter-finals.

Bartoli, 26, came into this fortnight on a roll, having won her first career title on grass at Eastbourne and reached her first ever semi-final at Roland Garros. At No.9 her ranking is already equal to its career best, and will improve further next Monday. So whether this result truly amounted an upset is perhaps a moot point.

It is certainly a great result for Bartoli, who had not taken a set off Williams in their previous two encounters. Moreover the only year the Frenchwoman has progressed beyond the last 16 here was 2007, when she was the eventual runner-up to Venus Williams in the final.

The statistics say that Serena had won 24 of her last 26 matches on grass before today. But the fact is Williams returned to action from a foot injury and a life-threatening pulmonary embolism only two weeks ago in Eastbourne, where she promptly lost in the second round. This was only her sixth match in 49 weeks.

At 2-1 in the first set loose play from Williams made it 15-40. Bartoli's return deserved the prize but the American somehow got it back. That effort went to waste when a wild forehand saw the ball arc way beyond the tramlines. Bartoli celebrated the break by going through her pre-point rituals with even more energy than usual. All that bouncing around and dancing and stroke practice and fist pumping must have used up valuable energy on a court which was, for once this fortnight, scorching hot.

But for all that mental preparation, Bartoli still required six set point chances before that maiden career set against Williams belonged to her.

But when she sent a backhand long for break point on 5-5, Bartoli screamed in excitement. The Frenchwoman stepped way inside the baseline to receive Williams' first serve, never mind her second, and in the ensuing rally Serena had the advantage but did not make it count. Bartoli brought up two match points with her eighth ace; on the first Bartoli sent the ball wastefully wide, and on the second the power of Serena's return had the ninth seed stumbling backwards in dismay. Bartoli forced a third, and in a superb battling rally Serena would not be defeated. A great return earned break point for 6-6, then after doing all the hard work and saving it, Bartoli then delivered her fifth double fault of the match for another break point. A killer backhand return took it into the tie-break.

Bartoli brought up her fourth match point after a battling rally where Serena somehow seemed to stop halfway through. But it was on Williams' service, and an ace took care of it. An unforced error brought up match point number five, and this time the American could find no reply to Bartoli's serve, sending the four-time champion out of the tournament.

Venus was also ousted, for the second year in a row, by Tsvetana Pironkava. The 32nd seed, who had achieved little of note since upsetting Williams in last year's Wimbledon quarter-finals, suffering a catalogue of first-round exits, was still perceived as an underdog against the resurgent Williams, who had impressed in her first three matches here.

But there were signs of a repeat performance from Pironkova almost from the off, when she broke Williams to move ahead 4-2 in the first set. Holding serve to move into a 5-2 lead, the Bulgarian soon had two set points on the Williams serve. Williams saved the first with a thunderous volley, but sent a backhand deep in the net to hand over the first set 6-2.

One Williams sister departing in the fourth round of Wimbledon may be unusual, two is almost unheard of. But all credit to Pironkova, who proved that lightning really does strike twice.

And if that wasn't enough the "Monday Massacre" saw Caroline Wozniacki lose to Dominika Cubulkova. And against No. 24 Dominika Cibulkova on Monday, she faced a player with similar retrieving skills, but one who hits the ball harder despite being a good eight inches shorter and, on this day, just went for it.

The method is the tried and-true one against the Dane, who will never beat herself. But few have the willingness to take the risks required.

"Yeah, that's the way how you should play against Wozniacki because she's just great. She's the best in defencing. She's just waiting and waiting and then she takes her chance," Cibulkova said after the 1-6 7-6 7-5 victory.

"Today, I had to take all or nothing, you know? After first set, I realize I have to go for my shots 100 per cent or anyway I have no chance."

Today's quarter finals, same deal Bold indicates winner

Cibulkova vs Sharapova
Lisicki vs Bartoli
Paszek vs Azarenka
Kvitova vs Pironkova

Sharapova continues to impress.

Russia's Maria Sharapova continued her bid to win a second Wimbledon singles title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Czech Klara Zakopalova, which earned her place in the fourth round and a match against the 20th seed from China, Shuai Peng.

In the first match of the day on Court No.2, Sharapova took control with her solid driving from the baseline in the cool midday conditions.

Zakopalova was in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for only the third time in 32 attempts but she reached the last 16 at Wimbledon last year, proving she can play on grass.

However, Sharapova, who won her only Wimbledon title seven years ago aged 17, did not give Zakopalova time or space to settle and was soon ahead 4-1 with two breaks of serve.

At the start of the second set, Sharapova had one anxious moment when she was a break point down, but she saved that situation with a service winner.

Two games later she lost her serve on a double fault, which put the Czech 2-1 up, but Sharapova, keeping her concentration, was back on terms at 3-3 and then reeled off the next three games for victory.

Sharapova finished in convincing style with a forehand crosscourt winner to reach match point followed by another forehand down the line. It left Sharapova in the fourth round for the seventh time.

All of the third round matches have now been completed, so on Monday the forth round match ups will be;

Wozniacki vs Cibulkova
Peng vs Sharapova
Lisicki vs Cetkovska
Bartoli vs Serena Williams
Pasek vs Pervak
Petrova vs Azarenka
Kvitova vs Wickmayer
Venus Williams vs Pironkova

* Bold indicates the player I think will win.

Lisicki stuns French Open champ Li.

Asia's first Grand Slam winner wilted under one of the most intimidating serve in the women's game.

Third seeded Li slumped to a 3-6 6-4 8-6 second round loss to wildcard Lisicki who saved two match points in the ninth game of the third set with back-to-back serves which cracked the 120mph barrier.

Lisicki collapsed to her knees in tears on the covered Centre Court when she clinched the gripping tie with victory secured on her third match point in the 14th game of the deciding set.

It was the German's booming serve which proved crucial as she fired 17 aces and powered down 21 winners in the 2hr 11min encounter.

“From the first point until the end of the match, every serve was like 117mph. It's impossible for women,” said Li.

“We both played a great match. I was just a little unlucky. I had two match points but I couldn't do anything about them.”

The 21-year-old Lisicki, whose career suffered a huge setback in 2010 when a serious left ankle injury sidelined her for four months, will tackle Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi for a place in the last 16.

“It's been terrible. I had no muscles in my left calf after seven weeks on crutches. So I had to start to learn how to walk again,” said Lisicki, a quarter-finalist in 2009.

She next faces Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi, who put out China's Zheng Jie, and will again be looking to capitalise on her booming serve.

“I have always had a powerful serve. I think it's one of the best on women's tennis,” said the world number 62.

Defending champion Serena Williams struggled over three sets to defeat Romanian teenager Simona Halep 3-6 6-2 6-1, before sparking a sexism storm after her match was relegated to Court Two.

Williams's next opponent is Russia's Maria Kirilenko who defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn in the Thai's 15th consecutive Wimbledon.

Serbian 18th seed Ana Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion and who made the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2007, eased past Greek world No121 Eleni Daniilidou 6-3 6-0.

The 23-year-old next faces Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, who put out Polish 13th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, for a place in the last 16.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the Russian 12th seed, and a two-time Grand Slam title winner, beat Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru 6-0 6-2 to set up a meeting with Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer, the 19th seed.

Birthday girl Francesca Schiavone, the sixth seed and 2010 Roland Garros champion, was also a winner on the day she turned 30 as the Italian beat Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3.

Rain delays on the outside courts meant that top seed Caroline Wozniacki's tie with France's Virginie Razzano and 2004 champion Maria Sharapova's match aganist 17-year-old British wildcard Laura Robson, were held over until tonight

Rising star Robson leads winning ladies on Day 3.

Young Briton Laura Robson led an impressive cast of women who advanced through the ladies' draw on Day 3 of The Championships.

Robson, just 17 years old and a former girls' singles champion here, held her nerve in a tense final set to defeat German Angelique Kerber in a fabulous come-from-behind victory, winning 4-6 7-6 6-3 in two hours and eight minutes.

Playing on Court 16 in front of a small yet vocal contingent, Robson remained calm despite nearly letting a 4-0 lead slip in the final set, celebrating jubilantly when Kerber struck her 15th unforced error. It was a case of third time lucky for the teenager - in her two prior Wimbledon main draw appearances she fell at the first hurdle.

Robson's performance belied her ranking of 254, as she struck an impressive 53 winners to only 30 errors. She joins fellow Briton Elena Baltacha in the second round.

Next up comes a stern test and will determine how her game stacks up against the game's best - she will take on No.5 seed and former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova on Court No.1 tomorrow.

The 13th seed Agnieszka Radwanska and 2010 semi-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova breezed through their respective matches. Radwanska advanced to the second round after Belarusian opponent Olga Govortsova retired when trailing 0-6 0-3, citing a left ankle injury, while Pironkova moved through to the third round with a routine 6-1 6-4 win over Croatia's Petra Martic.

Pironkova, seeded 32, will be looking to exact revenge on her 2010 semi-final conqueror Vera Zvonareva in the next round, after the world No.2 defeated fellow Russian Elena Vesnina later in the day.

Also progressing with little difficulty was Sabine Lisicki, who reached the second round with a 6-1 6-1 thumping of Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. Lisicki, winner of the lead-up event in Birmingham and a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2009, is making a promising return from a left ankle injury which saw her ranking dip almost as low as 200.

Now back up to 62 in the world rankings, the German next faces a far greater test in the form of third seed and French Open champion Li Na.

Australian Jarmila Gajdosova moved relatively comfortably through to the second round with a straight-set win over Alona Bondarenko, a match featuring two players heading in opposite career directions.

Gajdosova came into the tournament ranked inside the Top 30, enjoying career-best form and fitness under the tutelage of coach Gavin Hopper. She clubbed 38 winners to 15 throughout the 7-5 6-3 victory over Bondarenko, formerly 19 in the world but now ranked outside the Top 100 after a season marred by a right knee injury.

The 25th seed Dominika Cibulkova played out a dramatic three-set affair against former teen prodigy Mirjana Lucic, winning 3-6 6-3 8-6 on Court 15.

Later in the evening, Andrea Petkovic and Daniela Hantuchova won their outside court encounters, albeit in contrasting styles. Hantuchova breezed through to the third round with a straight-sets dismissal of Kiwi qualifier Marina Erakovic. Petkovic, meanwhile, advanced to the same stage in rapidly fading light by staving off a fast-finishing Stephanie Dubois, wrapping up the match 6-3 4-6 6-3 at 9.20pm.

Stosur stumbles again, this time to lowest ranked player in draw.

Stosur, upset in the first round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row, was off Court 14 on Tuesday afternoon and trudging to the locker room before the scattering of fans had finished clapping for her No. 262 ranked opponent - entered on her Protected Ranking.

On a blustery Tuesday afternoon, with Stosur facing Melinda Czink, who had won one Wimbledon match in six appearances at the All England Club and who had gone out in the first round of 14 previous Grand Slams. You could count on the fingers of one hand the number of quality backhands Sam hit off the Wimbledon grass.

Stosur was down love-3 in the opening set before she could put together a run of points in this 6-3 6-4 defeat, but, though she didn’t play well, my sense was that Czink had a hot day serving and deserved credit.

Some expected a turn-around in set 2, but what they got was a 4-0 Czink lead in just 15 minutes.

The first match on Center Court saw two time defending champion Serena Williams kick off her campaign. Serena Williams was in tears and she was not quite sure why. She had just beaten Aravane Rezai 6-3 3-6 6-1 to begin the defence of her title and she could not stop sobbing. But after what she described as a "disaster year", she was finally back at her favourite tournament, on her favourite court - and she was winning again.

"I usually don't cry so I don't understand it," she gasped between the sobs. "It's been so hard, I never imagined I could be here."

As Wimbledon began, there were those who suggested that Serena had to be the favourite to defend her title. Where was the logic in that? Serena had not played for almost 12 months, she had suffered a freak foot injury - she trod on some broken glass in a Munich restaurant; she had had two bouts of surgery on that injury; she survived a pulmonary embolism (probably brought on by having her foot in a cast for weeks) and then had emergency surgery to clear a haematoma on her stomach. How could she be a favourite for the title?

But both Williams sisters have spent a career defying logic and put Serena within a few rounds of a major championship and she is a terrifying foe. Even so, when she opened the defence of her title she was playing only her third match in a year so surely she was bound to be a bit rusty. Rezai clearly thought so and went on the attack from the very start. As it turned out, that was not a good move.

Other players advancing included Wozniacki, Razzano, Yakimova, Baltacha, Pemg, Safarova, Zakopalova, Sharapova, Li, Ivanovic, Daniilidou, Bartoli, Dominguez, Kirilenko, Tanasugarn, Halep, Zahlavova-Strycova, Paszek, Dubois, Petkovic, Pavlychenkova, Petrova, Kateryna Bondarenko, Errani, Hantuchova, Erakovic, Benesova, Azarenka, Kvitova, Keothavong, Marino, Vinci, Martinez Sanchez, Pironkova and Martic.

Schiavone's expirence shines under Centre Court roof.

Italy's Francesca Schiavone became the first player to wrap up a win under the Centre Court roof at the 2011 Championships when she finished off the challenge of Australia's Jelena Dokic 6-4 1-6 6-3 in a match briefly interrupted by rain.

While play was halted around the rest of the grounds, the two veteran players had the advantage of being able to enjoy a quick rest and then resume battle in a match which was perfectly poised at one-set-all and one-game-all.

Schiavone then took the lead at 2-1 and broke for 3-1. This was a golden chance for Schiavone to open up a clear gap but she lost her own serve immediately, double-faulting to go three break points down and then standing no chance against a service return winner down the line from Dokic.

However, a double-fault from 28-year-old Dokic - who originally made her name with a first round win against reigning champion Martina Hingis in 1999 - handed Schiavone a 5-3 lead and another opportunity to wrap up victory. She had to save four game points before doing so but eventually a wide forehand from Dokic handed the former French Open champion victory after two hours and five minutes on court.

Meanwhile Zvonareva, Vesina, Venus Williams, Date Krumm, Niculescu, Kuznetsova, Dulgheru, Tatishvili, Wickmayer, Errani, Parmentier, Pervak and McHale all posted wins before rain delays and light stoped play.