Wimbledon 2008 Preview

ESPN was so kind as to remind me that Wimbledon 2008 starts this Monday, June 23 and lasts until Sunday, July6. I have been lacking in my following of tennis recently and on this blog as someone pointed out to me. I usually follow the Williams sisters and Andy Roddick but alas, I am very behind on my knowledge of what they are up to so far this year. I know the Williams’ have had some issues in 2008 but I wouldn’t count them out yet.

The seeding was released this week and the top tens listed on the Wimbledon site are:

Gentlemen's Singles

1. Roger FEDERER (SUI)
2. Rafael NADAL (ESP)
3. Novak DJOKOVIC (SRB)
4. Nikolay DAVYDENKO (RUS)
5. David FERRER (ESP)
6. Andy RODDICK (USA)
7. David NALBANDIAN (ARG)
8. Richard GASQUET (FRA)
9. James BLAKE (USA)
10. Marcos BAGHDATIS (CYP)

Ladies’ Singles

1. Miss Ana IVANOVIC (SRB)
2. Miss Jelena JANKOVIC (SRB)
3. Miss Maria SHARAPOVA (RUS)
4. Miss Svetlana KUZNETSOVA (RUS)
5. Miss Elena DEMENTIEVA (RUS)
6. Miss Serena WILLIAMS (USA)
7. Miss Venus WILLIAMS (USA)
8. Miss Anna CHAKVETADZE (RUS)
9. Miss Dinara SAFINA (RUS)
10. Miss Daniela HANTUCHOVA (SVK)

Gentlemen’s Doubles

1. Bob BRYAN (USA) & Mike BRYAN (USA)
2. Daniel NESTOR (CAN) & Nenad ZIMONJIC (SRB)
3. Jonathan ERLICH (ISR) & Andy RAM (ISR)
4. Mahesh BHUPATHI (IND) & Mark KNOWLES (BAH)
5. Simon ASPELIN (SWE) & Julian KNOWLE (AUT)
6. Martin DAMM (CZE) & Pavel VIZNER (CZE)
7. Arnaud CLEMENT (FRA) & Michael LLODRA (FRA)
8. Jonas BJORKMAN (SWE) & Kevin ULLYETT (ZIM)
9. Lukas DLOUHY (CZE) & Leander PAES (IND)
10. Mariusz FYRSTENBERG (POL) & Marcin MATKOWSKI (POL)

Ladies’ Doubles

1. Miss Cara BLACK (ZIM) & Mrs Liezel HUBER (USA)
2. Miss Ai SUGIYAMA (JPN) & Miss Katarina SREBOTNIK (SLO)
3. Mrs Kveta PESCHKE (CZE) & Miss Rennae STUBBS (AUS)
4. Miss Yung-Jan CHAN (TPE) & Miss Chia-Jung CHUANG (TPE)
5. Miss Anabel MEDINA GARRIGUES(ESP) & Miss Virginia RUANO PASCUAL (ESP)
6. Miss Victoria AZARENKA (BLR) & Miss Shahar PEER (ISR)
7. Miss Alona BONDARENKO (UKR) & Miss Kateryna BONDARENKO (UKR)
8. Miss Shuai PENG (CHN) & Miss Tiantian SUN (CHN)
9. Miss Zi Yan (CHN) & Miss Jie ZHENG (CHN)
10. Miss Dinara SAFINA (RUS) & Miss Agnes SZAVAY (HUN)

There are many sources that will cover the event. For one, you can check the BBC’s Wimbledon Blog or the UK-based Times Online Wimbledon Blog. There are other tennis blogs as well including Tennis X or ESPN’s Tennis Blog.

The events are on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com, which is an excellent way to keep up if you’re stuck in the office. I watched the Champions League Final between Manchester United and Chelsea and the U.S. Open playoff this way. I’d highly recommend it if your have a high-speed connection. You can even log in and make comments with other viewers. I really don’t bother to do that since if I’m in the situation where I have it on the computer its likely because I’m busy and just want to check in on the event. I’ve got quite the week next week so I’m sure that’s how I’ll catch most of this. I want to try to catch Venus, Serena, Maria, Jelena, Andy, and Roger when they’re on. For doubles, I’d like to catch Safina & Szavay and the Bryans.

Who will you be watching?