Is hell freezing over?

I'm still catching up on today's matches, so I can't comment too much yet. But in case anyone else noticed that hell is freezing over, it's because Serena Williams has moved me to tears.

I know.

But it's true.

The tears she shed on court (behind a towel) immediately after her three-set, first-round win left me skeptical. Was she really crying? Was she really that emotional? Was this an act to garner sympathy and support?

But the BBC interview conducted immediately after she left the court made it clear -- these tears were real. And I believed every earnest word she spoke during that interview. How much of a disaster (her word) this past year has been. And how tremendous she felt to be back--finally--playing tennis... at Wimbledon... and winning.

In the subsequent press conference, someone asked her if she had proved anything to herself on court today. She said something like, "I proved to myself that I could. Just, that I could." Those words said a lot, I thought. And I appreciated her honesty.

Congratulations, Serena. I'm happy for you.

As for the clip Dave posted below of Djokovic/Wozniacki - I had heard about this, but hadn't seen the video. It's cute--if a bit awkward--and it proves what I said in my earlier post: there are glimmers of goodness there with the Djoker.

I'm taking note.

Also:
1. Round one is not yet complete, so I won't give away all my bracket results just yet, but the top half of the men's draw is complete and it's where I'm doing my best work (small wonder that Nadal is in that half...) Out of 32 picks, I only missed three. I'll be done impressing myself in about four hours when I see how the rest of my picks fared.

2. I watched a lot of recorded coverage last night and was struck by how great the in-studio interviews were - particularly Roddick, Wozniacki and Federer. They all seemed charming, at-ease and fun. I found some of Chris Evert's questions a little more... not mean-spirited or negative... just... oddly direct? But they handled them well. It reminded me of another reason I love tennis. Smart, well-spoken, mostly likable champions. And the ESPN2 crew was doing a good job of highlighting them.

But as I said, I did watch a lot of coverage. I sort of feel like I have a tennis hangover this morning. Unsure what the cure is.