Bracket update #1

Posted by BESS: So sorry Dave is not feeling well, but he picked a good night to go to bed early. Both Wozniacki and Djokovic rolled over their opponents in very quick fashion. And that was all she wrote, as far as the evening's broadcast went.

Unsure what to do with the rest of the evening (I mean, tennis was over by 9:30! The night is still young!), I will update you on the bracketology.

Round one goes to Bess. :-)

Here are the deets:

Bess
Men: 44
Women: 47
Total: 91

Dave
Men: 43
Women: 44
Total: 87

While I bemoaned the decimation of the lower half of my women's bracket last night, I am totally rocking the top half. Hopefully I can keep it up.

And in the online bracket challenge, I have made great progress overnight.

• In the women's competition, there are 7,641 entrants. Yesterday I ranked 5,887th. Today I'm... 2,068th! Talk about leapfrogging over the competition. And if Azarenka defeats Serena, as I have predicted, my stock will soar in this competition. Come on, Victoria!
• I've also moved up in the men's competition, although not as impressively. There are 11,008 entrants. Yesterday I ranked 7,186th. Today I'm 6,013th. Positive progress. I'll take it.
  

On an unrelated note, shout out to the lower-ranked American women making a statement at the Open... Sloane Stephens, Vania King and Christina McHale are all still in it. I had predicted as much for Stephens and King. Should have had more faith in the Jersey Girl, as well.

There's always next year!

One final note. For those of you who read the blog/comments last night and heard Dave and I raving about Maria's attire, you can learn more about the inspiration behind it in this video (the night dress is featured at the 1:14 mark.) Tried to find a decent shot of her in it, but they're all too action-y. Darn tennis. Getting in the way of the glamour shots.

It's elementary, my dear (Heather) Watson ...

... that neither Bess nor I are swept up in the hype about Serena's comeback. She didn't get a mention in either one of our initial posts to this blog. (Hooray!) I'm sure Serena will do great and all. She always does (annoying). And I suppose she could win, despite being fully Slam-ready. And, regardless, she probably won't threaten to shove a ball down a linesperson's throat at this Slam, and that will be good for everyone, especially young children interested in the sport. But I still don't care. Haven't missed her self-absorbed swagger one bit.

Now Venus' comeback? That's another story. Can't wait to see her back in action at AELTC.

And who's Heather Watson, you ask? British dark horse. Gotta love the name.

As usual, my hopes are with Sharapova. Admire her fight. And her game looked to be back on track at Roland Garros. Could she win it all? We'll see. I like to think of myself as an optimist, but I'm being more of a realist with age. So there's every chance she'll go out to Chakvetadze in the first round. Stranger things have happened at Wimbledon.

Typically, I like to root for Jankovic and King, as well, even though their results have been so erratic. The match that really tears me apart, though, is Oudin and Ivanovic, both of whom are overdue for a return to Slam glory. This time around, maybe?

And when did Patty Schnyder retire?! Totally missed that news. Oh well. [shrug]

The men? Djokovic. (Deal with it, Bess.) Federer. (All hail!) Roddick. (A guy can dream.) Haas. (Hey, why not?) And Nishikori, because his name is fun to say. And because ESPN-UK called him a "starlet." But mostly because he'd knock Hewitt out first round. And that's something Bess and I could both celebrate. You, too?