What a day!

It's a shame the Best Day in Tennis falls on a Monday. (At least for those of you required to work full-time during the summer.) The Wimbledon action was terrific today! So much so that Prince William and Kate Middleton initiated a standing ovation.

My heartiest applause wasn't for British hope, Andy Murray, but rather for Marion Bartoli AND Serena Williams. (Yes, I said 'Serena.' She may not be a gracious sportswoman, but she's a gritty fighter, and I can't help but admire that.) "Definitely not our best day," said Serena's sister, Venus, who (SPOILER) lost in straight sets today, just like her little sister. However, and particularly in Serena's match against Bartoli, the level of play was incredibly high. Tons of power, tons of amazing angles. So fun to watch! Bartoli was amped up the whole match, like a female version of Nadal. And, to her credit, Serena was determined and focused the whole way through, despite clearly not being in top condition. The match was dramatic, intense and impressive -- everything a Grand Slam tennis match should be.

Unfortunately, I missed Wozniacki-Cibulkova. The score indicates that it was a tough fight, too. Anybody see any part of that match?

Speaking of (typically) tough fighters, Nadal lost some favor with me today. Near the end of the first set against Del Potro, and with the score 6-6 and the momentum clearly on his opponent's side, Nadal took an injury timeout. That's not my complaint. My complaint is that Nadal got up from his chair and raced around like crazy during the subsequent tiebreak, which he won, with no evidence of any sort of injury or even a tweak. He then (SPOILER) went on to win the match in four sets, again with no evidence whatsoever of an injury. Nadal was/is the better player, but it was a shame to see such a clear display of gamesmanship from him. He's always been a class act, so let's hope this was just an isolated incident and not the start of a pattern.

Praise on the men's side? Props to Tomic, who played brilliantly against Malisse -- at least in the single service game I was able to catch on ESPN. And a special shout-out to Minnesota native, Mardy Fish, the (SPOILER) lone American standing in either draw. All of us in the Midwest (even Bess, I would venture to guess) are cheering for you.

On to the quarters!

I'm looking ahead to Week 2, too

As some of you may know, Wimbledon is unique in that there are no matches played on the middle Sunday. So today is a quiet day.

Frankly, I'm happy for the reprieve. Gives us time to rest and regroup a bit before the so-called Best Day in Tennis ^{(R) (TM) (SM) (C)}! It's earned that moniker because after a day off on Sunday, all 16 players left in the men's and women's draws will play on the same day. Tremendous!

Here's who I'm especially interested in seeing:

• Nadal v. Del Potro - Delpo's on his way back after a long-healing injury. But aside from Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, he's the only male player to win a major since early 2005(!). In other words, he's no slouch. So it should be a good match.

• Fish v. Berdych - I picked Berdych to win this one, because I think he may overpower Fish, but Mardy's been playing some pretty impressive tennis, so we. shall. see. I wouldn't mind Fish proving me wrong.

• Ferrer v. Tsonga - Ferrer has been playing great, and Jo-Wili is a little unpredictable, but he's an entertaining player with great heart. He showed off his sportsmanship this week (here and here), as well, so I'm all in with Tsonga. (Even though I picked Ferrer to beat him.)

• Tomic v. Malisse - I picked Soderling to beat Tomic in the previous round, so I've got nothing riding on this one, but Tomic is a true up-and-comer, as Dave said. I'm interested in seeing how deep a run he can make. On an unrelated and unimportant note, I wish his first name began with an A, so I could refer to him as Atomic. What were his parents thinking?

And as for the women:

• Sharapova v. Peng - I've taken Sharapova all the way to the title so I'm interested in every match she plays! She should get through this one, but Peng, who I know nothing about, is seeded 20th, so it's not like it's a walk in the park.

• Lisicki v. Cetkovska - If the hard-hitting and impressive, yet somehow never-before-noticed-by-me, Lisicki wins this, she'll most likely take on Serena in the quarterfinals. And as successful as Serena has been so far, it would be good to see her up against another power server.

• Azarenka v. Petrova - I've got Azarenka through to the final, so I'm hoping she beats Petrova. Not sure what Petrova's been up to lately (I didn't pick her past the second round) so I'm unsure what to expect.

• Venus v. Pironkova - Not only did Pironkova take Venus out at last year's Wimbledon, she also took her out of the 2006 Australian Open. So Venus is likely going to come out guns blazing, in her own Venus-like way, which may mean she seems lethargic at first and then turns the power up when it really matters. This is as far as I've taken Venus in the draw, because I thought she'd be playing Zvonareva (who lost last round after hurting her ankle). So... while my heart roots for Venus to get some redemption, my bracket roots for Venus to lose.

Oh! And before we go - here are the bracket standings after the third round:

Bess
Men: 84/112
Women: 68/112
Total: 152/224

Dave
Men: 70/112
Women: 65/112
Total: 135/224

The pressure's definitely on as far as the women are concerned.

Looking ahead to Week 2 ...

Some matches I'd love to see happen this week are Nadal and Fish in the quarters, and Azarenka and Venus in the semi's. Why? Partially because they'd be intriguing match-ups of players who compete with tremendous heart. But mostly because they'd keep my hopes alive, in terms of beating Bess this Grand Slam. (I'm saying this based on pure speculation that I've taken Fish and Azarenka, and maybe even Venus, farther into their respective draws than Bess has.)

How about Australian teenager Bernard Tomic taking on Xavier Malisse, who's 30 years old, in the round of 16? I'm ashamed to admit I know nothing about Tomic. It's always fun, though, seeing a young gun take on a veteran at Wimbledon. And I trust the Aussies will be even more loud and raucous than usual. Plus, if Tomic wins his way into the quarters, maybe we can all officially put Leyton Hewitt in the past, where he belongs. I'm sure Kim Clijsters would appreciate that.