FanHouse Rafael Nadal

Revenge. It's the perfect time for the Williams Sisters, particularly for Serena. Who's No. 1? Dinara Safina? Right. So Serena has grumbled about it, saying everyone knows that's she's the real No. 1.

Well, now Venus and Serena are dominating Wimbledon. Venus will beat Safina in the semis on Thursday. And if Serena wins this thing over her sister (I'll take Venus), then the grudge is over. Serena is the champ and
No. 1.

Well, not quite. Safina is going to stay No. 1. But here's the weird thing: No matter what happens, Safina's lead in the computer rankings is going to increase. Does this compute? If Safina loses in the semis, and Serena wins the title, then that will be enough for Safina to pad her lead.

Huh?

Just how hurt is Rafael Nadal, anyway? He's not defending his Wimbledon title because his knees weren't at 100 percent. Now Nadal has been left off of Spain's Davis Cup team for next month's matches.

Spanish coach Albert Costa says Nadal "is not well." This was obvious to anyone who watched his exhibition match with Stanislas Wawrinka, a match which Nadal lost. There is no real shame in losing to Warwrinka, who just gave Andy Murray all he could handle in one of Wimbledon's best matches this year. Nadal, however, is (as of now) the world's No. 1 ranked player and thus isn't supposed to lose to anybody.

Nadal is suffering from tendinitis of the knees. As anyone with tendinitis knows, it's slow to get better, and that's assuming it ever does, said the writer, three seconds before he shook out his aching hand. Will Nadal ever get better? And what if he doesn't?

Over the years, talk of Andy Roddick finally "getting there" has been inaccurate. The top-ranked American has reached the finals at Wimbledon twice, but despite a brief moment in the first set of the finals in 2004, Andy has always seemed a touch short of championship caliber.

Maybe not this year. Roddick took down No. 20 Thomas Berdych 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that was hardly competitive after the first set tiebreaker. Andy rode his 24 aces to easy service games, never even facing a break point, but the comfort he has shown with his ground strokes is what has really stood out in 2009.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- When Roger Federer misfired on an important shot Friday, his knees buckled and he stomped behind the baseline, miffed at his mere mortality.

The moment quickly passed, and Federer advanced to the second week at Wimbledon by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

Federer lost a set for first time this week, with two errant forehands costing him the tiebreaker. That merely extended his Centre Court workout by half an hour.

It was nothing more than a win for Andy Roddick, but an important win in the second round of Wimbledon. A year ago, Roddick was waving goodbye to the All England Club in the second round after Janko Tipsarevic took him down in four sets.

Thursday in London, Roddick was the one on the winning end, beating Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 for his 100th career win in a grand slam event. Roddick, who has continued to focus on fitness and endurance over strength, threw a lot of backhand slices at Kunitsyn, who only seemed to find his groove for a moment in the fourth set when he broke Andy, but Roddick continued to ride his big serve to 18 aces.

Another day, another big pile of Euros: Roger Federer had little trouble beating Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez at Wimbledon on Wednesday, dispatching the Spaniard in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Federer is through to the third round and still well on track to play for a record 15th major title. Federer currently shares the record of 14 majors with Pete Sampras.

Of course, in the internet age, there are always people who can see the cloud behind every silver lining. Reading message boards and article comments, it's clear that more than a few tennis fans feel that Federer should get an asterisk next to his record if he wins out at Wimbledon. Why? Because if he wins and sets the new record, he will not have beaten Rafael Nadal to do so. Since Nadal is the top-ranked player in the world, it would seem that any title which doesn't pass through him is tainted.

Venus is not Serena. They don't dress alike, sound alike, play alike or look alike. They stand out alike, yes, because they are a novelty together, they are great and they are sisters.

But we have combined them in every way for some obvious reasons, but frankly, that's not fair to Venus.

Venus Williams is a better champion than Serena Williams. More elegant, more gracious.

On Tuesday, Venus starts defense of her title at Wimbledon, where she has a royal feel. She is the queen. And in the most elegant place in tennis, Venus stands apart.

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WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- So far, Wimbledon's new roof is keeping the rain away.

The retractable roof was open when five-time champion Roger Federer stepped onto the lawn Monday for the opening match on Centre Court. His opponent was Yen-hsun Lee of Taiwan.

Play began in cloudy but dry weather. When it rains, the translucent roof on the 87-year-old stadium will be closed so play can continue.

Federer entered sporting a sleek new white warmup with gold trim that included a jacket with a turned-up collar, a vest, slacks and a short-sleeved shirt. He was given the honor of playing first on Centre Court after defending men's champion Rafael Nadal withdrew Friday because of sore knees.

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So it turns out Sammy Sosa was a steroid freak.

Who'da thunk it?

When it comes to surprises, last week's revelation was like finding out Iran's elections were juiced for the incumbent. If you want shocking news, however, you've come to the right place.

We are ready to reveal all the players who failed baseball's 2003 drug test. The results were supposed to be kept confidential, but Alex Rodriguez's name was leaked to Sports Illustrated and Sosa was outed last week in the New York Times.

There are 102 names to go. This drip-drip-drip could go on for years, but we're not going to let it.

Andy Murray can never seem to get into the picture, the trouble with being No. 3 in a two-icon sport. So now that Rafael Nadal is out of Wimbledon with bad knees, the burning question in Great Britain is whether this gives Murray a chance?

But the thing people are missing is that Nadal or no Nadal, Murray was going to win anyway.

That's right: Andy Murray is going to win Wimbledon.