Pressure Cooker on Court

If anything, the last few days have demonstrated why the U.S. Open is utterly unique in the world of tennis, perhaps sports.

In rapid succession, the world's best female player - Serena Williams - and best male player - Roger Federer - wilted under the hot lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.

Williams lost on Saturday night to an unranked Kim Clijsters, who had been out of the game for three years, and made herself look like a boor for berating a lineswoman while costing herself the match. At least, after two false starts, she finally apologized yesterday and with apparent sincerity. Matter closed, in my books.

Then there was Federer. Against a 20-year-old Argentine to whom he'd never lost, Federer looked in complete command after a set-and-a-half but then gradually watched his game unravel. His opponent, Juan Martin del Porto, got away with an obvious cheat by claiming not to have been ready when Federer fired an ace, and that seemed to begin the processing of unnerving the seemingly nerveless Swiss who had won the tournament five straight times.

As has happened before, the replay review system drove Federer crazy - he once asked a Wimbledon official to turn it off during a match because it was "killing" him - and benefited his opponent. How the greatest player to ever hold a racquet has become so awful at playing the replay challenge game is strange, indeed.

As the match wore on, del Potro adjusted his game, reading Federer's slice better and taking some oomph off his first serve for more consistency. Federer, meanwhile, double faulted over and over, unwittingly mimicking the serving problems many of the world's top female players have been having. As he fell apart, he started whining at the chair umpire, hardly a Serena-like volcanic explosion, but surely a sign the moment was getting to him.

To understand the atmosphere at the U.S. Open, you really have to go there. It's different than the other Grand Slams, all of which have their own personalities. For starters, it's the last major of the year, leaving players to wait until January to prove themselves in a sport that has really become primarily about four tournaments. At the U.S. Open, the combination of late night tennis, the largest main stadium in tennis, noisy and demonstrative fans - a match on Louis Armstrong court is like going to a hockey game - the New York atmosphere and even the way players are interviewed by ex-players on court immediately after matches seems to create a steaming cauldron which brings out the worst in some. Like boxers, players are out there alone without helmets and facemasks to disguise their demeanor and moods utterly exposed when things go sour.

At the same time, the Big Apple brought out the best in Clijsters and del Potro, a new-old star and the tallest man at 6-foot-6 to ever win a Grand Slam event in tennis.

Williams' outburst was a scar on the game, but she and her sister, Venus, remain one of the greatest stories in sports history. Federer, meanwhile, may be the best, but the challengers never stop lining up to take a swing at him. His emotions got the better of him under the unrelenting scrutiny of the New York audiences. That said, he won two more Grand Slams this season, including the French dirt title that had eluded him, and like Clijsters, became a parent for the first time.

The game of tennis received oodles of attention over the past three days, some of it good, some of it unpleasant. But it surely showed itself to be a game with personality.

The Tennis Thug (Updated)

Serena Williams' behavior on Saturday night at the U.S. Open was so appalling, so disgraceful on so many levels it's hard to know where to start.

Certainly, it was unusual to see a female professional athlete conduct herself in such a manner, something we've just not seen even with the explosion of women's sports. We now know a woman can be just as much of a jerk or a thug as any man while playing a sport. Congratulations.

What bothered me the most? It was the attitude, the sneering of the multi-millionaire Williams who rained insults down upon the official as though to say, "I'm Serena Williams. You are nothing. You have no right to make a call that interferes with my wonderfulness. You are dirt. You don't deserve to live, but because all these people are around, I will spare your worthless life."

For someone who has on occasion claimed racial prejudice when she has been offended by treatment in tournaments, it was indeed bizarre to see Williams screaming profanities at the small, Asian female judge while brandishing her racquet in a threatening manner.

Full marks to the lineswoman for standing up to Williams, and full marks to tournament officials for backing their official and imposing the code violation that ended Williams' tournament. Some are suggesting the foot fault that ignited the entire controversy shouldn't have been called, at least not at that point in the match. And if a serve was slightly out? Don't call that rule because the match is too close? Tennis pros will tell you foot-faulting doesn't really provide much of an advantage, if any, to the server, but if you have an person there to make the call and they make the call, suggesting they should hold their tongue depending on the score is absurd.

Williams has already been fined $10,500 in total for her ridiculous performance, and it's theoretically possible she could lose her entire $350,000 purse if tennis decides this was a major violation.This one's up to the Grand Slam committee and the USTA, but it's a tricky problem that also lands in the lap of Stacey Allaster, a Canadian who is now at the helm of the women's tour. The already trashy Serena has now veered into Britney Spears territory, and women's tennis understands image is a very big deal in that industry.

Some have talked of suspension for Williams, but really, being eliminated from a Grand Slam semi-final is a pretty big penalty already. It's not like the next Grand Slam event is next week. It's in January in Australia.

A simple heartfelt apology would make the difference, not the contrived public relations doubletalk produced in an official statement yesterday. The apology should be made publicly and in person to the official in question

(Ed. Note: Well, despite some who believe Williams had nothing to apologize for, she has now done so, albeit 36 hours after the fact. It took her a botched press conference and one lame press statement before she got it right, but she has now "sincerely apologized" for her "inappropriate outburst", offering that apology to the lineswoman, her opponent Kim Clijsters, the USTA and tennis fans. Glad to see she finally figured it out.")

A Big Day For A Scot

LONDON - It was the one step Tim Henman could never make. For Andy Murray, it must look less like a hurdle and more like a skyscraper.

No British male has made it to the Wimbledon's men's final since Bunny Austin in 1938, the year he lost to Don Budge. No Brit has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Leftie Roger Taylor had a few charges in the 1970s, and then there was Henman. Four times - 1998, ''99, '01 and '02 - he took Great Britain on a wild emotional roller-coaster ride, made it to the semifinals but couldn't break through. Twice he lost to Pete Sampras. Once, against Goran Ivanisevic in '01, Henman was within two points of victory, but lost in a five-setter.

To say the entire hopes of a nation are riding on Murray today in his semifinal clash with American flamethrower Andy Roddick - Roger Federer is on court in the first semi with Tommy Haas now - is not an exaggeration. The newspapers are all over Murray, his fitness regimen, his girlfriend Kim Sears, the long lineups of fans dying to see him play and every other angle imaginable.

Once, he made the mistake of saying he would root for anyone but England in soccer, something a lot of Scots would say, but not a politically correct thought for one hoping to unite the sporting aspirations of the United Kingdom.

That's all been conveniently forgotten now. Murray survived a nailbiter against Switzerland's Stanilaus Wawrinka on Monday in the first full Wimbledon match played indoors and is favoured today against Roddick even though Roddick has twice made the Wimbledon final, losing both times to Federer.

If Murray can do what Henman could never do, it's because he's a better all-around player and because he's become addicted to an extraordinary fitness schedule that has him ingesting 6,000 calories a day just so he can work out for six hours or more. He takes ice baths, uses yoga and has the entire resources of the Lawn Tennis Association behind him.

The day is overcast at the All-England Club with a threat of rain, which means the roof on Centre Court could be closed. Murray said he found those conditions humid when he played under the lid on Monday. The match should commence somewhere around 11 a.m. Toronto time.

Today, of course,  isn't the end of the line by any means. Murray is 22, already No. 3 in the world and he'll have more chances.

But this is a chance to end one British drought, then take dead aim at another.

Joining the crowd at Mt. Murray

Watching History Unfold

ALASTAIR GRANT/AP

LONDON

It's all about being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Since first coming to Wimbledon in 2003, it's remarkable how many firsts I've seen, particularly for a tournament that's been around since 1878.

Those include:

-- Roger Federer's first Grand Slam victory in '03.

-- Also in '03, Martina Navratilova became the oldest player to win a Wimbledon title when she and partner Leander Paes of India captured the mixed doubles.

-- The longest match in Wimbledon history, a six-hour, 9 minute affair doubles match stretched over two days featuring Daniel Nestor of Canada and his partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas against Todd Perry and Simon Aspelin. The final set alone took three hours and went to 23-21 before Nestor and Knowles prevailed.

--What is believed by most tennis experts to have been the greatest match ever played, the men's final here last year between Federer and Rafael Nadal, won by Nadal.

-- Nestor's doubles win here last year with new partner Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia that made him the first Canadian to ever win a Wimbledon title.

-- The first indoors match at Wimbledon. Technically, it was a women's singles match yesterday between Dinara Safina of Russia and France's Amelie Mauresmo in which the roof over Centre Court was closed for the first time partway through the contest.

-- The latest match ever played at Wimbledon. It was because of the roof and new lights, of course, that Andy Murray of Scotland and Stanislaus Wawrinka of Switzerland were able to play until 10:39 London time last night. The previous record was 9:39 p.m. London time in a match that also featured Wawrinka. The hard-luck Swiss lost that one too against Mario Ancic of Croatia.

Not bad for seven trips across the pond, huh? And to think there's still a chance if Federer makes it to the final on Sunday and wins it will be his 15th Grand Slam title, a new record. Or, if Murray makes it and wins, he would be the first Brit to take the men's crown in 73 years.

Lucky to be in the right place, indeed, and to watch history unfold.

Wimbledon CanCon update

LONDON

And then there was one Canadian left. As usual, it's Daniel Nestor.

But while Canucks juniors Eugenie Bouchard and Katerina Paliivets were both swept off the grass courts of Wimbledon today, the 15-year-old Bouchard narrowly missed recording what would have been an enormous upset.

Facing the No. 1 junior in the world, France's 17-year-old Kristina Mladenovic, Bouchard led 5-4 in the third set only to lose 7-5 in a terrific showing. Playing on Court 7, which is sort of like playing on a street corner with cries of "Paddington Station, Platform One" coming from the nearby road, Bouchard lost the first set, won the second and then fought from behind in the third before finally succumbing to an opponent who, to be generous, behaving like a teenager who had been told by her parents not to text any more.

Paliivets, meanwhile, was beaten in two sets by Britain's Laura Robson, the second seed in the junior tourney.

Nestor and partner Nenad Zimonjic defeated the British tandem of Jamie Delgado and Jonathan Marray to move into the quarter-finals. Nestor and Zimonjic are the defending Wimbledon doubles champs.

A New Era

LONDON

Wimbledon has gone indoors.

Partway through a women's singles match between world No. 1 Dinara Safina and former Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo today, rain forced the 141--year-old All-England Club to close the roof over Centre Court for the first time since it was installed and made operational this year.

With the crowd cheering, the two pieces of the retractable, translucent roof started moving together, stopped three times, then finally joined at about 4:45 p.m. London time today. It will take another 20-30 minutes for the stadium to become "acclimatized" again and for play to resume.

Oddly enough, almost as soon as the roof was fully closed, it stopped raining. Once the roof is closed during a match, however, it must stay closed. It's expected British hero Andy Murray will now play his much-anticipated Round of 16 match against Radek Stepanek  Stanislaw Wawrinka with the roof closed.

A Slippery Path

LONDON

The slide into ANA-nymity continues.

Just a year ago, Ana Ivanovic was on top of the world, the No. 1 ranked female tennis player on the planet and a stylish beauty to boot. No Anna Kournikova this one, went the talk, 'cause she had game, and she also had a story having grown up learning to play in a swimming pool during the years NATO warplanes were dropping bombs on her country.

Well, Ivanovic's game as deteriorated terribly since those lofty heights of a year ago, plunging to No. 13 in the world, and today was no fun at all for the Serb, beaten in the Round of 16 by five-time champion Venus Williams after being forced to withdraw with a thigh injury in the second set after being thumped 6-1 in the first.

Given how the match was proceeding, it could be Ivanovic got off lightly.

"That's the most disappointing thing because I felt I wasn't given a fair chance, you know, to fight," said Ivanovic, who was in tears on court.

Ivanovic said he felt a sharp pain in her thigh after a second set serve and soon couldn't continue.

"I felt I was playing better each match," said Ivanovic. "I just thought . . . it was a great challenge for me to play against someone like Venus. It's just disappointing I didn't get the chance to finish the match."

Williams, meanwhile, looks on form to become the first woman to win the Venus Rosewater Dish for a sixth time.

"I felt really sad for (Ivanovic), actually. She was really upset," said Williams. "This is Wimbledon. It's the last place you want to have an injury that you can't overcome."

CanCon at Wimbledon

LONDON

It's the second week of competition at the All-England Club, and as usual, there aren't many Canadians left.

Daniel Nestor and his doubles partner, Nenad Zimonjic, are the second seeded team in men's doubles and have a match coming up later today against Brits Jonathan Murray and Jamie Delgado. Nestor and Zimonjic are the defending champions.

Aleksandra Wozniak, despite being seeded 23rd in women's singles, lost on the first day, and then was beaten in women's doubles by the Williams sisters.

Otherwise, all that's left are two intriguing Canadian girls in the junior singles, and they're in tough today. Eugenie Bouchard, 15, of Westmount, Quebec must play top-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France, while Richmound Hill's Katarena Paliivets, 17, faces the tournament's second seed, Britain's Laura Robson.

Welcome to Wimbledon