Grassy Miscellany

In the aftermath of the historic events of the 2011 French Open, the ATP has turned its attention to the brief-but-crucial grass-court swing, wherein tournaments at London and Halle offer the major warm-up opportunities to the world's finest players. The top performers from the clay-court season seem to be experiencing a bit of burn-out, as Federer and Djokovic both withdrew from their scheduled events, while Nadal, having once more done just enough to maintain his tenuous hold on the exclusive world's number-one ranking (an immediate exit would have created the unique situation of co-number-one status, as Nadal and Djokovic would each have held 12,025 points to their credit come Monday) bombed out in a lackluster showing against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga yesterday afternoon.

I have been pleased to see my countryman, Mr. Andy Roddick, back in strong form this week at Queen's Club; he has dispatched three consecutive potentially-dangerous opponents, each more dominantly than the last, and in so doing set up a semifinal rematch of his gripping encounter with Andy Murray at Wimbledon two years ago. If he brings the same level of play to the Wimbledon championships later this month, he may once more find himself in contention for the greatest prize in tennis.