Karlovic into his first major quarter final, putting out Fernando Verdasco with as deadly dull a display of power serving as you will ever witness. To emphasise the gulf in class in open play, Verdasco hit 29 forehand winners; Karlovic hit just two. While he seems like a really nice guy, I can’t say I’m rooting for him to make it to the semis.
Not much need to hit winners when you nail 35 aces. But Karlovic gets Federer next. While a big server can get hot any time, I’m not too worried about Karlovic going to the semis.
Hewitt completes a very impressive comeback. And we haven’t talked about this much, but Juan Carlos Ferrero is making a really great showing, and has a chance to go up two sets on Gilles Simon. Who ever thought Ferrero might be in the Wimbledon quarters? He only got into the tournament as a wildcard.
As a general rule, British sports didn’t used to be played on Sundays. Day of rest and all that, you know. 
They’ve been letting up on that slowly but surely. Professional soccer on Sunday, the British Open finishes on Sunday now (used to be 36 holes on Saturday, as did the U.S. (Golf) Open). But although Wimbledon has gone to a Sunday finish for the tournament, they hold onto the mid-Sunday break. For one thing, it helps them if the tournament gets bad weather early on (they can play on Sunday if need be). For another thing, it gives the grass a rest. 
still whistling
So when did they start the Sunday final? It seems like it has always been the way to me.
I’m watching the Murray-Wawrinka match on Monday afternoon and I am finding the support structure of the match fascinating. Particularly the effectivenss of the ballboys and ballgirls and the linespeople.
Question about the linespeople. As far as I can tell, there are ten linespeople on the court. Three on each end watching the sidelines and the middle service line. And two linespeople on each end watching the service line and baseline.
Do the linespeople not rotate positions?
With the normal camera angle, there has been a blonde woman calling the sideline on the left side of the far court. I think she has been there the entire match. Do they not rotate positions on the court? the guy calling the middle service line only is on call for the opening shot(s). For this reason, his job “appears” to be easier than the linespeople on either side of him.
I know in early round matches on outer courts, most (if not all) tournaments use a skeleton crew of 6 for linespeople. 2 on each end and I assume one for the service line and baseline.
And one other question about the middle linesperson, he appears to be “in position” to call the line on the other side of the court if the serve goes down the middle but in never signals “in” or “out”. After the serve, he relaxes and presumably “enjoys” the rest of the point.
And what is the going rate ($$) for a linesperson? and a ballperson?
Ouch, just as I posted this, it went into a 5th set, it looks like the linespeople have rotated. there is a man, where the blond woman was. Where did they rotate to? one position? counter-clockwise, or was a whole new crew put in?
You’ll see them swap the linespeople over mid-way through the match.
I think Murray might shade it (famous last words) but you’d never choose a 5-set match to start the second week.
Murray doesn’t look Championship material, certainly compared to Federer and some of the other chaps.
he’s just got a break to 2-0 so he ought to close it out now
The ballboys and ballgirls make about 150 pounds (about US $250) for the two-week tournament. The ballkids and linesmen are rotated throughout the tournament between all the courts, and on the hour in each match.
What a terrific game of tennis.
This is why I watch the game. It could truly have gone either way in the 5th. I actually didn’t want either player to lose.
Wonderful.
Well Weaselface made it into the quarters. I understand the crowd’s enthusiasm but I was a bit disappointed when they cheered Wawrinka missing a first serve.
I really want to like Murray, but he just has a few more years of maturing before I can actually cheer for him. He does have one of the best counter-puncher games though.
I really like both Amelie and Dinara and was sad that one of them had to lose today. I doubt Amelie has too many more tournaments in her future.
Sabine Lisicki has stolen my heart. Her smile makes me weak in the knees pretty much instantly.
Also, seeing as she’s my future wife, it would be nice of you guys tomorrow during the quarterfinals, to keep your minds out of the gutter please. KTHX. 
Bah, she’s German; she’ll eat you up and spit out the pieces and pick her teeth.
LMAO! While that’s probably true, at least I’ll enjoy my last moments.
Interesting stuff: the quarters for the men are Hewitt-Roddick, Ferrero-Murray, Djokovic-Haas and Karlovic-Federer. For the women it’s Safina-Lisicki, Venus-Radwanska, Schiavone-Dementieva, and Serena-Azarenka. Seems to me that none of these look like toss-ups on paper but I’m looking forward to seeing how they play out!
So I’m picking:
Roddick over Hewitt
Murray over Ferrero
Djokovic over Haas
Federer over whatver loser got stuck against him(Karlovic)
I will say, however, that Karlovic is one of the most feared players on the tour, due to the fact that his 6’10 height gives him a monster serve. I think Roger can handle him, though.
Federer is like 8-1 vs. Ivo, so I think he’ll be ok also.
That could be a cracking game.
For those with a few minutes to spare, here is an interview with Roddick I read recently in The Sunday Times. The tale of his friendship with a London taxi driver looms large in the story. In the world of tennis, I don’t always know who is a dick and who is not, but reading this piece tells me that Roddick has a lot about him that I like.
I often wind up feeling a lot of sympathy for Roddick. He’s lost to Federer three times in Grand Slam finals (and at least once in a semi). If it weren’t for Fed, he’d probably have 3 or 4 more slams and be considered one of the great American players. Instead, he’s somewhat of an afterthought whose game gets derided as being one-dimensional. Which, to be honest, it sort of is, but people tend to temper those complaints if you’ve won a bunch of slams.