WIMBLEDON, England — One thing that we might be able to count on after a wild first week at Wimbledon: Order will be restored.
Or not.
U-S-A, U-S-A: Stephens, Serena carry the flag
Here are some things we learned in the first six days of the fortnight:
There's room for the veterans: Nine of the 32 players remaining for the second week of Wimbledon will be 30 or over, tying the Wimbledon Open-era record for the fourth round, last reached in 1975. One of those players is 35-year-old Tommy Haas, who continues his career resurgence. "A lot of people are smarter over the years about what to do in order to get in better shape," Haas said. "You have a good team around you. You can do a lot of stuff, also, nutrition-wise."
This game is a grind: Tennis, increasingly, is no place for the weak of heart, or, indeed, the weak of limb. When Igor Sijsling of Netherlands retired in the third round Saturday, it marked the 13th singles retirement/walkover of the tournament. That equals the Open era Wimbledon record (set in 2008). Ivan Dodig was the beneficiary of injury WDs twice (Philipp Kohlschreiber retired in the first round).
Now more than ever, one match at a time: Top players always like to say that they never look ahead in the draw, keeping their focus only on their next match. We always used to roll our eyes at that. Not so much anymore. Rafael Nadal went out in the first round (to Steve Darcis, who then became one of the injury casualties); Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova in the second round. There are always upsets; just not quite so many of such magnitude. On his way out the door, Federer chided prognosticators for overlooking the depth of the men's game and giving too much weight to his potential quarterfinal meeting with Nadal. "You guys hyped it up so much, me playing Rafa, and we're both out," the 17-time major winner said. "Maybe it's also somewhat a bit disrespectful to the other opponents who are in the draw still." Indeed.
American men aren't getting it done: OK, so maybe we already knew that. Even though expectations were low, they weren't met. No U.S. man reached the third round of Wimbledon for the first time since 1912 (there were none in the draw that year; it also happened in 1911). But in this case, perhaps it's not as bad as it sounds. Andy Roddick retired last year; he reliably played deep into the tournament. Sam Querrey, the No. 21 seed, had a difficult first-round match in Bernard Tomic, who is still playing. John Isner had to withdraw after a freak injury two games into his second-round match. Isner was the best chance to make it to Week 2. There are some potential bright spots out there.
OK showing for American women: Four made the third round, two (Serena Williams, Sloane Stephens) make the second week. Alison Riske, 22, showed some potential on grass, and Madison Keys, 18, keeps improving. The big-serving Keys took 2012 finalist Agnieszka Radwanska to three sets in her third-round loss. Williams is a huge favorite to win her sixth Wimbledon crown (but we aren't projecting ahead, really; see third item above), and Stephens, who is in the depleted bottom half of the draw, has a big chance.
Grass is slippery: Players of all stripes — from Novak Djokovic to Grigor Dimitrov, from Maria Sharapova to CoCo Vandeweghe — have picked up grass stains, and injuries, at an alarming rate. Victoria Azarenka managed to survive after going down hard in her first-round match. She didn't, however, make it two her second-round match. Complaints were loud from some, muted from others. Sharapova said it was too dangerous to play; David Ferrer simply said it's grass. The hubbub has slipped, so to speak, now that we are six days in. We'll have to see how the footing is the rest of the way.
If you're going five with Andreas Seppi, he has you right where he wants you:Seppi, the No. 23 seed from Italy, defeated No. 12 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan 3-6, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the third round to record his seventh successive five-set victory in 2013.
Huge opportunity ahead: In the bottom half of the draw — dubbed the Group of Death before the carnage of the first week — you will find these eight names: Lukasz Kubot, Adrian Mannarino, Jerzy Janowicz, Jurgen Melzer, Fernando Verdasco, Kenny De Schepper, Mikhail Youzhny, Andy Murray. Some of those names have a ring of familiarity, but if you told us beforehand that these would be the eight into the Round of 16 from this half, we would have suggested therapy. One of these four — Kubot, Mannarino, Janowicz, Melzer — will be in the semifinals.
Having said all that ... we still expect top seed Novak Djokovic to face Andy Murray in the final in a week's time. And we expect Serena Williams to be left standing at the end on the women's side. So there.
GALLERY: WIMBLEDON DAY 6
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