Wimbledon 2011 is Underway

Day 2 of Wimbledon 2011 is in the history books, and although there haven't yet been any interesting upsets, there are already some interesting stories.

Serena Williams, who hasn't played for a year due to a freak foot injury and later life-threatening blood cots in the lungs, won her first round match, afterwhich she dissolved into tears. Williams, the defending women's champion, later commented about her emotional display, stating that she surprised even herself about how much it meant to be able to play tennis again, especially at Wimbledon.

Meanwhile, sister Venus might have won her first round match, but she didn't win the favor of the British press with her odd-looking attire. Venus wore what looked to be a terry-cloth jumper and was promptly pilloried in the press.

The top four male contenders for the Wimbledon crown, Federer, Djokovic, Murray and Nadal all won their first round matches easily, as did American John Isner. By strange coincidence, Isner had to play Nicholas Mahut, the same opponent whom he needed 11+ hours over the course of three days to defeat in last year's Wimbledon. Luckily for Isner, he ousted Mahut today in less than two hours.

American disappointments James Blake and Donald Young went out in the first round, but the young man who truly looks to be American's next greatest hope for tennis greatness, Ryan Harrison, won. Harrison was defeated in the final round of the qualifying tournament, which left him on the sidelines of the tournament, but then entered the main draw at the last minute when someone else pulled out. He has a tough 2nd Round match against 7th seed, David Ferrer, but if he can somehow pull out an upset against Ferrer, he's got a chance to go a couple of more rounds, where he would then probably meet powerhouse Jo-Wifried Tsonga, and then someone named Roger Federer.

And of course, when it comes to Americans, and especially when it comes to American disappointments, we'll always have Andy Roddick. You gotta hand it to Roddick, who hasn't won a Major tournament since the 2003 U.S. Open, for, if nothing else, his naive chutzpah. Roddick, who long ago stopped being a threat in men's tennis, stated today that he thought he could go "to the semi-finals or even the finals of this year's Wimbledon". Wow. Really? Has he forgotten that there are at least a dozen men who are also in the tournament who he has little chance of defeating? Poor Andy. But you can't blame him for his enthusiasm; he just defeated in straight sets little-known Andreas Beck, although he needed a tie-break to win the second set. What former #1 player in the world wouldn't be encouraged if he just beat the 156th ranked player in the world?

Let's get real here. Roddick will struggle to beat Victor Hanescu in the next round, and if manages to get past Hanescu, he'll next have Lopez or Schuettler, both of whom are dangerous players. And even if he manages to get past those two rounds, he'll next face Gael Monfils, who's currently playing the best tennis of his life. If Roddick somehow manages to get past Monfils, he'll face Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Oh my. Yes, Andy Roddick, you're on your way; on your way straight to the dustbin of great American coulda'-shoulda'-woulda's.