Tsonga in the tsemis

Another day, another shock and, while we refused to make any predictions yesterday, the words "there is no way Tsonga will beat Federer" we definitely uttered at some point in the AM.

Wrong again Mr Womble. In all honesty, we didn't see that coming, but we'll take solace in the fact that neither did anybody else. One moment, the media hacks are scribbling furiously about another Fed masterclass, the next they're rewriting their introduction along the lines of, "Is this the end of an era?"

We didn't think Tsonga had it in him, that sort of game. In the past we've only seen his power and what has seemed like lucky positioning, complemented by a huge reach. We stand corrected. The guy displayed a level of athleticism and, if lacking in deadly accuracy, then enough unpredictable creativity to challenge the biggest of names. Make no mistake that if Tsonga can do that to Federer, he'll be a tough prospect for Djokovic - especially as he is getting better with every game.

There was no such drama where our Andy Murray was concerned. Another straight sets victory to make this run to the semis uncharacteristically tranquil. Showcourt tension has been notable in its absence and we think we know what has pushed the Scot into an extra dimension...

Yes, it's his baseball cap. He's hasn't dropped a set while wearing the hat so far, so long may the sun shine on Centre Court. We noticed that after yesterday's victory, Murray flipped it round, USA style before going to sign autographs on his way off court. Was this to stop any eagle-eyed punters from grabbing the peak and swiping it from his head? After all, most of his other sweaty accessories are launched into the crowd, so why not the cap? He must know it's a good luck charm.

Murray was the only man not to drop a set in the quarters as Mardy Fish fought to snatch just the one from Rafa Nadal. The USA's No.1 couldn't capitalise on Rafa's supposed injury concerns and the Spaniard did enough to prove that he'll be no pushoever in the semi-final.

Tsonga and Tomic both holding their own

Marion Bartoli, our hot tip for the Ladies' title crashed out yesterday, mere hours after we'd pinpointed her as the 'one to watch'. Needless to say, we'll not be making any predictions today.

As we speak, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is making a fist of things against Roger Federer, he is a break up in the third set as he looks to level having comeback from two sets down. 

Djokovic and his young opponent Tomic, on the other hand, are trading blows on Court No.1 in a see-saw match that is impossible to call. The Serb is two sets to one up, but the Aussie is refusing to let him pull away.

Remember, the winners of these two games play each other in the first semi, leaving Rafa Nadal or Mardy Fish to fight for the chance to play Murray or Lopez.

Semi-finals in sight

Much in the same way that rain gets in the way of tennis, work gets in the way of blogging - but thanks to the invention of evenings and the Centre Court roof, we can now get on with both.

Sharapova earlier followed Sabine Lisicki into the next round to form the first semi-final. And now Azarenka and Paszek have decamped to Centre Court to decide who will face Petra Kvitova, who beat Pironkova to reach the second semi.

Quarter-finalists - a closer look

Maria Sharapova

Unbelievably, the Russian is still only 24, despite having turned pro in April 2001. Maria flew to her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004, aged 17, but hasn't gone on to rack up the number of trophies expected, adding only the US Open (2006) and the Australian Open (2008) to her SW19 success, maybe thanks largely to the dominance of the Williams sisters. 

Dominika Cibulkova

Turned pro in 2005 but yet to win a title. Reached two tour finals in 2008, losing one to Maria Sharapova. The 22-year old has beaten world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki twice this year, at Brisbane in January and, of course, yesterday en route to the Wibledon quarter-final.

Marion Bartoli

La Francais has been knocking on the door of success all year having reached three semi-finals, as well as the final at Indian Wells in March. MArion already has 6 WTA tour titles, and 6 ITF titles to her name but, at 26, she is yet to snare a Grand Slam.

Sabine Lisicki

One of only two unseeded ladies left in the competition, German-born Lisicki is a wildcard entry at this year's Wimbledon but made a huge statement of intent by knocking out the French Open champ and No.3 seed Li Na in the 2nd round. Sabine hasn't dropped a set since.

Looking back at a remarkable Monday

Yesterday was remarkable. Not only did organisers manage to churn through all 16 matches, plus some doubles to boot, but some big names fell in battle.

Both Williams sisters in one day. Unheard of, literally. Until yesterday. Throw the Ladies' world No.1 into the 'notable exits' pot and we've got ourselves a wide open championship from here on in.

As in the Mens' draw, there are still two unseeded ladies left with Sabine Lisicki impressing on her way to the quarters.

Azarenka is the highest ranked Lady left in, but the world No.5 gazumped as favourite by former champ Sharapova, whose hard-hitting gruntfest has propelled her to this stage for the first time in five years.

Then there's Marion Bartoli, who is our dark horse for the title, she made the final in 2007 and reached the semis at Roland Garros earlier this month.

However, the spotlight is now on la Francais following her dismantling of reigning champ Serena Williams yesterday.

Next up we'll have a look at all the competitors before they get started...

Straight sets and straightforward

Murray progresses. And in much simpler fashion than we were led to expect. Gasquet hadn't dropped a set, remember. Now he's lost three and he's heading back down the EuroTunnel. 

We suggested he go for a straight-sets victory just moments before they started and he duly obliged - the only explanation being that the Scot reads The Wimble Womble in the dressing room.

Joking aside, that was impressive. Gasquet is a good, solid tennis player and he was made to look pretty average. Murray showed none of his temper, and he didn't waver when he got his nose in front, he stuck to his game and finished it off early enough to prepare properly for Wednesday.

The first set pointed at a close affair as both players battled stubbornly, following serve until the tiebreak, during which Murray stepped up his game. Power and pinpoint accuracy ruled the second set as the British No.1 pushed on and Gasquet was a spent force in the third. 

If you thought the expectation on Murray's shoulders was a weighty cross to bear then think again, as it will grow immeasurably between now and his quarter-final game. If today's showing is anything to go by, however, then Andy Murray version 2.0 might just be equipped to deal with the fuss. 

It looks like Murray will avoid an awkward match-up against his mum Judy's fancy man Feliciano Lopez, as the Spaniard has just battled through a third-set tiebreaksave his skin against Lukazs Kubot.

Murray v Gasquet

There are only four men in the Last 16 who haven't dropped a set so far; Nadal and Federer unsurprisingly are two of them, alongside Tomas Berdych, who was last year's runner-up, but who is the fourth?

You guessed it, it's Richard Gasquet. He's been getting better and better and winning with more conviction as the rounds go by and, although Andy Murray has trumpted his ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the Frenchman, you can't help but notice a little complacency.

The five-set Wimbledon epic with Gasquet in 2008 was Murray's rise to the big time, he was cheering in between points and really working the crowd, he was a young man with the world on his side and seemingly in his element and on the crest of a wave. 

Three years on and the pressure of not having won a slam is proving a heavy burden. We all know he has the game, but he's not yet shown the confidence to play his own game against the big three.

Murray has said that he doesn't mind if he goes behind, as he knows he can come back - it's a very dangerous tactic. We know he's trying to alleviate some of the pressure, but it's risky business showing your opponent that you're willing to go behind.

 If Murray knows he can win three sets in a row against Gasquet, then he should be looking to win them at the start of the match and not the end - if not for his own good, then at least for ours. Cue the roller coaster.

Week two changes

It's Last 16 day and, to keep in line with the rising quality of tennis, we've made a few improvements to the site. Basically, as the Wimble improves, so does the Womble.

Firstly, not really an improvement, but we've altered the site logo to avoid any potential copyright wrangles, although the Womble thing could still be an issue. With any luck we don't have enough readers for it to matter. Although we do have one in Iceland, one in the US and one in Germany - so we could yet go viral.

Look to your right, you'll also notice a "Live scores" palette, this is so that we aren't horrifically out of date on scorelines every time we updated the site, and it means that you can check this site for current scorelines, rather than just totally irrelevant comment. 

Yesterday may have been rest day, but today is total madness as the organisers attempt to get through every single Last 16 game. Some are bound to run over into tomorrow but by the end of play today, we'll have a good idea of what the quarter-final draw will loook like and then there's finally few enough competitors for us to take a look at them in more detail.

The main attraction of the day is obviously Andy Murray v Richard Gasquet, and we'll have a brief look at that in a minute before it gets started...

Looking back on Day Six

Rafa Nadal's third-round victory over Luxembourg's Gilles Muller was hardly emphatic but it got the job done.

Rafa needed two tiebreaks before, tossing out a ''bagel'' to win the match 7-6, 7-6, 6-0.

Serena Williams also marched through, beating Maria Kinlenko 6-3, 6-2 after her toy-throwing incident saw her reinstated on Court No.1.

Roger Federer took just one hour and 46 minutes to send supposed ''nemesis'' David Nalbandian packing 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 but Djokovic made difficult work of a stubborn Marcus Baghdatis who he eventually beat 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, taking more than ten minutes to serve out the final game, such was the Cypriot's resistance.

Ivanovic was knocked out in the Ladies', while Sharapova won the opening game on Court No.2 against Zakopalova, which means the Russian's inane grunting will continue to annoy us into the second week. On that note, enjoy your Sunday off.

Murray safely into last 16

Once again Andy Murray reaches the last 16 at Wimbledon and once again he remains our one beacon of hope for British success.

But just how confident can we be that the 24-year-old is ready to push on? Murray gave himself 8 out of 10 for last night's victory over Ivan Lubicic, so at least he knows there's room for improvement.

True, he faced up to a wobble and recovered well to win, if not convincingly, then at least before the lights went out and took him to a draining second day. But the negative attitude of which he has worked so hard to rid himself was creeping back in with a vice-like grip.

Even while Murray was totally in control of the third set, he was chastising himself for unforced errors, ranting at his entourage and, worse still, displaying a mental weakness.

The anger and the emotion is part of his game but Nadal, Djokovic and Federer will not have seen anything from the Brit to set their boots a quaking.

That said, he is the first of the big four safely through to the last 16 and, should one or two of them suffer any setbacks today, it could give the Scot the confidence to settle down and really find his A game in the later stages.

Roddick beaten comfortably

Worrying news. World No.10 Andy Roddick, who Andy Murray thrashed in the Queens semi-final has just been comfortably beaten by Feliciano Lopez. Not quite slippers and pipe comfortable, but definitely straight-sets comfortable. 

Does that mean that Roddick isn't the force he was, and that the crest of Andy Murray's wave isn't riding quite as high as we'd all assumed? You'd better hope not because, as of today, the Scot is once again Britain's only hope of success. 

Elena Baltacha gave a spirited performance, coming up just short in the third as her opponent Shuai Peng took the match 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, and plucky Laura Robson gave Sharapova something to think about in the early exchanges. She raced into a 4-1 lead in the first set before being pegged back and eventually succumbing 7-6, 6-3, although we'll doubtless be hearing a great deal more about Robson in the future.

Richard Gasquet stormed to a frighteningly simple three-sets victory over Simon Bolelli and Venus marches into the last 16, beating Sanchez Martinez 6-0, 6-2 on, er, Court No.1.

The heavens have opened, which is 'roof' justice for those on the outside courts, but not on Centre, the curtains will be drawn and we'll continue with Murray due on after Hantuchova v Azarenka, which is into a third set. Looks like it's going to be a late Friday night.

Girls on film

If you don't have one eye on the Laura Robson v Sharapova scoreline then either you're not interested in tennis (in which case why are you reading this website?) or you are still trying to book London 2012 tickets. 

You may remember (if you don't you can just scroll down) that yesterday we claimed Hewitt was firmly in control only for him to lose a two-set lead, so we're going to refrain from commenting on Robson or Baltacha just yet. They're currently in action against Sharapova and Peng respectively. 

Rumour has it that British No.1 Baltacha is none too pleased with playing out on Court No.18 while Robson struts her stuff on a show court. We've made that up, of course.

The big four have been straight-setting (is there a word for that?) all over the place and Federer made mincemeat of Mannarino last night after Djokovic pushed the red button on Kevin Anderson's ejector seat to send the South African out 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

Isner and the Brit Bunch

John Isner has one of the more recognisable faces from the tennis circuit these days but it's fast becoming obvious that his megamatch with Mahut last year only went on so long because neither were good enough to win it earlier.

Isner lost to Almagro in four sets earlier and needs to develop his game so that, on the few occasions that his massive serve is returned to him, he doesn't just stand there like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

UK fans will have been disappointed on Day Four as Baltacha and Robson were both rained off, making for bumper British bonanza on Day Five.

Hewitt's inefficiency costs the third set.

It didn't look possible at one stage but Soderling completed the fightback and won the final set 6-4. that sort of mentality is the reason he's World No.5.

Hewitt must be high in the running for the least energy efficient object on the planet and looked totally spent by his last game, in which Soderling broke his serve to love.

Serena is through but she was less than chuffed about being on court two. On Tuesday she was just happy enough to be back in the game, now she's got diva demands.

Tables turn for Rob

Incredible. An hour ago we were wondering how Hewitt has ever lost a game in his life let alone slipped so far down the rankings, so defiantly did he chase down every ball.

If it seemed too good to be true, it's because it was. RobSod dug his heels into the turf and played out point after point, pushing Hewitt wider and wider and has ground his way right back into this one. It's two sets each.

Hewitt on course

Lleyton Hewitt has Centre Court rocking and victory in his sights as he pulls off the shot of the tournament so far to break big Rob at 4-3 and hold serve to win the second set.

The Aussie keeps a firm lid on his emotions and you can't help but feel he is totally focused on the third as he wins his first service game to love.

You may recognise the lady cheering him on from the stands, it's Rebecca Hewitt (nee Cartwright) who used to be in Home and Away.

Soderling v Hewitt.

And that is exactly what we're talking about. World No.130 Hewitt thrashes his way to the first set with Soderling barely willing to budge an inch.

The whole thing went with serve until the tiebreak, which Hewitt edged 7-5. More later.

Day Four

At The Wimble Womble, we're probably guilty of concentrating a little hard on the homegrown players and not on the household names.

Make no mistake, though, if there's a story worth telling then we'll tell it. It's hardly news that the Top 4 are all progressing as expected is it?

Federer and Djokovic play second round matches today, although if we neglect to mention them then you can safely assume it's because they've won in straight sets. Either that or it's because we're totally wrapped up in the game of the tournament so far - Soderling v Hewitt.

If there's anyone capable of challenging the Top 4, then the sensible money would be on the World No.5, and that's Robin Soderling. He's first on Centre today and you would bank on him progressing were it not for the fact he's playing Lleyton Hewitt. 

Yes, THAT Lleyton Hewitt of Court No.12 fame and the, er, former World No.1. Tumbling down the world rankings he may well be, but only a fool would count the Australian out.

If you really can't get enough of the Brits, then there are two in action today - and neither are Andy Murray. Elena Baltacha is the fifth match on Court No.2, so any delays at all could see her reach Day Five by default.

Then there's Laura Robson, and it's a show court for the 17 year old as she clashes with No.5 seed Maria Sharapova. The pressure is all on the Russian and the crowd will be heavily behind Robson... the stage is set for some quality Wimbledrama.

British trio marches into Day Four

Limeys, Poms, Roast beef, whatever you call us, Britain is going to have three names involved when Day Four slips on it's clean white socks tomorrow morning.

Laura Robson's match may have been a first-rounder but she's just beaten Angelique Kerber 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. Not just a victory, but a comeback - mental toughness isn't a lost art in the homeland after all.

Another thing, 2008 Wimbledon junior champ Robson is 17 - so Dan Cox, 20, James Ward, 21, Heather Watson, 19 and Daniel Evans, 21, all take note. The bar has just been officially raised.

And the prize for the youngster? A second-round meeting with Maria Sharapova on Court No.1 tomorrow.

Not so swinging in the rain

The words rain, stop and play come to mind again. Mainly for the reason that rain has stopped play.

Official sources tell us that the roof is too big and too attached to move on to Court No.1, so that means that the only punters or players seeing any action are on Centre Court.

Those lucky enough to be under the cover and floodlights of the showpiece arena are watching Venus Williams take on veteran Kimoko Date-Krumm, curently locked at 5-5 in the first set.

Day Three

It's Day Three and we're into round two and, as usual, British hopes lie with one man. That's as far as the Men's Singles goes anyway. Andy Murray is officially on tour today, risking unprotected London skies to play the German Tobias Kamke on Court No.1 early afternoon.

In the Ladies' competition, we still have four names alive. Two are still to play their first round matches. Laura Robson will look to set up a glamorous second-round tie with Maria Sharapova, while Heather Watson is up against Mathilde Johansson of France. Anne Keothavong meets No.8 seed Petra Kvitova on Court No.1 after Murray and elena Baltacha plays tomorrow.

As far as the other big names are concerned, Venus Williams is first on Centre Court, playing Kimiko Date-Krumm, the girl who knocked out our Kate O'Brien, followed by Rafa the bear against the USA's Ryan Sweeting, who is quietly tipped to cause the Spaniard a few problems.

We'll be back in a few hours for a lunchtime update.

Whatever happened to Lleyton Hewitt?

Remember Lleyton Hewitt? Surely you do... Angry Aussie with a shock of blond hair, the sheer embodiment of the 'never say die' attitude and winner of the Wimbledon title in 2002?

''Aaaaaah, that Lleyton Hewitt,'' we hear you say. ''Whatever happened to that Lleyton Hewitt?''

We'll tell you, he's just won his first round game all the way out in the suburbs of Court No.12, beating Kel Nishikori 6-1, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, and he celebrated like he'd won a trophy, so we can only guess what his reaction will be like if he makes it back to Centre Court this year.

Mahut v Isner hasn't lived it up to it's billing, the American has just completed a straight sets win over the Mahut. It wasn't quite as straightforward as it sounds, though, they still managed two tiebreaks, but Mahut just didn't have enough to keep to big man's powerful game at bay. 7-6, 6-2, 7-6.

Murray all on his own as Brits fall in first round

Shortly after we claimed that we had a big evening ahead of us, it all started to unravel.

James Ward bowed out with little argument in straight sets to Michael Llodra, Dan Evans failed to capitalise on winning a set back against Florian Mayer, who took the fourth set 6-4 to win the match.

We were even prepared to take Irishman Conor Niland under our increasingly desperate wing but after a mammoth fight, he went down to Adrian Mannarino, 4-6 6-4 7-6 4-6 6-4.

So, as far as the mens singles is concerned, it's all eyes on Andy Murray.

A busy evening lies ahead

Wimbledon 2011 has exploded into action in these last few hours; Roger Federer is safely into the second round, the cool Suisse routinely despatching of Mikhail Kukushkin in straight sets 7-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Djokovic is now underway as well... Let's hope his flirtations with the women's No.1 at a press conference earlier in the week don't distract him from the job in hand.

Elena Baltacha becomes the third Brit into the second round, beating Mona Barthel 6-2 6-4. Dan Evans has pulled a set back against Florian Mayer and Irishman Conor Niland has overturned a two-set deficit to level up against Mannarino.

So there's plenty to shout about for the British Isles and our ever-widening catchment area, as James Wardgets started in a tough games against Micael Llodra. We're in for a busy evening.

Beck wrecked by Roddick

Another day, another onslaught of results that we can't keep up with and names we can't spell or pronounce. Luckily, such is the nature of text, we don't need to be able to pronounce them, and the odd, sly copy-and-paste job from other unnamed websites means weight of the spelling problem is greatly eased.

Somewhat inevitably our man Dan Cox, the British No.3 lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. No such trauma for America's Andy Roddick whose wrecking-ball forehand just completed a demolition job on Germany's Andrew Beck, beating him in straight sets 6-4, 7-6, 6-3, if somewhat unconvincingly.

Serena Williams' comeback is off to a winning start. She has been out for the best part of a year having stepped on glass in a restaurant almost a year ago. She left Wimbledon as champion and World No.1. She returned as World No.26 and seeded 7th to beat Aravane Rezai 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Surely there's a Hollywood film in it if she can turn her emotional comeback into a remarkable defence of her title?

BritWatch - Cox and Keothavong

Another Brit bites the dust, but another marches on as Anne Keothavong beats Naomi Broady 6-2, 6-4.

Dan Cox saved three set points on his own serve over on Court No.14 but his opponent Sergiy Stakhovsky then served out the set with the help of a few ridiculous drop shots, one of them sliced, backhanded, across the net as Cox dashed in vain for the return.

Then, at 40-15, an ill-timed slip cost Cox the second set and we're all left staring another defeat for our once-great Empire in the face.

Isner v Mahut. Kaput?

If you were hoping to see the Isner v Mahut 'longest game' rematch this afternoon then I hate to be a harbinger of bad news but they're on fourth, yes, fourth. So if rain stops play at all today then that's unlikely to happen.

Even more unlikely to happen is GB hope Heather Watson's match against Mathilde Johansson. They're due on court after Isner and Mahut, so could be waiting until sometime next week.

In the Brit v Brit game on No.12 Court, Keothavong took the first set 6-2 but we're currently going with serve in the second at 2-2.

Britannia rules the second day

Day Two is officially Brit Interest Day. No fewer than seven Brits are involved in today's play. Admittedly, three of those were meant to play yesterday before the rains fell, but still that has to be some sort of record?

One of our researchers will find that out for you. Hang on, what's that? We don't have any researchers? And we lack the money, training and resources to find out? What kind of an system is this?

Yes, money, training and resources will be the topics on everyone's lips if too many of today's brave Brits have fallen by the close of play. We'll be applying hero status to any of those that do make it through today, and we're guaranteed at least one due to the double Brit-off between Naomi Broady and Anne Keovathong on No.12 Court.

Dan Cox has to wait to continue his inevitable fightback against Stakhovsky. He's 1-0 in the second set having lost the first 6-2 and the second game on No.14 Court.

For the full Brit List, look to the right, but one other notable match-up sees Queens semi-finalist James Ward take on Frenchman Michael Llodra, the No.19 seed.

Day One - done and dusted

The opening day is over, and it's all downhill from here for the plush green surfaces that have taken all year to recover from last year. So what memorable moments are we left with after Day One?

Well surely it's far too easy to pinpoint Andy Murray's dramatic turnaround after losing the first set. Let's be honest, it was hardly an epic comeback.

When the Brit levelled the match at 1-1, Daniel Gimeno-Traver literally lost his marbles. So preoccupied was he searching for them in the long grass, he clean forgot to play any tennis and Murray took sets four and five 6-0 as a matter of course.

Obviously I'm underplaying the Scot's role in all this, he played some impressive tennis but his opponent clearly wanted out of the lions' den.

A double fault from Rafa Nadal, yes, Rafa Nadal was cause for a collective intake of breath from Centre Court but the moment of the day came in the game between Donald Young and Alex Bogomalov Jr on No 17 Court.

Innocent passers by were in for a surprise when, after a bad point, Bogomalov slammed his racket into the turf, watching aghast as it bounced over his head and clean out of the court, maybe to join Gimeno-Traver's marbles.



On Day Two, we'll resume what seems to be our own exclusive coverage of Britain's Dan Cox, one set down when rain stopped play. And, of course, there's the small matter of Isner v Mahut, rematch of the world's longest tennis match - no doubt bound to be a one-sided, straight-sets victory this time round!

While it's raining... what did we miss?

"It's just a shower and we're hoping in will blow over." Good plan. Do the MET office just guess these things? Needless to say there has been no action since the covers first went on at 5pm - other than under the roof at Centre Court.

We're not going to sit here updating the Murray - Gimeno-Traver score as you've all got televisions, and if not, you've got the internet, so you can watch it on there. We'll come back to Andy Murray later but in the meantime, let's have a look at what we may have missed earlier...

In the men's singles, sixth seed Tomas Berdych had a simple enough afternoon beating Italy's Filippo Volandri 6-2 6-2 6-1, seed No.10 Mardy Fish and seed No.9 Gael Monfils both emerged victorious over Marcel Granollers and Matthias Bachinger.

Similar to the men, the women's competition has had few upsets so far, the biggest seed to fall was No.17 Kaia Kanepi, who lost 6-1 6-4 to Italian Sara Errani.

Back on this evening's Centre Court match, Murray, after a sizable wobble and a first-set loss, seems to have regained his composure and, with it, control of the match.

Rain stops play

There we have it. Day One is halted after five full hours of play. The powers that be claim it's just a shower and it will blow over, so they will not be rolling out the cover just yet.

Most flagship Wimbledon news sources are still yet to mention our man Dan Cox's score but they're well on top of the weather forecast at least. It's raining. I suppose, at the moment, that's all we need to know.

A few spots of bother

Remarkable, either Dan Cox has lost his first set in world record time, or the websites I am relying on to provide the scores aren't updating the smaller matches regularly.

So Cox is one set down to Stakhovsky having caved in 6-2. Come on the Brit! Wimble Womble is supporting him even if nowhere else is.

The BBC, in the meantime, whilst not reporting on British interest, does report some spots of rain in the air. Andy Murray may well take to the court with the roof already on.

Dan Cox, the Belated Brit

I'm not at Wimbledon, the Wimble Womble budget doesn't stretch that far, so I have no idea what they're doing over on No 14 Court as our Brit interest Dan Cox hasn't yet got started. McHale won the previous match on the same court, beating Makarova 2-6 6-1 8-6 and I can only imagine what state they left the court in, as that was fully 45 minutes ago.

Cox will probably want to hurry up and get started as well, because when Jelena Dokic and Francesca Schiavone are done on Centre, then Murray takes centre stage and interest in Cox will be at a premium, or a minimum, such are the British public's fickle ways.

Shock and awe...

The biggest shock on day one is the sheer volume of matches and just how thick and fast the results come. I'll do a round up later of the big names that have fallen but there's no time for niceties so, if a player doesn't make the latter stages, don't expect to read about their form, their history or their pushy parents. Not on here anyway. I might provide wiki links once we're at the final 32.

Vera Zvonareva is the next big name into the second round, the Russian beat 20-year-old American Alison Riske 6-0 3-6 6-3 , whereas Rafa Nadal made short work of Michael Russell after a shaky start, that match finished 6-4 6-2 6-2.

Elsewhere, Ze Germans aren't coming, they're going; dropping like flies with Kohlschreiber, Bachinger, Berrer and most notably Tommy Haas all beaten by people whose names I will only attempt to spell if they get past round three.

On court 14, American Christina McHale and Russian Ekaterina Makarova are at 4-5 in the third set in another battle of the superpowers, the reason this game is significant is that the quicker they hurry up and get off court, the quicker our GB interest is reignited as Dan Cox takes on Ukranian Sergiy Stakhovsky. Keep an eye on our Britwatch for the score...

Early scare for Rafa

Defending champ and the current Wimble Womble quote of the day, Rafa Nadal, has his campaign underway on Centre Court and world No.91 Michael Russell gave him an almighty scare in the first set. The American broke to find himself 4-2 up but the Spanish bear broke back not once, but twice, and took the set. He's currently 4-1 up in the second.

Elsewhere, seed no.23 Venus Williams beat Akgul Amanmuradova, an Uzbekistani lady of whom I have never heard. The US giant won 6-3 6-1 and will now face Kimiko Date Krumm, the conqueror of our brave fallen Brit Katie O'Brien.

O'Brien falls at the first

Ambulance chasers, get your running shoes on. Great Britain has its first Wimbledon casualty. Poor Katie O'Brien. The 25 year old from Hull lasted little more than an hour on No 3 Court as Japan's Kimiko Date Krum saw out a straight-sets victory to win 6-0 7-5.

Katie pulled a break back in the second set to level at 5-5 but that was her final hurrah and she becomes the first competitor to be knocked out of Wimbledon 2011 and, in glum offices under dim flourescent lights, the country's journos all pen their first paragraph on the plight of British tennis.

An opening rally

Good afternoon and welcome to The Wimble Womble, an ambling ramble of all things Wimbledon 2011.

The intention is that updates to the site come thick and fast and, more often than not, in snippets of information uploaded via mobile when there's a spare minute. However, more in-depth articles will be offered in the evenings when there's time to sit and mull over events.

Look to your right and you'll realise we have a quote of the day, which may be updated more than once a day, depending if someone trumps the existing best quote.

Below that, there is BritWatch. If past years are anything to go by then we might have to ditch the idea within a few days and come up with something else to fill the space, hopefully not.

This morning saw a mad rush over names as the search for something "typically tennis" got underway. The Championship Point, Topspin Rally and New Balls, Please, were all deemed "too boring", A Major Racket implied we'd be doing a lot of shouting and early favourite Swinging In The Rain apparently has weird sexual connotations if you ask some people!

We settled on The Wimble Womble and we're undeniably happy with it. Not least because it paved the way for a multi-copyright infringing logo and banner. So, if you like the site, feel free to tell your friends, but not too many of them, especially if they work for the BBC, The All England Lawn Tennis Club or whoever owns the rights to the Wombles.

We'll be touching upon all the usual topics of interest; winners, losers, Rafa, Roger, trick shots and rain delays. And, of course, whether or not Andy Murray can really, actually, finally, realistically win Wimbledon. One step at a time. His first round match against D Gimeno-Traver is third to get going on Centre Court but, opening the 2011 Wimbledon show court action is Rafa Nadal v Michael Russell at 1pm.