Passing Through

Howdy. I'm a little late to the party today, but there's been a lot going on here at the mothership, including putting together some elements of our** Tennis** magazine Wimbledon preview issue. That's kept my busy most of the day, but I'm aware that I owe you a post on Ion Tiriac, and I want to write one celebrating Brad Parks' upcoming induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. I'm going to be a chaperone on cowboy Luke's class trip tomorrow morning, so those red-meat posts will have to wait until next week.

You Federer fans will be pleased to hear that those who know tell me that on the Sunday morning of the doubles final in Rome, Roger practiced for three hours with Sam Querrey. Federer was reportedly on fire - conspicuously sharp, focused, and in-form.

Bob and Mike Bryan eventually won in Rome, snatching the title from Querrey and his partner for 2010, John Isner. Think I'll write my ESPN post tomorrow about those four American guys. Too bad there's only one doubles match in Davis Cup ties, because Isner and Querrey could develop into a truly dominant team.

I wish I had a little more time to jaw about the women's event in Rome. It's encouraging that the Williams sisters are both still in contention, but Venus will be playing Jelena Jankovic in the heat of the Italian night later on, and that's a tougher assignment than Serena had going up against Maria Kirilenko. Some of us, myself included, have tended to write off the sisters during the clay-court season, and a win by either of them would certainly make us re-think that position. It will be a good test for Venus tonight, feel free to discuss and call the match here. . .

-- Pete