It's tough to follow as it's match by match, but so far here's what it seems.

Sharing Henin's section:

Schnyder
Hantuchova
Serena

Jankovic is in her half. Good grief.

Still hoping I'm wrong on the Serena bit. Heh.

In Jankovic's section:

Bammer
Bartoli
Chakvetadze
Ivanovic

Mauresmo's section:

Petrova
Vaidisova
Kuznetsova

Sharapova's section (I might have mixed a few here):

Safina
Dementieva
Venus (rematch?)

Here it is.

The R16 seeded match-ups:

Henin v Schnyder
Hantuchova v Serena
-
Jankovic v Peer
Hingis v Chakvetadze
--
Ivanovic v Petrova
Mauresmo v Vaidisova
-
Kuznetsova v Dementieva
Sharapova v Safina

Obviously it probably won't shake up that way. In particular there is a Venus v Safina encounter in the third round. Also looks like my hearing was on the spot! :P Although I misplaced Ivanovic.

Poor old Dani, she has been doing well lately only to face Serena in R16. Well, easy draw for JHH till the QFs. Jankovic can make it to the Semis..
Also Dementieva may be the first casualty as she would play Dechy.

Keothavong : bad luckor what? She has to play Jankovic in singles and playes the Williams sistes in doubles.. That's it, she will have a very short stay at Wimbledon..

What about Venus Maria in R16 :o

OMG :yikes: :wacko: :(

What a stinker, I hope Venus finds form here :unsure:

Potentially troublesome third-round encounters for the higher seed:

Schnyder v A Bondarenko (mind it doesn't take much to 'upset' Schnyder on grass)
-
Jankovic v Safarova
Peer v Bartoli
Hingis v Bammer (very unkind early pairing I think)
Chakvetadze v Krajicek
-
Mauresmo v Santangelo (despite getting past her in straightforward fashion this week)
-
Dementieva v Golovin (if the Frenchwoman hits into form after her absence)
Safina v Venus (the Russian will have had more match practice going in however)

As for the R16, Venus v Sharapova is unfair to both women, certainly, but also has blockbuster potential. (As long as it doesn't dissolve into a farcical spectacle like their Miami match.) It seems like Sharapova will keep having compelling if cringeworthy at points R16 Slam matches. Heh. Serena v Hantuchova also a bit disappointing, and might prove a stern test for the (slightly) higher seed. Vaidisova will look for another upset of Mauresmo, even worse than in Paris as it will be toppling the defending champion, but I think grass actually somewhat favours the Frenchwoman here. Hingis v Chakvetadze has all the makings of a lovely blend of subtle games, if both women make it far enough and are on song. Jankovic v Peer could also be a good one although the Serb is rather more convincing on grass.

Safina is very tricky for Venus :(

I think there could be some upsets looming......

Are we going to See Serena give a grass court tennis lesson to Justine?

Venus Vs Maria: I think Maria has her chances unless Venus finds her form before that.

As long as Serena plays better than the last time they met she has a good chance to win. Crunch time for Serena, she has to come out firing :ok:

martina's quarter is not THAT bad really...jankovic and safarova/peer up top and chakvetadze and maybe bammer below her. but for her recent layoff, i would not see martina having any problem with the 'in-form' mlle. bartoli :rolleyes:

Not a bad draw for Ana. I was expecting a fairly meek performance at Wimbledon this year as the natural letdown to her Roland Garros exploits, and her drubbing by Hantuchova in Holland didn't exactly convince me otherwise.

However, with few grass court specialists in her way before the 4th round and Petrova her most likely opponent there, she has a decent chance of the QF - Petrova is the superior grass court player, but has been injured and off-form lately. After that, the choking Mauresmo or Vaidisova aren't quite formidable opponents either.

Elsewhere, difficult to look past Serena winning it. It's hard to see Henin winning it after blowing such a good chance last year. I see a Sharapova vs Serena final, which hopefully will be closer than their last 2 contests. :yikes:

Since she does not deserve to be playing in a Grandslam on any account, I think that she is lucky to get the free exposure, cash, and ranking points that playing Wimbledon will get her.

The sooner Wimbledon stops doling out wildcards to undeserving British no-hopers the better. She has played Wimbledon every year since 2001 and has made the second round once. She has had her chance in my book.

What on grass? :lol:

Venus has a pretty good draw up until sharapova i think. That match to me will decide who will prevail in the bottom half IMO.

Go venus! :D :yahoo: :yahoo:

Serena in jUstine's quarter again :rolleyes: I wish Venus could've been in justine's section early on rather than Serena. I want to see venus vs Justine :angry: roflmao

Serena would surely be the favourite on grass though, so i shall anticipate that. God i'm so impatient waiting for wimby to start :lol:

i don't think so, she's played bammer twice, and beat her 6-0 6-2 twice, including this year at gold coast

i think cavaday will be a tough start, but then again she's just another one-dimensional power hitter, and hingis should relish that

I'm suprised most people are putting chakvetadze in the qtrs, because hingis would beat her if they play (i said if :P)

and i think she's got a good chance of beating the quarter finalist too ;)

Big chance for another all-Williams final :D Can't wait for Venus-Sharpie :devil:

I also hope Hingis wins a few, I've sort of missed her recently :huh:

Just as with RG, the top half of the draw looks much tougher!

I mean, Jankovic, Henin and Serena in the same half of the draw once again!!

And Hantuchova and Hingis in that half too..

Hantuchova has of course beaten Serena at a slam before. She looks more match-tough than back at that AO too.


in the bottom half, there's Venus v Sharapova. Interesting matchup. Who knows if Vee can win that one? Otherwise, not that interested in the bottom half tbh :shrug:

Can't see past semis along the lines of Henin/ Serena v Jankovic and Mauresmo v Sharapova.

Well... I said i was going to take a good look at the draw this year to see if it is skewed towards former favourites.......and to some extent it is but not entirely......

A Henin Momo final again.....hmm

Anyway....Daniela is playing quite well....though i was a bit dissappointed by her performance at RG....I believe Serena should survive. Being grass and all .....and having nothing to lose and being fit......I pray serena plays some surprising exciting tennis......

I t will be interesting to see what Jelena has to offer...but I wasn't impressed with her inability to kickstart herself against Henin in the RG.

justine is top notch as usual..but I would like to see some exciting tennis from someone else to win or at least provide the challenge as Mauresmo did last year... I am hoping it will be serena...sorry Venus....but its Serena for me....if Justine doesn't make it.

Agreed Suzi. The Justine v Serena matchup could well decide who goes on to win the tournament!

Justine has pretty much achieved her aim of becoming the women's equivalent of Federer, where she has the all-court game to make good players look ordinary. I thought that Serena would give Justine a good match at RG, and was proven wrong, as was also the case with JJ in the semis. Federer does pretty much the same thing.

However, the fact that it is on grass does give Justine a little less of an advantage, and is where the predominant power-hitting in the women's game comes to the fore, The likes of Sharapova will fancy an upset, Serena will fancy her chances much more than at RG too.

Looking at the bottom 8 of the last 16, Dementieva is in woeful form, Petrova looks doubtful with shoulder injury, Ivanovic beaten on grass by Hantuchova 1 and 2 (I think). Vaidisova played poorly at Eastbourne, dismantled by Justine.

That leaves Kuzzy, Safina, Sharpie and Amelie. Safina has shown some good form at Ordina I guess (where she lost narrowly to Jelena), but I can't see her challenging the big guns. I'm not sure about Kuzzy, although her game was off at RG (couldn't hit the back of a bus against Ivanovic).

Compare that to Justine, Serena, DFS winner Jankovic, then Hantuchova, Chakvetadze (who've both shown good form on grass recently), then Peer, and add to that the two touch players of Hingis and Schnyder, and that all makes for a much more intriguing part of the draw.

:) Certainly.....grass has always favoured the bashers and those with a solid serve..... But hopefully justine's varied game should soak up the pressure quite well, I guess it is all she's got . As long as she executes well as she is known to do who knows.....

* I am about to make an outrageous statement....but hey...I think a male justine would have dethroned Rafael Nadal at the french open by now...
topspin heavy or not..time wasting antics or not*

Lets hope it doesn't dissappoint .....otherwise it will be a bummer..!

Justine emulates Federer's game, wants to be the female Federer.

Maybe Roger should be the Justine of the men's game? Well, on clay at least!! :lol:

Yes, a male Justine could possibly beat Rafa. Justine also makes few errors, so tough mentally, and has that backhand. :bow:

Perhaps Justine is the best claycourt player since Chris Evert.. just as Rafa the best since Borg?? :shrug:

Wonder how a male Chris Evert would have fared against Borg too, but that's taking this even further off-topic!

I would say Clijsters/Henin was the respective female equivalent of Nadal/Federer...except that clijsters was not particularly strong mentally and had certainly not the nasty spin in her shots that Nadal, alone, has, as a lefty, the secret.

true, Clijsters lost all of their GS meetings.Still its the Serens Vs Henin matches that people are looking forward to.Its unfortunate that the two are meeting in the QF.I still reckon that its going to be a Henin-Momo final.A classic three setter perhaps?

For me Seles is the best female claycourter since Evert

If she hadn't been stabbed I could see her getting six RG in a row between 1990-1995, something to that effect. I think Steffi would have managed to beat her eventually at RG, but it would have taken a few more attempts after 1992, and she would've had to play her best for the WHOLE match.

Also I didn't realise it was Justine's aim to become to the female equivalent of Federer :o Has she said this in any interviews?

In any case with Amelie now rounding into great form, I think Wimbledon be much more hotly contested on the women's side than the men's side, female Federer there or not. Serena and Justine may be the favourites but Amelie, Sharpie Venus et al. are hot on their trails....