...from this year's Wimbledon. Here's my list:

I think the grass is now definitely slower. I am still unsure as to whether hardcourts are faster or not?

Rafa is NO one surface wonder. He was so close to that crown and a great grass player! I want him to do better on the hardcourts now.

I think we are seeing the early signs to the end of my hero Federer's domination. I am certain he will still be the no.1 player and force for much longer but unsure whether his tournament hauls and percentage records will be maintained.

Henin is the no.1 in the world not Serena. The Williams are still my favourite players and I beleive they have a higher gear than anyone else but Henin's average level over 12 months is higher.

Venus is supreme on grass and I admit dl that she is better than Serena on this surface. Her court coverage is the main reason she is so much better than anyone elses including her sisters. Her first serve is also THE Best.

Domination: grass - Venus clay - Henin hardcourts - Serena. Serena is still the mental giant out there.

Sue Barker is the best media person out there.

I don't think you can really draw lasting conclusions from the women's side Fed-Will, it was a very turbulent Wimbledon and things are still in motion. I don't think it's as simple as Serena dominates hard, Venus dominates grass for example, Serena could win Wimbledon in 2008/2009 for all we know, Venus could win USO and AO :shrug:

I've always thought Henin was the number one in the world, I thought Serena was playing better tennis than her from the AO to Miami but then Henin's form got better and Serena's went down a bit and she got injuries, so Henin was really the undisputed world number one. She's earned her ranking either way. We'll have to see how the next 6 months pan out I think before we judge if Serena can play her best over a 12 month period. I don't think an injured Wimbly campaign is a reason to assume she can't play at the highest level over 12 months. She's said she wants to be number one again and I for one don't doubt she can do it.

I agree with you on Rafa, although I suspected as much before Wimbledon started :P Never expected him to come so close though :o

We've also learned . . .

Donald Young is still one to watch, despite his disastrous earlier forays into ATP level play.

Urszula Radwanska is one to watch on the women's side, after winning both the junior ladies singles and doubles titles.

"Federer-Williams" is not a bad nickname to have right now. ;)

that serve - volley is not used half as much as it should be

the lob is becoming a shot of the past

baseline slogfests seem to be de rigeur in too many matches, male and female

I think Nadal won a lot of new fans over the course of the tournament and yesterday. I'm a staunch Federer fan, and was grimacing every time Nadal won a rally (although found myself praising the Spaniard increasingly as the match went on).

But Nadal played superb - the standard of his play through sets 2 and 3 was tremendous. He's improved on grass from this time last year, made the most of last year's easy draw, his new-found experience really helping him through this year's far tougher draw.

We have a lot of things to be thankful to Nadal for: the toughest slam final Federer has won, a memorable, classic final, forcing Federer to up his game. Nadal is the perfect foil for Federer - he presents a tricky problem for him with his style of play and keeps Federer on his toes. Federer (and the game) needs Nadal, in the same way that Borg needed McEnroe and Sampras needed Agassi.

My lasting impressions of that match yesterday will be the gruelling rallies (very claycourt!), Nadal's returning (exceptional) and the way Federer responded under enormous pressure on the 'clutch points', during that crucial 3rd set tie-break and at 15-40 down in two service games in the 5th set.

Nadal is certainly improving rapidly on grass but there's nothing to say that Fed won't improve on grass as well, there's areas of his game he can improve upon, and its good that Nadal is making him have to play his best on Nadal's supposedly "weakest" surface.

What I learnt is that Nadal's extreme spiny balls travel faster than Federer's flater hit shots. This is really a news to the tennis world!!!

Federer's timing and touch goes away when facing Nadal's powerful shots. I am hoping than at the USO, the smaller Wilson balls will fly a bit faster than Slazengers and prevent Nadal to put so much spin but yesterday, I did not see a big difference with the FO final....except on serve.

We will have to wait until Djoko, Murrray and Gasquet mature (in the next 6 months) to put Nadal in the challenged position and give Federer a bit of breathing time.

The weakest surface discussion is an interesting one: Nadal's lefty serve and his ability to cope with bad bounces because of his superb footwork are very helpful on grass. I do feel Nadal has more tough opponents on a hard court (just like Federer actually). His topspin may create more bounce, but I wonder if that's too much of a problem for the taller players.

one of the bsetg posyts I have seen recently Fed-Will and am in agreement for most of it.
I'm too dsrunk to explain why and wil pick it up tomorrow when I et to work.

What have we learnt about the younger players?

Djokovic - the real deal, unlucky that the schedule caught up with him, but he's incredibly consistent, got a great mentality and looks a threat at every slam. Also looks player most likely to challenge the Federer/Nadal hedgemony.

Gasquet - *not a choker*, and his confidence should be good after his breakthrough win against Roddick. Not as consistent, or as tightly focused as Djokovic, but capable of breaking into the top 5 and winning a slam. Serve much improved - but needs to work on his court positioning and movement.

Berdych - talented, but mentally frail, a poor man's Safin. Harsh, but he doesn't seem to have any fight in him. Capable of some stunning tennis, but the Nadal match really showed his limitations on the mental side. Yes, he had a back problem, but most of the bottom half of the mens' draw were nursing injuries at that stage.

Baghdatis - established himself as a very good player on the grass - his style is kind of a cross between Hewitt and Grosjean, and moves very well. Not sure he has the regular consistency to become a fixture in the top 10, but he looks capable of going deep into the draw at 3 out of the 4 slams.

Monfils - the forgotten player of the younger generation. Seems to be a notch below the likes of Djokovic and Gasquet at the moment, but his form has recovered somewhat. Very inconsistent, due a good run in one of the Masters tournaments I reckon. Ought to be a regular top 25-30 player at least.

Tsonga - talented, but game looks a little unrefined. Would like to see him develop the defensive side of his game more. Hopefully should become an ATP regular at least.

Del Potro - not doing bad at all during his first full year on the ATP. Love the backhand (looks great when he jumps up and into it), but could improve his serving, considering his height. Like the way he's developing, and he ought to be around 30-40 by end of the year - a player more for the fast hardcourts I reckon, but could develop into a decent grasscourter.

I've learnt that:

*Never again should Centre Court go topless (i.e roofless). It wasn't the intimate arena we all love this year*

*The courts are slower*

*The woman's game is far more open then the men's, some shocks this year definitely.*

*Greg Rudeski needs to improve his commentating skills*