my grand plans of keeping this updated fell off a little due to life being manic

Anyway, blimey, Andy Murray makes his first slam final, what a fantastic result; the final was really a damp squid compared to the semi with Nadal which was fantastically exciting

I have to say I didnt think Murray had tennis like that in him, after wimbledon, i had decided he would never get past rafa in a major, but boy did he play well; fantastic result, and I feel sure now that he will reach this point again, and indeed go further

Davis Cup - ridiculous, why, oh why do they keep playing bogdanovich, I just dont get it, what is now, 5 wild cards into wimbledon, never made it past the first round, and never has he won a davis cup tie; time to give it up! I was extremely disapointed that they didnt play Chris Eaton, seems to me they have to gamble with some young blood

It was unbearable, didnt even watch the last tie, the result was absolutely inevitable

It certainly bodes well, off the back of a good performance in Toronto, Andy has done the business in Cincinatti; he's the first brit to take this title, and the first brit since henman won the paris masters in 2003 to win a masters series

He will go into the Olympics and US Open with bags of confidence, whether he can go that step further to a slam semi or final remains to be seen, but for sure he is looking far more consistent now, and perhaps despite what we all thought, the split with Brad Gilbert was an excellent choice!

Epic is an understatement. Nadal v Federer 2008, a day to remember

Now genius Federer may be, but he's just not my cup of tea; I think it was the first appearance of the blazar and crest that did it for me; this year he toned down to a cardigan, probably after his thrashing at the French

Nadal however, well, he really is simply a joy, his intensity and passion are unbelievable, and lets face it, when he took Federer to five sets last year, we knew he was knocking on the door, and when he won Queens, it became even more apparent that his committment to conquering the grass courts was second to none

What a day it was, with the rain breaks, the match lasted for what 7 hours, and the actual play was the longest ever in a final. For me, the adrenaline was pumping just as much as when following a tim henman rollercoaster!

The first two sets aside, when federer was not at his best and looked like he was going to roll over in three, the tennis was simply sublime, the drama and tension unberable at times

Not once did i doubt that Rafa would pull it out, and as the light faded, finally he lifted the trophy, and how happy we all were to have witnessed such a sporting spectacle on the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon

I am simply overawed by his committment to the game and his determination to pull off the double that Borg managed 5 times, having witnessed this match, I feel he could do the French and Wimbledon back to back a few more times yet, already, I think that he has to be seen as one of the very best ever; for the King of Clay to master the lawns, what an epic feat

VAMOS RAFA!

Well, what a fine day we had yesterday at Wimbeldon!

Anne Keothavong started the Brit challenge in fine form against Venus Williams, I thought she was going to get pounded off the court, but this was not to be. But perhaps I should have given her more credit having been the first woman to earn a place in the draw by rights for 9 years

It seemed to me that after an incredible shot at the net in the closing points, the adrenalin was pumping a little too hard, and she lost the plot a little, and had she taken the first set, things could have been very different, Venus certainly was looking under threat. High hopes for her

Then on came Andy Murray with another solid, straight set performance. The crowd were a little muted, but a good match, and he is looking a threat to make the second week. I cant see him getting past Nadal though who has records on his mind, but who knows!

And then, then, to me the biggest excitement of the day, we were introduced proper to Chris Eaton, and blow me down, I was thrilled to see him serve and volley not just on his first, but on his second serve too. It was a taste of the good old Tim Henman days, and there is hope that this style of play can indeed still work on the Wimbledon lawns. Fabulous atmoshphere, shame more people didnt stay to see it

Having earned his place through qualifying, and winning a round, this player ranked 661 in the World, has proven he has what it takes. The LTA need to ensure he is given the support he needs. I think he would be a much better candidate for Brad Gilbert's talents than Alex Bogdanivic , who has been gifted 5 Wimbledon wild cards and never made it past the first round

An exciting day all in all, and provides some hope that we have more to give than just Andy Murray

Question: Is it a fashion statement, OR acknowledgement that his shiny genius crown is not quite so firmly on his head

hmmm, me thinks taking a bagel set from Rafa at the French means it must be the latter and he too has come to realise that a white jacket with his own crest is just a little bit too much, even for the hallowed grass of wimbledon

Best player ever, he may nearly be, but that blazar was the last straw for me, the cardigan is just plain funny

COME ON RAFA!

What is it with these girls, apart from Anne Keothavong who looks pretty fit, but then she is in the top 100; the british womens tennis players, look, I am afraid to say a bit flabby :0((

Baltacha is a battler with some wonderful shot making ability, and Naomi Cavaday has a great leftie serve and hit some absolute crackers against Venus today

But they just dont look in the same league as the top women on fitness let alone anything else; why oh why is the LTA not using some of their considerable funds these girls super fit in order to give them a better shot at competing with the best

Inevitably we come back to the same issue that none of the British players have enough fire in their belly (with the exception of murray)

How I would love to be jumping up and down for some british men AND women, as it is, seems we need to live in Serbia for that priviledge. Strange old world

Well, not exactly an easy draw for Andy Murray, but then they never are at a Slam eh!

If he makes it, he would meet Federer in the Quarters, but then he wouldnt exactly want to be on the other side and meet Nadal either!

An analysis of the draw can be found at the Wimbledon site

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/articles/2008-06-20/200806201213960173357.html

And the full draws are here

http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/draws/ms/index.html

It was quite simply, a sublime display of tennis, especially the second set

Incredible really that a clay court specialist such as Nadal can make this transition, and to win this title one week to the day since taking the French Open Final, awesome is an understatement. I am not even sure if this particular double has been done before, I dont think so based on the Queens winners list

Now he just needs to top it off with the Wimbledon title, and would be the first man since Borg to do so, he has certainly sent a stern message to Federer, who although (as expected) did indeed take the queens title, is surely feeling more pressure than ever before this year

I just love the way he plays tennis, seems to wrap himself around the ball like no player I have ever seen

And so it is, one week to Wimbledon, and I for one cant wait

Yes, a resounding yes, I am absolutely sure of it, and watching him play at Queens today, simply confirms this to me

I think this could be the year for a back to back french and wimbledon, and to show federer that it is possible to learn to play top class tennis on a surface that is not the natural favourite

Recent odds were 13-10 Fed, and 4-1 nadal, personally I think they should be a little tighter than this considering federer's year and Nadal edging so close on the grass last year

First there were the criticisms in Andy Murray's book, now James Ward has said his piece on the LTA and British tennis

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRSqmhx1aW87aJT4M9PAKQiGbupQ

Personally, I have no idea why we are producing so few tennis players, you only have to look at a country like Serbia and wonder where on earth we are going wrong. Being at the top of any sport is incredibly prestigious, I realise that people have very little in Serbia, and hence maybe a little more fire in their belly, but lets face it, what futures have many kids in this country got?

With all the funding available at the LTA, it just doesnt make sense that we STILL arent producing the players, I heard today on the Queens coverage that there are just 15,000 kids playing tennis in this country, France has double this, staggering figures, and how we can expect to produce grand slam winners from these numbers I just dont know

Maybe we need a slam winner before things will change, maybe that wont make the slighest bit of difference! What I do know is that the press need to stop creating headlines around players such as Henman and Murray + loser in them, and then perhaps the sport will not be considered a poor class citizen next to football and the like