Notes on a Draw Sheet

Three American 'G' lightweights fail in London
Goldstein skids in; Tougher road for Roddick than Federer

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Ron Angle Mark Lyons

Paul Goldstein, top, got into Wimbledon's main draw as a lucky loser. Not so lucky for Jan-Michael Gambill, who failed to qualify.

Seven years ago, Inside Tennis' Richard Osborn authored a comprehensive feature on the then rising Jan-Michael Gambill and Justin Gimelstob called "Great White Hypes."

In the piece, he discussed whether they had more than journeymen potential.

Here's what Andre Agassi said, "I like Jan Mike's game because I relate to it and feel his presence. They both have different strengths, Jan Mike hits off both sides well. Justin is a big guy. He can play 6-foot-5 tennis and can bone crush his serve. If he's hitting shots effectively, he can create big problems for everybody, But to improve considerably from where they are, they have to improve mentally."

Don't look now, but neither has turned out to be the player he wanted to. Both lost in Wimbledon qualifying, as did another member of the "Three Gs" Paul Goldstein. Believe it or not, only one US man, Jeff "J-Mo" Morrison" qualied for Wimbledon this year. (Goldstein did get in as a lucky loser). What, did they forget to take off their clay court shoes in Paris?

That's an appalling result for US men's tennis and isn't helped by the fact that three US women qualified: Jamea Jackson, Meilen Tu and Ashley Harkleroad. Sadly, the three Gs are all interesting, nice guys who would have been a great addition to US tennis lore, but it's highly unlikely they will ever have a major impact on their sport again.

tougher road for Roddick than Federer
A quick look at the Wimbledon men's draw reveals that two-time defending champion Roger Federer has a very nice quarter. Sure, he could get a small tussle against Paul-Henri Mathieu or No. 25 Nicolas Kiefer (who was hurt in Paris) in the third round. But, will he fret about a potential fourth-rounder against Spaniards Tommy Robredo or Juan Carlos Ferrero and a quarterfinal against the still-recovering Joachim Johansson or Greg Rusedski? The Swede has to be loving that.

In the semis, Federer could meet No. 3 seed and '02 champion Lleyton Hewitt (who he's beaten the last seven times) or No. 5 Marat Safin (who he leads 7-2 and who doesn't fully believe in his grass court game yet). ESPN's Cliff Drysdale say that the Aussies don't like Hewitt's chances because he's been spending too much time with his fiancée, Bec Cartwright, and not enough time training. But Drysdale likes where Safin's headed and says he played very well in his loss to Federer in Halle.

Hewitt could face James Blake in the second round, the fourth time they've played in a Slam. That's will be one bitter fight, as Blake was enraged by Hewitt's fist-pumping behavior when they faced each other at the '05 Aussie Open. Hewitt or Blake could play No. 24 Taylor Dent in the fourth round.

Safin has a very rough draw, as he'll face Paradorn Srichaphan to open and then maybe '03 finalist Mark Philippoussis in the second round. Then he'll go up against my semifinal pick, No. 10 Mario Ancic, in the fourth round.

NADAL COULD GET GASQUET
In the third section of the draw, Roland Garros champ Rafael Nadal must be thrilled with his first two matches, but less than happy that he'll face his fellow teen Richard Gasquet, the No. 27 seed, again in the third round. Nadal beat the Frenchman at RG, but Gasquet will contest the Nottingham final this weekend against Max Mirnyi. You have to like Gasquet's chances against Nadal on the turf. Mirnyi has a fine shot to come out of that quarter, too.

In the last quarter, Andy Roddick opens against Jiri Vanek, but then will likely get a dicey contest against 6'10" Croat Ivo Karlovic, who he beat in two tiebreaks in the Queens' final. The No. 2 seed will earn his stripes early. It doesn't get easier after Ivo the Giant, with Ivan Ljubicic a fourth-round possibility, and Tim Henman or Seb Grosjean in the quarters. It will be that quarter that produces the finalist.

TURF TOURNEYS IN FULL SWING
At the Ordina Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Philippoussis will play defending champion Michael Llodra of France in one semi, with Ancic against Jan Henrych in the other.

Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com

Vera Douchevina won to move into the Eastbourne final against Kim Clijsters.

At Eastbourne, Kim Clijsters is now liking the grass after she posted a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. "The courts here are terrific; they're at a really high standard," said Clijsters. "I've been very happy with the number of matches I've played this week and it's definitely a great preparation for Wimbledon."

A player we have liked for a while, Vera Douchevina, beat Roberta Vinci 2-6, 7-6(6), 6-3. The Russian has nice variety and should be cracking the Top 30 by year's end. "I'm really happy to be in my first final and to come back from a set and 5-3 down to beat a player who was playing very good grass court tennis," said Douchevina. "This has been a terrific week for me. I have nothing to lose tomorrow and am just going to go out there to do my best."

Now here's a surprising final from 's-Hertogenbosch: Klara Koukalova v. Lucie Safarova. Czech tennis lives!

HELLO … SERENA?
I spent a fair amount of time writing up the Williams sisters on Thursday and don't want to overload our committed readers, but let it be known that Serena was nearly 40 minutes late for her conference call, an all too familiar occurrence for the two-time Wimby champ. Then she had the nerve to check out twice during the call because she was having her make-up and was distracted. Can someone teach her some manners? Oracene? Venus? Brett Ratner? Even Richard?