TENNIS: Quarter finals

I pretty much only managed to see the highlights of the QFs, and it's testament to the strengths of the respective sports, that I'm more disappointed about losing the men's matches. [I caught the last two games of Roddick v. Hewitt and then got distracted by seeing the score of the second set tiebreak, which I misread as 19, not 11]. It's turned out almost as I'd mentally called it - I said Russians and Williamses, although I was making mental space for Kusnetsov as French Open champion (and a better grass court player than Safina, who I think has the least chance of going through in the women's). And okay, when Del Potro went out, I was expecting Roddick, Murray, Federer and Djokovic to be the last 4, but I'm very pleased for Haas (his age! His story! His good looks!!) Where was Djokovic's hunger? This man had beaten him in the Halle final, he'd had a good run, but it was time for the third-highest-ranked seed to smack him down on the bigger stage and - sans Nadal - show himself back to be back in contention. (Federer would have won, but Djokovic was meant to push and tire him in prepration for Murray.) Except he didn't. He's now underlined how he's outside of the big three. I hope women's world no. 4 Dementieva is hungrier and wants to improve on her performance last year. I have a longstanding and possibly unfair by now dislike of all-Williams finals. Even when both are putting their all into it, it's not a full-blooded rivalry, and there's a point at which you know one sister is hating it. It can be a right miserable time.

And although it's an interesting theoretical excercise as to who you'd support (the former world number one or two? The man with one slam, the one with none who came back from terrible injuries? The one with the amazing serve and wit? The one who looks a bit like Ethan Hawke>) Haas and Roddick simply mustn't be allowed to get in the way of the tantalising prospect that is Murray meeting Federer. I'm edgier about Murray, although he has Roddick's number and should win, while Federer has, under cover of the local drama, without the prospect of Nadal and having shcken off the French duck is winning easily enough to offer a constant reminder of why they call him the greatest of all time.