A Tradition Unlike Any Other...

No, not the Masters. A better sporting event with better grass than is found at Augusta National started today, and I am really excited about it. I am talking, of course, about the Tennis championships at Wimbledon. I wrote about the French Open recently, but Wimbledon is on an entirely different level. It just has a mystique about it with the all-white clothing that is required by the All-England club and the beautiful grass courts where the matches are played. I also would submit that grass is the best tennis surface because it produces the most exciting matches. Players are moving around the court both horizontally and vertically more than on any other surface, especially clay.

That being said, there is unfortunately not quite as much excitement as there could be in the men's draw with defending champion Rafael Nadal having dropped out of the tournament two days ago. Now the men's side feels like you can pretty much hand the trophy over to World number two Roger Federer, who lost to Nadal last year in one of the greatest tennis matches ever. Federer won five straight Wimbledon titles before last year, and he is ready to be back on top. Without Nadal there to challenge him, it seems like it should be an easy win for the Swiss tennis star. The tournament is still worth watching though, because grass is American Andy Roddick's best surface, and he usually makes a pretty deep run into Wimbledon, which is something pretty rare for American men's tennis lately.

There is also lots of excitement on the women's side, with defending champion Venus Williams coming back to try and best her sister Serena again. Maria Sharapova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Dinara Safina, and Elena Dementieva all figure to be players for the championship again in a field of players that seems to be very even. That is the one good thing about women's tennis right now: you never know who is going to make it to the finals in a major on the women's side. That has not been the case on the men's side recently, and it certainly introduces a great deal of intrigue for the women's tournament.

Check out Wimbledon on ESPN2 starting at 7 am on weekdays. Watch when you can, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.