Wimbledon..my favorite under three week event in late June/early July

I grew up watching Wimbledon every summer vacation.  There was something soothing and magical about watching tennis played on grass.  We were fortunate enough to have American tennis champs to root for...Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Billy Jean King, Chris Evert, Pete Sampras...Martina, after she defected.

In recent years, we've had little to cheer on the Men's side (I won't be reviewing the women's tourney; their grunting really puts me off).  Sure, Andy Roddick won a U.S. Open in 2003, but that was 8 years ago and although he's been to 3 finals at Wimbledon, you never quite felt he could win it.  Not when he was playing Federer each time (although that 2009 final was one for the books).

With Tennis' Big Three of Nadal, Djokovich, and Federer all playing exceptionally well right now (and Andy Murray lurking on the edge of that, as he is a perennial semi-final contender at Wimbledon), it's hard to conceive of a way that an American could reach even the semi-finals.  Roddick (8) and Mardy Fish (10) are the only Americans seeded.

As far as unseeded Americans...I only can take some hope that John Isner can advance a few rounds as he has been playing better tennis this year (and this fallacy of his "drawing" Mahut, a rematch of last year's record-setting match is about as staged as a pre-school beauty pageant; Wimbledon is stooping to trying to get attention on Day 1 with a stunt matchup).  Of course, Americans can only hope that Donald Young could advance to the round of 32 if he plays really well.  I think Young has been the future hope of American tennis for the past few years.