Maria Sharapova’s upset rocked the women’s draw on day three at Wimbledon, and on Thursday two other former champions will hope to avoid a similar fate.
Defending champion Venus Williams returns to the courts of SW19 for her second round match, as well as No. 1 Dinara Safina and 2006 winner Amelie Mauresmo.
The Tube’s the Thing
Wimbledon has stepped into the twenty-first century with the launch of an official YouTube channel. While you won’t find match highlights—at least not yet—it does have some interesting videos, including the following clip of the now infamous Larcher de Brito shrieks.
OTB’s Can’t Miss Matches of the Day
Venus Williams (USA)[3] v. Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR)
Venus Williams looked ominous in her opening match Tuesday and although Kateryna is an accomplished doubles player, she lacks the skills and experience necessary to bring Venus down on grass.
Dinara Safina (RUS)[1] v. Rossana De Los Rios (PAR)
Dinara Safina’s performance during the first round was far from number one ranking worthy. The personal demons she battled in the French Open final have not appeared to vanish completely, but if Dinara can stay focused, she should be able to get past the Paraguay veteran in two sets.
Amelie Mauresmo (FRA)[17] v. Kristina Kucova (SVK)
Mauresmo flirted with disaster briefly during her own opener, but rebounded to win in three sets. That’s one set too many for the former champion, and unless her form improves, she won’t make the second week.
Dazzle Your Desktop
If you still can’t get enough of Wimbledon, add a piece of SW19 to your desktop computer.
Enter OTB’s Pick the Winner’s Contest
How well do you know tennis? Do you think you can pick the winner of Thursday’s featured match? Guess correctly and you might be one of the three lucky people chosen to win a pair of Drymax tennis socks!
To enter, simply select your pick for the winner of Thursday’s match between Sara Errani (ITA) vs. Ana Ivanovic (SRB)[13]. All entries must be received by 7:00 AM ET on Thursday. Only one entry per person.
Entry for today’s match has ended.
ESPN2 and ESPN360.com Schedule for Thursday
Early Round Day 4 – ESPN2 – 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM (LIVE)
Early Round Coverage Day 4 – ESPN360.com – 7:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Watch Live Online)
