nnual charity exhibition event at the SSE Hydro last week.This comes as a sli

WIMBLEDON -- In 1997, Venus Williams, playing her first Wimbledon, didnt set foot onto the court for her first match until the middle Saturday.Only 17, the hype gave way to soggy grounds and festival of brollies for nearly a week. When Williams finally appeared on Court 1, she stumbled on the lush turf -- and not necessarily because of the court conditions -- falling to Magdalena Grzybowska in three sets.At the time, the tournament was about 120 matches behind schedule and had to make up ground by playing on a usually match-free middle Sunday.Williams didnt appear bothered by the extended wait, going as far as saying she wasnt disappointed at all.Perhaps, but when it rains at todays All England Club, which has one roof under Centre Court, the rich get richer.On Wednesday, during one of several rain delays, ESPN analysts Chris Evert, Pam Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez weighed in.It pays to be a top-ranked player when it rains and theres a roof, said Evert, an 18-time Grand Slam champion. Is it fair? No, its not. But thats one of the perks of being a top player.Pam Shriver, who won 21 major doubles titles, said there are more positives than negatives. One show can go on, TV can broadcast live and fans who bought a Centre Court ticket can watch, she said. Guess what? Everyone whos left behind, they have to figure it out.Said Mary Joe Fernandez, a longtime WTA player, Getting some matches done is better than none.No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic, playing his second consecutive match on Centre Court and his first under the roof, vaulted into the third round just about the time they were serving tea.Meanwhile, out on water-logged Court 8, John Isner was nine minutes into his first-round match with Marcos Baghdatis. After rain washed out play Tuesday, there was a more than four-hour delay between Wednesdays second and third games.More evidence the balance of power has shifted to the elite players?Eight players have yet to hit a single ball, while Djokovic and Roger Federer, who won under the roof late Wednesday, are into the third round.Were the only match played at the time, Djokovic explained. I was fortunate I was scheduled for Centre Court, which helps on days like this. When the roof is closed, it is more special, it gets loud. It was fun.Especially enjoyable now that he can sleep in Thursday, practice leisurely and watch for the result of the Sam Querrey-Thomaz Bellucci, who were only in the second set of their match on Court 7.Weather permitting, of course.After losing a first-set tiebreaker to Isner, Baghdatis complained to a supervisor that he didnt feel safe on the court.Teenager Alexander Zverev won his first-round match but said, It was tough to move. The court was quite fast. Im just happy to get it done.The rain also gives the All England Club the discretionary power to grant favors to their favorites. Case in point: Belinda Bencic got the golden ticket when her match against Tsvetana Pironkova was added to the Centre Court card.After the outside matches were suspended for the day, Eugenie Bouchard was permitted to finish up her match with Magdalena Rybarikova?in Centre Court. It might be a coincidence, but Bouchard was famously named after Great Britains Princess Eugenie by her mother, Julie Leclair, a self-avowed Royals fanatic.Championships Referee Andrew Jarrett has been frantically busy, canceling matches with an eye to the sky and keeping in touch with his on-court supervisors via walkie-talkie.The final count after three extended rain delays Wednesday: 62 matches were scheduled but only 16 completed. Twenty-six matches never began.One decision was made to keep things moving once the skies clear: to reduce the mens doubles first-round matches to best-of-three sets. This was the eighth time its happened here and the first since 2011. In theory, the remainder of the doubles will be best-of-five affairs, something that happens only at Wimbledon.Australian Bernard Tomic was about to enter into the fifth set Tuesday evening against Fernando Verdasco when rain intervened.It was just a pain, Tomic said. The last 24 hours was just very tough because you have to go to sleep, you have one set to go, and then to come out playing well.After breaking Verdasco Wednesday and holding to take a 4-3 lead, rain forced the players from the court again, this time for four hours. Tomic eventually served out the match. His reward? He plays his second-round match Thursday against qualifier Radu Albot.Back in the mid-80s, when the Australian Open was held in Kooyong, Evert and Shriver experienced similar delays. Bored, they raided the mens locker room.Attacked it, actually, Evert said. Stefan Edberg was standing there with only a towel around his waist.As was ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert.Thank god he was dressed, Evert quipped.The other women in the locker room caught wind of this and joined Shriver and Evert, about five or six in total.But we were the ringleaders, Shriver said forcefully. Evert said the guys love it, but conceded they didnt see anyone naked.Yeah, we didnt see anyone, but when we left, we at least got to tell each other dirty jokes for about a half hour, Shriver said.But dont expect anything like that to happen today.Wed have to get past at least five security guards, Evert said.Nike Air Max Net . -- The Magic have their first victory of the new year. Nike Air Max Salg . President of baseball operations Larry Beinfest was fired Friday after 12 years with the Marlins. The move came as the team neared the end of its third consecutive last-place season in the NL East. http://www.nikeairmaxnorge.com/ . Only three players drafted by NHL clubs were included on the Czech selection camp roster on Wednesday. Those players were Dallas Stars 2012 first-rounder Radek Faksa, Winnipeg Jets 2013 fourth-rounder Jan Kostalek and Phoenix Coyotes 2012 seventh-rounder Marek Langhamer. Nike Air Max Nettbutikk . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Nike Air Max Sko . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe.This is time of season when under-the-radar players have ample opportunity to make up ground in the rankings or establish some momentum heading into the next year.For Caroline Wozniacki and a couple of precocious ATP stars, they did both. Here are a few notable items that resonated with our cache of tennis writers this past week:@CarlBialik: A month ago, Caroline Wozniacki had a career résumé most players would envy: 23 career titles, two major finals and 67 weeks at No. 1 (more than Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova, Kim Clijsters and Venus Williams).But Wozniacki had never beaten two top-10 players in two successive tournaments. Now she has, with two such wins on her way to the US Open semifinals earlier this month and two more on her way to the Tokyo title last week. The championship gave Wozniacki 24 career titles.There was no particular reason to expect Wozniacki to create career highlights heading into the US Open. She was ranked 74th in the world and hadnt reached a quarterfinal in six months and hadnt beaten a top-10 player in 11 months. Further, she hadnt won a tournament in 18 months.But Wozniacki was starting to feel healthy again, and her good form coincided with her best major, where she reached the final in New York in 2009 and 2014.Now Wozniackis comeback is on an accelerated schedule. She beat Samantha Stosur in Wuhan on Monday -- the Danes fifth top-20 win in a month after scoring just one in the prior 11 months. Wozniacki could return to the top 20 herself with a few more wins.Win another title this week, Wozniacki has a chance to qualify for the WTA Finals. The last time she got there, in 2014, she won three matches and came within two points of upsetting Serena Williams. Wozniacki might be playing even better tennis today.@ptbodo:?Lucas Pouille did some fair racket work this past weekend. He won the first ATP Tour title of his career at Metz, France. In the final, he knocked off Dominic Thiem.Pouille was playing against a generational rival -- and a player in Thiem who, with justification, has always been more highly touted. Thiem already has four ATP titles this year alone.Pouille is the No. 2-ranked player in the under-23 category behind Nick Kyrgios. And while his game isnt as flashy, it is no less explosive. And Pouilles temperament is in an entirely different league. Hes savvy, self-controlled and good under pressure.Growing up, Pouille admired Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. I didnt copy the way they played, Pouille told the ATP communications staff. But I tried to emulate their attitude on the court and their mental strength.ddddddddddddPouille demonstrated those qualities as he made the quarterfinals at the last two majors of the year. At Wimbledon, he knocked off Juan Martin del Potro. At the US Open, he upset No. 5 Nadal in the fourth-round.The win against Thiem was Pouilles fifth over a top-10 opponent this year -- and his 30th overall. Pouille did benefit from a home-court advantage of sorts: French players have won Metz seven of the past eight years.@mattwilansky: Its not easy to create buzz this time of year on the tennis circuit, but Alexander Zverev did just that Sunday. One of the highly touted up-and-comers, Zverev upset US Open champ?Stan Wawrinka?6-2, 3-6, 7-5 in the final of the St. Petersburg Open.Zverev, a flashy 19-year-old from Germany, has been the centerpiece of a next generation of stars. Hes 6-foot-6 with an stout all-court game. At No. 24, hes the youngest player in the top 50. His triumph Sunday was his first career title.Talented as Zverev is, his win has to come as a major surprise given his red-hot opponent. Wawrinka had been riding a 10-match winning streak, which included his run in New York. The Swiss, arguably the best big-game player at the moment, had won his past 11 finals.Even more stunning, Wawrinka was up 3-0 in the final set before succumbing.Zverev summed up his performance succinctly and accurately afterward, telling the media: This victory is something special.@natkinESPN: It speaks to Andy Murrays character that he is already thinking about his legacy while in the prime of his career. Aside from trying to win more titles, Murray told the British media he will try to leverage his weight in bringing an ATP Tour 250 event to Glasgow, where he launched an annual charity exhibition event at the SSE Hydro last week.This comes as a slice of good news, as Murrays mother, Judy, has voiced concerns, saying Scotland is failing to capitalize on the buzz and opportunity created by her two sons.Just ￡800,000 is allocated to Scotland from the Lawn Tennis Associations ￡64 million annual budget, a paltry amount given how much Andy and Jamie Murray -- both three-time Grand Slam champions in singles and doubles, respectively -- have contributed to highlighting the sport.More tennis courts must be built in working-class areas of Scotland -- there are none in the east end of Glasgow for instance -- or the risk of losing the next generation of British tennis talent is high. ' ' '