Serena, Novak still around as Wimbledon begins second week
Women's matches at Wimbledon
Men's matches at Wimbledon
Stunning Wimbledon upsets and injuries
WIMBLEDON, England - There's a guy who once hit himself on the head so hard with a racket he drew blood. There's a young Englishwoman who's being treated as the Queen.
And, of course, there are top seeds, who despite so much chaos the first week of Wimbledon 2013, remain as perfect as they are supposed to be.
Week 2 of the All England Lawn Tennis Championships, edition 127, begins Monday without many of the top players -- Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Victoria Azarenka, Maria Sharapova -- but with the two best, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams, at their best.
Heading into her fourth-round match Monday against Sabine Lisicki, Williams has won all six sets and lost only a total of 11 games. Djokovic, a No. 1 seed like Williams, has won all nine sets in three matches while dropping only 29 games. He will be facing Tommy Haas, 35, in his fourth-rounder.
What Mikhail Youzhny of Russia will not receive in his fourth-round match against Andy Murray is local support. Murray, the Scot, is trying to become the first British man since 1936 to win Wimbledon. (Virginia Wade of England won the women's title in 1977.)
A man of short temper, Youzhny in a 2008 match got so angry after missing a shot that he smacked himself until his head began to bleed. "It will be a tough match for me," Youzhny predicted correctly.
Laura Robson of England (she was born in Australia) on Saturday became the first British woman since 1998 to make it to Wimbledon's second week, and the Sunday papers gave her a coronation, big photos on the front news section of both the Times and Telegraph.
Fourth-round foe for the 19-year-old Robson is 28-year-old Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, a lady with a big serve. "My neighbor keeps putting newspapers under the door," Robson said of her new fame.
Williams has won 34 in a row since a loss to Azarenka in February at Doha and 77 of 80 over the past year. One of those three defeats, when she was having back problems, was to fellow American Sloane Stephens in the Australian Open quarters in January.
Stephens has been labeled the lady to replace the Williams sisters in U.S. tennis, but she has yet to take the big step. A victory over Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who like Stephens attended Nick Bolletteri's academy in Florida, might be that step.
"Feeling good, playing well," said Stephens, 20. "Just going to keep going, hopefully. But every round here gets harder."
As it should be.
