Well, once again it’s been a brutally bad fortnight for the Brits, with only Andy Murray remaining in the main draw for a chance at The Championships. Perhaps if he’s victorious his coach, Miles Maclagan, will take his shirt off in celebration? We can dream, can’t we?

Meanwhile, home-grown future champ Laura Robson went down – and hard – yesterday, losing 8-6 in the third set of her third-round girl’s singles match. Robson made a strong showing in the first round of the women’s draw, losing to Daniela Hantuchova in three sets. She officially announced her junior career is over. Let’s hope this gal is the real deal- there sure has been lots of hoopla about her, right?

Andy’s bro, Jamie, is also carrying the nation’s flag (and the Scottish flag) in Mixed Doubles, the title which he won two years ago in 2007 with Jelena Jankovic. This time he’s paired with doubles specialist Liezel Huber, a South African who now plays for the US. Meanwhile, the entire Britsh press corps was lamenting the failure of its nation’s tennis while I was in London last week, and even the Wall Street Journal has weighed in on how little success the LTA is cranking out.

(photo by getty images)

Serena Williams and Andy Murray are leading the charge of top-level players who are using their Twitter accounts as means for communicating with their fans.

Last week, Williams created a stir when one of her Tweets complained about a ‘new rule’ in the locker room regarding no food. Wimbledon officials went on the address the situation, but it marked one of the first times in the tennis world that Twitter has been used a means of unofficial communication, giving the social networking site even more power on the web.

TennisTweets.com is a free online service that offers Twitter users and non-users alike to follow professional tennis players. Players such as Andy Roddick, Amer Delic, Sabine Lisicki and Laura Robson are constant Tweeters, while others like retired commentator Jim Courier, Murphy Jensen and Justin Gimblestob also use the service.

The Twitter craze has reached such a height on the pro tour that even the ultra-private, introverted Venus Williams has signed up this past weekend. Her first Tweet: “Just won my 2nd round singles match and 1st round doubles match at Wimbledon!”

And speaking of Wimbledon, the tournament itself is the most addicted of all, Tweeting match scores, updating fans on weather, inside gossip and the like. Oh, and don’t forget to add TSF to your Twitter after you add all those A-List tennis folks. Can’t forget the little Tweeters in life!  

But who’s most popular of all in the tennis-Tweeting world? That would be Serena, of course, with over 487,000 followers.

(screen grab from Twitter.com)

Oudinmania has hit the American press, folks.

The American teen, Melanie Oudin, who beat Jelena Jankovic yesterday to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon is on the front page of the New York Times web site as we speak. She also graced the front page of TENNIS.com, was the main tennis story for USA Today, ESPN.com and many other media outlets.

Sure, the gal’s accomplishment is not to be diminished. But aren’t we all being a little… well, British about this? The desperate state of American tennis is to blame, if you ask me. We are DES-PER-ATE for someone to come along. But is she the real deal?

Does anyone remember Meilen Tu? Or Alexa Glatch? How about Vania King? What about Madison Brengle or Shenay Perry? Alexandra Stevenson? There’s been plenty of up-and-coming Americans for us to get excited about, but never have the media got this excited…

Above, Oudin was showcased on TENNIS.com. Below, she graces ESPN.com.

(screen grabs taken from NYT, TENNIS and ESPN.com)

Who wears short shorts? And has really, really smooth skin?

Find out after the cut.

It’s Fernando Verdasco, my friends. And when I took this picture, a mere few feet away from the Spanish dreamboat himself, I had to wonder: Does Fernando Verdasco shave his legs?

Debate below.

(photos by nmccarvel.)

While TSF’s all smilies about being able to grab Bjorn Borg skivvies from the interwebs — check out the goods here — we were even happier about what we found at the brand’s only US store, in NYC’s SoHo neighborhood.

Yes, friends, they also carry swim trunks! Our fave is this take on tennis short shorts — clean, bright white punctuated by deep red lines. You can check out the rest of the pieces at the boutique located on 89 Crosby Street. (Note: if you’re coming from Spring, it might look like Crosby’s deserted, but fear not — the BB store is past that big construction site. Keep walking!)

Buy: The tennis trunks are $70, and the rest of the swimwear ranges from $52.50 to $80. For those not in New York, perhaps you can give the store a call — 212-625-2334 — to see if they’re willing to mail you your purchase.

More: Three more trunks from the Bjorn Borg spring/summer line after the cut…

(images courtesy of Bjorn Borg)

We are sad to see the 2009 Wimbledon run of Zheng Jie, one of last year’s semifinalists, come to an end so quickly. But we’re not surprised that was in the hands of the always dangerous Dani Hantuchova; the sixteenth seed lost to Hantuchs in straight sets — 6-3, 7-5.

Zheng was wearing another new outfit from ANTA. This time, though, it looks like they overdid the trim on her all-white separates.

More: Two more pics after the cut…

(images via Getty Images)

When designers get painted into a corner by Wimbledon’s white-only (or white-mostly) dress code, a few of them respond in innovative ways, including colored collars.

Here are a few examples:

Marcel Granollers wore a Diadora v-neck with a faux blue layer to his second round match against Robin Soderling. The Spaniard lost 6-4, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 5-7. Nice touch with the gold logo’d hat. Go Bruins!

Kateryna and Nole: See two more styles after the cut…

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic beat Simon Greul 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 in the second round and will play Mardy Fish next. The American beat Tipsy. Le sad.

Note the red detail on the collar of Nole’s crewneck (with red being the trim color for adidas at this year’s Wimbledon. Buy: adidas Summer Edge Djokovic Top, white/pure red, $65.

Kateryna Bondarenko became part of the red carpet that Venus Williams will walk to her sixth Wimbledon singles title. The Ukranian lost 6-3, 6-2.

Buy: A similar style, the Strappy Tankini, $45, can be found on the K-Swiss website.

Lacoste looks back at its tennis roots in its latest men’s scent, the Lacoste Challenge. The unique bottle features a tennis racquet design, referring to Rene Lacoste’s long-ago innovation of adhering plaster to his sticks to improve their grips.

Actor and tennis fan Hayden Christensen will represent the scent in TV and print ads.

The top notes are tangerine and lemon with a burst of lavender (one of the classic ingredients in masculine perfumery). Middle accord is driven by ginger and other spices. Base note combines rosewood, teak, and ebony.

Buy: Available at Macy’s and other department stores later this summer. Eau de Toilette Spray, 1.6 fl. oz. ($40), 2.5 fl. oz. ($50), 3.0 fl. oz. ($60), After Shave Lotion, 2.5 fl. oz. ($42), After Shave Balm, 2.5 fl. oz. ($37), Shower Gel, 5.0 fl. oz. ($27), Deodorant Stick, 2.4 oz. ($21).

More: One more pic of Hayden after the cut…

(images courtesy of Lacoste)

For those of you like me who haven’t made the switch to digital television (it’s been lots of NPR-ing and lullabyes of those DTV commercials), considering going online for your Wimbledon fix.

ESPN360.com is simulcasting ESPN2’s live coverage of the grass court major, and also includes exclusive broadcast from the tournament’s outer courts. Deets: Each weekday, ESPN2’s live coverage will include all-day coverage (beginning at 7am eastern) for the first week; and one Ladies’ and one Gentlemen’s semifinal (July 2 and 3, respectively). Not online: For you SportsCenter fans, they’re also doing an episode of SC immediately following NBC’s coverage of the Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s championships. Fall into a (broadcast) gap: On June 29–July 1, ESPN2 will provide alternate programming on the West Coast (10am-1pm) because NBC will broadcast from the event. Full listing: Click here for ESPN’s sched.

More TV: While we’re talkin’ TV, don’t forget about Tennis Channel, which’ll have an evening program with highlights, interviews and features June 22 through July 1, from 7–11pm.

More web:

• The second week of matches are available on NBC both live and as replays (online).

• If you are outside of the US: The Wimbledon website has live streams and also you can download matches from 6 courts. (Not available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Spain, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, New Caledonia, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, South Korea, East Timor, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Taiwan, Laos, and Maldives.)
• You Brits can watch selected matches from BBC 1 & 2 here.
• And don’t forget the official Wimbledon site, which offers interviews and match highlights.

Andy Roddick’s lunging reminds me of Calvin & Hobbes.

He’s through to the third round of Wimbledon.

More: Andy’s flyin’ all over the place! Pics after the cut…

(images via Getty Images)