Serena Williams willing to concede No. 1, for now

TODAY’S FEATURED MATCHES

(second round; world rankings in parentheses)

Serena Williams (2) vs.

Jarmila Groth (69), Australia

Williams, 25-2 in the last five Grand Slams, has abandoned her brief claim from May that she, not Dinara Safina, deserves the No. 1 slot, graciously claiming that Safina deserves it. It just proves how hard it can be to tell an inconvenient truth in an imperfect world.

Roger Federer (2), Switzerland, vs.

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (42), Spain

Federer refuses to divulge the due date for the birth of his and wife Mirka’s first child. Clearly he doesn’t want the Brits running down to the high-street parlor making wild future Wimbledon bets.

Maria Sharapova (60), Russia, vs.

Gisela Dulko (45), Argentina

Some think Sharapova’s passage to the French Open quarterfinals after a 10-month layoff an indictment of the women’s game. Others think it a reflection on Sharapova, while still others don’t tend to think much at all and don’t really concern themselves with just how Sharapova got to the quarterfinals.

Sam Querrey (47) vs. Marin Cilic (13), Croatia

With the 21-year-old, 6-foot-6 Querrey largely unfamiliar to the seasoned Centre Court patrons, some might wonder whether in addition to being from a place called Thousand Oaks he isn’t actually one of these alleged thousand oaks.

Vince Spadea (113) vs. Igor Andreev (26), Russia

It probably stops here for Spadea, but look, he made the Wimbledon second round at age almost-35. Did you?

ENGLISH BREAKFAST

As six British players lost to bring the aggregate first-round record to 2-9, British news conferences continued to be among the liveliest upon a wretched planet. After the No. 191-ranked Alex Bogdanovic lost in the first round for the eighth consecutive year, an early question went, “I think you have the worst record of any man here. How does that make you feel?” (Answer: “Well, you know, I’m not really concerned about that . . .”) And after the top British woman, No. 51-ranked Anne Keothavong, fell apart after leading 5-3 and lost, 7-5, 6-2, to No. 80 Patricia Mayr of Austria, a question went, “This is not an accusation, but do you feel as though you’ve let a few people down today?” After beginning with, “I feel like I’ve let myself down more than anything,” Keothavong continued a bit but then teared up and left, returning moments later to say, “Sorry,” and to continue.

BRITMANIA UPDATE

The former Henman Hill, where fans without reserved seats would sit outside to watch on the jumbo video screen, in recent years has become Murray Mound, and on Tuesday as Andy Murray played Robert Kendrick, it looked like one of those old photos of a New York beach with every conceivable inch covered in humanity. It can get loud there, especially when people consume various liquids that may cause them to speak in a more vociferous manner.

ROOF UPDATE

A cloudless day on Tuesday meant a useless roof on Tuesday.

ALSO ON TUESDAY

Andy Roddick, looking fabulous in stages against a go-for-broke sort, fought through No. 43 Jeremy Chardy of France, 6-3, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3, and stressed the importance of getting through. . . . The 2008 quarterfinalist Arnaud Clement would have played No. 1 Rafael Nadal, but Nadal withdrew so Clement got fast-rising No. 5 Juan Martin Del Potro, and after a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 rout may have been the first man in history to wish he’d played Nadal. . . . No. 13-seeded Ana Ivanovic, the affable sort who won the 2008 French Open, reached No. 1 then misplaced her confidence, fought and fist-pumped through a 5-7, 6-2, 8-6 win over No. 58 Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic. . . . The shaky No. 1 of the moment, Safina, fought through Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain, 7-5, 6-3.

STATISTIC OF THE DAY

25: The number of consecutive sets Venus Williams has won at Wimbledon, dating to a third-round match in 2007 against Akiko Morigami, who took their second set, 6-3.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Andy Roddick, on what he thought of “The Hangover,” which he had tweeted as having seen:

“To clarify, he’s asking about a movie, not my choice of beverages. Yeah, it was all right.”

-- Chuck Culpepper