Grass Seeds: 10 thoughts on Wimbledon's day 3

Rafael Nadal won his sixteenth straight Wimbledon match today vs. American Ryan Sweeting. Can anybody beat him?

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1o random thoughts on the day that was, plus a #holybejeezus for Rafael Nadal:

1. How awesome is the roof? It's a little bit like a rock-n-roll show when that thing is closed, isn't it? Here's why I like the roof most: the allure of the match on Centre Court seems to grow when it is closed because there is no tennis being played anywhere else on the grounds. Today Venus Williams and Kimiko Date-Krumm's 2nd-round match actually felt like a final. Everybody else stopped what they were doing and payed attention, and it was beautiful.

2. Massive bummer for Canadian tennis, as Milos Raonic was dealt the worst possible hand out on court 3 today, when he slipped and suffered an expectation-crushing injury that was self-diagnosed as "something deep in the hip." Is it the end of the world for Raonic? No, absolutely not. But with each letdown, the remarkable performances of San Jose and Memphis get further out of focus. Is staying healthy going to be an issue for Raonic, and if so, do we need to downgrade our hopes for him proportionally?

3. Great to see Laura Robson get her first Grand Slam win at the age of 17. The celebration will have to be short lived, however, because Maria Sharapova awaits tomorrow, but kudos to her for beating Angelique Kerber of Germany in a hard-fought battle nonetheless.

4. Andy Roddick has served 45 aces and stared down the only two break points he's faced thus far in two rounds. When a three-time finalist gets out of the gate with that kind of authority, you have to stand up and take notice. He'll face Feliciano a.k.a Deliciano Lopez in R3.

5. Let's have a standing O for the Wimbledon crowds. You always hear players lavishing Wimbledon with all this praise, as if the other Slams were red-headed stepchildren of the Championships, and I think the crowd has a lot to do with this prevailing sentiment. Simply put, the Brits get tennis, and they know what's proper when they attend matches. Their round of applause for Kimiko Date-Krumm for a job well done in defeat against Venus Williams wouldn't have happened anywhere else, and for that I thank them.

6. How great is it that the serve-and-volley guru of women's tennis, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez is through to the third round? She was 29 of 37 on net approaches vs. Monica Niculescu today. Can she possibly have that kind of success against Venus Williams in R3? Of course not. Can she win? Of course. It is the anything-can-happen-and-most-likely-will era in the WTA, after all.

7. Juan Martin del Potro lost the first set to Olivier Rochus yesterday then threw a shoe into the crowd. Will he comeback barefoot tomorrow for the conclusion of their 2nd round match?

8. Sabine Lisicki thumped 8 aces and 22 winners in her double breadstick (that's 6-1, 6-1 for the uninitiated) victory over Anistasija Sevastova today. Tomorrow she'll face a stauncher foe: Li Na. Get your popcorn ready.

9. Is Robin Haase that amazing or is Fernando Verdasco that uninspired? Perhaps a little of both. I guess we'll know more about Haase when he takes on Mardy Fish for a spot in the 4th round later this week. As far as Verdasco goes, he's lost two of three Wimbledon matches in the last two years -- not good, 'Nando.

10. Patrick McEnroe is calling an upset of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga by Grigor Dimitrov tomorrow, in 4 sets. I think he's crazy, what about you?

11. Is it just me or does Rafa's forehand look even more vicious than usual? 38 winners vs. 7 unforced errors vs. Ryan Sweeting today. #HOLYBEJEEZUS.