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Wimbledon '98.

© Michael Cecilio

So, have we all been following Wimbledon '98 intently? I sure have! Here in Australia, the matches are broadcast live from 10:30 p.m. to 4 a.m., and yes, I've been trying to stay up all the way through - it's only ever happened once or twice in the past week that I don't fall asleep in the middle of a match.

In any case, sometimes there was no point in staying up all throughout the whole broadcast. How many rain delays have their been already?! Besides the first day of play, I would assume that there was a rain delay for every single day. And on Saturday, not only was there a rain delay, but there was also a fire from a burning apartment adjacent to Court 18. Yep, you could see it all, the rain, the fire, but not too many matches going on.

Yet, somehow, they still managed to complete 115 matches by the end of the first week - that is, all the first and second round matches and more than half of third round matches. A lot of it has been very interesting tennis. A lot of surprises have occurred, although these days, they are expected at every Grand Slam. Some good players have shone through the tournament as great players. And a mile long of controversies surrounding some matches.

Surprise! We began the tournament with 32 seeds, as you know - 16 men and 16 women. And in the third round, only eight men's seeds and 12 women's seeds remain. Actually, it's a bit of an improvement from Wimbledon, when most of the top eight seeds from the men were eliminated before the third round. Among the seeds to fall were 10th-seed French Open finalist Alex Corretja in the first round to American Justin Gimelstob. Unexpected? I think not. Many Spaniards have a tough time playing on grass, especially because of their clay court expertise, which is such a great transition. Similarly, French Open champion and fifth seed Carlos Moya mustered all he could to get past a qualifier in the first round, but lost in the next round to a rather flamboyant Moroccan Hicham Arazi in four sets. However, the same fate has not met their countryman and French Open semi-finalist 16th seed Felix Mantilla as he has managed to get past the first two rounds, and we await the results to see if a fourth round clash between Felix Mantilla and Pete Sampras eventuate.

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