Wimbledon Bound; Both No. 1s Lose in LA Friday; ACC, SEC Conference Finals Set

It's official. I will be covering the Junior Championships at Wimbledon this year at zootennis.com. I had received an email a couple of weeks back informing me that I was approved, and today I received the official accreditation in the mail. It speaks to the Wimbledon way of doing things that they actually use the post; the other two slams I've covered--Australia in 2006 and the US Open since 2004--simply send emails.

This will be my second trip to Wimbledon. I went in 2007, the year Donald Young won the boys title, and it rained for the first three days and often the next two, resulting in match tiebreakers to decide third sets once play resumed, and leaving many second round matches unfinished as late as Thursday. Madison Brengle made the final, losing to Urszula Radwanska, so despite the miserable weather, which improved dramatically for the last three days, it was great to be there.

I had received my credential back then through Tennis magazine, because until this year, all journalists had to be accredited through a print publication. Internet-only journalists were not accepted. This year that policy was changed and in late January I sent an email requesting a credential. An immediate response assured me I would be considered "at a later stage", but since I had filled out no formal request, I was shocked when I was received an email two months later saying I had been approved.

With the excitement also came the anxiety. The expense is one of the reasons I didn't try to get a magazine or newspaper to sponsor me the past four years, but I was able to find a reasonably priced flight this year, and hope to find convenient accommodations, although I haven't yet. Wimbledon is now very strict about photographs, and as a member of the media, I am not allowed to take photos myself without special permission (on the outer courts only), which I am to request when I arrive. Without my usual accredited photographer, I will be working out an arrangement with someone accredited and onsite at least for the final few days if I can. I hope what I can add by being there will make up for the lack of visual evidence that I am.

The junior fact sheet is out, but it will be some time before the acceptances are released, with the closing date for entries May 22. Last year the boys ranking cutoff for the main draw at Wimbledon was 53 and the girls ranking cutoff was a puzzling 314. (In 2010 the numbers were 70 and 275, and in 2009, a more balanced 58 and 64). I hope that doesn't discourage any US boys from applying and I hope it encourages girls who are considering a possible trip over there.

To return to the upcoming focus of zootennis, the climax of the college tennis season, there's been some spice added to the soup with both No. 1s losing at home yesterday in Los Angeles. The fourth-ranked USC women zipped past top-ranked UCLA, winning the doubles point and getting three straight-set wins from Sabrina Santamaria, Kaitlyn Christian and Valeria Pulido at 3, 4 and 6 to clinch the match. The final score was 6-1, with Chanelle Van Nguyen collecting UCLA's lone point at 5. This gave USC at least a share of the Pac-12 title. Stanford, who beat Cal 4-3 today, will join USC as conference champs if they beat Washington State next week in a make-up match at Ojai. Both have one conference loss, with USC losing to Stanford and Stanford losing to UCLA. None of this clears up anything regarding favored status at the NCAAs next month in Athens, which just means more excitement and anticipation.

The USC men fell 4-3 to No. 5 UCLA yesterday, suffering their first loss of the year and ending their winning streak at 45. The Trojans won the doubles point and four first sets in singles, but both Bruin freshmen Marcos Giron at 4 and Dennis Mkrtchian at 6 rebounded from first set losses to post their points. Unlike the women, the men are playing a conference team event for the first time next week in Ojai, so their rubber match (USC won their first meeting in February) could be as soon as Sunday.

The SEC conference tournament finals are Sunday, with the Georgia men facing Kentucky and the Georgia women meeting defending NCAA champion Florida in Starkville. Both Georgia teams lost 4-3 in Athens to their opponents earlier in the year.

In the ACC conference tournament finals in Cary, NC, also Sunday, the Virginia men face Duke for the title. It's Virginia's ninth straight appearance in the ACC tournament final, while Duke is in its third. The women's ACC conference title will be decided between Duke and North Carolina. Ten days ago, Duke and North Carolina met in a conference dual match, with the Blue Devils posting a 4-0 win.

In the Big East tournament, host University of South Florida has both men's and women's teams in the finals Sunday. The women will play Notre Dame and the men, who upset Notre Dame today, will play Louisville.