By: Matt DeCorso

Hey guys! It's great to be back in the "scheme" of things! Since we last talked, Myskina powered her way to the Roland Garros title, Maria Sharapova shrieked her way to the Birmingham crown, and Kuznetsova literally stole the Eastbourne trophy from Hantuchova. Something sounds familiar. -ina's and -ova's are winning everything! Myskina is opening up her Wimbledon campaign on Monday against Kurhajcova while Maria Sharapova starts against qualifier Beygelzimer. Mary Pierce also deserves some kudos for a stunning week in The Netherlands. She beat Koukalova to take the title. Day 1 promises to be an eye opener so get to a TV and see for yourself! Enjoy!

Marie Gayanay Mikaelian versus Venus Williams

Since the start of the millenium, Venus Williams and SW19 have been known as strawberries and cream or peanut butter and jam. They're so close to each other that they must be used in those analogies! Venus hasn't lost before the finals here since 1999 when she lost a heartbreaker to Steffi Graf in the quarters. Venus dispatched Davenport in the '00 final, battled past Henin-Hardenne to win '01, and then came Serena. In 2002 Venus and Serena played their best match against each other ever, even though it resulted in a straight sets loss for Venus. Then last year, Venus played some amazing tennis to come close to beating little sis before succumbing in three sets. So, this year Venus is looking to make history by reaching 5 consecutive Wimbledon finals. Can she do it? First she'll have to get past Mikaelian. In this match look for Venus to definitley utilise the grass to come in and volley a winning shot or set up a winner.

Weakness: If Venus isn't prepared physically and mentally for this match she can lose!

Marie Gayanay Mikaelian is a 20 year old newcomer from Switzerland. Coming from the land producing Federer and Hingis, you'd think that Marie would be strong and have deft touch around the court..right? Wrong! Marie is definitley a free loader. As we all saw last year in the French Open against Serena, Marie will unleash an onslaught of power from everywhere on the court. She even had the audacity to hit a screaming winner off of one of Serena's 115 mph serves. There is a problem though. Marie used up all of her energy on offense and didn't have enough fitness left to play defense to Serena's winners. Marie also has one title to her name against 31 for Venus. Her year has been rather undefined with her best win over world number 22 (at the time) Zuluaga. In this match look for Marie to try and hit her forehand as often as possible and try and come to net.

Weakness: Her strength may deplete after 30 minutes of bombshells.

Who has the Edge?

Serve- Venus

Movement- Venus

Groundies- Venus

Intangibles- Venus

Volley- Venus

Well it's a clean sweep for the 24 year old American but she is wary. Venus never underestimates an opponent no matter what round or what surface. For Venus, make sure you get Marie moving early as she will get tired. For Marie, come to net and utilise your wingspan. Venus leads their head-to-head: 1-0

Venus b. Mikaelian 6-4 6-1 in 2004 Charleston

Matt's Pick: Venus will wow the crowd with a dazzling display of grass court prowess and win 6-2 6-1.

Thanks