Wimbledon Quiz

Mornin', folks. I'm starting to see my way clear of work unrelated to the TennisWorld, and I can see you're already in the thick of analyzing the draw. Me, I'm like Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova - I never look ahead to see who might be playing who in the fourth round, or the quarters. Seriously, though, most of you know that I'm indifferent to reading the tea leaves of a draw. To me, even the easiest of draws can turn on you, quick, and the seemingly toughest fall apart about halfway through (which makes sense, given that all it takes is for seeded players to stumble here and and pretty soon you've got a hole in the draw wide enough to drive David Nalbandian through!).

Speaking of He with the Front Porch, if I were to pick a big first-round upset, I'd look very closely at that Frankie Dancevic vs. Nalbandian match-up. Another reason I don't enjoy bracketology: I can't ever figure out who's playing who because the names are jammed so close together on the first-round brackets. It's irritating work trying to figure out who plays who, so I'm always inclined to just say to hail with it. Let the assassins do their work for a day or two and then all will be more clear.

So how about we do a quick quiz, while we're marking time? The honor system is in effect here, so answer the questions consulting only your draw sheet where appropriate (that is, peruse the names, but don't come up with a right answer simply by doing the math). No multiple choice here, Tribe, we're hardcore at TW. I suggest you just post your replies in the comments, as in: 1-Borg, 2-Connors, 3- McEnroe. .

We'll post the answers Sunday morning:

1 - Roger Federer is bidding to win his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. How many men since 1900 have won six or more consecutive titles at one Grand Slam event (all time)?

2  - Who did Federer last lose to at Wimbledon?

3 - Rafael Nadal is bidding to become only the third man in the Open era to complete a "Channel Slam" (joining Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg), winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon, back-to-back. Two Australian men turned the feat between 1950 and the Open era. Who were they?

4 - Federer won Wimbledon last year without winning one of the sanctioned warm-up events (Queens, Halle, Nottingham, 's-Hertogengbosch). When was the last previous year that happened?

5 – Which Open-era  player (male or female) has the most Grand Slam appearances?

6  - Who was the first Wimbledon defending champ of the Open era to lose his title in the first round the following year?

7 - Eight male former Grand Slam champs are entered in Wimbledon; which one won his first major at earliest date?

8 - Jimmy Connors leads all Open era performers with 223 wins at Grand Slam venues. Who's second on that list?

9 - Since 1990, a British man has reached at least the third round every year but one - which year was it?

10  - France has the most players in the men's draw (15). Spain and the U.S. are tied with one other nation in second place, with 12. What nation is it?

Have at it, and have a good weekend!