Wimbledon is coming! Wimbledon is coming! Unfortunately World No. 2 Kim Clijsters won’t be there to greet it – she announced today that she’s pulling out with a foot injury. Via her website:

Yesterday, Wednesday, during her match against Romina Oprandi at the UNICEF Open in Rosmalen (NL), Kim Clijsters injured her right ankle again. She is forced to rest a few weeks now and as a consequence misses out on Wimbledon.

“It’s just so frustrating that this happened right now,” Kim said. “I’ve always enjoyed the particular atmosphere at Wimbledon, but I have no choice but to rest now.”

She says her focus is on getting ready for the US Open. On the men’s side, Sam Querrey and Benjamin Becker pulled out with elbow injuries.

Defending Champ and No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal is raring to go. Via his Facebook page:

“After organizing everything. I’m ready for the first workout!”

And yes, he organized everything. Here he is stocking the pantry of his Wimbledon rental. I wonder if he brings his own olive oil from home. . .

He was also on the lawns, hitting with Tommy Robredo this afternoon. Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka practiced together, too, as did Novak Djokvic and Milos Raonic.

Speaking of No. 2 seed Nole, his cover for Italian Men’s Vogue may be my favorite cover shot ever of a male tennis star. Take that, Dolce and Maria!

Too fabulous for words!

Yes the seedings are out, and Wimbledon.com has a nice explanation of how the tournament does things: a rankings based formula for the guys that takes grass court prowess into account and a Committee system for the gals, with ranking held paramount. I must have a thing for men who perform on grass, since two of my favorites, Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga benefited most. Tsonga’s ranked 19, seeded 12 and Michael is ranked 25, seeded 19.

Interesting? Shocking? No biggie? No. 3 seed Roger Federer hasn’t been seeded this “low” since 2003.

No surprise here: the only changes on the ladies’ side involved the Williams sisters. Defending champ Serena Williams – who lost in a tight three sets to last year’s runner up, Vera Zvonareva, today in Eastbourne – goes from a ranking of 26 to a seeding of 7. Five time champ Venus Williams, who rolled through Ana Ivanovic today to make it to the Eastbourne quarterfinals, is ranked 33 but seeded 23.

Wimbledon Referee Andrew Jarrett explains the Committee’s decision as reflecting “the balance between their proven records and also their lack of competitive play in the past 12 months.”

Collectively, the sisters have won the singles title nine times in the past eleven years. Do you think they should be seeded even higher?

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