Roddick: Isn't it both of them? And a back and a hip?

Reporter: And when he said there are too many to count ...

Roddick: And a cramp.

Reporter: Do you get a sense right now that he is ...

Roddick: Bird flu.

Reporter: A lot of things. Beijing hangover. He's got a pretty long list of illness.

Roddick: Anthrax. SARS. Common cough and cold.

This is the kind of trash-talking we need more in sports. A tennis player known for his antics is doing the same song and dance and someone finally calls him on it. I have actually tried to play tennis before with the Bird Flu and serving the ball is somewhat managable, but boy does it get to you around the net.

Thirty-one, number one. Eighteen, number two. Ask 2007 Wimbledon champion, #31-seed Venus Williams; Just ask #18-seed and runner-up Marion Bartoli of .

Tennis is funny like that, then again, so is sports. When you want to win too much, you'll invariably lose. Just ask Roger Federer about that French Open final. After Wimbledon he tailored his season for the red clay of Roland Garros - and still lost to Rafael Nadal.

For Justine Henin, Wimbledon is the one Grand Slam tournament she hasn't won. Yesterday, after a 6-1 set against Marion Bartoli, Henin was but six games from a finals matchup against Venus Williams. The thought of "tomorrow" became an untenable weight in the world's #one's mind. After a second set struggle that she lost 7-5, the weight came in the form of a boulder that rolled right over Henin. Bartoli crushed Henin, 6-1 in the third and final set.

Today, the weight appeared not to be on Williams, but on Bartoli. After she absorbed a 6-4, 6-1 beating at the racket of the older Williams sister, Bartoli broke down and cried. That only happens when a player has a plan they feel is infallible if executed correctly. Either Bartoli's plan was wrong or her execution was weak.

Maybe Williams, today at least, proved she is just the better tennis player.

The first six games of the match see-sawed. Bartoli showed her nerves in losing the first three games. Williams showed she could take her foot off the gas, even in the finals of a Grand Slam, losing the next three games. However, Williams righted herself and played like the four-time Wimbledon champion she now is and won 12 of the next 14 games.

Though Bartoli played valiantly, her groundstrokes and her athletic ability were no match for Williams. In fact, the way Venus played after her first two Wimbledon matches - they were struggles - not even a healthy Serena could have beaten her older sister.

Thirty-one is number one - at least at Wimbledon.

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On the men's side of things, Roger Federer brushed aside Richard Gasquet (or "Dickie Gasket," as ex-pro, coach of Andy Murray, and announcer Brad Gilbert calls the Frenchman), 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Club Fed will shoot for his fifth Wimbledon title in a row tomorrow against Rafael Nadal, who defeated an injured (back) Novak Djokovic, 3-6, 6-1, 4-1 (retired).