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But first, a brief complaint. Those of you who know me, as well those who occasionally read my stuff, know that I like tennis. So it pains me to say this, but ...

Tennis may be the worst sport in the world when it comes to finding important information about it on the web. I'm not knocking the ATP. Rather it's the individual tournament sites. The hardest thing to find, invariably, is a freaking schedule of play for the day.

Fortunately, that's what they pay me the big bucks (okay, a liveable wage) to do. So after trolling around for a bit on the Wimbledon site, I found this page that gives us the order of play today.

There's no John Isner on it today. That's not really a surprise in singles, for this reason. Things kicked off with Roger Federer - who won easily, who'da thunk it? You'd expect then, that Rafael Nadal would be held back until tomorrow because tournament organizers like to spread out their big-ticket attractions. Since Isner is in Nadal's part of the draw (they'd meet in the second round if both win their first matches) then you'd figure Isner will play tomorrow. Weather permitting, of course. This is England in the summer, after all. Or heck, England any time of the year.

What's interesting, and actually a bit puzzling to me, is that Isner is not part of the doubles draw. The guy he partnered with at the French Open, Sam Querrey, is playing with a big Dutchman named Robin Haase, who's currently giving Leyton Hewitt fits by the way. Isner and Querrey upset the No. 15 seed at the French and lost to the No. 1 team in the world in the Round of 16. I thought the huge-serving duo would want to try their luck again on the grass. I'm not sure why that didn't happen, but I'll try to find out from either John or his family. It's a little tricky running John down these days because his cell phone doesn't work in England. (See, pro athletes are just like you and me!)

Anyway, that leaves Isner with just singles to worry about. And there's plenty there to worry about, actually. Sure there's Nadal lurking in the second round, but just getting to the second round would be a pretty significant accomplishment.

First, consider that Isner is not exactly coming in the Wimbledown with a ton of momentum. In his last three tournaments - the French Open and two grass-court events - he's one and three. The one win was a nice one, over South African Kevin Anderson, but it's hard to get into a groove when you've only had four matches in the last month.

Second, consider Isner's first-round opponent, Ernests Gulbis. Don't be fooled by the No. 48 world ranking. The 19-year-old Latvian is considered one of the top young talents in the game. He's shown recent signs of tapping into that potential, reaching the quarterfinals of the French Open. That showing helped vault him up to his current ranking area, after he'd previously been ranked down in the 80's with Isner.

Here's a sobering fact: Isner hasn't beaten a top-50 player like Gulbis since he knocked off Tommy Haas in San Jose back in Februrary, and Haas was just coming back from a shoulder injury at the time.

I'm not trying to be pessimistic about Isner's chances. Trust me, the Gulbis camp couldn't have been pleased when they saw he'd drawn Isner. Just trying to give you a lay of the land right now for Isner. I still think he can make some hay on grass, but unfortunately, sometimes the draw has as much say in your tournament performance as the way you're playing.

One bright spot: should Isner knock off Gulbis (and he's got a great shot, despite how much I'm talking up Gulbis) he'll almost certainly get some serious tv time if he takes on Nadal in the second round. Assuming, of course, the freaking thing is televised. Curse you ESPN 360, curse you.