NOTEBOOK From Wimbledon

Career path: Todd Martin sees the end of his career in sight. And the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist is not dwelling on how he will be remembered a couple of hundred years from now. "When I die it's certainly not going to matter to me whether Billy Smith in 2223 knows how good of a career I had," he said Friday after losing in the third round to Rainer Schuettler. "It just has no bearing." Martin, who became a new father in January and turns 33 next month, is president of ATP Player Council. His five-set loss to Schuetler prompted few questions about the match, and more about Lleyton Hewitt's $1.5 million suit against the ATP. The Aussie contends he was unfairly fined for failing to give an interview to ESPN last year. "It is disappointing that he [Hewitt] finds it necessary to sue the ATP because, essentially, he's suing his fellow players," Martin said.After all these years: Martina Navratilova doesn't feel young, but she doesn't feel 46, either. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Navratilova won their second-round match Friday, beating Britons Helen Crook and Anna Hawkins 6-2, 6-1. "You don't really feel it, but the results aren't the same," Navratilova said. "If you run 100 meters 20 years ago, and you run it now, you know you're not as fast. You can't measure that in tennis. You know you lost something, but you don't know how much. It's much easier in track and field because you can really measure exactly what's going on."Team Williams: The Williams sisters are into the second round in their quest to retain their doubles title. They beat Corina Morariu and Rennae Stubbs 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-3 in a match stopped Thursday because of darkness and completed Friday with rain clouds and darkness looming. It came 31/2 hours after Venus Williams beat Nadia Petrova in her third-round match. Resuming at 3-3 in the deciding set, the sisters broke in the first game -- ignoring Stubbs' claims of a double hit by Venus on a volley winner, and helped by Morariu's three double faults. They saved two break points in Venus' service game to lead 5-3, then broke again on Stubbs' serve to take the match with Serena volleying the winner. The capacity crowd on Court No. 1 was animated Thursday, giving the players a standing ovation when they walked off in darkness. The crowd was smaller Friday but just as boisterous.We the people: "People's Saturday" at Wimbledon has gotten a bit more exclusive. Citing safety concerns, the All England Club reduced the number of Centre Court tickets on sale for the middle Saturday from 2,000 to 500. "People's Saturday" was initiated in 1992 to recreate the atmosphere of the previous year when matches were played on the middle Sunday, usually a rest day, because of rain disruptions the first week. Spectators were able to show up on the day and buy Centre Court tickets -- meaning more serious tennis fans were on hand instead of the usual corporate audience. Last year, on the eve of Tim Henman's third-round match against Wayne Ferreira on the middle Saturday, about 9,000 people camped out overnight in Wimbledon Park and surrounding areas. That caused security problems in the morning when fans jostled to get to the front of the line. "The enormous practical problems of maintaining control and ensuring the health and safety of such numbers ... have reached a critical stage," the All England Club said. Henman plays Robin Soderling in a third-round match Saturday.
Career path: Todd Martin sees the end of his career in sight. And the two-time Wimbledon semifinalist is not dwelling on how he will be remembered a couple of hundred years from now. "When I die it's certainly not going to matter to me whether Billy Smith in 2223 knows how good of a career I had," he said Friday after losing in the third round to Rainer Schuettler. "It just has no bearing." Martin, who became a new father in January and turns 33 next month, is president of ATP Player Council. His five-set loss to Schuetler prompted few questions about the match, and more about Lleyton Hewitt's $1.5 million suit against the ATP. The Aussie contends he was unfairly fined for failing to give an interview to ESPN last year. "It is disappointing that he [Hewitt] finds it necessary to sue the ATP because, essentially, he's suing his fellow players," Martin said.After all these years: Martina Navratilova doesn't feel young, but she doesn't feel 46, either. Svetlana Kuznetsova and Navratilova won their second-round match Friday, beating Britons Helen Crook and Anna Hawkins 6-2, 6-1. "You don't really feel it, but the results aren't the same," Navratilova said. "If you run 100 meters 20 years ago, and you run it now, you know you're not as fast. You can't measure that in tennis. You know you lost something, but you don't know how much. It's much easier in track and field because you can really measure exactly what's going on."Team Williams: The Williams sisters are into the second round in their quest to retain their doubles title. They beat Corina Morariu and Rennae Stubbs 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-3 in a match stopped Thursday because of darkness and completed Friday with rain clouds and darkness looming. It came 31/2 hours after Venus Williams beat Nadia Petrova in her third-round match. Resuming at 3-3 in the deciding set, the sisters broke in the first game -- ignoring Stubbs' claims of a double hit by Venus on a volley winner, and helped by Morariu's three double faults. They saved two break points in Venus' service game to lead 5-3, then broke again on Stubbs' serve to take the match with Serena volleying the winner. The capacity crowd on Court No. 1 was animated Thursday, giving the players a standing ovation when they walked off in darkness. The crowd was smaller Friday but just as boisterous.We the people: "People's Saturday" at Wimbledon has gotten a bit more exclusive. Citing safety concerns, the All England Club reduced the number of Centre Court tickets on sale for the middle Saturday from 2,000 to 500. "People's Saturday" was initiated in 1992 to recreate the atmosphere of the previous year when matches were played on the middle Sunday, usually a rest day, because of rain disruptions the first week. Spectators were able to show up on the day and buy Centre Court tickets -- meaning more serious tennis fans were on hand instead of the usual corporate audience. Last year, on the eve of Tim Henman's third-round match against Wayne Ferreira on the middle Saturday, about 9,000 people camped out overnight in Wimbledon Park and surrounding areas. That caused security problems in the morning when fans jostled to get to the front of the line. "The enormous practical problems of maintaining control and ensuring the health and safety of such numbers ... have reached a critical stage," the All England Club said. Henman plays Robin Soderling in a third-round match Saturday.