Next stop, Newport

There may or may not be anything to read into this, but a couple ATP World Tour tennis players who have committed to play at the Hall of Fame Championships in a few weeks will have plenty of time to prepare.

Mostly because they got smoked in the first round at Wimbledon.

Alejandro Falla of Colombia had No. 1 seed and defending champion Roger Federer on the ropes, but couldn't close. He had one of those "Remember the time I almost beat Federer?" moments, when he was up two sets, and lost in five.

Newport's defending champion, Rajeev Ram, had a slightly less daunting task in the first round, but suffered the same fate as Falla. Luckily for Ram, Andy Roddick made it quick and painless, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

While Falla and Ram might as well head state-side this week to start getting ready for the Hall of Fame Championships, some Newport participants will stick around London for a while. Mardy Fish, Benjamin Becker and Taylor Dent all won in the first round, and, as of this post, Olivier Rochus was on his way to what certainly would be the biggest upset of the first round. The pint-sized Belgian (I'm not making fun, he's 5-foot-6) led No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic 2 sets to 1.

But, as most of us know, the Hall of Fame Championships are not Wimbledon. Success there doesn't necessary mean success here, and vice versa.