WIMBLEDON, England — It was runner-up day at Wimbledon on Saturday.
Venus Williams and Andy Roddick came to talk more about the possibilities than chances lost a year ago.
Remember?
Roddick left the grounds at the All England Club in 2009 with fans still chanting his name, and now, a year later, he came to practice Saturday and two groundskeepers shouted, "We love you, Andy."
He has become beloved here for the fight he showed in a 5-7, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 16-14 loss to six-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the final.
And Venus was the foil last year to her more outgoing younger sister, Serena Williams, losing the championship 7-6 (3), 6-2. Few here think they'll see anything other than another Serena-Venus final with Serena seeded No. 1 and Venus No. 2.
Federer is seeded No. 1 on the men's side with 2008 champion Rafael Nadal No. 2. Roddick is seeded fifth.
The tournament is scheduled to begin Monday with Federer kicking things off on Centre Court against Alejandro Falla of Columbia. Serena will open her defense Tuesday against Michelle Larcher de Brito of Portugal.
This is Venus' 50th Grand Slam event and comes 10 years after she won her first Wimbledon title. She let down her guard for a moment Saturday and allowed some emotion to filter into her otherwise monotone answers.
"Anyone who loves this game, they always make it a part of their life," said Venus, who recently turned 30. "I'm one of those people. I'm addicted to tennis and I'm addicted to the majors."
Certainly Venus is addicted to Wimbledon. She has won five singles titles here, the last in 2008. Serena has won three. At least one of the sisters has been in the Wimbledon final every year since 2006, when Venus was upset in the third round and Serena missed the tournament with an injury.
Last year, besides the all-Williams singles final, the sisters won the doubles title.
"The last two years have been really great to anyone named Williams," Venus said. "I would love for us to have that again."
Roddick would love to find what he had here last year — not only what he found during Week 2. His memorable loss to Federer isn't something he wants to forget.
"I have great memories of last year," said Roddick, who meets fellow American Rajeev Ram in the first round.
"Everyone talks about a match, but it takes two weeks of getting to that match, of playing pretty good tennis. It's a tournament as a whole that I'll always be extremely proud of."
Safina out: Dinara Safina, the Russian who was ranked No. 1 for part of last year, withdrew Saturday with a continuing lower back injury. She had been seeded 20th. To give the draw 32 seeds, American Melanie Oudin will be listed as the 33rd seed.