It has to be said Australia has opened with mixed fortunes at Wimbledon.  This is exemplified by our two best prospects, Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur.

Lleyton was impressive in his opener and again on Wednesday, progressing to the third round after Kazakhstani Evgeny Korolev retired with an arm injury with our man cruising to victory at 6-4, 6-4, 3-0.

Sam, on the other hand, stumbled at the first hurdle. She had come off a wonderful claycourt season so it was always going to be a difficult challenge to back it up. It is often believed the serve is the most important weapon on grass but I beg to differ. I believe the return of serve is arguably more important on grass, as you can't win if you can't break serve.

That's why Lleyton Hewitt has won Wimbledon and numerous other grass court titles - he's got a good serve but an even better return, whereas the balance for Sam would be the other way round.  Pre-Wimbledon, Sam wasn't talking up her chances but with no damage to her number six ranking (she was also a first round casualty last year) she can look back on a fabulous season so far and look forward to the hard court season, especially the ones that are a bit slow!

Speaking of Wimbledon casualties, Roger Federer was very lucky not to join the list in his five setter with Falla of Colombia. A shock loss faced the Swiss maestro, a result that would arguably have been as extraordinary for the opposite reason as Switzerland's World Cup upset win over Spain.

The top men and women are safely into the second round, with Andy Murray impressive yesterday.  His second round will herald an audience with the Queen, who is attending Wimbledon tomorrow for the first time since Britain's Virginia Wade won in the Jubilee year. Andy is the only Brit remaining in the tournament after the first round, so perhaps could it be an omen that Her Majesty is gracing Centre Court.

A heartwarming result was the win by Alicia Molik - it's great everytime we see Alicia's name in the winner circle, with every chance of a follow up win against Greta Arn of Hungary, so fingers crossed.

The first two days have been bathed in sunshine, which is expected to last the entire first week. The ambience is impeccable, although the balcony of the player restaurant now has a different view. It used to overlook the "graveyard', being the old Court 2 and not a place where top seeds liked to be scheduled. But a new show court is being erected, and will be ready for play in 2011.  With no play below the balcony, a favourite viewing location for the players, the late afternoon gatherings have quietened and it's far easier to find a seat to dine there.

So slowly but surely, the face of Wimbledon ever changes. The old Court 1 is gone, as are the old courts 2 and 3, and Centre Court now has a roof and night tennis. Last night Djokovic finished just before 11pm, but at least he finished and gets a day off.

Yet, with all these changes, the charm and tradition remain as always. This is the juxtaposition of Wimbledon to be perceived as embodying tradition when it actually is highly progressive.