Top Spin Blog » Del Potro

James! — Blake Falls in Yet Another Heartbreaker

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 14:12:49 +0000

I feel like I’ve been watching James Blake lose tough matches all of my life, from the five-set defeat to Lleyton Hewitt in the 2001 U.S. Open to the brilliant fifth-set tiebreaker agaisnt Agassi in 2005 to his defeat to Fernando Gonzalez in Bejing that cost him an 2008 Olympic medal to early this morning in Australia against Del Potro. I flipped on the TV shortly after 5 a.m. this morning to see him go up 7-6 in the fifth. James! I yelled, ecstatic, happy to see him pushing the big Argentine, and believing he could win. But Del Potro hung tough and the next James! out of my mouth was the more familiar, the “Oh no, why did you do that?” way of saying it, the way you might question a close relative about a choice you find dubious. In the final games, Blake hit some brilliant winners, but made a few more mistakes, and Del Potro got the better of him and broke him at 8-all, and then served it out. Another five-set loss for Blake, who at the age of 30 has seen his ranking fall all the way to 45, needed this one more than ever. It could have been a huge boost for him to move back up the rankings.

Blake is now 4-13 in five set matches over his career. I do remember him winning a key four-set match in the Davis Cup 2007 final against Mikhail Youzhny that helped to seal the championship for the U.S., and the next spring he came back from match points against him to beat Paul Henri-Mathieu in five sets in the U.S. – Franch Davis Cup 2008 quarterfinal. He has won some big wons, just not in the Grand Slams. Also, more importantly, Blake has been a gentlemen in the losses, and today hugged Del Potro and congratulated him after the match. While it’s painful, there’s certainly no shame in losing in five sets at this level against the No. 4 seed, nine years your junior. Good effort, James. I’ll be pulling for you in that next fifth set.

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An Unlikely American in Australian Open: Hopes for a Great Hurrah for Michael Russell

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:41:51 +0000

I’ll never forget watching Michael Russell against then No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the fourth round of the 2001 French Open. Russell, a qualifer then ranked 122 in the world, won the first two sets and was up 5-2, and held a match point but couldn’t close it out. He lost in five sets, and Kuerten went on to win his second French Open, defending his championship from the previous year. I wonder how Russell’s career would have been different if he had won one more point, and moved into the quarters.

Russell, who turned 32 on Jan. 5, has held an ATP ranking since 1995, mostly out of the top 100, and often far below. He has been as high as 60 in the world, reaching that mark in 2007. He recently climbed back into the top 100, and stands at 90, although he was 79 in October after winning a challenger event. He has a tough draw, going up against No. 4 Juan Martin Del Potro on the first day of the Aussie Open. (On a side note, U.S. Davis Cup Patrick McEnroe should consider giving him a shot against Serbia in March on the clay there — it’s his best surface, and without Roddick and Blake, the U.S. goes into Serbia very thin.)

Journeyman is a term often used for players like Russell, meaning they’ve traveled the world but have never been able to crack the top ranks of the game. I’m sure you’ll heard it bandied about if his match get much air time (It probably will, since he’s playing Del Potro — they are the third match on the Hisense Arena on day one). But the determination of a player like Russell who has fought 17 years on the tour should not be under-appreciated. No media ever covers these guys, but they continue fighting into their thirties. Russell, by the way, has outlasted Kuerten, who retired in 2007.

I keep hoping for a Rocky-like character to emerge from American tennis, and tonight, I’m pulling for Mike. (Check out his Facebook page if you want to cheer him on.)

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“Vamos, Del Po!”

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:25:23 +0000

“Vamos, Del Po!” says Bill Tilden’s ghost. “My record of six in a row will live for 100 years and more.”

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