Top Spin Blog » James Blake

A Big Win for a Young American, and a Big American Bombs Out

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:53:54 +0000

Compelling dynamics for the American men at this year’s U.S. Open, with Andy Roddick losing to Janko Tipsarevic (a match I thought would be tough for him when I first saw the draw) and qualifier 18-year-old Ryan Harrison upsetting No. 15 Ivan Ljubicic, a wily veteran and no easy win for Harrison. After a strong spring, it has been a very tough summer for Roddick, and he is now in desperate danger of falling out of the top ten for the year. At 28, it will be no easy feat for him to get back near the top. On the other hand, this could be the watershed for Harrison, a decade younger than Roddick.

Despite Roddick’s early departure, there are several Americans left who can go deep in New York, with Harrison as a new favorite, but also Mardy Fish, already into the third round. John Isner and Sam Querrey also moved on yesterday, and Isner looked good coming off a recent ankle injury. Hoping to see one or two of them left come Super Saturday, and after studying the draw, my money is Isner and maybe Fish reaching the semis. Querrey also has a chance. As much as I’d like to see Harrison, I doubt he has much of a chance to move past Nadal if he reaches the fourth round. And don’t forget James Blake, at 30, making perhaps his last run, but Djokovic looms as his third round opponent.

Ryan Harrison

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Roddick Bound For Secound Round Battle: Blake & Fish in the Same Quarter

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:11:54 +0000

Much of the early analysis I heard from the talking heads on ESPN judged Roddick’s draw as favorable to the quarters, but the second round most likely will see him paired up against Janko Tipsarevic, the Serb who knocked him out in the second round of Wimbledon 2008. Their career record is 1-1, both matches at Wimbledon. (Roddick beat him in four in 2006.) Of course, Tipsarevic retired with an ankle injury in his last match at only 2-2 in the first set in Toronto, so he might not be at full speed.

Red hot Mardy Fish and the almost forgotten James Blake are in the same quarter of the draw, both with favorable draws offering the likelihood of them moving on a few rounds.

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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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Americans Batting .500 in Australia — Querrey Out, Isner Hangs In, Blake and Young Win

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:13:44 +0000

Of the eight Americans in action Tuesday in Australia, the biggest disappointment was Sam Querrey’s loss to Rainer Schuettler, the aging German who keeps winning big matches. Wild card Ryan Harrison, 17, also fell, losing in four sets to Janko Tipsarevic. Other Americans to fall were Rajeev Ram and Robby Ginepri.

On the up side, John Isner hung on for a tough win, and Donald Young, who was forced to qualify, lost the first set badly but came back to win in four. He very much needed the win, and faces Lleyton Hewit next. Taylor Dent also won easily. James Blake beat Arnaud Clement in three sets, and was striking his backhand solidly for passing shot after passing shot.

Of the 12 Americans in the main draw, six have moved on to the second round. The most interesting match On Wednesday in Melbourne sees Blake against No. 4 seed Juan Martin Del Potro. Roddick, who has a good draw, goes up against Brazlian Tomaz Belluci.

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2009: The American Tennis Year That Almost Was

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:04:42 +0000

There’s a Flatlanders song in which Joe Ely sings: “I thought I had died and gone to heaven/in fact, I had lived and gone to hell.” That might describe the five days that passed for fans of American men’s tennis from the point where Andy Roddick almost took a two-sets-to-none lead over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final to the devastating back-to-back five set singles losses five days later in Croatia suffered by James Blake and Mardy Fish on the first day of Davis Cup. Instead of Roddick hoisting the Wimbledon trophy and the U.S. moving on in Davis Cup to face Spain at home on a glassy fast hard court, all three American men suffered agonizing losses and were left to limp in for the remainder of the seemingly infinite tennis season. End of year rankings have seen Roddick fall to sixth in the world, while Blake has plummeted to 44th and Fish to 56th. The future looks to be Sam Querrey, 25th, and John Isner, 34th, but will they have the games to equal the success Roddick has enjoyed over the past seven years? The optimist in me hopes they will, but the realist doubts it.

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Roddick, Blake and Querrey U.S. Open Draws Lead to Djokovic, Federer

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:51:21 +0000

The draws of Andy Roddick, James Blake and Sam Querrey — the three Americans with the best chances of reaching the finals – all go through Federer. Roddick has the best path, leading to a quarterfinal re-match with Djokovic, whom Roddick beat in Montreal and Australia earlier this year, but lost a contentious battle last year in Flushing Meadows. Roddick would play Federer in the semis if they get that far. Querrey and Blake are both in Federer’s quarter of the draw. Check out the full slate at www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/draws/.

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Live Davis Cup Scores and TV Schedule

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:52:36 +0000

Check out www.daviscup.com for live scores from all the matches, including the final day of the U.S.-Croatia quarterfinal featuring James Blake against Marin Cilic, and Mardy Fish against Ivo Karlovic.

The TV coverage starts at 10 a.m. Sunday, and full schedule can be found online at the Tennis Channel web site.

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The Croatian Curse Continues

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:02:21 +0000

Mardy Fish and James Blake came up short on Friday in Porec, Croatia, taking big leads in each of their singles matches but falling in five sets. The pressure is on to stop the Croatian Curse. Croatia is the only country in the 109-year history of Davis Cup that the U.S. has never beaten, and has an all-time losing record against of 0-2. The Croatians are one win away from going to the Davis Cup semifinals and knocking the Americans out of the 2009 competition.

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Live Davis Cup Scores: Blake Takes First Set From Karlovic

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:13:19 +0000

For live scores from the U.S. – Croatia Davis Cup match, visit http://www.daviscup.com/

Blake was out-aced 12-8 by the lurchlike Croatian known as Dr. Ivo — on red clay, no less – but still won the first in a tiebreaker 7-5.

Mardy Fish plays Marin Cilic in the following match.

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July 4 Weekend Special: An All-American Wimbledon Sweep?

Joe Samuel Starnes — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:16:42 +0000

The possibility of a big American broom sweeping the four biggest Wimbledon trophies is still alive at this advanced semifinal date. It seems very likely that the Williams sisters will win the women’s doubles, and one of them will take home the singles crown. The Bryan brothers are favored to win the men’s doubles, but James Blake and Mardy Fish are also in the running. The biggest hurdle will be if Andy Roddick can win the singles, having to best both Andy Murray and most likely Roger Federer. A long shot, yes, but it could happen, and would be the biggest tennis weekend for the U.S. in a very long time.

Even if it doesn’t, the men’s doubles final could be an all-American affair for the first time in 26 years. The No. 1 seeded Bryan brothers and the unseeded team of good friends James Blake and Mardy Fish have both reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon men’s doubles draw, making it possible for the first all American men’s doubles final since 1983. That year John McEnroe and Peter Fleming beat the Gullikson twins, Tim and Tom.

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