The American team was eliminated by Croatia at this year’s Davis Cup after Marin Cilic beat James Blake 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.  Afterwards, Cilic said: “I think I played a perfect match against Blake.  This is one of the most important victories in my career.”  Even though it means the USA has been knocked out, it’s hard to be mad when you hear a young player say something like that.
The American team were playing without star, Andy Roddick, who suffered a hip-injury during his battle against Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final.  Roddick withdrew from the Davis Cup soon after.
Of …read more

The 2009 Queen’s Club final matchup is set with top-seeded Andy Murray squaring off against sixth-seeded James Blake. The pairing came after Murray won 6-2, 6-4 over unseeded Juan Carlos Ferrero in 1 hour and 11 minutes.
Blake’s semifinal match came to an abrupt end when, with the score tied at 4-4, four-time Queen’s Club champion Andy Roddick withdrew from the match after suffering an ankle injury.
Murray is ranked third in the world with just Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer ahead of him.  I’m sure he would love to win the event since, after advances to the finals, he will …read more

The Olympic tennis events concluded on Sunday. Sisters Venus and Serena Williams of the United States defeated Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual for the Gold Medal in the women’s doubles competition.
Yan Zi and Zheng Jie of China defeated Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko of Russia to earn the Bronze Medal.
Venus and Serena Williams won the Gold Medal in the women’s doubles tennis competition at the Sydney Games in 2000.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal continued his winning ways for the men’s singles Olympic Gold Medal, defeating Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in three sets: 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3. Nadal gives Spain its first ever …read more

Just a day after he defeated the #1 seed in the Olympic men’s singles competition, James Blake was himself defeated by Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez in three sets. One could argue that Blake defeated himself, failing to convert three match points and missing an easy forehand shot, any of which would have given him a place in the tournament final. Instead he’ll be playing for the Bronze Medal tomorrow. Blake is the last American still in the mens and womens singles tournament.
Gonzalez will meet, to few people’s surprise, Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who is having the best year of his career. Nadal, …read more

In a match delayed by rain, James Blake of the United States eliminated the top seed in the men’s singles tennis competition, Roger Federer of Switzerland in straight sets. The win was surprising since Blake has only beat Federer once in their last eight matches.
Federer is having an off year. He lost to Spain’s Rafael Nadal in the French Open and at Wimbledon. Nadal won his Olympic match today, defeating Austria’s Jurgen Melzer.

Despite the rain delays on Sunday, the top seeds in the mens and womens Olympic tennis competition managed to get their matches in and advance to the next round on Monday.
Top-seeded mens player, Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated Russia\’s Dmitry Tursunov easily 6-4, 6-2. Number two seed, Spain\’s Rafael Nadal, who defeated Federer at Wimbledon and the French Open this year, had a more difficult time. He prevailed, however, over Italy\’s Potito Starace in three sets: 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
In the women\’s competition, the Williams sisters of the United States both defeated their opponents. Venus, seeded #7, beat Timea Bacsinszky of …read more

Heavy rain in Beijing has delayed several of the outdoor events for Sunday, including the tennis matches and archery competition.
Before the tennis matches were suspended, James Blake of the United States defeated Australian Chris Guccione 6-3, 7-6 (3) for the first tennis win of the Beijing Games.
Roger Federer and Serena Williams are among those scheduled to play on Sunday if/when play resumes.