Blake Finds Unexpected Bumps on Road to Flushing

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The New York Sun

It’s official: James Blake is in a slump.

For almost a year now, Blake has been the best American tennis player. He has won five titles since last August and reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. While Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick have watched their rankings plummet, the resilient Blake, who suffered through serious injury and the death of his father, has moved up to no. 5 in the world.

And although Blake has yet to reach a Grand Slam final, his lackluster performance at majors has seemed more of a glitch than a fatal flaw, perhaps easily repaired by one stellar run or a few more confidence-building titles, like his victory over Roddick in Indianapolis in the first event of the U.S. Open Series of hard-court tournaments.

The last two weeks, however, are cause for concern. In Washington, D.C., where Blake reached the final last year, the American fell to Marat Safin — and not the Safin of old (the Russian lost to eventual champion Arnaud Clement in the semifinals). Yesterday, Blake came out blazing against Richard Gasquet in the second round of the Rogers Masters in Toronto, taking a 3–1 lead and winning, in one stretch, nine consecutive points with an array of winners and volleys that even Roger Federer would be hard-pressed to match.

And then nothing. Absolutely nothing.The rest of the way, Blake played impatient tennis, and it was not as if Gasquet adjusted his tactics that much. He didn’t have to. Blake went for forehand winners too early in rallies, and at times became frustrated with his backhand. He rushed his service games and seemed too concerned with unloading on the ball, rather than steadily wearing Gasquet down with penetrating strokes and hitting winners when opportunities arose. Blake finished with 29 unforced errors in a 6–4, 6–3 loss that lasted only an hour and 12 minutes.

In years past, Blake would often have hot-and-cold days, or months, like he did against Gasquet. His recent successes were the sign of a much-improved player, a man with a steadier backhand, more patience, and a better sense of strategy. He has two tournaments left before the U.S. Open, in Cincinnati next week and in New Haven, where he is the defending champion. There’s time, at least, to put these results behind him and find his form before returning to Flushing.

While Blake struggles, Federer and Rafael Nadal show no ill effects from their extended vacations since their last meeting in the final of Wimbledon.

Federer spent three weeks in Dubai, sunning himself and eventually working on his conditioning and his backhand volley (as evidenced Monday evening in Toronto) with his part-time coach, Tony Roche. Nadal crashed his car (“How you say, distraction?” he said this week) and spent a week fishing and lounging on the beach, followed by three days with his extended family (“30 persons in Euro Disney, parties,” he said). He practiced a little, too, about an hour and a half a day.

In Toronto, they seem headed toward their sixth meeting in a final this year. Nadal won the first four before Federer ended his streak at Wimbledon. If they continue to play their best through the end of the season, we might see several more installments of a rivalry that, with any luck, will carry on for the next three or four years.

The sum of their accomplishments this year is, to put it mildly, absurd. Federer has entered 10 tournaments, reached the final in every one, and won six of them, including two Grand Slam titles (his four losses were to Nadal). Nadal has played 10 tournaments, too, reaching six finals and winning five of them (one loss to Federer). In the last two years, the two have dominated Masters Series tournaments, the nine events on the men’s tour that require entry unless a player is injured. Since January 2005,either Federer or Nadal has won 12 of 14 of these tournaments (neither of them entered the other two).

After his 6–3, 6–3 victory yesterday over Sebastian Grosjean, Federer is unbeaten in North America since August 2004, a string of 50 matches. Nadal, who notched a 6–4, 6–3 victory over Hyung-Taik Lee, won this title last year (Federer did not play, but won the year before).

So far this week, Federer has looked more comfortable. Against Paul-Henri Mathieu in the first round, the world no. 1 celebrated his 25th birthday with a 6–3,6–4 victory. He served poorly at first, but improved his percentages as the match progressed. He finished without facing a break point and collected 14 aces. Most encouraging, he mixed in a few serve and volley points and pressed toward the net on other occasions, a pleasant change from his more conservative play at Wimbledon. Against Grosjean, Federer played a few sloppy service games, but dominated with his forehand and 28 winners.

Nadal started more slowly against Nicolas Massu, both during points and in between them (he continues to push the 20-second time limit and received a warning against Lee last night). In the second game of that first-round match, Nadal backed away from a volley, choosing to hit a forehand off a short bounce, and hit the ball long. Massu handcuffed him on the next point, forcing another forehand error that gave the Chilean a 30–40 advantage. Massu reached break point two more times in the game, before Nadal’s persistence got the better of him.He rushed a forehand on the last shot of a 20-stroke rally and watched in amazement as Nadal scrambled to stay in the next point and stole it with a running forehand winner down the line. Against Lee last night, Nadal struggled with his serve but sparkled in several trips to the net, offering more proof that he is dedicated to becoming an attacking player.

With Blake out of the picture, Nadal’s road to the final looks much easier, provided he can withstand the firepower of Tomas Berdych in the third round. Federer next faces the explosive but erratic Dmitry Tursunov, and after that seems unlikely to be threatened by anyone other than Ivan Ljubicic in the semifinals. Federer and Nadal, Part Six on Sunday? The show will likely go on.

tperrotta@nysun.com


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