Even though James Blake fizzled yesterday in the final of the Pacific Life Open against Roger Federer, losing 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, he has much to be happy about.

Blake, 26, has long been considered one of the game’s best in terms of kindness and class, and since August he quietly has become an elite player – certainly the best American. His run to the final in Indian Wells will propel him into the top 10 for the first time in his career. Not too shabby, considering Blake began 2005 ranked no. 96 in the world after enduring a broken neck, an unusual virus that paralyzed his face and blurred his vision, and the death of his father.

Blake’s emergence comes at a time when the top ranked American, Andy Roddick, continues to struggle. Since Roddick defeated Blake in the final of last year’s Legg Mason Classic in Washington, D.C., Blake has compiled a 33-9 record (excluding Davis Cup) and won four titles, including his first victory in seven tries over former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in Las Vegas earlier this month, and, in this weekend’s semifinals, his second win in six months over world no. 2 Rafael Nadal.

Blake also reached the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Open, where he came within a few points of beating Andre Agassi. Roddick, in that same span, has gone 22-9 and won one title, in Lyon, France, where he played two players ranked outside the top 150 and none ranked higher than 20. Blake has now won four titles in his last 12 tournaments, compared to one in his first 94.

What has changed for Blake? He always was one of the most explosive players on the tour, both in terms of athleticism and strokes. He moves exceptionally well, rarely finding himself unable to reach an opponent’s shot, and his forehand is formidable. Blake’s backhand re mains his weaker stroke, but he has improved its consistency. He also has steadied a second serve that caused headaches in the past (and, unfortunately, a few times yesterday). More than anything though, Blake has learned to vary his game – mixing in serve-and-volley points and, this week, a deft backhand drop shot – along with incredible power. In years past, one could count on Blake to go for broke whenever the slightest opening appeared. He is now much more patient.

In the early stages of his match against Federer yesterday, Blake played so well that patience was not necessary. He hugged the baseline and took an early swipe at every shot Federer produced, cracking forehands and applying unrelenting pressure. This was the Blake that demolished Agassi in the first two sets of their quarterfinal meeting at the U.S. Open. Blake hits relatively flat – and very hard – groundstrokes, and almost always meets the ball an instant after it bounces. When he feels comfortable and those shots consistently find the court, there’s little that can stop him – not even Federer. Blake raced to a 4-1 lead yesterday.

Alas, there is an obvious tradeoff to the way Blake plays. Flat and powerful shots clear the net by very little and are more likely to land an inch past the baseline than dive just inside it. Blake plays risky tennis, which is why patience is so important for him. He needs to unload at the right time, not all the time. Yesterday, he seemed to lose his concentration once he gained a two-break lead, perhaps wondering if he might really defeat Federer in his first final at a Masters Series event. Federer essentially waited him out, cashing in a loose service game from Blake and hanging around long enough to break even and then win a set he did not deserve.

From there Blake collapsed. His volley, never great but usually reliable, failed him in the second set. He outright flubbed a few, and hit a few overheads too softly. On one point, Blake hit two soft volleys on balls that should have been put away. Instead, Federer stayed in the point and won it on a line-drive backhand that forced a volley error. Federer followed with his two best points of the match, finishing them both at the net and breaking serve for a 5-3 lead. In the third set, Blake won a total of 11 points and Federer walked off with his third straight Pacific Life title.

Blake has enough game to beat Federer, but only if he plays the high-octane tennis of yesterday’s first set for a much longer period. This, of course, is very unlikely, but there’s no shame in losing to Federer, as everyone else has learned repeatedly since 2003. No matter how ugly yesterday’s loss might have looked, there’s no reason to think Blake is a man playing above his head. Against the rest of the field, he should continue to perform well if he remains healthy. In fact, there is an excellent chance that he will break into the top five by the end of the year, considering Roddick’s troubles of late, Hewitt’s recent poor performances, and some inconsistent play by David Nalbandian.

At his best, Blake can dominate most elite players for long stretches – one needs no better example than his two drubbings of Nadal. Nadal, whose game is full of spin and anchored by remarkable footwork and defense, disrupts Federer’s rhythm better than anyone on tour, but his style plays right into Blake’s hands. On Saturday, Blake took Nadal’s heavy topspin strokes on the rise and pinned the Spaniard well behind the baseline for the entire match. He also punished Nadal’s serve by stepping around his backhand to hit forehands.

The 19-year-old Nadal is a legitimate phenom, the sort of player who does not come along very often; Blake’s performances against him prove he is no fluke. After years of bad luck and erratic play, this American seems to have discovered his true abilities, and in the next year or two he might well find that he can do even more.