James Blake heads US Open men’s wildcards
James Blake heads a group of Americans granted wildcards to play in the men’s draw of the 2010 US Open.
With a career best ranking of world No. 4 and 10 career singles titles to his name, there is no doubt that at his peak, Blake has been capable of challenging the best in the world but an injury plagued 2010 has seen the 30-year-old’s ranking drop out of the top 100, meaning that he needed to gain a wildcard to play in his home Grand Slam.
There was probably very little doubt the offer would be forthcoming for Blake, who has twice been a quarter-finalist at Flushing Meadows, but it’s hard to see him making much of an impact on proceedings this year if his recent results are anything to go by.
Blake spent the summer gaining wildcard entries into the North American hard court tournaments, only to find himself, in the main, heading to the exits early in the piece.
The veteran’s recent record is indicative of a player who is presently a shadow of his former self. Blake has managed just two victories in his past eight matches, with those wins coming as he progressed to the quarter-finals in Los Angeles, but that result is preceded by three first-round losses (Eastbourne, Wimbledon and Atlanta) and has been followed by opening round exits in Washington and Cincinnati.
Blake’s loss to Denis Istomin on Monday too was about as emphatic as they come, with the Russian qualifier dispatching his opponent 6-3, 6-0 in just 45 minutes. Afterwards, Blake said that after he competes at New Haven and the US Open, he plans to take a break from tennis for a while.
They are comments that echo those he made at a post-match press conference at Wimbledon, where Blake hinted that if his knee troubles continued, the end of his career might be fast approaching.
“The knee is not great. If it doesn't get better soon, I'm not sure how much longer I want to play in pain,” Blake told reporters at the All England Club.
Things haven’t improved either in fitness or form in the weeks since, so is it really going out on a limb then to say this could be Blake’s US Open swansong?
And if so, could Blake dig deep to produce a display of his customary high risk and crowd pleasing tennis that takes him all the way to the final eight, just as he did when he last received a US Open wildcard in 2005?
Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking and American tennis fans would be just as well served to take a glimpse of what the future holds for their nation, rather than hoping Blake can relive past glories as he battles with his body as much as his opponents right now.
To that end, USA youngsters Bradley Klahn, Jack Sock, Ryan Sweeting and Donald Young have all also been awarded wildcards to the year’s final Grand Slam, along with Australian Carsten Ball and Frenchman Guillaume Rufin, with a final wildcard to be awarded to the winner of the 2010 US Open Wild Card Playoffs later this month.
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