Missing James Blake.

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Paul Murphy

Hall of Fame
Anyone else miss the James Blake of old?
The guy with the cannon forehand which, at its best, was one of the most fearsome shots around.
I loved his crash or crash through style and when he got it right he was spectacular to watch.
A match between Blake and Fernando Gonzalez was a mouth-watering prospect.
Shame he's in decline.
 
MariaRafael

MariaRafael

Banned
Neither do I. Mostly because he had no game outside his forehand. I was also embarassed by his answer to the question about is strategy for the match: "to hit as hard as I can, and hopt that it will be in". Tried to find some game intelligence in this "strategy" and couldn't.
 
S

Slim Pickens

Rookie
I miss him too! He was always exciting/frustrating to watch depending upon whether he was on/off; there was no middle ground.

FWIW I'm sure Pam Shriver doesn't miss him, and vice-versa. I don't miss her either.
 
zagor

zagor

Bionic Poster
Yeah, I do. He was awesome to watch when he's on, great offensive ballstriker (off both sides, not just his FH) and some damn good wheels.
 
B

Biscuitmcgriddleson

Professional
MariaRafael said:
Neither do I. Mostly because he had no game outside his forehand. I was also embarassed by his answer to the question about is strategy for the match: "to hit as hard as I can, and hopt that it will be in". Tried to find some game intelligence in this "strategy" and couldn't.
Click to expand...

It wasn't fun to see someone play agressive tennis? I don't get why people want to see someone run around the court for hours on end just getting the ball back. If I wanted to see something bring a ball back for hours I'd get a Golden or a Lab.
 
P

Pironkova's Forehand

New User
Yes, I miss him and I mentioned in another thread that I was missing his boom or bust style. He was always exciting to watch, but was never really going to achieve anything unless he learnt to play with his head a bit more. I'm glad he never did, the game needs exciting players like him.

Del Potro is one of my favourite players at the moment, the man just does not care! He's there for himself and himself alone, he'll do his thing and he doesn't seem to concerned whether he wins or not.
 
6-1 6-3 6-0

6-1 6-3 6-0

Banned
sureshs said:
Who was James Blake?
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All I really remember about him is that he beat Federer convincingly in the Olympics in 2008. In that tournament, Nadal also ascended to the world number #1 spot for the very first time, won his first Olympic singles gold medal (in his very first attempt), and further asserted his dominance in 2008.
 
B

BigServer1

Legend
6-1 6-3 6-0 said:
All I really remember about him is that he beat Federer convincingly in the Olympics in 2008. In that tournament, Nadal also ascended to the world number #1 spot for the very first time, won his first Olympic singles gold medal (in his very first attempt), and further asserted his dominance in 2008.
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You should remember Blake as a guy who blew Nadal off the court three times in 2005 and 2006, Blake's prime. Even in 2008 and 2009, a past prime Blake pushed Nadal in all four of their meetings those two years.
 
B

BigServer1

Legend
I miss James. LOL at everyone calling him a mindless ball basher...What does that make Soderling, Berydych, DelPo, etc.?

Blake in his prime was very fun to watch. He could absolutely destroy the ball and just hit guys off the court. His match with Agassi in the 2005 US Open QF was one of the best matches I've ever watched.
 
S

sunof tennis

Professional
6-1 6-3 6-0 said:
All I really remember about him is that he beat Federer convincingly in the Olympics in 2008. In that tournament, Nadal also ascended to the world number #1 spot for the very first time, won his first Olympic singles gold medal (in his very first attempt), and further asserted his dominance in 2008.
Click to expand...

Not surprising since Blake was able to beat your hero. However, for the most part, Federer owned Blake.
 
P

Paul Murphy

Hall of Fame
6-1 6-3 6-0 said:
All I really remember about him is that he beat Federer convincingly in the Olympics in 2008. In that tournament, Nadal also ascended to the world number #1 spot for the very first time, won his first Olympic singles gold medal (in his very first attempt), and further asserted his dominance in 2008.
Click to expand...

You people are so boring - why don't you find a sandpit to play in?
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
6-1 6-3 6-0 said:
All I really remember about him is that he beat Federer convincingly in the Olympics in 2008. In that tournament, Nadal also ascended to the world number #1 spot for the very first time, won his first Olympic singles gold medal (in his very first attempt), and further asserted his dominance in 2008.
Click to expand...

All I remember is a guy with a protruding butt who had a fantastic but unreliable one-handed backhand, little desire to win, who hit some impossibly hard shots off both wings, and who seemed to serve with no effort whatsoever.
 
Doubles

Doubles

Legend
sureshs said:
All I remember is a guy with a protruding butt who had a fantastic but unreliable one-handed backhand, little desire to win, who hit some impossibly hard shots off both wings, and who seemed to serve with no effort whatsoever.
Click to expand...

I don't think you're talking about Blake...
 
S

sureshs

Bionic Poster
Doubles said:
I don't think you're talking about Blake...
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C'mon don't you remember the Wimbledon match (was it?) where he went down 0-6 with no effort? He was also one of the already-lost-to-Fed guys even though he defeated him in the Olympics - always praising him. He was good friends with Roddick, Fish etc and never seemed to really want to beat them.
 
E

El Diablo

Guest
Can't say that I miss him, largely because the grieving process has been going on for several years, it being about that long since he's been at all effective in upper echelon tennis.
 
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