Despite beating Roger Federer for the first time in the Olympic men’s singles quarterfinals, James Blake isn’t one-bit happy. He followed up that win with a loss in the semifinals to 12th-seeded Fernando Gonzalez of Chile, 4-6, 7-5, 11-9. Blake claims, and TV replay confirms, that one of his shots was called long on the first point of the 18th game of the final set, but that the ball actually hit the racquet of Gonzalez.
“Playing in the Olympics, in what’s supposed to be considered a gentleman’s sport, that’s a time to call it on yourself,” Blake said. “Fernando looked me square in the eye and didn’t call it.”
Gonzalez claims he didn’t feel the ball hit his racquet. Who knows. What I do know is that this was the first point of a game in which Blake could have won the match. That he lost the game and the match have nothing to do with that one point, and he should just focus on the bronze-medal match.
Complete non-sequitor: When I got my cat from the shelter, his given name was James Blake (I assume because he’s half-black, half-white). He’s two years old. And even he meows that Blake is being a baby about it.
By Cyd Zeigler jr.
5 responses so far ↓
1 shut up // Aug 15, 2008 at 1:49 pm
You’re a fag.
2 Greg // Aug 15, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I cringe whenever Cyd comments on tennis. I wish he would adhere to the podcast back when he said something to effect of he couldn’t care less about tennis and never wanted anything to do with it.
Cyd writes that it was only one point. Sigh. He again shows his ignorance about tennis. In such a pressure situation, there is a HUGE difference between 15-0 and 0-15. Huge. It is ridiculous to suggest that it didn’t mean anything.
Blake is 100% right. Players know when balls tip their rackets. In this case, there is no way Gonzalez didn’t know it hit his racket since Blake fired the ball at him, and the trajectory changed so that the ball went long.
And tennis does still have some gentlemanly aspects to it. Most players grow up calling their own lines. And some players even on the pro ranks will overrule a bad call to award his or her opponent a point. In this situation, which is tough for the umpire to make, Gonzalez absolutely should have owned up to it.
Blake is one of, if not the, nicest people in sports. So nice that after he beat Federer, the Swiss start said he was happy for James and wished that he won the gold. Players almost never say something like that.
One also remembers way back when he took eventual champion Hewitt to five sets at the US Open. Hewitt made a racist remark during the match, and Blake, who was an up-and-comer at the time, waved it off and didn’t stoke anything afterwards when pressed by the media.
So, I wish Cyd wouldn’t be quick to judge, particularly when he has said he doesn’t know anything about tennis. He really looks like a pompous, prudish ass doing so.
3 stefan // Aug 15, 2008 at 6:41 pm
dont you see a trend here? anytime an american athlete loses to someone the always complaining about something. i think they all just need to shut up and take their loses with some pride!!!!
4 Steve // Aug 16, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I imagine that Blake won’t be complaining about unsportsman-like actions in a couple of weeks when his Yale pals descend on Flushing Meadows for their annual ”disrupt-the-opponent-with-rude-behavior” festival.
5 shut up // Aug 20, 2008 at 1:36 am
after seeing Greg’s very well-written comment which points out many things that i was thinking, i feel bad about having written the anti-homosexual thing i wrote above…i have no hate towards homosexuals although i definitely disagree with their choice, and it is a choice…in any case, what i had written was only directed towards the writer of the idiotic article and not towards anyone else…anyway, y’all have a good day
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