Blake did not let me down tonight.  Many times before I have been let down by Jame Blake and his inability to close the deal, but tonight is OK with me.  He lost, but he hustled.  Much respect.

Ivo Karlovic and Marin Cilic were too much to handle for James Blake and Mardy Fish.  One has to believe that had the injured Andy Roddick been there things would have been different.

The Brian Brothers came up with a doubles win to bring the US in winning range, but the two losses by James Blake left the US a deficit unable to be recovered from.

Overall it seemed as the atmosphere had some impact on the outcome.  This was an indoor clay tournament on the opponent’s home turf and it did not suit the Americans well at all. 

Oh well, there’s always next year!

Blake’s loss to Ivo Karlovic 6 – 7 (5), 4 – 6, 6 – 3, 7 – 6 (3), 7 – 5 came mostly because of Ivo’s huge serve.  He smacked 47 aces and came back from a two set deficit to beat James in Porec, Croatia Friday July 10th , 2009.

Mardy Fish also fought a battle against Marin Cilic.  After 4 hours and 23 minutes Cilic was able to claim victory 4 – 6, 6 – 3, 6 – 7  (3), 6 – 1, 8 – 6.

If only Andy Roddick was there the score would mostlikely be different from Croatia’s 2 – 0 lead over the US.  A hip injury prevented Roddick from being able to play.  One would think that the injury is much more mental than physical after his loss in the Wimbledon finals to Roger Federer.

Even a die hard Federer fan was starting to doubt him after his Australian Open semi final exit in 2008 and his next two grand slam final losses to Rafael Nadal.  Make no mistake now, he is back and he is the greatest tennis player to play the game, ever.

Roger Federer has won three of the last four grand slams since the 2008 US Open when he squashed Andy Murray for his fifth US Open title.  The man is back and he is unstoppable.

After his teary eyed loss to Rafael Nadal in the 2009 Australian Open finals,  he came back and beat Nadal on Clay in Madrid and won the 2009 French Open after Nadal’s early exit.

To top off his year, he walks through every round at Wimbledon and beats Andy Roddick in the finals by shear will.  He shouldn’t have won that match.  Andy was outplaying him.  Andy wanted just as bad.  Roger prevailed because he is the best, ever.

A few months ago people were saying that Rafael Nadal was going to pass him and leave him in the dust.  They were saying he couldn’t beat him.  What they don’t realize about Nadal is that he can’t keep that level of play up forever.  He is injured now with tendonitus of the knees, which is serious.  He body is breaking down becasue he is playing like a mad man.

You have to give credit to a guy like Roger Federer who has been playing at the top of his game without any serious injury for 11 years.  That is simply astounding.

He is not at the top of his game.  In fact he is on the decline.  His forehand isn’t what it used to be.  He dances around but not with the same finess.  He is 27, soon to be 28, which is the twilight of most modern tennis player’s careers, yet he is still winning grand slams and he is # 1 again.  It defies logic and reason, but he is the man and he is the best ever.

It was 4 hours and 16 minutes of grueling, lay it all on the table tennis that was fueled by one person’s lust for a second grand slam title and another’s lust for tennis immortality.

Andy Roddick had an opportunity in the second set tie breaker to get up 2 sets and he couldn’t pull it off.  Federer came back and won 5 points in a row to win the set.  That was Andy’s chance and he blew it.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy, but he had one chance against Roger and he couldn’t come up with it.

Roger also won the third set in a tiebreak and Roddick could feel his chances slipping away.  The fourth set was Andy’s as he broke Roger’s serve early on and blasted his record breaking serve past Roger Federer.

Now comes the 30 game fifth set.  Back and forth both men held their serves and it was just a matter of who would fold first.  Andy Roddick was playing the match of his life, flawless, fit and tough.  He believed he could win.  He probably deserved to win, but Roger found a way to win breaking Andy’s serve in the 30th game of the set and taking the 2009 Wimbledon Men’s Championship.

A great champion will find a way to win.  Roger is and did.  He waited for Andy to make a mistake and just stayed the course.  Sure enough Andy Roddick slipped and Roger didn’t.  He was there to capitalize on it and win the 15th major of his career.  The most in the history of the game.  He is back at #1 in the standings and is the undisputed greatest tennis player to ever play the game.

Tommy Haas definitely put up a fight. Let’s face it, he is kind of like the bionic man in tennis. He has had so many injuries and surgeries that it is a surprise to see him playing this well at this stage of the game. He had an unbelievable run at Roland Garros almost beating Roger in 3 sets and an even better run at Wimbeldon this year, but could not keep up with the Maestro.

There is really nothing stopping a cool, calm and collected Roger Federer at Wimbledon this year. The man is on a mission and he is walking over his stiffest competition. His serve was on time today with a 75% first serve percentage and 11 aces. He won 89% of his first serve and 81% of his second. When his serve is on, there is no one alive that can handle Roger Federer.

On track to make history is the best way to describe Roger’s run at Wimbledon this far. He will face one of the two Andys that will play the second semi final of the day, Andy Murray or Andy Roddick. Roger would much rather play Roddick because he has winning record against him, but I don’t think it matters much as he is in prime form.

What a surprise that 28 year old Lleyton was able to play at the level he has throughout the championship this year. Many have claimed the former world #1 and 2-time grand slam champ to be over the hill and not able to play at the level of years past. He made a believer out of me and convinced his critics that he can still compete with the best of them.

Andy Roddick, also a former #1 and former US Open champion, has had much more success than Hewitt recent years and was clearly the favorite. Since losing some weight and increasing his fitness to the highest level of his career Andy has proved he can battle the best in the game.

I don’t think anyone had expected a five setter out of this match. I had thought maybe Andy in four, but Lleyton played at a really high level. I was convinced at times that it could have been an upset with Hewitt showing much confidence in his game. Andy in the end was the victor.

I fully expect Hewitt to capture a title this summer in the US Open series after looking to be in prime form.

Ivo was broken by Roger in the first set which gave roger the confidence boost he needed and the momentum to win the first set comfortably.  Roger was the first person to break his serve all tournament long which is a ridiculous statistic.

The service game of Ivo was strong, but that was about it.  He dumped many forehands into the net and wasn’t able to move well on any approach shots.  His game, beyond his serve, seems to be weak.  Compared to Roger Federer many players seem weak as he is no doubt the greatest to play the game, but one would think that a player of his level would have more shots in his arsenal.

Roger stayed strong and held his serve, which he knew he had to, in order to not get rolled over by the Giant’s serve. Ivo was not able to move fast enough to return many of Roger’s shots.

All in all it wasn’t the test of Roger’s skill that I expected.  It exposed Karlovic as a one trick pony while solidifying Federer’s dominance.

Fast Tube by Casper