Two years ago, I remember staying up well into the early hours to watch the now-classic US Open quarter-final between James Blake and Andre Agassi. It’s commonly pointed to as the stage in Blake’s career when his comeback to the ATP Tour had “officially” been recognized, even though his results prior to Flushing Meadow showed signs of hope for the once fallen American.

One of those earlier moments took place in New Haven, only days before the US Open began. I also remember watching a match of Blake’s at this tournament – the final against Feliciano Lopez. Blake took this match in three sets to give him his second title of the summer and, along with it, a tremendous boost of confidence (which couldn’t have come at a better time) heading into the year’s final Grand Slam. This also happened to be the time when I, along with many others, saw Blake in an entirely new light.

Gone were the dreadlocks, the youth, and the label of “American tennis player not named Andy Roddick”. Instead, James – now wiser and clean shaven – had emerged as his own star. Blake’s improved play began to distance him from a group of American players who, while having intermittent success, rarely sustained it for prolonged periods (this would include Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri, Vince Spadea, etc.). James even had a travelling supporter group, called the “J-Block”. In New Haven, James’ hometown tournament, you could feel the momentum start to shift in his favour.

'The US Open is where James has made his noise at the Grand Slams, and he needs – desperately – a big performance in Queens this year'


At the US Open, where James was actually entered as a wild card, everything came together. In the third round, he faced Rafael Nadal, who was the No. 2 seed after an amazing 2005. It wasn't that surprising that he won as everything began to come together for him.

In spite of being unable to seal the deal in the quarter-finals against Agassi, it was a tremendous performance from Blake that will long be remembered in New York. After the Open, he went on to win Stockholm, capping off a year that couldn’t have gone better.

In 2006, James built on his newfound success in a tremendous fashion. He won five tournaments, made the finals of Indian Wells and the Tennis Masters Cup, and again reached the quarter-finals of the US Open. All this resulted in him finishing in the year-end top 10. In turn, much was expected this year. But so far, that hasn’t gone according to plan, with underwhelming performances at Grand Slams, as well as rather puzzling results at smaller tournaments.
 
This year has to be even more disappointing for James on a personal level because so many of the perennial tennis elite – Ivan Ljubicic, David Nalbandian, and Tommy Robredo, to name a few – have faltered. If James could have kept up his play from 2006, he could have conceivably closed in on the top five.

Now that summer has come once again, James is going to be faced with another stern test. He has a slew of points to defend, and if his results don’t match or exceed last year's efforts, his precarious spot as the world No. 9 could soon come crashing down. There’s also something else to consider, in a longer term view of Blake’s career – how much longer is his window open as a Grand Slam threat?

I mentioned his age at the beginning of this article. He will turn 28 at the end of 2007, which in tennis years equates to mid-life, if not older. Couple this with the fact that a deluge of younger players have already asserted themselves in the upper echelon of the ATP Tour (the “young guns”: Nadal, Baghdatis, Berdych, Gasquet, Murray and Djokovic), and it seems that James should to take advantage of his opportunities while he can. He still has the game to compete (and beat) many of these players, but the legitimate chances will soon be come scarce.

Blake’s results at the Australian Open and Wimbledon haven’t lived up to his potential – in Melbourne, his best showing has been in the fourth round, and he’s only reached the third round at the All England Club. The US Open is where James has made his noise at the Grand Slams, and he needs – desperately – a big performance there this year.
The year 2005 was the comeback and 2006 was the proof but 2007 may be James’ biggest test on the tennis court so far.

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