James Blake Flames Out vs Ryan Sweeting, Passes Torch

WASHINGTON--James Blake started the year well, making the quarterfinals of Brisbane and Delray Beach, and pushing Juan Martin del Potro to 10-8 in the fifth at the Australian Open.

But he missed the entire clay court season, and his once top five ranking has fallen outside the top 100.

Just as it did last year, Blake's future in tennis rests on his ability to get the results he needs during the summer American hard court swing.  Blake, who turns 31 in December, needed a wild card into the main draw this week's tour stop in Washington, the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, which he won in 2002.

In his first round, Blake was fortunate to draw qualifier Ryan Sweeting, one of the few players in this field ranked below him.

And early on, Blake was able to dictate completely, forcing his will on the young American with quick, powerful points.

But in the final two sets, Sweeting was able to get the first strike in nearly every rally, leaving the always aggressive Blake stuck playing a counter-punching style which doesn't suit him at all.  The level of play and desire in the third set was evident on both ends, with fistpumps and racquet tosses and ball abuse flying off the Blake end of the court in rapid succession.  But Sweeting's break in the third game of the set held up, giving the Young American the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

With the win, Sweeting will likely move past Blake in the ATP rankings, as their two careers move in opposite directions.  It's unlikely either of them will ever have the success that Blake once did, but it is fascinating to see the sparks that can fly when a falling star and rising star collide.

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Since I hadn't heard him address the issue (and since the two were in LA at the same time last week), I decided to ask Blake about his dust-up at Wimbledon with ESPN's Pam Shriver during his first round loss to Robin Haase.

TDF: You talked about not getting frustrated with anyone but yourself when you're on the court, but at Wimbledon this year, you got sort of angry with Pam Shriver, who was doing commentary for ESPN, and was talking loudly behind where you were playing.  Can you talk about what happened there? And I know she was in LA when you were there last week--have you spoken to her at all?

James Blake: I didn't see her in LA, no.  What happened there was, I guess there was a new area there, where they were commentating behind the court.  And she didn't apparently didn't realize how loud her voice was, or how much it traveled.  And twice on break points, she was commentating pretty loudly while I was playing.  It was just surprising to hear from a former player.  It's sometimes understandable for fans, especially kids, that don't know what's going on in tennis matches.  But she's been to, and played in a lot of tennis matches in her day.  So that's all I did, I said that, and she somehow questioned me while I was out there.  But in the past, it's done with.  We've both moved on, it's not really a big deal.