Blake Upsets Federer in Olympic Tennis

Photographs of James Blake (above) by Charles Krupa/AP and photograph of Roger Federer by Elise Amendola/AP

Whoa! James Blake beat number 1-ranked Roger Federer in straight sets during their Olympics tennis match today. The Yonkers native, currently ranked #7 in the world, won 6-4, 7-6 (2) during a quarterfinals match.

According to NBC Olympics, "Federer seemed off his game from the start. His forehand -- once the sport's most feared -- was unreliable, and he repeatedly struggled to hold serve." During the tiebreaker, Blake was "flawless while Federer made two unforced errors and popped up a volley."

Blake did acknowledge Federer had a bad day, “Maybe the law of averages, if I play him enough, he’s bound to have an off day against me once. I can’t be more elated that it happened at the Olympics.”

There were other upsets: Serena Williams and Venus Williams were both eliminated from the women's singles event.

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By Jen Chung in News on August 14, 2008 1:31 PM

Comments [rss]

bclm

That's not true-if he really wanted to be ready for the US Open, he wouldn't have gone to the Olympics in the first place(Andy Roddick skipped) or he would have thrown an *earlier* match and left town. And Federer is still playing, just in the doubles now. I think winning anything at this point would mean something to him-I am feeling bad for him and hope he can rebound next year.

esquared

Federer threw that game; a gold medal, or just a medal is nothing to him. If he kept on winning, thus playing more, he'd be tired for the U.S. Open. So, instead of faking an injury (like, Ivanovic) and withdrawing from the Olympics, he still participated. The Olympics has lost its meaning. It used to mean a lot when mostly amateurs played the games.

dr zippy

Yes, and the worst tennis player at the Olympics, nevermind Blake or Federer or the Williams sisters, would hand you your ass so quickly that you'd be crying for mommy after a single point.