by Shawn Sillinger for BetUS.com
Who?s the best American at Wimbledon? Besides Venus Williams, that is?
The answer, for now, is Andy Roddick. But James Blake is knocking on the door. Blake has yet to trail in a match at SW19, beating Denmark?s Kristian Pless and Taiwan?s Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in four sets to reach the third round in relatively easy fashion. Roddick, on the other hand, struggled a bit in his first-round match against Serbia?s Janko Tipsarevic. Roddick dropped the first set in a tiebreaker and had to win ano ther tiebreaker to take the match in four sets. Germany?s Florian Mayer was scheduled to face Roddick in Thursday morning?s second-round action.
Roddick is the No. 5-ranked tennis player on the ATP Tour and the third seed at Wimbledon. Blake is ranked seventh in the world and holds the No. 8 seed at SW19. The two are reportedly good friends. That friendship is going to be tested. Roddick won the first six meetings between these two, but it was Blake who came up with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the finals of the London/Queen?s Club Wimby warmup. Roddick was the three-time defending champion at that event. Is Blake?s breakthrough a sign of things to come?
Roddick, who was the top-ranked player in the world as recently as late 2003, is going through what he hopes is just a transition phase. He let coach Dean Goldfine go in February after falling to Marcos Baghdatis at the Australian Open. He hired his brother John, and then proceeded to rack up losses to the likes of Andrei Pavel, Igor Andreev and David Ferrer. It?s hard to b elieve this is the same man who won the 2003 U.S. Open.
Then again, Roddick?s fame is as much a product of marketing as it is his tennis prowess. Roddick has 20 singles titles to his credit, but only the one major. He has, however, hosted Saturday Night Live and once dated actor Mandy Moore. Their careers are threatening to follow the same downward spiral.
Then you have Blake. He has yet to advance past the quarterfinals of a major tournament, but his recent play has been top-shelf. Blake dusted off Andreev to win the Sydney International in January, and then beat Lleyton Hewitt in March to claim the Las Vegas Open (also breaking a six-game losing streak against Hewitt). Blake even beat Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells before los ing to Roger Federer in the finals.
Blake may be on the rise, but Roddick?s past excellence at Wimbledon cannot be ignored. He reached the finals each of the last two years; unfortunately for Roddick, he was rolled by Federer both times. And he could very well find himself facing Baghdatis again in the fourth round. Baghdatis is the No. 18 seed at Wimby, and the Cypriot sensat ion is himself working his way up the tennis ranks, with a potent forehand that could be in the same class as that of Roddick and Blake.
The pathway for Blake should be a little smoother. Provided he makes it that far, he won?t be facing a seeded opponent until the quarterfinals, thanks to the first-round upsets suffered by No. 12 Thomas Johansson, No. 20 Dominik Hrbaty and No. 32 Paul-Henri Mathieu. Blake would almost certainly have been favored over all three, but he?s never faced Johansson or Mathieu, and had only one match against Hrbaty, which he won two sets to one on clay back in 2003. Avoiding that potential minefield gives Blake a significant edge over Roddick in these early stages at SW19.
Who?s the best American at Wimbledon? Besides Venus Williams, that is?
The answer, for now, is Andy Roddick. But James Blake is knocking on the door. Blake has yet to trail in a match at SW19, beating Denmark?s Kristian Pless and Taiwan?s Yeu-Tzuoo Wang in four sets to reach the third round in relatively easy fashion. Roddick, on the other hand, struggled a bit in his first-round match against Serbia?s Janko Tipsarevic. Roddick dropped the first set in a tiebreaker and had to win ano ther tiebreaker to take the match in four sets. Germany?s Florian Mayer was scheduled to face Roddick in Thursday morning?s second-round action.
Roddick is the No. 5-ranked tennis player on the ATP Tour and the third seed at Wimbledon. Blake is ranked seventh in the world and holds the No. 8 seed at SW19. The two are reportedly good friends. That friendship is going to be tested. Roddick won the first six meetings between these two, but it was Blake who came up with a 7-5, 6-4 victory in the finals of the London/Queen?s Club Wimby warmup. Roddick was the three-time defending champion at that event. Is Blake?s breakthrough a sign of things to come?
Roddick, who was the top-ranked player in the world as recently as late 2003, is going through what he hopes is just a transition phase. He let coach Dean Goldfine go in February after falling to Marcos Baghdatis at the Australian Open. He hired his brother John, and then proceeded to rack up losses to the likes of Andrei Pavel, Igor Andreev and David Ferrer. It?s hard to b elieve this is the same man who won the 2003 U.S. Open.
Then again, Roddick?s fame is as much a product of marketing as it is his tennis prowess. Roddick has 20 singles titles to his credit, but only the one major. He has, however, hosted Saturday Night Live and once dated actor Mandy Moore. Their careers are threatening to follow the same downward spiral.
Then you have Blake. He has yet to advance past the quarterfinals of a major tournament, but his recent play has been top-shelf. Blake dusted off Andreev to win the Sydney International in January, and then beat Lleyton Hewitt in March to claim the Las Vegas Open (also breaking a six-game losing streak against Hewitt). Blake even beat Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells before los ing to Roger Federer in the finals.
Blake may be on the rise, but Roddick?s past excellence at Wimbledon cannot be ignored. He reached the finals each of the last two years; unfortunately for Roddick, he was rolled by Federer both times. And he could very well find himself facing Baghdatis again in the fourth round. Baghdatis is the No. 18 seed at Wimby, and the Cypriot sensat ion is himself working his way up the tennis ranks, with a potent forehand that could be in the same class as that of Roddick and Blake.
The pathway for Blake should be a little smoother. Provided he makes it that far, he won?t be facing a seeded opponent until the quarterfinals, thanks to the first-round upsets suffered by No. 12 Thomas Johansson, No. 20 Dominik Hrbaty and No. 32 Paul-Henri Mathieu. Blake would almost certainly have been favored over all three, but he?s never faced Johansson or Mathieu, and had only one match against Hrbaty, which he won two sets to one on clay back in 2003. Avoiding that potential minefield gives Blake a significant edge over Roddick in these early stages at SW19.
