Brad Gilbert has always been a good commentator, but as he proved once again today, he is much better when he sticks to Xs & Os and forgets the hype. At the end of James Blake‘s uninspired win against Rueben Ramirez-Hidalgo, Gilbert stunned this watcher (and Cliff Drysdale) by proclaiming that Blake has to like his chances to get to the round of 16, where he would probably face Roger Federer. Before today, James Blake, 2009 vintage, hadn’t won a match since June! His year has been absolutely dismal. He’s been listless and out of sorts since mid-spring. If he was going to pull it together, I think he would’ve done it in LA, DC, Cincy, Montreal or New Haven, which have traditionally been Blake’s bread and butter. Losing in the first round of those tournaments does not bode well for James.
Gilbert continued to beat the Blake-to-round-of-16 drum, noting that he might face Tommy Robredo and Tommy doesn’t have enough firepower to beat James. This is true, if Blake is playing well. But he’s not. Robredo is the higher seed for a reason. Blake can out-firepower almost anyone. It is keeping the firepower contained within the white lines of the tennis court that has always bedeviled him. Robredo – and his other opponents – will simply try out steady Blake for 3/5 sets, daring Blake not to make errors.
Gilbert went even farther with his hype machine, reminding that Blake beat Roger at the 2008 Olympics in Bejing. Please, we are a long way from Beijing.
All players feed off of confidence; Blake is on the extreme end of that continuum – he really needs to be feeling it to be “on.” If he does make it to the second week, I will give him credit. I just wouldn’t bet on it.
Passing Shots 
Posted on August 31, 2009
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