Blake Hangs His Racquet

[GameSetAndMath]

Last year it was Roddick. This year it is Blake.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/08/blake-announces-us-open-will-be-his-last-tournament/48880/

However, I am glad he choose to do so instead of suffering with low rankings
of the order of outside 100. He had/has lot of health problems also (above normal).

I remember his match against Agassi in an USO where he gave a good fight,
but finally lost in 5th set.

 

[ClayDeath]

they all start missing the sport fairly quickly.

I would not be surprised to see him resurface on the seniors tour.

its a good way to stay in and around the sport that you love.

 

[tenisplayrla08]

I'll miss him, but I'm glad he's going. He's been struggling the last couple of years. But such a good career. Awesome to come back from cancer like he did.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Always liked the guy, the power he generated on both sides. He had a tough road. The Agassi match will never be forgotten. Good Luck.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Wide screen is annoying but you feel the power just oozing through the screenuzzled

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eltQDerPc[/video]

:clap

 

[the AntiPusher]

Wide screen is annoying but you feel the power just oozing through the screenuzzled

[video=youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-eltQDerPc[/video]

:clap

Murat, you would have to attach a clip of Blake dismantling my dawg.. that's just Wrong!:angel:

 

[the AntiPusher]

This answer the older thread about the myth of playing first strike tennis. James Blake played this high risk game and it may have cost him as he tried to advance to the later rounds of the bigger tournaments and grand slams. IMO Congrats to James on a good career but I don't if its a HOF..

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

^AP, watch the rest of the video bro, he dismantles my guy too. Just sick forehands there...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

I'll miss him, but I'm glad he's going. He's been struggling the last couple of years. But such a good career. Awesome to come back from cancer like he did.

Blake never had cancer. He had various severe health issues; back problem, neck
problem etc etc.

His father died of cancer. May be you are mixing that up.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

they all start missing the sport fairly quickly.

I would not be surprised to see him resurface on the seniors tour.

its a good way to stay in and around the sport that you love.

Hanging his Racquet should not be taken literally. It does not mean he will never play tennis again. It is just an idiom for retiring from the competitive pro circuit. I am sure he will
want to and get an opportunity to play in senior tour. That does not count as
"unretiring" (like Hingis, Clijsters, Henin, Borg etc) as senior tour is only semi-competitive
and more for entertainment.

 

[Haelfix]

I always liked Blake, he was and is one of my favorite players on tour. He had unreal talent in his prime and could hit almost any shot.

A chronic underachiever, who should have done better with his career, in many ways he is typical of the mid 2k players who had all the talent in the world, but just could never string together enough wins to get by Fed/Nadal/Roddick whether it was b/c of injury, mental, drive or whatever.

But if you look at him in terms of weaponry. How many players on tour have that level of elite movement, a 130+mph serve, an elite return of second serve, great defense, and a forehand that can literally blast any player off the court. He also had very underrated hands and had a functioning net game. Just very well rounded.

The problem was always in between the ears. He routinely made poor shot selection choices, his consistency was always up and down (so you would see sets where he would literally destroy the Federer or Nadals of the world 6-1 and then proceed to lose the next two set 0-6 0-6) and he never really had backup plans. Further his game was only ever suited to fast hardcourts, and when they started slowing the surface/balls down in the mid 2ks, his ranking rapidly plummeted.

 

[Luxilon Borg]

Last year it was Roddick. This year it is Blake.

http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/08/blake-announces-us-open-will-be-his-last-tournament/48880/

However, I am glad he choose to do so instead of suffering with low rankings
of the order of outside 100. He had/has lot of health problems also (above normal).

I remember his match against Agassi in an USO where he gave a good fight,
but finally lost in 5th set.

I saw Blake qualify at the Open when he was 18. He was a completely different player. Very light on his feet, a bit of serve an volley, and a lot net approaches. He later became a physical animal..with very athletic and powerful sliding around the court, and a power baseliner.

You know they always say how smart he is..but he was NOT a smart player. Very one dimensional and no plan B. PMac in his book said that Blake was basically uncoachable and took very little advice. He wanted to win or lose playing "his game".

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

^^that's a bit sad though..blake won't know how good he might have been, even if he was good enough to be top 5 rank a while back.

 

[Iona16]

Quite sad to hear that Blake is retiring. Such a shame that so much of his career was blighted with injury. What a forehand though. I hope he enjoys his retirement.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

James was always a 'class act' to me
I always had a 'soft spot' for him
A player knows when to retire
I wish him all the happiness in his retirement....

 

[isabelle]

Have a nice life James, proud daddy of Riley Elizabeth, fair play man, very good player
I'll miss him
Good luck man

 

[Front242]

Kinda saw this coming really. Would be nice to see him involved in commentating or Davis Cup captaining as he's mentioned he'd like to pursue. Absolutely unreal forehand and we have many great clips of some crazy killer shots. An exciting guy to watch especially in his early peak days. All the best to him. And I hope he goes out playing well here in front of his home crowd.

 

[El Dude]

Given that Blake's American, this thread should be re-titled "Blake Hangs His Racket." In the US its not a "rackay."

Anyhow, looking at his career I'm a bit surprised at how short his peak was. From 2006 to 2008 he finished #4, #13, and #10, but other than that he never finished in the top 20.

I don't follow tennis Hall of Fame, but I can't see how in any way he is deserving. While he's made it to a few memorable Finals at the ATP 1000 and WTF level, he's never made it past the QF at a Slam and only one of his 10 titles was more than an ATP 250, that being an ATP 500. A good player, but not a Hall of Famer.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

yeah, i think it goes without saying that he's not HoF.

still, a bit sad to see him go. or bittersweet? hard to tell. in fact, i was always amazed to see that he was still around in the first place. at least he got another win against a top twenty player rather recently.

no matter anyshortcomings in his resume, the fact that he played at that level at all remains very impressive, regarding everything he went through. so all the best for his retirement years!

 

[Didi]

Probably one of the best and most talented players alongside Santoro etc. who never reached the semis of a slam. Tragic given that he was so gifted in many aspects of the game. He will be remembered for a lot of matches such as the Olympic Semifinal vs. Gonzo in 2008 and the USO classic with Agassi in 2005 but the one match I'll always treasure the most is the one with Federer at the US Open 2003. What an unreal shotmaking contest from the baseline with videogame-like forehand winners. Both were hitting the hell out of each other. A must-see on youtube if you haven't already.