Labor Day at the US Open saw the latest chapter of the American Tale come to a close with James Blake's dramatic five-set loss to Tommy Haas. Roddick had earned his way past Thomas Berdych earlier in the day after Berdych retired citing illness. That's the second contender from the top section of the draw to bow out with fever. Don't eat the fish in the player's lounge...

The Blake match was extremely enjoyable to watch. Battle of the Hunks. Blake jumped all over Haas in the first set and got the first break in the second before completely disappearing from the match for a half-hour. This led to an amusing conversation between Mary Carrillo and Johnny Mac about Blake's self-designation as a shot-maker. You're only a shot-maker when you are making shots, and sometimes Blake goes for long stretches missing them. Roger Federer, Mac said, is a shot-maker.

Tommy Haas was the second best player in the world in 2002 before he ran into a series of injuries that nearly ended his career. I remember loving him when he first came onto the scene. He has always struggled with his head, though. Watching him yesterday, I realized that he is the last bastion of Bolletieri tennis. Old St. Nick was in the stands watching in a polo shirt, eschewing the ratty tank top for a classier look now that he's 76 years old. Haas' game is basically Aaron Krickstein's game. He stands really far back, has incredibly solid strokes, a magic backhand, but a fragile head and poor tactics. When he went down a set and a break, I expected him to fold up the tent. Blake must have too.

Instead though, Haas began to realize that he could win any point he could turn into a backhand cross-court rally. Blake has a forehand that looks like Agassi's, a short slappy swing that requires incredible hands and is capable of huge pace or acute angles. But his backhand is not at all solid and Haas took advantage. Blake also failed to hit his first serve in and Haas abused the second ball en route to turning the match around.

Blake's success came at the net, and after dropping the second set quickly, he regained control of the match by continuing to push forward. Looking back on the match, it's clear that Blake surfed a fine line of percentage points with his forehand and first serve. He needs to hit both of those shots in to maintain the aggressor's stance against a guy as good as Haas.

Haas took control of the match again in the fourth set, by adjusting his strategy, standing a bit closer to the baseline, and coming in behind big deep ground strokes. Blake missed a lot of passing shots. Haas volleyed surprisingly well. Carrillo observed, Haas has always had an all-court game and he has rarely used it.

Blake threw away the set in the way Agassi used to, hurrying through to make a new start. But Agassi controlled everything when he played and it looked like a dubious strategy for Blake, playing against a fragile opponent in front of 20,000 people all in Blake's corner, waiting for a reason to scream. Meanwhile, Haas's girlfriend, Sarah Foster, could be heard at silent moments urging her man forward to victory.

I didn't want to see either one of them lose by the fifth set. Both needed the win badly. Both had thrown away chances and clawed back. The fifth contained as many tidal reverses as the rest of the match combined. Haas broke first and got to 4-2, before having break point and narrowly missing a backhand. Blake broke back and then held easily for 5-4. He had three match points in that game, Haas saving all of them with huge first serves.

Haas eventually won in the tiebreak because Blake missed two easy forehands and Haas controlled his nerves. Blake is the sixth-ranked player in the world but he really is not a danger in Grand Slam tournaments. The level of play in that match was, in fairness to both men, very high. Each of them wasted opportunities to win, but they were hitting nearly twice as many winners as errors and the service returns from both guys were just amazing. Blake hit one forehand return that was the hardest tennis shot I have seen since Andre retired. I think Blake will eventually have his best chances at Wimbledon. He moves very well, returns well, and volleys decently enough. His second serve and backhand are a problem right now against good players. Congrats to Tommy Haas for not acting like a Bolletieri brat and for coming forward to win in front of a hostile crowd.

Davydenko has been killing people and waits for Haas in the quarters. A Rod and R Fed will duel on center stage tomorrow night, and that should be great. The bottom half has three Spaniards and two Argentines. I still expect Djokovic and Nadal to come out of there into the semi-final.

 

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The women's side heats up today, with Serena and Justine Henin squaring off again. I think Serena wins and has to play her big sis again, dejas vu 2002.