[altosburg]

I don't know if I understand why everyone's saying James Blake "isn't trying" in his matches. That seems to me to be a misrepresentation of his statement. And wasn't he just in a clay court final? He said Americans don't prepare for the French Open as much because they're focusing on preparing for other tournaments. Is this not a description of the second half of Pete Sampras' career? He really telegraphed in some poor results there after 1996.

And I'm not terribly pleased with the selective reporting either. I just watched some of and read the transcript of the interview and the message I'm getting is not "I didn't try." He was asked a question about why US men don't handle best-of-five-set matches on clay well. James countered that by mentioning some good Davis Cup results (by Andy Roddick) but James, being James, tries to be diplomatic and suggests reasons why U.S. men haven't done well. He's not making excuses, he's stating a fact. But seriously, people here have a problem with the notion that Andy Roddick would take his Wimbledon preparation more seriously than his French Open prep?

Additionally, he said this just after getting knocked out of the first round a GS by a qualifier. I'm guessing he might have been a little bit bitter.

[sleelverrex]

I think that James statement is at the very least unprofessional. When the whole Brave New World concept was being put out to the public the Europeans problem with it was that it was the United States that wanted to demote clay court play to second class status and elevate hard court play. This is what was behind Roger, Rafa and Novak getting on the players council. For Blake to imply that ALL the US players see the European clay court swing as a bother is to confirm what was being said about US tennis and the reason DeVilliers was pushed out as being valid.

Don't forget it was a big deal when Venus played Acapulco this year.

Andy Roddick has worked hard to keep himself in the conversation on the men's side. Many noted the improvement of his footwork during his opening round match. We don't even have to talk about Serena's fight in her first round match.

As for Davis Cup the ball is in PMac's court. GVGirl's comments are pertinent. Who should be on the Davis Cup team?

[abossakon]

I think that James statement is at the very least unprofessional. When the whole Brave New World concept was being put out to the public the Europeans problem with it was that it was the United States that wanted to demote clay court play to second class status and elevate hard court play. This is what was behind Roger, Rafa and Novak getting on the players council. For Blake to imply that ALL the US players see the European clay court swing as a bother is to confirm what was being said about US tennis and the reason DeVilliers was pushed out as being valid.

Based on the interview transcript, I don't think he did this at all.

[hacyOrgachbic]

I don't know if I understand why everyone's saying James Blake "isn't trying" in his matches. That seems to me to be a misrepresentation of his statement. And wasn't he just in a clay court final? He said Americans don't prepare for the French Open as much because they're focusing on preparing for other tournaments. Is this not a description of the second half of Pete Sampras' career? He really telegraphed in some poor results there after 1996.

And I'm not terribly pleased with the selective reporting either. I just watched some of and read the transcript of the interview and the message I'm getting is not "I didn't try." He was asked a question about why US men don't handle best-of-five-set matches on clay well. James countered that by mentioning some good Davis Cup results (by Andy Roddick) but James, being James, tries to be diplomatic and suggests reasons why U.S. men haven't done well. He's not making excuses, he's stating a fact. But seriously, people here have a problem with the notion that Andy Roddick would take his Wimbledon preparation more seriously than his French Open prep?

For me....it's the "defeatist attitude" that creeps out with James' words....It feels like he is saying...he only puts in an appearence because it's mandatory but he isn't even going to try because American men don't do well on clay. Horsepoopie.

We all know that James has the mental game of a limp noodle

There are times when I wish he has so much more FIGHT in him, not just the physical act of getting the ball over the net...but FIGHTING.

[sleelverrex]

Based on the interview transcript, I don't think he did this at all.

"For the Americans, a lot of times, this isn't our main goal of the year. Ours is generally Wimbledon and the U.S. Open,'' Blake said. He's using "our" not "mine" Munchin. I understand that he was asked about Americans in general but he's an educated man and could have easily said that he couldn't speak for anyone but himself and then gone on to say what he said. It would still be a startling comment though.

[abossakon]

He's using "our" not "mine" Munchin. I understand that he was asked about Americans in general but he's an educated man and could have easily said that he couldn't speak for anyone but himself and then gone on to say what he said. It would still be a startling comment though.

But he went on to say how good a chance he thinks Andy Roddick has in Paris. My impression was that he was trying to be diplomatic and state all sides of the issue.

[freddystone]

I don't know if I understand why everyone's saying James Blake "isn't trying" in his matches. That seems to me to be a misrepresentation of his statement. And wasn't he just in a clay court final? He said Americans don't prepare for the French Open as much because they're focusing on preparing for other tournaments. Is this not a description of the second half of Pete Sampras' career? He really telegraphed in some poor results there after 1996.

And I'm not terribly pleased with the selective reporting either. I just watched some of and read the transcript of the interview and the message I'm getting is not "I didn't try." He was asked a question about why US men don't handle best-of-five-set matches on clay well. James countered that by mentioning some good Davis Cup results (by Andy Roddick) but James, being James, tries to be diplomatic and suggests reasons why U.S. men haven't done well. He's not making excuses, he's stating a fact. But seriously, people here have a problem with the notion that Andy Roddick would take his Wimbledon preparation more seriously than his French Open prep?

A few reactions.

First, thank you for highlighting the issue of selective reporting. We as tennis fans need to be a bit more vigilant about reading entire transcripts of such interviews... And then making our judgments. You could easily pull one sentence out of a perfectly fine interview when considering the whole context and yet twist it into something that is completely contrary to the player's real intent. I don't know if that's the case here, but it's a possibility.

Second, I saw most of that match. James put forth a horrific effort. I would argue that he tried, and nothing was working, so he ended up saying, more or less, WTF?

Third, these types of questions should be reserved for the USTA, not James. I think they're trying to make some progress on this front via player development. But it's going to take time. You not only have to have the influence of capable coaches with a claycourt mindset; you also have to have talent that's comparable to the rest of the field and the mindset of a winner. It's going to take time before the USTA is going to be able to develop an arsenal of players who combine those three characteristics.