By Mike McIntyre

In a first round clash between fellow Americans, Andy Roddick emerged victorious over James Blake at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships by a score of 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(3) on Wednesday. It was his first win over the 55th ranked Blake in their last four meetings, yet improved Roddick's career record against his compatriot to 7-3.

For Blake it is another early round loss as he adjusts to life as an unseeded player.

“Whoever won was going to be pretty darn well-prepared for the rest of the tournament and feel good about their chances,” Blake said. “It’s tough to swallow.

“It just didn’t go my way on a couple of points,” Blake said of the tiebreaker. “A couple of missed backhands, and he kept the pressure on me the whole time.”

The draw has opened considerably for Roddick as Fernando Verdasco, Radek Stepanek and Tommy Haas were all sent packing in the first round. Roddick is the only player remaining of the top four seeds left in the tournament. 

It should be noted however that Roddick is still dealing with issues to his right shoulder as he mentioned during a recent press conference in Memphis.

"'It felt great at the beginning [of San Jose last week] and not so great at the end of the tournament... Not one of my matches was pretty, but I was able to play five of them. Hopefully that will prepare me for this week."

''I'm going to negotiate through these next couple of weeks and then get in some good practice that I haven't had since before the Australian Open."

That negotiating will next involve Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei in the second round who defeated Robby Ginepri in his opening match.

Comments

James Blake continues to do just enough to come up with an exciting loss. First it was del Potro and now Roddick. Because his ranking has dropped so far he is playing talent like this in the first two rounds rather then in the 3rd or 4th.

If he keeps up this form throughout the season, but works on his mental toughness in close three-setters than he could be looking at another run at the U.S. Open.

I thoroughly enjoy watching Blake play and I hope he gets back into the top 10.

I like James Blake too Tom, but I seriously doubt at his age that a return to the top-ten is likely. I think he can get back into the top-thirty if he continues to work on his game plan. He looked great in Australia against Del Potro when he varied his tactics and came in frequently to the net. But if he sticks to his baseline, guns-blazing approach, then I fear his career is on the downward slide.

Yeah, I don't have much hope for it either. I'd like to see him channel all of his energy into one more good run at the U.S. Open. He has to rise in the rankings to do so because I don't think he has the consistency to beat two or three top-10 players to even reach the quarterfinals. Good luck to Blake!