And it was a beatdown, 6-3 6-1. That's Blake's 4th title of the year, and his first career win over Ljubicic. After rallying from a set down to take out Marat Safin in the semis, looks like James has hit his stride again. Maybe James was getting as irritated with the J-Block as the rest of us during the US Hardcourt Swing. Good to see him in form again.
Here are audio interviews with both of them, and here's a match report.
good stuff from blake. even though these arent the biggest titles in the tennis world, he's beating a lot of quality players, not just top 10 players but even safin who seems to be getting back on track.
Posted by: sensationalsafin | October 01, 2006 at 12:36 PM
Good for James. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.
Posted by: Peacemaster | October 01, 2006 at 02:44 PM
Blake has the perfect game for fast indoor courts with his athleticism and speed. He could make some noise in Shanghai at the Masters Cup if he qualifies.
Posted by: Stellcat | October 01, 2006 at 06:33 PM
Well, Blake's game is perfect, but he is still the underdog against the Feds. He has the game to beat Nadal, don't know if he can beat Roddick as Roddick can be absolutely difficult to deal with indoors.
Posted by: john emms | October 01, 2006 at 10:10 PM
Uh yeah John obviously Blake is an underdog to Federer. I just meant he could play well at the Masters Cup and do some damage.
Posted by: Stellcat | October 02, 2006 at 12:35 AM
I guess I wasn't clear enough. I think he is an underdog ONLY to Federer. He should beat everybody else. Heck, he should be No. 2 if he wasn't stupid in 5 -setters
Posted by: John Emms | October 02, 2006 at 02:52 AM
Umm he has beaten No.2
Posted by: ace | October 02, 2006 at 10:52 AM
He's beaten Nadal. But he has negative records against Ljubicic, Roddick, and ...! To be honest, I think this year has been quite disappointing for blake. Blake should have qualified already for Shanghai instead of having to work hard for it at the end of the year. He has the kind of game to be a top 3 for a rather long period. Like in French Open! I really thought he would go on to test Nadal severely. He showed against Almagro that he can beat clay courters. But, he lost that 5 setter to monfils. Australia he lost to Robredo! Wimbledon lost to Mirni 6-0 in the fifth. So, he underachieved this year.
Posted by: John Emms | October 02, 2006 at 01:14 PM
congrats to james blake on beating that awful ivan lubicic!
Posted by: blakefan | October 02, 2006 at 03:09 PM
congrats to james blake on beating that awful ivan lubicic!
Posted by: blakefan | October 02, 2006 at 03:09 PM
aww don't hate on ljubi! he gets enough hate...but lots and lots of congrats to blake!!
Posted by: | October 02, 2006 at 08:54 PM
Ljubo is hated because he talks the talk but never walks the walk. He complains how people barely recognize that he is the world number three and then loses in the 1st round of the U.S. Open. Before all that, he disses Nadal and sends him an SMS full of sh*t right after, yet Nadal kicks his ass every time he plays Ljubo. Make any sense? So in order to gain respect, you have got to respect yourself.
Anyway, congrats to Blake. 6/3 6/1? Not a bad score at all.
Posted by: | October 03, 2006 at 09:26 PM
Don't forget a few years ago at the U.S. Open, Ljubo talked $hit about Roddick after losing to him saying everyone in the locker room was telling him to beat Roddick and that nobody likes Andy.
I'm not a big fan of Roddick but I thought it was bush league on Ivan's part. He called Roddick the next day and apologized. Sounds like Ivan likes to run his mouth about other players and then is afraid and is all aplogetic when those words come back to bite him. He's a d-bag
Posted by: Stellcat | October 04, 2006 at 10:33 PM