WIMBLEDON, England — Bothered by pain from a lingering right knee injury, James Blake is dealing with doubts about his tennis future.
Blake has been a top-five player, a Grand Slam quarterfinalist three times, a U.S. Davis Cup team regular — and Tuesday he was thinking aloud about where things stand for his career after a 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 loss to 151st-ranked Robin Haase of the Netherlands in Wimbledon’s first round.
“It’s almost embarrassing to go out and play a Grand Slam match like that,” said the 109th-ranked Blake, who had a testy exchange with ESPN reporter Pam Shriver between points, saying he thought her commentary was too loud and distracting.
He went 0-for-9 on break- point chances and made more than twice as many unforced errors as Haase, 23-10.
“The knee is not great,” Blake said. “If it doesn’t get better soon, I’m not sure how much longer I want to play in pain.”
The 30-year-old Blake, who is based in Tampa, Fla., began having problems with his knee more than a year ago, but continued playing, refusing to use painkillers or anti-inflammatory medicine because he worries about their long-term effects.
“Just gradually got worse and worse until it got to a point where I just couldn’t take playing at 80 percent. I can’t beat these guys at 80 percent. I can’t beat a lot of them at 100 percent on a given day. So to think that I’m going to compete with the top level of the game at 80 percent is just silly,” he said. “Maybe it’s just getting old, I don’t know.”
Curtsy call.
Defending Wimbledon champion Serena Williams’ serve is in good shape at the moment — she hit 15 aces and won all 27 points when she got a first serve in during her opening-round victory.
It’s her curtsy that she thinks needs work.
After wrapping up a 6-0, 6-4 win over 17-year-old Michelle Larcher de Brito, Williams gave a curtsy toward the Royal Box, well aware Queen Elizabeth II plans to visit Wimbledon for the first time since 1977 on Thursday.
Williams will be scheduled to play that day and has been working on her etiquette.
“I want it to be more natural,” she said. “Right now it feels really forced. Seems like I’ve never done a curtsy before, which may be true. But I’m looking forward to nailing it.”
Quick exits.
A tad more than two weeks ago, Samantha Stosur played in her first Grand Slam final, facing Francesca Schiavone for the French Open title. Neither woman lasted long at Wimbledon.
French Open runner-up Stosur was seeded sixth at the All England Club, but she exited meekly, beaten 6-4, 6-4 by 80th-ranked qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia.
Schiavone lost her Wimbledon opener Monday.
The Associated Press
