I played him in the late 90's, just before he turned pro. I always tell my friends, the most impressive thing about Blakes game was his speed/court coverage. I describe it as cartoonish because he's so unbelievably quick.
Blake hit flatter than other players and it didn’t give Rafa time to dictate from the baseline. Youzny had similar success at times against Rafa. Once Rafa gets control of the rally with his topspin, only a taller player that can handle the higher ball has a chance, such as Rosol and Soderling. If you are shorter, you better attack first.
Rafa really broke through in 2005 and he's been consistently playing well throughout most of his career. James was just a problem for him at first. Rafa beat him in Indian Wells and Miami in 2008 and other hard court tournaments after.
It wasn't just the beginning, all 4 of rafa's eventual wins against james had deciding sets, one or two could have gone blake's way. for sure tough matchup even though most would contend blake had one of the weakest one handers but somehow rafa never broke it down like he did with roger's one hander..
@@TheseHoesAreLoyal how is that funny? Amongst all top 10 players he clearly had the worst one hander of the 2000s. It was still a great weapon, he is a pro at the end of the day but you can't tell me he had a better one hander than federer, sampras, kuerten, almagro, gasquest, wawrinka, mantilla, ljubicic, robredo, etc...the only top one hander you could make a case as being worse than blake's was feli lopez's but he never ranked inside top 10 for singles..
lol the last time Blake beat nadal was in 2006. When nadal was a teenager. They also only played on hard courts and Nadal wasn't even 1/10th the player that he is today on HCs. It was moreso a factor of Nadal's inexperience rather than Blake's game. If Blake beat Nadal post 2009 on a hard court, I can understand your analysis. However, Rafa won 4 in a row against him before his first hard court slam. Your understanding of tennis is flawed. QED.
@@mathk202 Yeah lol. 2010 or 2008 Rafa would have demolished Blake. In 2006 Rafa was evolving as a teenager and his backhand was mediocre. He relied on his legs and heavily on his forehand to win points. This took a toll on his body which we are witnessing at present date
Their matches were always hard fought and went the distance quite a few times. Both have/had powerful shots and tremendous athleticism..I think Rafa did not enjoy playing James at all..
You have to give Blake Credit. He put in inspired performances against Nadal in 2005 and 2006. Nadal may not have been at his Hardcourt best but he did win Toronto and Madrid in 05 and beat Federer to win Dubai in 06 so he wasn't exactly a slouch.
@@TheKevzaNadal won his last 4 matches against Blake and they were in 2008-2009, so Rafa was in his prime. And guess what ? These were all hard-fought wins. Given the fact that Federer is wayyy better than Blake, it's pretty fair to say he would've won a bit more against Rafa if he had the guts to hit his backhand flat at shoulder height, without being afraid of making errors.
Once Nadal started getting to his prime years , Blake had nothing for him. Nadal won 4 in a row in the match up and would've won every other match had Blake ever played him again.
This is peak Blake.. his athleticism here was astounding. He was so quick in some of these points that left even Nadal surprised.
I forgot how crazy fast Blake was back in his day. Holy moly some of the shots he got to? Incredible. Great win for him here.
I played him in the late 90's, just before he turned pro. I always tell my friends, the most impressive thing about Blakes game was his speed/court coverage. I describe it as cartoonish because he's so unbelievably quick.
James Blake is such a class act!! Massive respect!
What a gem of a throwback match! A slugfest! This was vintage James Blake on fire. Great upload.
Blake hit flatter than other players and it didn’t give Rafa time to dictate from the baseline. Youzny had similar success at times against Rafa. Once Rafa gets control of the rally with his topspin, only a taller player that can handle the higher ball has a chance, such as Rosol and Soderling. If you are shorter, you better attack first.
Rafa had also Problems with Davydenko , who played simular
James was a real problem for Rafa in the beginning by blasting flat winners and having the leg speed to match up.
Yup, and yet some people think Rafa's prime was during 2006-2008
Rafa really broke through in 2005 and he's been consistently playing well throughout most of his career. James was just a problem for him at first.
Rafa beat him in Indian Wells and Miami in 2008 and other hard court tournaments after.
It wasn't just the beginning, all 4 of rafa's eventual wins against james had deciding sets, one or two could have gone blake's way. for sure tough matchup even though most would contend blake had one of the weakest one handers but somehow rafa never broke it down like he did with roger's one hander..
@@kenkozawa9810 "Blake had one of the weakest one handers" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@TheseHoesAreLoyal how is that funny? Amongst all top 10 players he clearly had the worst one hander of the 2000s. It was still a great weapon, he is a pro at the end of the day but you can't tell me he had a better one hander than federer, sampras, kuerten, almagro, gasquest, wawrinka, mantilla, ljubicic, robredo, etc...the only top one hander you could make a case as being worse than blake's was feli lopez's but he never ranked inside top 10 for singles..
just saw H2H. nadal leads 4-3. Those 4 wins over blake were hard fought wins. something about blake's game that troubles nadal.
lol the last time Blake beat nadal was in 2006. When nadal was a teenager. They also only played on hard courts and Nadal wasn't even 1/10th the player that he is today on HCs. It was moreso a factor of Nadal's inexperience rather than Blake's game.
If Blake beat Nadal post 2009 on a hard court, I can understand your analysis.
However, Rafa won 4 in a row against him before his first hard court slam. Your understanding of tennis is flawed. QED.
@@mathk202 Yeah lol. 2010 or 2008 Rafa would have demolished Blake. In 2006 Rafa was evolving as a teenager and his backhand was mediocre. He relied on his legs and heavily on his forehand to win points. This took a toll on his body which we are witnessing at present date
Yeah Blake looked really good here and showed some excellent strokes, love the match it definitely was a slugfest
Their matches were always hard fought and went the distance quite a few times. Both have/had powerful shots and tremendous athleticism..I think Rafa did not enjoy playing James at all..
You have to give Blake Credit. He put in inspired performances against Nadal in 2005 and 2006. Nadal may not have been at his Hardcourt best but he did win Toronto and Madrid in 05 and beat Federer to win Dubai in 06 so he wasn't exactly a slouch.
Shows you that Fed could have won more against Rafa if he hadn’t been so intimidated
Not really. If Blake faced peak Nadal , as federer did, he would've been humiliated .
@@TheKevza disculpa nadal desde 2005 ya era un problema para federer en arcilla siempre le ganaba hasta el 2008 q le gano la final de wimbledon
@@TheKevzaNadal won his last 4 matches against Blake and they were in 2008-2009, so Rafa was in his prime. And guess what ? These were all hard-fought wins. Given the fact that Federer is wayyy better than Blake, it's pretty fair to say he would've won a bit more against Rafa if he had the guts to hit his backhand flat at shoulder height, without being afraid of making errors.
@@TheKevza you know , that Federer lost against Nadal in 2006 on hard?
It's just that Nadal didn't like that flat ball and feds played with topspin
10:40 what a point from Nadal
Once Nadal started getting to his prime years , Blake had nothing for him. Nadal won 4 in a row in the match up and would've won every other match had Blake ever played him again.
Blake is somehow a threat to rafa
I was so happy that day. I'm always happy when Nadal loses but that day he was beat by a great player and dude.
nadal always a bad looser when one beat him up
why is Blake's single backhand so terrible