11/23/24
August 15, 2008
I was robbed: : James Blake knocked out of Olympic final by Fernando Gonzalez, complains about contested point.
Recap: the contested point on a passing shot by Blake that was called long, but that Blake claimed had ticked Gonzalez's racket before landing. TV replays supported Blake's contention; the chair umpire did not, and Blake lost the point.
posted by lil_brown_bat to olympics at 12:22 PM - 9 comments
I don't know what is wrong with Blake. Why would you want to look like a spoil sport at the Olympics?
posted by bperk at 02:50 PM on August 15, 2008
Eh. I think it's a fair complaint. I don't know how you can have a ball touch your racket -- especially not when it's hit at that speed -- and not know it.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:49 PM on August 15, 2008
one of the attributes of champions is they immediately put a bad call, a bad shot,or an error behind them and FOCUS on the play at hand. Blake did not. It bugged him and affected his play and he lost.
posted by Fly_Piscator at 11:17 PM on August 15, 2008
Instead of crying woof Blake should of picked his game up and played better.doehead
posted by Doehead at 08:56 AM on August 16, 2008
Instead of crying woof Blake should of picked his game up and played better.
Yeah... he should've stopped dogging it!
posted by bnlfanmatt at 02:29 PM on August 16, 2008
First, tennis is not like golf. In tennis there are line judges, and a player is under no moral obligation to correct them if a call goes their way. I've never seen a pro go up and tell the official "look, that ball was out, it's his point" Second, I'm on the "he should have focused on the play at hand" wagon. Suck it up and move on.
posted by dviking at 02:57 PM on August 16, 2008
First of all, I have seen no definitive "proof" that the ball actually hit Fernando's racket. It's not like the ball suddenly careened off in a different direction. Second, it was a 15-0 point, not at all decisive, and by making a big deal out of it Blake took himself out of the match. He was broken the next game and that was all she wrote. In my opinion, it was poorly played to make such a big deal about it after the match even if he was convinced that he was right. Blake is a great player and he seems to be a good guy, but the difference between champions and great players was on stark display in this match. Champions win, runners up find ways to lose.
posted by sic at 04:29 AM on August 17, 2008
I've never seen a pro go up and tell the official "look, that ball was out, it's his point" Actually Bjorn Borg did it multiple times against G Vilas, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. I have also seen the hothead Ivan Lendl do it at least once.
posted by knowsalittle at 04:38 AM on August 17, 2008
Two points:
1. Gonzalez should have fessed up. Tennis like golf requires some honesty by the players in calling shots against themselves. However, giving him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he did not feel the tick. Haven't seen the replay, so I assume that could be the case.
2. Blake should have sucked it up and gone ahead and won. He had plenty of chances to win and did not. He cannot blame that one call on his blowing the match.