Blake's Slide Continues (and Other Wimbledon Notes)

rong> was inside the top 10, a place he had grown accustomed to since rising to a career-high No. 4 in 2006. But the last year and a half have been a nightmare for the onetime Davis Cup hero, who’s battled an assortment of injuries and watched his ranking fall to No. 109. On Tuesday, Blake’s nightmare continued, as he was — in his words — embarrassed in the first round at Wimbledon by Dutch journeyman Robin Haase 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

His return game ineffective (a result of the lingering knee injury that sidelined him for 10 weeks), Blake failed to convert any of his nine break-point opportunities and committed 23 unforced errors in the one-hour/37-minute contest.

“I didn’t do well enough when I had chances,” said Blake, who sported a hangdog look for much of the match and even sniped at ESPN’s Pam Shriver, who was seated above the court. “I could blame a lot of time off for that, for not playing confidently on those big points, not playing aggressive, not feeling as comfortable. That’s something that could easily happen from taking time off. That’s still no excuse for playing that way.”

“To be honest, it’s almost embarrassing to go out and play a Grand Slam match like that,” added Blake, who’s coached by Kelly Jones. “Maybe it says to me that I came back too soon, or maybe I’m just too far away where I think I need to be.”

It’s clear that his knee injury — which traces back to the beginning of his precipitous fall in the rankings — isn’t fully healed.

“If it doesn’t get better soon, I’m not sure how much longer I want to play in pain,” he said.

Blake, who’s never played his best tennis on the AELTC lawns (having never advanced beyond the third round in eight tries), says he re-tweaked his knee last week in Eastbourne, where he fell to Frenchman Julien Benneteau 7-6(3), 7-5 in the opening round. It was his first match since the Sony Ericsson Open in March. Thus far, he’s rejected the idea of surgery, and has even refused to take anti-inflammatories or painkillers. But Blake revealed that he did try platelet rich plasma (PRP) treatment — the controversial blood-spinning therapy that Tiger Woods used to stimulate the natural healing process in his knee.

“Maybe it’s just getting old. I don’t know,” he said.

Blake says he plans to play the U.S. summer hard-court campaign — regardless of the circumstances.

“If that means playing in pain, I’m going to play in pain,” he said.

As for the longer term, the 30-year-old Ivy Leaguer is in uncharted waters.

“A lot of people think the unknown is fun. Some people think it’s scary. I think it’s a little bit of both,” said Blake. ” I think it’s an opportunity. If my life is going to change after the [U.S.] Open, then I’ll have to be anxious and see what comes next.”

But if anybody has had to overcome hardship, it’s Blake, who rebounded from a broken neck, a case of shingles and the loss of his father to cancer in 2004, and returned to the top of the sport.

“I still love the competition. No doubt in my mind about that,” he said. “The only thing that maybe has changed is it’s tougher practice-wise, but it used to be for me I was pretty single-minded in terms of wanting to just get out and work. Whether it’s hitting a million forehands, hitting a million serves, doing running, whatever it was, I wanted to keep doing it. If it’s going to make me better to hit for longer, I’m gone hit for longer. Something like this, an overuse injury, it’s a tough balance you have to find. Like I said, I want to be out there hitting, but I might be doing more harm than good. So it makes it hard to decide. Do I want to practice longer? Do I want to take this time off? Do I need to rest? And then I come out, and I don’t have that same confidence I do when I’ve hit millions and millions of balls, where I’ve gone out there and I know I’ve done the work.

NOTEBOOK: THE GIRL WITH THE REVOLVING HEAD, THE GUY WHO USED AN AXE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM

QUESTIONS: What does it say about the lack of dominance on the women’s tour when BOTH Roland Garros finalists — titlist Francesca Schiavone and runner-up Sam Stosur — exit in the first round at Wimbledon?…Where’s Sam Querrey‘s intern? Said Sam, “He’s getting ready to start law school at Vanderbilt Law…Had to write him a letter of recommendation…Actually had him write it.”…Have we seen the last of Dinara Safina?

A HORROR FILM IN THE MAKING: Of Alejandro Falla‘s near upset of defending champ Roger Federer in the first round, The Daily Mail’s Alan Fraser wrote, “As scares go for Roger Federer and his many fans, this was right up there with the girl with the revolving head and the guy who used an axe to go to the bathroom.”

A DRESS THAT DOUBLES AS DESSERT: Of the inspiration for her white-with-red-trim Nike dress, Serena Williams said, “Strawberries and cream.”

HEADLINES

How An Unknown Colombian Managed to Give the Greatest Player in History a Real Fright
Will the World Cup Steal Wimbledon’s Fire?

THE NUMBERS

10:58 p.m.: Centre Court witnessed its latest ever finish when Novak Djokovic closed out Olivier Rochus 4-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 just before 11 p.m. on Monday. Said the Serb, “I’m happy in a way that my name is in the history books.”

1: Set Serena Williams has dropped in the first round at Wimbledon since her debut there in 1998.

QUOTEBOOK

“I got lucky.” — Federer on his first-round win over Falla

“He should have known that I was going to beat him. But he forgot I beat him.” —Federer

“He is hardly short of endorsements, but when Roger Federer’s agent looks for his next deal maybe he should try a manufacturer of anti-perspirants. The six-times Wimbledon champion rarely sweats, either physically or metaphorically, and his coolness under pressure is one of his greatest assets.” — Paul Newman, The Independent

“Fatherhood and a quiet life might suddenly look more attractive than putting his golden reputation on the line — because he knows those circling wolves will not go away and lately they have been snapping at his heels with worrying regularity.” —The Guardian’s Kevin Mitchell on Federer

“For two years now and counting, the forensic psychologists in the tennis world have been searching for the hidden ark — the jewel-encrusted relic that would indicate that Federer is no longer the dominant player in the game. In the fortnight’s first match on Centre Court at Wimbledon, they might have found it.” — Greg Garber, ESPN

“He’s won everything in sight so forgive the guy if his hunger isn’t exactly at Donner Party levels.” — Jon Wertheim on Federer

“A black cat almost crossed my path, but I chased it 3 blocks and got around it. Had the cat been quicker, it would have been devastating.” — Tweet from Bob Bryan

“When I get down on myself or I’m being negative, I have a really tough time bringing myself back up to a level state of mind or a positive attitude. So I’m trying to never get myself to that point.” — Sam Querrey, who says he’s playing with a new attitude after his doldrum days at Roland Garros

“Hopefully I’ll play in front of the Queen, but also hopefully not because I might get a little bit nervous.” — Serena Williams, who admitted that she’s been practicing her curtsey nearly as much as her tennis: “I want it to be more natural. 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.”