FanHouse James Blake

SHANGHAI (AP) -- James Blake rallied to defeat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 Monday in the first round of the Shanghai Masters.

The American was broken early in the first set but won the second when Karlovic sent a forehand wide in the tiebreaker.

"I didn't have very good momentum at the start," said Blake, who recently started working with coach Kelly Jones. "The third set, I liked the way, when I did get my racket on it, how I was playing."

BEIJING (AP) -- Serena Williams was knocked out of the China Open on Thursday, losing to Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) only days before regaining the No. 1 ranking.

Williams, who will take over the top spot in the rankings from Dinara Safina on Monday, looked sluggish in the first set before recovering in the second. Neither player was able to earn a break in the third set.

"I don't feel like I ever got into high gear," Williams said. "I ran into a girl today who has never played so good in her life."

The U.S. Open starts Monday, and there's no reason to wait the whole two weeks just to see what questions the tournament will answer. We already have the answers, and it works out so neatly: 10 questions, 10 answers.

1. Will Rafa's knees get him through the tournament?

This is the big one. And in the long run, tennis needs Rafael Nadal to keep fighting Roger Federer, the best individual rivalry in sports. But it's hard to get a straight answer out of Rafa. In Cincinnati, a week and a half ago, he finally admitted to me that his knees still hurt, and that it was hard to get in position to attack, which is necessary on the hard courts.

POREC, Croatia (AP) -- The United States was ousted from the Davis Cup, and left to wonder how it might have gone had Andy Roddick been around to pelt opponents with his laser serve.

James Blake was unable to keep the Americans alive in the quarterfinals Sunday, losing to Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the opening match of reverse singles.

Cilic's victory on indoor clay put Croatia ahead 3-1 in the best-of-five format, sending the country to its first semifinal since winning the Davis Cup in 2005. The final score was 3-2 after American doubles specialist Bob Bryan beat Roko Karanusic 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the concluding match.

LONDON (AP) -- Andy Murray reached his first grass-court final by beating Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2, 6-4 Saturday at the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club.

He will play James Blake, who advanced after fellow American Andy Roddick retired with a foot injury at 4-4 in the first set of the other semifinal.

Roddick, a four-time champion here, hurt his foot in the third game after running back on a lob from Blake. After failing to hit the ball between his legs, Roddick stumbled on the edge between the grass court and surrounding concrete.

They had to gang up on Rafael Nadal. It was a tag-team effort in Madrid: First, Novak Djokovic softened him up with a four-hour death match. Nadal won. The next day, Roger Federer cleaned up on a tired Nadal with a sore knee.

But the point is, Nadal did fall on clay. It can be done! No one knew that for sure.

So we start the French Open on Sunday, the year's second major. Nadal has won it four years in a row. Can he be stopped now?

Supersize that forehand, please. That's the American tennis plan.

The French Open starts Sunday, and the American players, as always, aren't expected to have a long run through the year's second major. A long weekend, maybe.

The talk now is about footwork, that Americans aren't used to playing on the red clay courts, and don't know how to slide correctly. James Blake, the second best American man, noted Europeans slide into the their shots, but Americans hit the ball first, and then slide.

There is truth in that, and the American tennis industry is calling for more clay courts to be built in the U.S. But the big problem isn't just how Americans are doing on clay.

Andy Murray will have time to contemplate the pie floater this week. The No. 4-seeded Brit lost a five-set match to Spain's Fernando Verdasco (right) on Monday at the Australian Open, becoming the latest seeded player to get beat at a tournament that hasn't been kind to the "over-dogs."

Pfffft! That's the sound of American men's tennis going up in a final, feeble puff of smoke. It's also the sound of Maria Sharapova's relevance to tennis.

Wait until we get to the grass was all the American men could say after their 0-for performance on the terre batu of Paris at the French Open. Well, it's the second week of Wimbledon and only Andy Roddick is left to rep the world's #9 James Blake went down feebly to Juan

Carlos Ferrero in the 3^rd round. Mardy Fish was weak in his first round effort against Rafael Nadal. Robbie Ginepri folded against Fernando Gonzalez, and alleged rising star Sam Querry basically disappeared.

American men's tennis is on the decline and more trouble is on the winds as there are no young talented players appearing on the horizon. The powers that be in the United States Tennis Association hem and haw and hand-wring, but they seem comfortable with Roddick carrying the torch into the inevitable butt-kicking he faces against Roger Federer. And the sad thing is, beyond A-Rod, we don't even seem to care.

Now to Maria. The fist-pumping and "Vamos" screaming after routine points and the "oh my god, did I just win that match" fake surprise after 6-2, 6-4 second and third round wins has made her a near-pariah to her peers. The act plays nowhere but in the minds of fans that have no understanding of the game and a weak-willed, fawning television and print press.

Wimbledon is upon us. As Roger Federer begins his quest for his fifth straight Wimbledon title, Justine Henin seeks her first.

Federer is an odds on favorite on the fast grass. Henin, on the other hand, must contend with women with powerful groundstrokes and big serves like Serena and Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova.

Federer's first tough match will come in the third round against 6'4" Marat Safin. Though Safin has had an off year so far, he is always dangerous on the grass courts. Also down the road for Federer might be #13-ranked Tommy Haas or #9 James Blake.

World's #3 Andy Roddick is coming off a fourth straight victory at the Queen's Club, a warm up tournament for Wimbledon. Roddick's road to the quarterfinals appears easier than Federer's in that his main competition are player's whose games are more suited to clay than grass.

Rafael Nadal, #2-seed has an incredibly tough opening match against American Mardy Fish. Though Fish has been injured, this surface fits his serve-and-volley game to a tee. Should Fish return Nadal's serve and force his way to the net, an upset can happen. Should he get by Fish, in the third round Nadal is likely to face the huge-hitting Robin Soderling from Sweden. All-in-all I do not see Nadal reaching the final weekend this year.

On the women's side, Henin and Serena Williams appear to both have clear paths to a quarterfinal meeting. French Open finalist Jelena Jankovic must make her way through Israeli Shahar Peer or Martina Hingis, and possibly meet Anna Chakvetadze in the quarters. In Maria Sharapova's quarter of the draw it looks for all the world that she will face Venus Williams in a round-of-16 matchup worthy of the finals.

My predictions? It remains to be seen what the effect are of Federer losing to Nadal in the French Open finals. However, I feel Federer will pull through and win his fifth Winbledon. On the women's side I'm looking for Venus Williams to upset #2 Sharapova and Serena to defeat Henin in the quarterfinals. And I feel Serena takes the women's trophy.