Blake to rescue as USA draw gold blank

BEIJING: James Blake rescued a flagging United States at the Olympics on Thursday as Michael Phelps took a breather from his gold medal parade and superstar tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams both crashed out of the Games. Blake stunned world number one Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) to reach the semi-finals of the men's singles and hand his country a rare glimmer of light on a day where the mood of the Americans, having failed to pick up a single gold, was as somber as the dank Beijing weather. Serena Williams lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Russia's Elena Dementieva while big sister Venus slumped to a 7-5, 7-5 quarter-final defeat to China's Li Na. Blake, 28, collapsed to his knees and roared with delight as he celebrated his first win over Federer in nine attempts, a run stretching back to 2003. "I would say beating the number... [read full story]