Blake's Upset Of Federer Only Part Of His Experience

He did something most professional athletes of his stature wouldn't. He checked out of his hotel after one night and checked into the Olympic Village. James Blake did it because he was looking for that once-in-a-lifetime experience. On a Thursday night in China, after a drought of five years and a rain delay of four hours more, he found it. He beat Roger Federer, 6-4, 7-6 (2). After eight successive losses, in Melbourne, in Queens, in Cincinnati, just about everywhere on earth, he beat Federer for the first time. After winning one set against the Swiss master in five years, Blake beat him in straight sets. He broke the world's No. 1 — soon to be No. 2 — player in the first. He held his poise through a tiebreaker in the second. And by the time Blake finished explaining his fist-pumping glee, it had grown clear his thrill... [read full story]