JMDP of Argentina beat Roger Federer at last year's US Open to stop the streak of five consecutive US titles for the greatest of all grand slam men's winners, and he arrives at this year's opening slam one of the pre-tournament favorites and the #4 seed. In one of those quirky moments that defines a tennis draw, however, he found himself with a dangerous and super-confident opponent in the second round while other top seeds drew a mix of qualifiers and no-names.
James Blake, the power-hitting American who once ranked in the world's top five but slumped out of the ranks of seeded players last year, gave the defending US champion all he could handle over the course of five high-energy sets. The match had to go to the tennis equivalent of overtime, as there is no tiebreaker in the final set of this major - you must play on until somebody wins by two games (the US Open is the only major that has a fifth-set tiebreak, which while it has the benefit of getting things over quickly at the end does suck out some of the awesome drama that comes with knowing we'll stay here all night if that's what it takes.) JMDP of Argentina looked exhausted when it was over but still had enough in the tank for a high-octane "Incredible Hulk" pose in victory...
Scary looking, huh? Imagine if this guy meets the equally fiery and determined Chilean Fernando Gonzalez (fun trivia fact Thomas: you lived down the street from Fernando's home tennis club when you studied abroad in Chile...a fact you've reminded me of on countless occasions). The sheer passion - not to mention illegal flares the South American fans are notorious for smuggling into the stands here - will be enough to shake the roof off Rod Laver Arena.
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