And then there was one: Venus More: Blake, Vaidisova, Mauresmo, Monfils

	Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com
	Vevus Williams stood up while James Blake fell.

DAY 8 FROM ROLAND GARROS – It’s time for the English- speaking world to slip on a Venus visor. “I think I might be the last American in the draw. I think I am. Lone flag waving gently in the wind,” said Venus before she realized that she was the last US player in the draw.

As has been the case the past six years, only an American woman remains a title contender in Paris. (I don’t count Mike Russell’s as having chance at the crown back in 2001.) For the foibles of her career, the vivacious V knows how to win big-time matches. That was the case back in 1994 when she played her first pro match in Oakland (a win over the incredibally nervous Shaun Stafford) and that’s the case now. She has a remarkable sense of self-confidence that is rarely shaken. “I didn’t know what I was going out there,” Venus told TennisReporters.net the other day when discussing her pro debut. I don't know how I won that match. I was just swinging."

Venus knows now and has a great chance at reaching her second Roland Garros final. It was easy to tell in her three-set victory over Patty Schnyder on Sunday that the Swiss had no faith that she could face Venus down when the going got tough. Venus knows what level she had to play at key moments during the match.

But the American is under threat in her next contest. Czech teen Nicole Vaidisova came alive in her 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 upset of Amelie Mauresmo, which was, by the way, a real upset. Some would say that Mauresmo on Court Philippe Chatrier is easy pickings for any decent player, but the No. 1 wasn’t this year and especially after gutting out the first set.

It wasn’t a simply a matter of Vaidisova simply waiting for a choke, it was matter of the Czech having to hit through her. And she did that very accurately. The tall and very fit Vaidisova played deep and with direction and served very well. She never choked, wasn’t bad at the net, and ignored the silent pleas of the crowd to give into Mauresmo.

“I think everybody gets nervous, at some points,” Vaidisova said. “I don't think because you're young that you don't get nervous and you just go and play. I think everybody gets nervous, in big matches. Every match is a little better. But I think it's good that you get a little nervous. Just can't get at the point where you can't move or you can't hit the ball, how nervous you are. … I was definitely confident in my level. Now it is higher than it was a couple months ago. I been working on some stuff, improving. I definitely felt good and ready."

Everyone likes James Blake, but after watching him go 0-8 in five setters in his 6-2, 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4 loss to France’s Gael Monfils, I got a sick feeling in my stomach that he’ll never be a consistent elite performer.

It did not matter that the match was played in France or on clay; Blake is better than Monfils on any surface. It was clear after he came off his chair after the fourth set that he wasn’t sure he could pull out the win and that’s what doomed him. He made some bad decisions in the ninth game and couldn’t claw his way into the final game. He needed to play more patiently and make Monfils press a little. He did not and now he wants us at some level to celebrate his progress on the surface. I’ll give him props for his win over Nicolas Almagro, but I can’t get exited about a 26-year-old going down in the third round of a major.

So in 2007, are we supposed to sing a hallelujah when he falls to say, Julien Benneteau in the first round? No thanks.

“A couple times at, what was it, 4 All in the fifth, I had two volleys I didn't put away,” Blake said. “ Part of that is the effect his speed has on the match and me just not finishing the points.”
That’s the reality of the contest, not that Monfils is the world’s best athlete, as Blake basically said. No doubt, he’s very fast, as fast as Blake and maybe as speedy as Rafael Nadal. But the guy’s strokes are nowhere as good.

I went pretty heavy on Maria Sharapova for her choke to Dinara Safina on foxports.com and got slammed in a couple of e-mails for being too hard on her. I am sure that I was more gentle on her than she is being on her self right now. She did not play smart and needs to learn to slow things down when a match is getting away from her. Sure, she’s ONLY 19, but consistent, winning tennis is all about composure and she needs more of that.

Anastasia Myskina showed me very little in her straight set loss to Justine Henin-Hardenne other than that she’s still nowhere near her 2004 form…JHH is a definitive favorite for the title…. Imagine this – Kim Clijsters is a dark horse…Props to Mario Ancic for getting through cramps and a sour stomach in his five set win over Tommy Robredo, but he won’t have enough left in the tank to challenge Roger Federer….Tennis wonk match off the year: David Nalbandian v. Nikolay Davydenko.

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