An American, male tennis player has given us reason to cheer.  In the Quarterfinals of the Olympics, James Blake, winner of one set in eight previous matches against Federer, managed to beat current world number 1 (albeit for only a few more days) in straight sets to advance to the semifinals in Beijing.  He will next face Fernando Gonzalez, with the winner earning the right to play for a gold against the winner of Nadal/Djokovic.

American women, however, did not fare so well.  Both Williams sisters saw their chances at a medal go down in flames in the round of 16.  Serena lost to Dementieva in a close 3 setter, and Venus went down to hometown hero Na Li, 7-5, 7-5.  Here are some links with other news from the tennis world:

Full Day 5 Olympic Wrap Up.

Jon Wetheim mailbag.

Results from Legg Mason Tennis Classic in our Nation’s capital.

Tignor debates Olympic Tennis.

Well, August is upon us, and things are starting to get crazy.  Manny Ramirez was traded yesterday, and in about 48 hours, Rafael Nadal could supplant Roger Federer as the ATP. No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world.  With Federer losing to Karlovic in the round of 16, if Nadal can win Cincinnati this weekend, he will end Federer’s reign of 235 weeks at No. 1.  And even if he doesn’t, it’s almost inevetiable he will at some point this summer.  The other big development this week is Maria Sharapova’s shoulder, which is going to keep her out of both the Olympics and the US Open.  Here are some other newsworthy items from this week:

Jon Wertheim’s latest mailbag & Ad In/Ad Out feature.

Greg Garber on all of the calendar issues the Olympics creates.

After losing in Montreal, Ivanovic could lose her # 1 ranking…to her Serbian compatriot, Jankovic.
Patrick Rafter interview, where he discussed the Tour of Champions and other current affairs in tennis.

He may take over the No. 1 ranking in the world on hard courts, but it doesn’t mean Nadal enjoys playing on them.