When are people going to start criticizing James Blake as one of the largest underachievers in men’s tennis? His performance against Leonardo Mayer at the French Open was abysmal. Not only did he play a terrible tactical match, but he also showed no effort or intensity. Blake consistently chokes away golden opportunities to advance at majors, and yet he is never criticized by the media (most likely because he’s a nice guy and a great interview). Look at ESPN’s coverage of the match. Patrick McEnroe and Darren Cahill soft-pedal James’ terrible strategies because they are too close to him. ESPN then goes to Mary Carillo and she rightly crucifies James’ strategy and effort. The media love to criticize Andy Roddick, but Roddick’s competitiveness, willingness to adapt and tennis intelligence are far superior to Blake’s. Thoughts? — Steven, San Jose, Calif.

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