James Blake, You Are My Hero.

Wide-awake, and surprisingly alert, I sit on my bed and stare at my computer. It is 4:51am. 

I had stayed up all night watching the only actual athlete (besides David Robinson) that I extremely adore, battling it out on the tennis courts in Beijing. His name? James Blake.

I came to know about him through his autobiographical book, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life, --- an excellent, poignant literary gem that is sincerely inspirational. It helped me get to know who he was outside of tennis, as he talked about his life and his tragic experiences in 2004, when he seriously injured himself and lost his father. Smart, charming and endearing, I hopped on the J-Block bandwagon. He became a new reason for me to watch tennis.

I didn't find out that he was part of the US Olympic Tennis Team until a few days ago, so I quickly looked up his standings and saw that he had amazingly beat the world's long-time number one tennis player, Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals. James lost to this guy every single time he played him in the past - so this was some serious business. I watched the Federer and Blake match knowing how it would end; and I still felt the same thrill as I saw Blake score against the Fed. It was beyond amazing.

So there I was, craving for some more Blake action. I wanted to see what he was up to next, and lo and behold, his match against Athens Bronze Medalist from Chilé, Fernando Gonzalez, was streaming live. I did not even think twice. I watched this semifinal match anxiously and nervously. I felt like my heart was beating four times faster than usual (then again, it could just be my hyperthyroidism acting up), but I seriously could not keep still. James was playing his heart out - and so was Fernando. It was insane. They each kept catching up to each other, playing a sort of cat and mouse chase for almost three hours. It was so nerve-wracking I thought I was going to pee my pants, sweat to death, and faint. I had never felt such intense emotions over a live, web-streamed olympic tennis match before. I wanted James to win so bad because winning that game meant that he would immediately be guaranteed an olympic medal. And I know damn well that he deserves gold more than anyone.

The match ended the way it was meant to --- in favor of avocado-addict Fernando G. I was so pissed off you don't even know. Actually, it was a mixture of disappointment, hurt (I know, right?) and pissy-ness. I was upset. James' chances at winning gold were over. But the good news is, he's still in the running for medal contention as he is set to face off with some other tennis dude for the Bronze medal. Definitely not gold, but still better than nothing. 

So now, it is freakin' 5:20am and I'm going to hit the hay with sadness in my mind. I feel so much for James Blake because I know how hard he's worked, how much he's gone through over the years (inside and outside of his tennis career), and how amazing he is at the sport. When he lost, I felt like I lost too. How sad is that!? I'm hoping he wins the bronze --- otherwise, I'm gonna march my little butt to Beijing and complain. Or not.

To James,

You are an amazing athlete and an even more amazing person. Keep kicking butt!

PS.

At least you get bragging rights for beating Roger Rabbit! =]

Woohoo!!