By show of hands, how many actually watched today’s Labor Day U.S. Open coverage?

Alright. Maybe you’re not a tennis fan like myself. But if you think tennis is boring, sit down and watch a quality match which takes over three hours to complete between two evenly matched top 10 players like today’s 4th round battle at Ashe between 10th seeded German Tommy Haas and sixth seeded American James Blake.

The topsy turvy match finished up about half an hour prior with Haas coming back from a set down to prevail in five over Blake 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (4) in front of a noisy packed house which included the J-Block who tried their best to get Blake over the top.

But the resilient Haas had just a little extra on the big points to pull this one out and advance to a possible quarterfinal rematch from last year against fourth seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko.

Early on, Blake looked in control taking it to his opponent with thunderous groundstrokes and an aggressive net game which worked very well to give him the first set and a 2-0 break lead in the second.

But Haas stepped up his game and turned the tide with some sizzling backhands which produced many of his 69 winners. He would level the match.

Blake got a crucial break in the third game of the third set to retake the momentum. He’d also break Haas to capture the set pulling within a set of a third consecutive Open quarterfinal.

But the feisty Haas quickly turned it around bageling Blake to take the fourth set. What changed? The German’s game as he started hitting all out from the baseline and attacking the net to finish off points.

The change in strategy paid dividends as he converted 66 percent (42 for 64) at the net which put Blake on the defensive.

Haas would continue his momentum with a break of Blake in the opening game of the final set. But the American wouldn’t go down without a fight finally breaking the German to level the match at two sets apiece and four all with some great hustle.

Both players really gave it their all in the fifth set which took 63 minutes to play. So much so that as it reached the pinnacle, the level of play continued to go up as each player did all they could to stay in points. It really was extraordinary to watch and captivated the audience.

Blake held for 5-4 and then put himself in a winning position on Haas’ serve earning three match points. However, that’s when the 29 year-old veteran ratcheted it up with three huge first serves to stave off elimination.

Earlier, it had been Blake who had to save a couple of break points and would’ve been down two breaks at 2-5 before holding for 3-4. Now, it was Haas digging deep for every ounce of energy to stay in this seesaw contest which featured plenty of emotions from both sides.

Both players would hold again to finally push it to a tiebreak. In the deciding breaker, the key point was played at three all on Haas’ serve. It just might’ve been one of the best points you’ll see.

With each player trading lethal groundstrokes, Haas eventually tried a drop shot to draw Blake in who ran it down. The speedy American then was forced to chase after a great Haas backhand lob. He somehow got to it and kept it in deep to get back in the point. With the crowd buzzing, he went back into the net looking to finish off the point but Haas came up with another great backhand lob which Blake couldn’t reach leaving both players spent as a loud reception rained down.

Maybe it took something out of Blake who had just won his first career five set match a couple of rounds ago and also needed four sets to reach this round. He also had played a busy schedule winning back in hometown New Haven and finishing runner-up to Roger Federer at Cincinnati. Whatever the reason, he double faulted and misfired on a shot from the baseline which gave Haas three match points with a couple on his racket.

Ironically, two reviews were needed to find out if the match would continue. The first one saw Blake almost down and out but his top spin backhand caught the edge of the baseline to make it 6-4 Haas after he challenged it thinking he won. The German then served an ace out wide which also caught an edge. This time, Blake challenged but the end result was the same as the one which was in favor giving Haas a hard fought Round of 16 win.

In terms of the quality, Haas finished with 69 winners and 39 unforced errors while the downcast Blake had 75 winners and one less unforced error (38). Each player also finished with 18 aces.

But ultimately, Haas was just a little better on this day. It was the type of match that was ashame someone had to lose. But that’s the bottom line in any competitive sport between two evenly matched competitors.

Give Haas a lot of credit for coming up with the goods to offset a pro Blake crowd along with his very capable American foe.

For the 27 year-old Blake out of Yonkers, it was an extremely disappointing result. Sure, as he said, Haas played well on the big points. But he really needed to pull out this match and get to the quarters again. Maybe this was the year he could’ve taken that next step at a slam and made his first semi with no Roger Federer or Andre Agassi standing in the way.

Instead, it’s back to the drawing board for the very likeable American. He’s probably wondering when it’s going to happen. This wasn’t like some of the other five set losses. He was right there just like the Agassi epic match but his opponent came up with the shots to beat him.

One year soon, Blake is going to need to win a match such as this if he wants to take that quantum leap forward and possibly challenge for his first major.

Meanwhile, Andy Roddick had a relatively short day because his Czech opponent Tomas Berdych had something wrong with him. Yet the fifth seeded American had to dig out of a 3-5 first set hole and fight off a set point before pulling out the breaker. When he broke for 2-0 in the second set, that was all for Berdych who just looked very sluggish and could barely run out there.

It was very peculiar considering he felt fine earlier in the day. Maybe it was nerves? Whatever the reason, it was just another reason the 22 year-old from the Czech Republic remains an enigma. He’s got as much talent as anyone. Big serve. Bigger groundstrokes than probably Roddick. But no heart. This is a guy who upset Federer at the 2004 Olympics. So you know he’s got the ability.

But there’s something missing. No fire? Who knows?

For Roddick, he used another hour to practice and prepare for what should be a quarter against Federer- a rematch of last year’s final which was very tight for three sets before Roger cruised to a four set win and third consecutive Open.

Unless the unthinkable happens and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez upsets the world No.1 tonight, it will be another opportunity for the 25 year-old 2003 Open winner to reverse the trend against Federer was has seen him only win one match in 14 tries. That came four years ago in Montreal when Roddick was the No.1 player in the world.

Roger holds a 4-0 edge in slams. We’ll see what happens.