I fully expect that by this time tomorrow I will be writing about James Blake being the newest entry into the 2009 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament.

Bear in mind, this is nothing more than a hunch on my part. However, barring a setback with his injured foot which kept him out of action for the summer, it makes so much sense that Blake will request - and of course be granted - a wild card.

It was at the 2005 Pilot Pen where Blake's career took a turn for the better. Injuries and illness forced Blake off the tour and his ranking to plummet so far that he needed a wild card just to get into the Pilot Pen. He promptly won tournament, the first combined men's and women's event ever held during the North American summer hard-court season, much to the delight of his enthusiastic rooting section and tournament officials who marketed the "J-Block" phenomenon with as much fervor as humanly possible. After his stunning loss in New Haven in 2006, Blake returned and won the title again in 2007.

This season has been a struggle for Blake. Since reaching the Queens Club final the week before Wimbledon, Blake is 0-4. On Tuesday he fell to Igor Kunitsyn in the first round in Cincinnati.

Suddenly Blake seemed underprepared for the U.S. Open, something that can be remedied by entering the Pilot Pen. Blake is a smart cookie, intelligent enough to get into Harvard so I am sure he can see the logic in attempting to get his game in gear in front of friends and family at a venue where he has enjoyed success before.

As for Venus Williams, who suffered a stunning loss in Toronto on Tuesday, she seems less likely to enter a tournament she won four years in a row from 1999-2002. After her loss to qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko at the Rogers Cup, Williams said she plans to rest up for the U.S. Open after a busy summer.

It should be noted that Blake and Williams are both represented by Carlos Fleming so expect Carlos to hear from Pilot Pen Tennis tournament director Anne Worcester tomorrow if not sooner.