James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blakeis an American retired professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. During his career, Blake had amassed 24 singles finals appearances, while his career-high singles ranking was World No. 4. His career highlights included reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics and the quarterfinals of the Australian Openand US Open, as well as being the former American No. 1. His two titles for the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth28 December 1979
CountryUnited States of America
He's really a true gentleman, ... one of the friendliest guys in the locker room. ... He's someone that you can tell your kids to look up to and be proud of it.
I don't think I'll nervous because I know I have nothing to lose. (Losing to) Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals of the U.S. Open, I'm sure as heck not going to go home and say I had a bad tournament.
I don't think I'll be nervous because I know I've got nothing to lose,
I don't know how many winners I hit today, but whatever it is, you can double it, because that's how many winners I would have hit against other players. I felt like I had to hit two winners at least to win each point.
He tightened up in the second set and played great.
Dean is doing a great job. He's extremely laid-back and an extremely knowledgeable coach, which I think fits great with our team. He's there to help if we need it. He also knows not to probably go overboard; we all have our own coaches, we all know kind of what we're working on in our games, and he just is there to help keep our focus there this week and keep our spirits high, I guess.
I know I'm not in a Hollywood script, otherwise I probably would have won a lot more this year. I've always known I had a chance to go deep in a major or go and win a tournament and play with these guys because I can put together a good set here, a good match there. I don't think of it as fate or anything. I think it's a lot of hard work.
I know if I were in the stands, I'd be cheering for him, too, ... Because he's a great champion in every sense of the word.
I know I won't be able to enjoy my title too much,
I heard the Blake chant and I decided mentally I'd start the match over. I would try to dictate more points because playing defense clearly wasn't working.
I have said it before, that if every week was like this, I would never retire,
I really think it is going to make me a better player, giving me the perspective ... that there are much worse things in life than losing a tennis match, ... It will give me a little more calm on the court.
I really think it is going to in the long run make me a better player giving you the perspective of being out on the court knowing that it's not the end of the world if you lose and that gives you the opportunity to go after your shots a little more, ... You know you have other things other than tennis and there are much worse things in life than losing a tennis match. So it will give me a better perspective, a little more calm on the court. Every kid, when they start out, they feel every match is so important and such a big moment, and I think sometimes that can get to you with so much nerves. Now I don't feel that nearly as much.
I really had no expectations at the beginning of the year, ... I was happy just to be playing, even in Challengers. But the U.S. Open was really the turning point. Now I know I can do it and, on any given day, can beat any player in the world.