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
Andy plays at a different level than the other guys I played this week but I know it's not impossible to beat him, ... I was going for too much (on my serve) because I didn't want him to get my second serves and sometimes that backfires.
Being this close to home, you really can't beat it with this crowd, ... I'm staying in my own bed, being around so many friends, people that go way back, that know me from when I was a kid, is something that is very rare on tour. We travel the world, so it's very seldom that we're in our hometown.
Beating guys like that the way I have the past two days makes me think I can do hopefully some really good things the rest of the week here and the next two weeks at the Open,
Maybe I'm a slow learner. But he doesn't make it easy. I'm starting to feel like one of those basketball players in the early '90s. You feel like you make Michael Jordan play well, but then every time he comes up and beats you and makes you realize why he's the best.
He's a good friend, and those are always interesting matches. We're friends, but tomorrow we're going to want to go out and beat each other's brains in. On the court, we're both professionals and want to win the title.
I got to give my best win to Andre Agassi, being a legend, everything he's accomplished. That match, it just seemed like everything was going right for me, as it did today similarly. But, you know, it was emotional to really beat Andre Agassi, someone I idolized.
I look forward to playing a guy like (Haas). He is someone who really has been at the top of the game and whether or not his ranking states it, he is one of the top players in the world, ... Beating guys like the way I have the last two days makes me think I can hopefully do some good things the rest of the week here and the next two weeks at the U.S. Open.
We got him back, ... He was one of the team members when they beat us in Paris. It's a good feeling. I knew it was going to be this way when I heard how many fans were coming out and how many of my fans were going to be here. It's a good feeling when they're on your side.
It's pretty memorable, to beat these two brothers in the same tournament. I don't know if anyone has done that before. Olivier must have had a pretty good report from his brother.
Any of the top 100 guys in the world can beat any of the top 10 guys on a given day,
He made me earn it today. He's gotten me in so many close matches and beaten me up so many times.
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.
I'm going to try to play within myself, ... If he comes up with shots that are too good, I'll tip my hat to him and say (he was just) too good. If I do need to adjust, if I'm getting beat, if I'm down a set and a break, he's really beating me that way. I might have to adjust and figure out some other way to play. But I'm not going to go out just trying to blast winners from every corner just because it's Andre Agassi. I'm going to try to play my game.
We weren't sure if I was ever really going to be back to a 100 percent, if I was ever going to be back to this level again. I said whatever tournament I win, the next Grand Slam, you have to wear a gold tooth for the whole time I'm in the tournament.