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
Wow ... that would be something. I?d think we?d need to hold a big party at Fairfield High. It would be huge.
I never faced Pete (Sampras) in a match. I think from watching, his is the best serve ever. And he is the only guy that I would probably not take the bet that he would so often offer in practice -- he's down love-40, says '10 bucks, I still hold serve.' I probably wouldn't even take that against him. So many times he would come back and win. He would just put it on the dime. I also wouldn't take the bets when we were just practicing our serves, he put just a tennis ball can on the other side, and says, 'A hundred bucks for who hits more.' That's not a safe bet with him.
His serve is a joke. Sometimes it doesn't matter how you return. He can ace you out of a game. If he's hitting his spots, serving at 140 mph from that angle, there's not much you can do except say 'good serve' and move on and not get frustrated. I have to focus on holding serve like I did today.
Whether I win or lose, it's nice to be able to give it my best.
What I actually thought of then, ... was the tape that's replayed about five million times every time there's a rain delay here at the Open, when Jimmy Connors says, 'This is what they came for; this is what we'll give them.'
Unfortunately my down was pretty far down, but it makes you appreciate the ups a lot more,
We know what's at stake. If we don't win this match, we can't win the Davis Cup next year.
There are definitely times since I've been back that I just kind of look up and take five extra seconds before I serve. This is what I was dreaming of just a couple of years ago, to come back and feel this feeling again.
The courts were great, the balls were great, and the fans were great. No excuses. (Roddick) had to make the same adjustment. Antony served very well. These guys are all so good you have to be on top of your game every night.
I was trying to sound like some of the people I was listening to, like Mala and Coki.
I was very excited to be out there. I kind of knew what to expect with what I've been going through the last week and a half, with my friends and family coming out, and I don't think Igor quite did. It hit him pretty quickly and they were pretty vocal. That's just a lot of fun.
I think my friends are definitely going to be here. But I know he's got fans all over the world, especially here. He's won here. I mean, he's such a legend,
It doesn't get better than this, ... If every week were like this I would never retire.
It does still seem like Andy's the leader of the pack and will continue to be, ... but we're all doing our best. I think we all hit a little slump at one point ... but we're all, I think, better and wiser for it now.