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
That generation I think people are now realizing was kind of a freak phenomenon, just an unbelievable time in American tennis. Now I think we're going to see our true potential and see how well we can do.
That's legitimate. That's a reason for people not to do it. Morally, people should have a reason not to do it to begin with and physically, the harm you're doing to your body in the long-term. Two years is pretty reasonable to make people think twice about it. It's not a chance worth taking.
It's a lot of fun, ... Just being home, staying in my own bed, being around so many friends, people that go way back ... it's something that's very rare on tour. To be back so close to my hometown is a great feeling.
I love it. I love an atmosphere where people are a little bit biased.
I figure most people, it's going to be their game plan to attack my backhand, ... I got a lot more confidence in it. When I have time to hit it, I feel like I can really go after it and hurt people with it, as opposed to playing defense all the time. I think I passed him with three backhands that first game and that's probably something he wasn't expecting.
I want everybody to tune in, ... people who are tennis fans and people who aren't tennis fans, and we'll give them a good show and do it the right way.
It really surprises me that people in this day and age still write such busy music and fill up every space with layer upon layer of sound... it's like musical landfill.
He's a guy that I'm never going to count out, ... It's so amazing to me how many people write or ask him the question when he's going to retire. You don't see that happen too much with a guy that's top 10 in the world and has won tournaments. Why should he retire if he's enjoying it, and he's still the biggest name, the biggest draw in tennis?
Everyone seems to have a connection to me, and that?s such a great feeling. That?s what comes with growing up close to here and going to high school around here and trying to be as friendly as you can to those people around you. It makes for great fans ... even if they do happen to cheer a few times when he double faults. You just kind of grin and bear it.
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Being around so many friends, people who are supporting me, people I have known since I was a kid, is a great feeling, ... You travel the world, and it is very seldom that we are in our hometown.
I have said it before, that if every week was like this, I would never retire,
Any time getting on a grass court is going to be pretty fast, especially a lot faster than the hard courts we've been hitting on. It's just going to be a matter of time getting used to it. I feel comfortable on it. It's not a huge adjustment from the hard courts. It's still quicker. You have to change your game a little more, the movement's different.
Your heart drops a little. You feel that in your stomach, once you realize it's over, ... You've got to just walk up there and congratulate Andre. That's all I could do, is think about how proud I am and move on.