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
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.
He helped me make just minor adjustments. He said, 'Look, you've been broken one time. He had one break point and got it, and you had two and didn't get them. It could easily be the other way. There's no reason to change anything major.' And I didn't.
He didn't get many free points on his serve and I was getting some on mine,
That was an amazing point, ... It shows how well you have to play to get a break to get ahead of him. Those are the kind of points earlier in the year I would have lost earlier in the rally.
It was one of those days where everything was going in, ... I felt like I was able to dictate. He didn't get many free points on his serve, but I was able to get some on mine.
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.
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.
It was impressive to watch him on the courts of the French Open, ... Let's hope it is different here in New York.
The ups and downs are going be everywhere no matter what sport you're in, no matter what profession you're in,
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 never feel great after a loss, but I guess it's about as good as I can feel. I fought my heart out. I did everything I could, ... He just played too good for me at the end.
I am definitely flattered and humbled any time I can put my name in the same sentence as Arthur Ashe.