- James Blake
Infobox Tennis player
nickname= "J-Block"
playername = James Blake
country = United States
residence =Saddlebrook ,Tampa, Florida , U.S.
datebirth = birth date and age|1979|12|28
placebirth = Yonkers, NY
height = height|ft=6|in=1|wiki=yes
weight = convert|183|lb|kg st|abbr=on|lk=on
turnedpro = 1999
plays = Right-handed; one-handed backhand
careerprizemoney =US$ 5,987,441
singlesrecord = 286–171
singlestitles = 10
highestsinglesranking = No. 4 (November 20 ,2006 )
AustralianOpenresult = QF (2008)
FrenchOpenresult = 3R (2006)
Wimbledonresult = 3R (2006, 2007)
USOpenresult = QF (2005, 2006)
doublesrecord = 89–88
doublestitles = 5
highestdoublesranking = No. 31 (March 31 ,2003 )
updated =August 25 ,2008 James Riley Blake [http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/player.html?ccode=JBLAKE "James Blake stats at Tennis Warehouse"] Tennis-Warehouse.com (accessed
November 19 ,2006 )] (bornDecember 28 ,1979 inYonkers, New York ,United States ) is an American professionaltennis player and is currently the 11th ranked player in the world. Blake is known for his speed and powerful forehands. In 2006 he reached the final of theTennis Masters Cup but lost to World No. 1Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4. OnJuly 3 ,2007 , Blake's book, "Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life", discussing his comeback after his unlucky 2004 season, was released and debuted at #22 on theNew York Times Best Seller list . He wrote this book along withAndrew Friedman .Early life
Blake was born in
Yonkers, New York to anAfrican American father Thomas Sr. and aWhite British mother Betty. [ [http://www.mensvogue.com/health/articles/2006/09/04/james_blake A Winning Return] ] He has a brother, Thomas Jr., who is also a professional tennis player, and three older half-brothers, Jason, Christopher, and Howard, and a half-sister, Michelle.Blake started playing tennis at age five alongside his brother Thomas. When 13, he was diagnosed with severe
scoliosis and for five years as a teenager, he was forced to wear a full-lengthback brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis. Blake attendedFairfield Warde High School (then called Fairfield High School), in Fairfield,Connecticut . A schoolmate was futuremusician John Mayer . Blake was inspired to pursue tennis after hearing his role model,Arthur Ashe , speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program. Brian Barker was his first (and current) coach. He leftHarvard University after hissophomore year to pursue a career in professional tennis.Career
2000–2001
At the age 21, Blake saw his first
Davis Cup action in 2001 againstIndia and became the third person ofAfrican-American heritage to play for theDavis Cup for theUnited States (afterArthur Ashe andMaliVai Washington ).Ranked No. 120 in the world, Blake accepted a wild card into AMS Cincinnati. He beat a qualifier and
Arnaud Clement to reach the round of 16 where he metPatrick Rafter . Blake came close to winning the first set (falling in a tiebreak), and after dropping the second set, Rafter, according to Blake's autobiography, complimented him at the net and boosted his confidence immeasurably by saying "Now do you believe you can beat someone like me, or even me?"2002–2003
In January, Blake won the 2002
USTA Waikola Challenger inHawaii . A month later, in Memphis, he posted his first win over a top-ten ranked opponent,Tommy Haas , who was then ranked fifth, and reached the finals, losing toAndy Roddick . He posted solid results over the summer, reaching the quarterfinals at theATP Masters Series (AMS) event in Rome in May and then the finals at Newport in July.In August, in Cincinnati, he won his first career ATP Tour title and his first ATP Masters Series title: it came in doubles with
Todd Martin and it made Blake the first African-American male to win a title of any kind in Cincinnati's 101-year history. He was also the first African-American to reach a final in Cincinnati since 1969 whenArthur Ashe reached the doubles finals withCharlie Pasarell . The next week in Washington, he won his first ATP Tour singles title by beatingAndre Agassi in the semifinals andParadorn Srichaphan in the final.At the U.S. Open, he reached the third round before falling to top-ranked
Lleyton Hewitt in five sets. Lleyton Hewitt had once called James out on his ethnicity.In 2003 his best results were a quarterfinal showing at AMS Indian Wells; a Round of 16 finish at the
Australian Open , AMS Cincinnati and AMS Miami; a semifinal appearance at San Jose; and a finals appearance at Long Island.2004
The year of 2004 was an especially difficult year for Blake. While practicing with
Robby Ginepri for the Masters event being held in Rome, he broke his neck when he slipped on the clay and collided with the net post. In July, his father died as a result ofstomach cancer . At the same time, Blake developed shingles, which temporarily paralyzed half his face and blurred his sight.With all these stresses and setbacks occurring at once, Blake's future in tennis was in serious jeopardy.
2005
Blake's injuries and personal issues caused him to post relatively poor results for the first half of 2005, and by April his ranking was at No. 210. Blake made the decision to play the Challenger circuit, the "minor leagues" of tennis, in order to gain confidence and get more matches. In May, he entered Challenger events in Tunica, Mississippi, and Forest Hills, New York, and won both. He then rejoined the ATP circuit, and by August he was playing well enough to reach the final at the International Series event in Washington D.C., where he fell to Roddick.
He was then given a wild card into AMS Cincinnati, where he drew Federer in the first round. The following week he entered and won the
Pilot Pen Tennis tournament inNew Haven, Connecticut , defeatingFeliciano Lopez in the final.His efforts that summer helped him re-enter the ATP Top 50, and after New Haven he was ranked No. 49.
Blake then accepted a wildcard into the US Open, where he defeated No. 2
Rafael Nadal in the round of 32. In the round of 16, he beatTommy Robredo in four sets to reach the quarterfinals where he succumbed toAndre Agassi in a memorable fifth-set tiebreak after winning the first two sets. He lost 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6 (6).In October at the
Stockholm Open inSweden , Blake won his third ATP tour title, defeating Srichaphan in the final. Blake finished 2005 ranked #22 in the world.2006
Blake started the year strong, winning the title at Sydney to take his fourth
ATP tour title. He defeated RussianIgor Andreev in the final.At the
Australian Open he was seeded twentieth, and lost in the third round to SpaniardTommy Robredo . Despite the loss, he cracked into the Top 20 for the first time in his career.In March, he beat Hewitt in the final at Las Vegas for his fifth ATP tour title.
At the first AMS event of the year, Indian Wells, Blake defeated Robredo in the third round and world No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals to reach his first career ATP Masters Series singles final. He would lose in the final to Federer, but by reaching the finals of that event, Blake became the first African-American man since
Arthur Ashe to reach the world's top 10.On clay, Blake defeated former world No. 1
Carlos Moyà in the first round at AMS Hamburg, and then lost toMario Ancic in the third round.At the French Open, he took down rising Spaniard
Nicolas Almagro in four sets in the second round, to become the last remaining American man at the French. However, in the next round, he was beaten by FrenchmanGaël Monfils in five sets.To start the grass court season, he made what many considered to be a surprising run at the
Stella Artois Championships , reaching the finals, defeatingAndy Roddick in the semifinal. He lost toLleyton Hewitt in the final.At Wimbledon, Blake progressed to the third round, but lost to
Max Mirnyi in five sets. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/tennis/specials/wimbledon/2006/06/30/bc.ten.wimbledon.1.ap/index.html]Blake's first tournament after Wimbledon was at the
International Series event at Indianapolis, and he went on to win the singles title by defeating Roddick (for the second time in 2006) in the final. Just by reaching the Indy final, Blake earned enough points to be ranked No. 5 in the world. He also lost in the third round toMarat Safin in Washington D.C., and in the first round in New Haven toRuben Ramirez Hidalgo .Blake didn't fare so well in the summer's biggest tournaments, losing in the second round to the eventual finalist in both of the summer ATP Masters Series events. At AMS Canada, he fell to
Richard Gasquet (who would reach the final that week before losing to Roger Federer), and at AMS Cincinnati he lost toJuan Carlos Ferrero (who lost in the final to Andy Roddick).At the U.S. Open, Blake reached the quarterfinals where he lost to top seed and defending champion
Roger Federer . In that match, Blake managed to win his first set against Federer, winning the third set in a tiebreaker (11–9).In his debut appearance at the Thailand Open in
Bangkok , Blake won his seventh singles title, defeatingJarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinal,Marat Safin in the semifinal, andIvan Ljubičić for the first time in the final.Just two weeks later, Blake won his fifth title of 2006, successfully defending his 2005 title in
Stockholm , by defeatingJarkko Nieminen in the final.For the first time in his career, Blake qualified for the
Tennis Masters Cup inShanghai . Blake went 2–1 in the Gold Group, defeating world No. 2 Nadal and No. 3Nikolay Davydenko , but losing, in an inconsequential match, against No. 6Tommy Robredo . Blake qualified for the semifinals, where he steamrolled defending championDavid Nalbandian , 6–4, 6–1. He went on to the final against Federer, but lost the match in three sets. Blake finished 2006 at a career-high World Number 4, and also finished the year as the highest-ranked American tennis player.2007
2007 prepared a great start for Blake, who collected his first title of the year at the
Sydney International for second consecutive time. However, he then suffered a disappointing loss in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, losing to tenth seed and eventual finalistFernando Gonzalez 7–5, 6–4, 7–6 (4). He followed that up with a loss toTomáš Berdych in Davis Cup play and a second round loss in the SAP Open (San Jose) to #103 rankedIvo Karlović .At the
2007 Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas, as the defending champion, he was involved with a deep controversy. It was one of the several tournaments experimenting with the new round robin format, [http://www.atptennis.com/en/news/2007/round_robin1.asp] and Blake had lost his first match to Evgeny Korolev. Korolev lost his other match to Juan Martin Del Potro. In order for Blake to advance to the quarters, he had to defeat Del Potro in straight sets while losing five games or less. This would result in a three-way tie, with Blake losing the fewest games. With Blake leading 6–1 3–1, Del Potro retired. This eliminated Del Potro from the three-way tie as he failed to complete one of his matches. Korolev then moved on to the next round, breaking the tie because he had defeated Blake in their match.That caused a big uproar among fans, James Blake, and commentators, as they felt James Blake deserved to advance. After a press conference of many hours, the ATP, led by Etienne de Villiers, decided that, since Blake would have met the guidelines the way the match was going, and since neither player knew the consequences of retiring (Del Potro said he would have finished the match had he known), Blake would have advanced anyway. They overruled the tournament guidelines, giving Blake a place in the quarterfinals.
The following morning, De Villiers reversed his reversal deeming that it was unfair to Korolev as you shouldn't change the rules in mid-tournament, regardless of what happened. As a result, Korolev re-advanced to the quarterfinals, sending Blake to Indian Wells without a 3rd consecutive title defense. Shortly after this incident, the ATP decided to cancel the round robin format, reverting any tournaments planning a round robin draw to the standard single-elimination draw. [http://www.atptennis.com/en/news/2007/roundrobin.asp]
Roland Garros 2007 was a disappointment for Blake, losing in the first round to
Ivo Karlovic 4–6 6–4 7–5 7–5. Blake was one of nine American men to lose in the first round of Roland Garros. This was the first time in the open era where an American male had not made it into a Grand Slam second round.In Wimbledon 2007, James reached the third round, matching his best showing there (2006), but was unable to get past former World Number 1
Juan Carlos Ferrero , losing 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6.During the summer hardcourt season, he advanced to his second career ATP Masters Series event and won a singles title. At AMS Cincinnati, he beat Alejandro Falla, Nicolas Kiefer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Sam Querrey and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final before falling to
Roger Federer . He won the singles title at Penn Pilot inNew Haven,CT , and started the North American hardcourt season by reaching the finals at Los Angeles, losing toRadek Stepanek in three sets, 7–6, 5–7, 6–2 after having three set points in the first set.In the second round of the 2007 U.S. Open, he won his first career five-set match against
Fabrice Santoro , whom he defeated 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4. Blake made it to the fourth round, where he lost to No. 10Tommy Haas in five sets, 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 7–6(4), despite having match points in the fifth set.Blake and the rest of the US Davis Cup team defeated Sweden in September to reach the finals against Russia.
James also participated in Madrid and Basel. In Madrid, he fell to former top ten star
Mario Ančić in the second round. In Basel, he fell in the second round to Ivo Karlović. However, Blake teamed with former number one doubles playerMark Knowles of theBahamas to make the final. In the first round, he and Knowles upset U.S. Open championsSimon Aspelin andJulian Knowle in three sets. In the semifinals, the team bore match points twelve times, and finally defeated Paul Hanley andKevin Ullyett , the second seeds, 7–5 6–7 [12–10] with thirteen needed match points. cite news | url = http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/doubles/news/basel6.asp | author = ATP | title = Blake/Knowles Win Basel SF on 13th Match Point | date =2007-10-27 | accessdate = 2007-10-28 | pubisher = ATP ] Their luck, however, was halted by top seeds and top rankedBob and Mike Bryan , who are Blake's Davis Cup teammates. Blake and Knowles lost 6–1 6–1. After the match, James quoted: "'Yes, they played as well I have seen them play in a while. It’s tough. I have seen them do it to a lot of guys in Davis Cup from the sidelines and know how little fun it is to face them. That’s the reason why they are the best doubles team in the world right now. [At the start of the week] I told Mark I had not won a lot of doubles matches this year, so I was glad to have him get me through a couple of wins. I had a great time and a lot of fun. Getting a chance to play with one of the best doubles players, really ever, was exciting for me. I learnt plenty and hopefully we’ll be better next time.'" cite news | url = http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/doubles/ | author = ATP | title = Bryan Brothers Capture 10th Title of Stellar Season | date =2007-10-28 | accessdate = 2007-10-28 | publisher = ATP ]Blake lost in the third round of Paris to
Richard Gasquet and thus finished outside the top eight players, losing his chance to defend the points he gained as finalist in the 2006Tennis Masters Cup .James Blake won his match in the
2007 Davis Cup finals againstMikhail Youzhny , 6–3, 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 (and also againstDmitry Tursunov ).Andy Roddick won his match versus Tursunov and Bob and Mike Bryan won the doubles rubber overIgor Andreev andNikolay Davydenko , sealing the Davis Cup win for the United States.cite news| author =Association of Tennis Professionals | title = Roddick, Blake Place USA in Reach of Davis Cup Title | url = http://www.atptennis.com/1/en/2007news/dc_final1.asp | date =2007-11-30 | accessdate = 2007-12-01 | publisher = Association of Tennis Professionals ] cite news| author =International Tennis Federation | title = Davis Cup - World Group 2007 Final Results | url = http://www.daviscup.com/results/tieresult.asp?tie=100008940 | date =2007-12-02 | accessdate = 2007-12-05 | publisher = International Tennis Federation ]2008
James Blake began 2008 hoping to win his third consecutive
Medibank International title. However, the defending champion bowed out of the tournament in the first round, losing to French veteranFabrice Santoro (7–6, 6–2). The third seed was said to be "uncharacteristic" in reference to his frustration.At the Australian Open, Blake defeated his first round opponent, Chilean
Nicolas Massu . He then defeated compatriotMichael Russell (6–3 6–2 6–2). In the third round, he fought back from two sets down to beat French veteranSebastien Grosjean , who had beaten him in each of their three previous meetings.In the fourth round, Blake beat
Marin Čilić in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals, his best showing yet down under. In the quarterfinal, James Blake faced world No. 1 Roger Federer, and fell in straight sets, 7–5, 7–6 ( 7–5) 6–4. Although out of the Australian Open, Blake's ranking jumped back into the Top 10 to No. 9 following his best performance down under yet.In Davis Cup, the USA played Austria on clay. James defeated Stefan Koubek in four sets (5–7, 7–5, 6–2, 6–2). Despite being down 2–5 in the second set, James turned things around, helped in part by unforced errors by Koubek.
In Delray Beach, James made it to the final for the second consecutive year, but fell to No. 244
Kei Nishikori in three sets in the final. In San Jose, he rebounded from that loss by defeating compatriot Sam Warburg in straight sets in the first round and Jesse Levine in straight sets in the second round. However, he lost toRobby Ginepri on the following round.At the
2008 Pacific Life Open , Blake, the ninth seed, received a "bye" in the first round, before defeatingMarc Gicquel 6–3, 6–7 (5), 6–1 in the second round. In the third round, Blake beat former world number oneCarlos Moyà 6–3, 6–4. cite news | url =http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/1/news/newsarticle_761.asp| author =Pacific Life Open | title =Djokovic, Canas to Face Off in Fourth Round Blockbuster| date =2008| accessdate =2008-03-19| publisher =Pacific Life Open ] cite news | url =http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/1/news/newsarticle_754.asp| title =Blake Bounces Moya; Nadal, Tsonga to Clash| author =Pacific Life Open | date =2008| accessdate =2008-03-19| publisher =Pacific Life Open ] . He then defeatedRichard Gasquet in the fourth round in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, before losing toRafael Nadal in the quarter finals 7–5, 3–6, 6–3.At the
2008 Miami Masters , Blake reached the quarterfinals, but again lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets. The score was 6–3, 3–6, 1–6.In Davis Cup, Team USA played France. Unfortunately for France, they were missing two of their best players, Richard Gasquet and Jo Wilfried Tsonga due to injuries. Gasquet had blisters on his right hand and a sore knee, and Tsonga had an ankle injury. So Michael Llodra and Paul Henri-Mathieu were the players playing singles for France. After Andy Roddick defeated Llodra, James would play Mathieu. James won in a three-hour, 48-minute, five-set match against the Frenchman, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5. He had to save two match points to defeat the number 12 Mathieu.
Blake then started the clay court season at the River Oaks International tournament in
Houston, Texas . He defeated Nishikori in the first round (6–4, 6–4), 15-year-old Ryan Harrison in the second round, No. 5 seedAgustin Calleri of Argentina in the quarters, andOscar Hernandez of Spain in the semifinals (6–3, 7–6). In his second ATP final of the year and his first career clay-court final, Blake fell to SpaniardMarcel Granollers Pujol , 4–6, 6–1, 5–7.James received a wild card to play in the clay tournament in Barcelona, Spain. However, he lost in the first round to German Denis Gremelmayr in straight sets.
Looking for a better performance on clay, James played in the Master Series tournament in Rome. He received a bye in the first round. In the second round, he faced Italian hope Andreas Seppi. James won in three sets 7–6, 3–6, 6–1. In the third round, he faced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. He won in three sets 5–7, 7–5, 6–2. He lost in the quarterfinals to
Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets 7-6, 6-7, 1-6.At the French, he made it to the second round before being defeated by
Ernests Gulbis in four sets. He fared no better at Wimbledon losing in the 2nd round to the resurgent semi-finalistRainer Schuettler in five sets, 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, 4-6, 4-6.At the
Cincinnati Masters , Blake lost to Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the third round.In August 2008, Blake represented the United States as one of its three men's singles tennis players in the Beijing Olympics. In the quarterfinals, he gained one of the biggest wins of his career with his first ever win over Roger Federer, 6-4 7-6(2). At the time, Federer was ranked as the world's No. 1 men's player. [ [http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/tennis/n214542934.shtml Blake eliminates Federer from Olympic Tennis] ] His semifinal match was against
Fernando Gonzalez , the Men's Singles bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In the middle of the final set, Blake had triple match point, but would go on to lose 4-6, 7-5, 11-9. He then lost in the bronze medal match toNovak Djokovic 6-4, 7-6(4).In the US Open, Blake was stretched to a 5 set thriller against American teenager
Donald Young 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round. Blake easily won his second round match afterSteve Darcis retired, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0. Blake lost to friendMardy Fish in the third round in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4).Playing Style
Blake adopts an offensive baseline strategy which he achieves through his aggressive powerful forehands that are deep and flat. He undoubtedly possesses one of the strongest forehands on the tour. He is also an excellent returner of serve, he makes use of compact swings to aggressively return, reminiscent of
Andre Agassi . His forehands, due to being flat and deep, offer little room for error when compared to high margin shots which employtopspin . Although, Blake can incorporate an all-court playing style by aiming his shots down the lines, or moving an opponent from side to side and proceeding to finish the point at the net by smash or volley. Blake is also noted for his exceptional court coverage, speed, and athleticism. He is noted for having incredible foot speed but lacking in footwork. His backhand has improved tremendously over the course of his career, what used to be considered a weakness has now become a powerful and reliable shot; He occasionally employs the slicebackhand . He has been criticized for not having variety in his game, seeing as he will try to outhit his opponent on the baseline with raw power, rather than consistency.Blake's style of play is best suited for hard courts as his flat shots tend to stay low and move quickly across the court; this approach is relatively ineffective on clay courts. Apart from winning hard court tournaments, Blake has made some considerable runs to the finals of a few grass tournaments.
Equipment
Blake worked with Prince to create a new racquet featuring Prince's O3 technology. The
endeavor resulted in the Prince O3 Hybrid Tour. However, Blake did not feel comfortable with this racquet, or with the O3 technology. Blake ended his relationship with Prince. He switched to the Dunlop Aerogel 2Hundred for Wimbledon which is characterized by its low power, 95 square inch head size, and a dense 18 x 20 string pattern. Blake said, "The new Aerogel racquet technology provides several frame specifications that will suit my game well and give me the confidence to know that I can take my career to new heights." [http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/newspage.html?cref=2311] His racquet is strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 16L String at a relatively high tension (60+ pounds). The high tension and dense string pattern are thought to help provide better control for his powerful strokes.His clothing sponsor is Nike, and he frequently wears the power sleeveless tops which are identical to Rafael Nadal's and Carlos Moya's. His shoes are Nike Air Max Breathe Cage II.
Career Highlights
*August 5, 2002: Wins his first ATP title - the doubles title at AMS Cincinnati with
Todd Martin
*November, 2002: Finishes the year ranked No. 28 on the ATP Tour
*January, 2003: Reaches the fourth round of theAustralian Open , losing to finalistRainer Schüttler in four sets
*January, 2004: Reaches the fourth round of theAustralian Open , losing to finalistMarat Safin in four sets
*March 19, 2006: Reaches his firstATP Masters Series singles final, losing toRoger Federer in the final of AMS Indian Wells
*March 20, 2006: Breaks into the world top ten for the first time—ranked No. 9, moving up from No. 14
*June 17, 2006: DefeatsAndy Roddick for the first time (semifinals at Queen's)
*August 21, 2006: Achieves a ranking of No. 5
*November 4, 2006: Secures a spot in the Tennis Masters Cup for the first time in his career
*November 18, 2006: Reaches Masters Cup final inShanghai , after beatingDavid Nalbandian 6–4, 6–1
*November 19, 2006: Achieves a career-high No. 4 ranking, becoming the top-ranked American, despite losing the TMC final againstRoger Federer .
*August 19, 2007: Reaches his second career ATP Masters Series singles final (Cincinnati)
*August 14, 2008: Defeats Roger Federer for the first time ever in nine attempts in a quarterfinal match at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.Notable Matches
*2001
Cincinnati Masters , round of 16: Came close to beatingPatrick Rafter onAugust 9 ,2001 ; according to Blake's book (page 16), at the net afterward, Rafter compliments Blake and says "You didn't win because you didn't believe you could win."
*2005 2005 U.S. Open third round: beatRafael Nadal onSeptember 3 ,2005 , which was his first win over a Top 10 player in a Grand Slam event.
*2005 U.S. Open quarterfinals: lost toAndre Agassi 6–3, 6–3, 3–6, 3–6, 6–7(6). Blake dominated Agassi in the first two sets with a break early in the third; however, Agassi adapted to Blake's game and took the match to a fifth set tiebreak where Blake got the early lead, though Agassi would take the match. The inspired play from both men led many to call this one of the greatest matches in US history. The match itself was nominated for anESPY award.
*2006Tennis Channel Open final: defeatedLleyton Hewitt 7–5, 2–6, 6–3. It was (and to date still is) the only time Blake has won over the Australian, as Hewitt possesses a 7–1 record [Source: [http://www.atptennis.com/3/en/players/headtohead/?player1=Blake%2C+James&player2=Lleyton+Hewitt] ] advantage in meetings over Blake.
*2006 2006 U.S. Open quarterfinals: lost toRoger Federer 7–6 (7), 6–0, 6–7 (9), 6–4. Blake took a set from Federer for the first time in his career.
*2007 2007 U.S. Open second round: onAugust 30 ,2007 , James Blake won his first ever five-set match overFabrice Santoro , 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4. It was his tenth five-set match.
*2007 U.S. Open fourth round: lost toTommy Haas despite 3 match points: 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 7–6(4).
*2008 Australian Open third round: defeatedSebastien Grosjean to win his first ever match after losing the first two sets; Blake was down 1–4 in the 4th set coming back for the eventual win, 4–6, 2–6, 6–0, 7–6(5), 6–2.
*2008 Summer Olympics quarterfinal: defeated Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6(2).Personal life
Away from tennis, Blake also enjoys
golf andbasketball . He is a big fan of theNew York Mets . Blake was featured on Bravo's second edition of "Celebrity Poker Showdown ", but got 2nd after losing toMaura Tierney . BravoTV. [http://www.bravotv.com/Celebrity_Poker_Showdown/Players/2/index.shtml "Celebrity Poker Showdown Tournament 2"] www.bravotv.com (accessed September 3, 2007) ]Blake appeared in
People magazine 's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. US Olympic Committee. [http://www.usoc.org/26_48961.htm "James Blake Profile"] www.usoc.org (accessed August 21, 2007) ] He once dated Jennifer Scholle [ [http://sports.gearlive.com/index.php/sports/category/Tennis Tennis | EndScore ] ] and US Women's Soccer PlayerHeather Mitts . SI Extra Mustard (2007). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/extramustard/08/21/hotclicks.0821/index.html "As the Brady Turns"] SI.com (accessed August 21, 2007)]He is also good friends with singer/songwriter John Mayer, who also attended Fairfield High School.Patrick, Dan (2003). [http://espn.go.com/talent/danpatrick/s/2003/0609/1565617.html "Outtakes with James Blake"]
ESPN (accessed May 2, 2006)] When Blake was invited byVirginia 's Anthem Insurance to do a cancer charity game honoring his late father, he invited John Mayer,Andy Roddick andGavin DeGraw to perform.Pratt, Jane (2005). [http://www.anthem.com/jsp/antiphona/bcbs/content.jsp?ID=PW_A076580 "Tennis Great James Blake, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Virginia Historical Society Announce an Acquisition of Arthur Ashe's Personal Items"] Anthem.com (accessed May 2, 2006)]James has appeared on a show called No Strings on the Tennis Channel where he said that he has not so great looking ears.
Tennis Masters Cup singles finals
Runner-up (1)
valign=top width=33% align=left
Doubles wins (5)
*A = did not participate in the tournament
*LQ = lost in the qualifying draw
*SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments playedNotes
External links
*ATP|id=B676
*ITF male profile|number=10021072
*DavisCupplayerlink|id=10021072
* [http://www.jamesblaketennis.com/ jamesblaketennis.com] fan site
* [http://steveghelper.com/MatchResults.php?players=James+Blake&weeks=12 Blake Recent Match Results]
* [http://steveghelper.com/RankingHistory.php?player=James+Blake Blake World Ranking History]
* [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/22/60minutes/main1066081.shtml 'Comback Kid James Blake']
* [http://www.james-blake.org/ James Blake ORG Site]
* [http://www.usolympicteam.com/26_48961.htm James Blake bio on usolympicteam.com] ... includes links to two photo galleries
* [http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/business/ab_blake091506 Interview with Blake on Forbes Video]
* [http://www.nyjnews.com/obits/Obit1.php?pid=1487068&fulldate=07-08-2004 Father Thomas Blake's obituary]
* [http://www.sportingo.com/james-blake/6,400 James Blake News Articles]
* [http://www.mensvogue.com/health/articles/2006/09/04/james_blake "Men's Vogue" interview]
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