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)] (born December 28, 1979 in Yonkers, New York, United States) is an American professional tennis 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 the Tennis Masters Cup but lost to World No. 1 Roger Federer in straight sets, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4. On July 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 the New York Times Best Seller list. He wrote this book along with Andrew Friedman.

Early life

Blake was born in Yonkers, New York to an African American father Thomas Sr. and a White 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-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis. Blake attended Fairfield Warde High School (then called Fairfield High School), in Fairfield, Connecticut. A schoolmate was future musician 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 left Harvard University after his sophomore year to pursue a career in professional tennis.

Career

2000–2001

At the age 21, Blake saw his first Davis Cup action in 2001 against India and became the third person of African-American heritage to play for the Davis Cup for the United States (after Arthur Ashe and MaliVai 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 met Patrick 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 in Hawaii. 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 to Andy Roddick. He posted solid results over the summer, reaching the quarterfinals at the ATP 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 when Arthur Ashe reached the doubles finals with Charlie Pasarell. The next week in Washington, he won his first ATP Tour singles title by beating Andre Agassi in the semifinals and Paradorn 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 of stomach 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 in New Haven, Connecticut, defeating Feliciano 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 beat Tommy Robredo in four sets to reach the quarterfinals where he succumbed to Andre 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 in Sweden, 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 Russian Igor Andreev in the final.

At the Australian Open he was seeded twentieth, and lost in the third round to Spaniard Tommy 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 to Mario 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 Frenchman Gaël 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, defeating Andy Roddick in the semifinal. He lost to Lleyton 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 to Marat Safin in Washington D.C., and in the first round in New Haven to Ruben 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 to Juan 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, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinal, Marat Safin in the semifinal, and Ivan 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 defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the final.

For the first time in his career, Blake qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. Blake went 2–1 in the Gold Group, defeating world No. 2 Nadal and No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko, but losing, in an inconsequential match, against No. 6 Tommy Robredo. Blake qualified for the semifinals, where he steamrolled defending champion David 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 finalist Fernando Gonzalez 7–5, 6–4, 7–6 (4). He followed that up with a loss to Tomáš Berdych in Davis Cup play and a second round loss in the SAP Open (San Jose) to #103 ranked Ivo 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 in New Haven,CT, and started the North American hardcourt season by reaching the finals at Los Angeles, losing to Radek 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. 10 Tommy 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 player Mark Knowles of the Bahamas to make the final. In the first round, he and Knowles upset U.S. Open champions Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle in three sets. In the semifinals, the team bore match points twelve times, and finally defeated Paul Hanley and Kevin 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 ranked Bob 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 2006 Tennis Masters Cup.

James Blake won his match in the 2007 Davis Cup finals against Mikhail Youzhny, 6–3, 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 (and also against Dmitry Tursunov). Andy Roddick won his match versus Tursunov and Bob and Mike Bryan won the doubles rubber over Igor Andreev and Nikolay 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 veteran Fabrice 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 compatriot Michael Russell (6–3 6–2 6–2). In the third round, he fought back from two sets down to beat French veteran Sebastien 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 to Robby Ginepri on the following round.

At the 2008 Pacific Life Open, Blake, the ninth seed, received a "bye" in the first round, before defeating Marc Gicquel 6–3, 6–7 (5), 6–1 in the second round. In the third round, Blake beat former world number one Carlos 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 defeated Richard Gasquet in the fourth round in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, before losing to Rafael 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 seed Agustin Calleri of Argentina in the quarters, and Oscar 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 Spaniard Marcel 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-finalist Rainer 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 to Novak 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 after Steve Darcis retired, 4-6, 6-3, 1-0. Blake lost to friend Mardy 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 employ topspin. 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 slice backhand. 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 the Australian Open, losing to finalist Rainer Schüttler in four sets
*January, 2004: Reaches the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to finalist Marat Safin in four sets
*March 19, 2006: Reaches his first ATP Masters Series singles final, losing to Roger 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: Defeats Andy 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 in Shanghai, after beating David 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 against Roger 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 beating Patrick Rafter on August 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: beat Rafael Nadal on September 3, 2005, which was his first win over a Top 10 player in a Grand Slam event.
*2005 U.S. Open quarterfinals: lost to Andre 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 an ESPY award.
*2006 Tennis Channel Open final: defeated Lleyton 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 to Roger 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: on August 30, 2007, James Blake won his first ever five-set match over Fabrice 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 to Tommy Haas despite 3 match points: 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 7–6(4).
*2008 Australian Open third round: defeated Sebastien 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 and basketball. He is a big fan of the New York Mets. Blake was featured on Bravo's second edition of "Celebrity Poker Showdown", but got 2nd after losing to Maura 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 Player Heather 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 by Virginia's Anthem Insurance to do a cancer charity game honoring his late father, he invited John Mayer, Andy Roddick and Gavin 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 played

Notes

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]