PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 15, 2004

James Blake

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, last couple years definitely. Hopefully it will keep going.

JAMES BLAKE: I think, for one thing, I obviously like playing on hard courts better. I grew up on the stuff. Especially playing a guy like Gaudio who grew up on clay, I feel more comfortable. I like the fact that it's hot, but it's not humid. In the past, early on in my career, I had problems with cramping. I don't even think about that here since it's so dry. I don't mind the heat. All the muscles feel real loose. I felt good on the court. Just like being comfortable on the hard courts and in America.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, yeah. I don't know. You know, it's great to see the American guys doing well two years in a row here. Last year I think we had five of the eight quarterfinalists. Now it felt like a college match out there, Mardy and me playing next to each other. I was about to yell, "Go Crimson. Go USA."

JAMES BLAKE: Well, besides the fact that I knew every single one of his scores as it kept going. I tried to keep my focus as hard as I could on the court. But I think playing college tennis helped me with that. You need to focus on your match, but you're also somehow looking over a little bit between points or when you're on changeovers or something. But as far as Davis Cup, I'd like to have a chance to play him. I know Mardy is playing great. Obviously Taylor is playing great. I think Patrick put himself in the best position by giving Robby a chance to play. We all have experience in Davis Cup. We've all played matches. Now whoever is playing the best. If I take off and somehow win this tournament or Taylor keeps serving huge, wins this tournament, Mardy goes and wins this one, he can say, "This is the hot hand, this is the guy I want in there at the No. 2 spot," I think it gives him a great option.

JAMES BLAKE: Spadea obviously has played well last week, won Scottsdale. He has played Davis Cup for the last few years, so I don't know how Patrick feels. I don't think he's ever played under Patrick. I don't know how Patrick feels about that. If you want my opinion, I think he's playing great, because obviously he beat me. We'll see how he does this week and next week. He played great here last year. Obviously he loves playing out here. That's Patrick's decision. I think he likes the fact he's got a lot of horses to choose from.

JAMES BLAKE: The only thing I've heard is they want to get me in to take some new pictures of the different look. Dunlop still has posters of me with the hair long. Nike put out an ad campaign with me with hair long. I just shot a print ad with them last week with the short hair. I think I'd like to be known not for just a trademark like my hair, but the fact I win tennis matches. Nike, same company, probably went through the same thing with Andre, when he had the real long hair, decided to cut it off.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, Hewitt, same thing. They still found ways to promote both of them pretty well. They both found a way to win a lot of matches. I'm hoping I can do the same. It's not something I'm really concerned about. I was just concerned about being comfortable, getting rid of my hair when I felt like it. They weren't very concerned about it. They like to think that people still come watch me play, people still know who I am, still appreciate me for the fact I'm trying to be a good sport on the court and trying to be a good role model.

JAMES BLAKE: I didn't hear that. Did he? His always looked really cool. It's pretty fun. You don't know that many football players, how they look, because you're so used to seeing them with the helmet on. He was one that had a high profile even with the helmet on all the time because you could see the dreads hanging out the back. In college, he broke that record, piercings, tattoos. I feel like he's slowly gotten away from that and been a great football player. I think he took out a couple of the piercings. Now he cut off the hair. I'm sure he'll still just be a great football player. I think that's good for him. He's an incredibly talented player.

JAMES BLAKE: Probably Hopman Cup. Who did I beat there? I beat Novak, Santoro and Safin.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, you know, it didn't feel as much as an exhibition when Lindsay congratulated me each time, making sure I wasn't going to the mixed doubles. She was so happy about that. But, no, I played that match. Maybe that's why I do so well there, because I play that like it's for real. It does count for your record. It is getting you ready for the Australian. I play those like they're important matches. Maybe it helps a little bit that it doesn't count for your ranking just because I feel a little bit looser, there aren't the same consequences if you lose. But those guys were taking it pretty seriously. Had a great match with Novak and a great match with Safin. I mean, both of those were pretty close to three hours, I think. We were battling. I don't think they were just rolling over and giving it to me. I don't think they were thinking it's just an exhibition either. That's probably the last time I felt good like that. And it continued, kept it going through the Australian Open.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, definitely. I feel like I'm going for my shots. I really don't feel too bad about many of my matches this year. I felt like I went for my shots. I ran into some bad luck when I felt like I was playing well indoors. Joachim Johansson, who was serving unbelievable for two straight weeks indoors, going through and killing everyone in Memphis pretty much. Even Andy, admitting he might have gotten a little lucky to get through him in San Jose. The guy was just playing incredible. I ended up catching him second round both times. Other than that, I don't feel like I played too many bad matches this year. I played a pretty good one with Safin. Had a chance. Could have gotten that fourth set, anything could have happened. Last week played a pretty good match against Spadea. That one I definitely felt like I could have won. But I'm in there in every match. I'm going for my shots. If they go off, they'll go off. But I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I'm going to keep playing that game. You know, today, first set, missing a few more than I'd like. He got a couple of breaks going his way. You know, I didn't change anything. I changed tactics very slightly. But it was all still moving forward and being aggressive, going for my shots right till the end, and I felt good about it.

JAMES BLAKE: Right now, Roger Federer, for sure. He's incredible. He's taken out some incredible players in Pavel, Gonzalez, somehow making it look easy. There aren't many people that can do that. He's lost once this year. I think the only person he's lost to in the last maybe six months is Henman. That's just amazing. He's beaten top players, not so highly ranked players. He's beating everyone almost routine. Incredible, what he's doing.

JAMES BLAKE: I hope he's on the other side of the draw. No, it's just great to watch. Like you said, it's something that's worth paying to see. In my mind he's the most talented guy in the world. You know, there's so many things that go into being No. 1 in the world, not that I can speak from experience, but I think there's so many things, the mental game, fitness, the being confident enough to hit your shots when it gets close, the dealing with the pressure of being No. 1, everyone gunning for you, playing their best match against you. Right now he's handling that so well. I don't think necessarily always the most talented player in the world is going to be No. 1. Right now I think he is. I think it's good for tennis to see such a graceful player, such a good sportsman at No. 1 in the world.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. But the thing is, I think he does have a pretty big serve when he wants to hit it. He just mixes it up better than the other guys that have serves like his. He can hit it 130, then the next serve -- when I played him in the US Open, I think his fastest serve was around 130, 131, but his slowest first serve was about 88 miles an hour. He can hit that heavy kicker away, just pull you off the court. He hits it so well, you get breakpoint, you still feel at his mercy. You don't know what he's going to do because he can go anywhere with it.