AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 25, 2004

James Blake

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'd love to see a replay. I'm not sure if it was actually even a legal shot.

JAMES BLAKE: I've never seen an umpire make that call. It's probably way too tough to make. It's disappointing, but I told him after the match now we're even because I got him on a set point in the Hopman Cup on a shot that I had no business making when I dove for one. I got a little lucky. He got me back. You know, unfortunately it came on a huge point when I really thought I should have put that forehand away anyway. It's another time when I'm coming in here saying it's one or two points here or there, and it could have changed the course of the match. But that's not the only point that changed it. I mean, if I had gotten up on him early in the fourth set, taken advantage of a couple of those 30-All points, it could have been a whole new match. I can't blame just that one point. I got to look at the other chances I have. I wish I could have taken them, but what can you do?

JAMES BLAKE: I think it may have been out of his hand. I was too worried about actually getting to the lob. But I thought it came out of his hand. But, like I said, that's really too tough of a call to make for an umpire, I think, because I've done that before where I felt like the racquet might have been out of my hand. I've never, never seen it called. So I don't know. I don't think it's very easy to make. It's also such a tough shot. Once the racquet does come out of your hand, it loses so much power that to actually make that shot is kind of baffling. So I don't think they can really expect it to be made that way. You know, it's bad luck for me. Like I said, maybe I need to look at why I was in that position, breakpoint in the first place. I'm not going to cry over one point that could have gone my way.

JAMES BLAKE: Not good. I mean, 1% maybe. Just about anywhere else on the court I could have had it. You know, if I had put it cross-court or just an inch further out wide, you know, it would have gone somewhere else, I probably would have had a chance at it. Like I said, it's bad luck. But I shouldn't have been in that position.

JAMES BLAKE: A little bit. I didn't think he would get back that quickly. He moves really well, especially for a guy his size. And that's why it was so tough to hit a lot of winners today, because he played defense a lot better today than he did two weeks ago when I played him. I think that made a big difference. It was tough for me to hit winners, kind of forcing me to hit three or four winners on each point just to win the point. He did a good job of that. He did a great job on that point, never giving up. I thought maybe he'd get down a little bit after losing that third set, the way it happened, but he didn't. I guess he's been saying all along that he's back. Looks like he is.

JAMES BLAKE: No, right now I'm frustrated because I lost that match. But I'm actually -- I feel like after that match, I feel like this level of tennis, I mean, he's a Top 20 player right now. He's not whatever they say his ranking is because he was hurt for all of last year. And I know I was playing at that level today, and I feel like I can improve more. I think that level that I was playing at today is only going to get better. I think I'm going to get just a little bit more experience in these matches and against top players, and I have a feeling I'm going to be playing these top players a lot more, you know, getting deeper into tournaments. This is the fourth round. I haven't gotten to the quarters yet. But, you know, I think it's going to happen, and I really do have confidence in the fact that I'm still improving.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, you know, some things are out of my control. I could have come here, played first round, played Carlos Moya at his best and lost a match even when I played well. So I'm not going to worry about things that are out of my control. I'm going to worry about, like you said, improving. I do feel like I'm still improving. Whether I happen to run into Andy Roddick in the second round when he's serving unbelievable, you know, bad luck. It could be out of my control. But I'm going to go out and play my best and improve. I think the quarters is possible, but I'm not going to say, you know, if I don't get a quarters, I'm going to be a failure this year; or if I do get a quarters, it could have been because of a really lucky draw, you know, withdrawal, some guy gets sick, something. I want to say "Oh, it was a great year just because I made it to it quarterfinals." I never look at it that way. I look at the fact that the way I played this tournament, I'm very proud of, I feel like I conducted myself well, and I definitely fought for each match, and I didn't lose my focus really at all. Four matches, I didn't lose my focus, I don't feel like. And I kept fighting in each match, down to the last point today with Safin. So I know that that's there and that can be done. So the rest of it is just execution. And I have a feeling -- I have enough confidence in my ability that, you know, one time this year, next year, whenever, you know, it's going to be there, whether it's two weeks where I put together my execution and it doesn't go off at all.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, last year, it was a little bit more new to me, being in the fourth round, a second week. And I learned something from that, definitely. Last year I felt like when I played Schuettler, I was actually saving a little bit. It was a hot day, and I felt like, you know, "If I can get through this, you know, it's going to be tough, it's going to take a lot out of me." I was worried way too much about the energy I was expending. And today, talking to my coach beforehand, we said -- we learned from last year that you can't do that. There's no way you're going to win playing 90%. And I went all out today. Unfortunately, came up a little short. But, you know, there's nothing I can do about that now. But I definitely learned that I can't do that. And this year I just learned that I'm there and I need -- just need to execute a little better. Like I said, I'm not as concerned about that as opposed to last year where I think I -- I didn't have the right mental state going into it. I felt like I needed to do certain things totally different. But, you know, it's just another match. Things could have gone my way today for sure. A couple points here or there, and I definitely could have been sitting here a much happier man. But I'm not as worried about it this year at all.

JAMES BLAKE: Like I said, I have a lot of confidence in my ability. I feel like I can do the job. But I also have a lot of confidence in the other guys' ability. Robby Ginepri, I watched him play Escude the other day. He's hitting the ball as well as anyone. I didn't see any of his match with Grosjean. I know he's a great player. Mardy Fish, he had a tough draw here playing Karlovic. He's my best friend. I've watched him play a ton. And he's got huge serve, especially since we're playing indoors. He has a huge serve, great volleys and good returns. So I have confidence in him. Taylor had a rough one against Andy. I didn't really see any of that. I mean, he's got a huge serve. Not too many guys are going to break him indoors, I don't think. So I think Patrick's got a pretty good job. He can hopefully pick from four really good horses. Like I said, I do have confidence in my ability, so I feel like I can get the job done. But if he feels like somebody else can get the job done better, that's his job.

JAMES BLAKE: No. Right now, up until 30 minutes ago, my main focus was, you know, winning my matches here at the Australian and possibly going through to win the Australian Open. And now in the last 30 minutes, besides talking to him and saying, "Bad luck, thanks for watching," that's about it. We haven't had time to really sit down and talk about that. Maybe over the next couple days we'll really get a chance to. But right now my mind is just leaving the Australian Open focus, and now I'll think about Davis Cup. And if I get the opportunity, I'm going to be 100% fully focused on that, out of the whole Australian Open thing.

JAMES BLAKE: I felt like I made a couple of errors early in the game. And that was unfortunate because I felt like I was putting a little more pressure on his serve before that in the set. I don't think I had any breakpoints, but I had a bunch of 30-All points, 15-30 a lot of times, I was getting up Love-15. I felt like I didn't take advantage of those. I had some second serves. I either just pushed wide or I pushed in the middle of the court instead of really going after them. That was a little disappointing. But he did play well in those games and his serve really kept him in it. I don't know how many aces he had, but it was a ton. Barely had any double-faults. Anytime he did get in trouble, 15-30, Love-15, 30-All, it seemed like he was coming up with big serves. That's pretty frustrating to work hard for a couple points and then let him get a couple free ones. But that's part of it. That's probably the best part of his game, is that big serve. That's why he's back and he's in great shape.

JAMES BLAKE: Bridgeport, Connecticut.

JAMES BLAKE: I'm not going to bet against Andre here. The guy hasn't lost here in I don't even know how many years. And he looks to be playing unbelievable. I didn't really see any of the matches today with Andre or Andy. It looked like Andy, from the score, Andy is just running through people, too. But, you know, Andre's still got my vote, I think.