AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2004

James Blake

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

JAMES BLAKE: I feel great. It's definitely a match that I was excited to win because Nicholas makes you play well. I think any time someone beats him, they have to feel good about themselves because he defends so well that you really have to keep hitting winner after winner. He's not a guy that's easy to grind down. I'm happy I got through it in four. But it was still pretty long. I definitely feel like all the fitness and training I did in the off season will make sure I'm ready for Friday.

JAMES BLAKE: That first week I was indoors. I didn't really get accustomed to the heat too much there. Now I definitely feel like I'm used to the heat, or definitely a lot closer to being totally used to it, since some of my training in the off season was in Connecticut and it was pretty cold there. I wasn't used to it right away. But I feel great now.

JAMES BLAKE: I was doing a ton of track work and a bunch of stuff in the weight room. Got a lot stronger and definitely fitter. I was doing a lot of 800s, 400s, kind of the longer sprints to get the cardiovascular up little bit. As it got closer to start traveling again, I was doing a lot more quickness drills and shorter sprints to make sure I'm still -- still have the first step.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it seems great. I think playing that Hopman Cup every year helps. They seem to run that on TV all over Australia. So doing so well there the last couple years I think helps. And I don't know, for some reason it seems like fans are out there for me. I know Nicholas is also a very popular guy, making it to the semis here. Seemed like I had a little more support than him. That's a lot of fun. Anywhere I go outside of the States to feel like I got that kind of support is great. I think it's a very knowledgeable crowd here as well. They know when things are going your way, when you have some momentum, and they're there to help you through that, or when you're down. It's really good. They appreciate kind of top-quality tennis. That's -- those are the most fun crowds to play for, the ones that can appreciate how hard you've worked to get there.

JAMES BLAKE: Cut it actually on my birthday, December 28th.

JAMES BLAKE: Just getting tired of it. It was getting in my face. It had been so long, and I'm big on changing things up. So I always like to change. And I'm amazed I let it go for that long. But I just wanted a change. And this is so much simpler now. It's easy. I'm out of the shower and it's already dry pretty much. It's great. I just wanted to get rid of it. Also, it's a little cooler down here.

JAMES BLAKE: Right now it is up. Two special packages with. You got a lock of hair, a Dunlop bag, Nike bag, a racquet, poster and a letter from me. Think right now they're both around $200. So need to raise a little bit more money, hopefully. Then the rest of them will be auctioned off individually just by themselves.

JAMES BLAKE: There's about 70 locks I think we got on the counter.

JAMES BLAKE: Lots of locks.

JAMES BLAKE: A friend of mine back home coaches a girl's basketball team from an urban environment that really doesn't have the money to fund their travels. They're kind of like an all-star team that doesn't get the opportunity often to play in these big tournaments that could possibly get them scholarships for colleges. And they wouldn't have the money to pay for college, so they don't get really too many chances. It's just a way for me to possibly give them an opportunity to get so much out of sports since I've gotten so much out of sports. They're a group of girls that they enjoy playing for the love of the game. Now they'll hopefully get a chance to keep playing through college.

JAMES BLAKE: In Bridgeport, Connecticut.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, you're gonna see some heat on those serves; that's for sure. Those guys played in Memphis last year, and Taylor won. I'm sure they're gonna have a great match. I mean, it's going to be some big serving. I was surprised how many times Taylor got broken out here today. I think with Andy, he'll definitely bring his A game. It's gonna be fun to watch. Hopefully I won't be playing at the same time. I could watch a little bit of that. The guys are friends off the court. But I'm sure once they get on the court, I'm sure it will be down to business. It will be a great one. Tough draw for Andy. He's had some rough ones. Fernando, who's so up and down. And Taylor, on a given day, he can beat anyone with that serve. He can go a couple sets easily without getting broken. It's pretty tough for Andy. I mean, he's No. 1 in the world. To stay that way I think you got to just keep proving yourself. If he can do it, he'll get to stay No. 1. He's doing great so far.

JAMES BLAKE: It seems like he's just been really committed to his game plan. Any time someone's got a second serve that sits up a little bit, he's gonna chip and charge and get in. And his volleys have always been real solid. It's just been a matter of his movement getting to them. It looks like he's moving great. His hands are still unbelievable. He's doing a great job of executing his game plan. I mean, his serve is obviously huge. So that kind of makes it a little easier to get a lot of free points.

JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. I'm not that worried about it. I would love to play. I haven't thought about it so much because I want to do well here. But, you know, I would love to play in my home state, but that's Patrick's decision. I was talking with Todd Martin a little bit about it during the other day. Let's hope it's a good situation for him to be in, to have a few too many horses, I guess, between Mardy and Taylor and Robby and myself all kind of fighting it out for that last spot. I think it helps that we're such good friends that no one's gonna have hurt feelings if they get left off. I'd definitely love to play. I'm just out here trying to prove myself. Mainly for me, but if Patrick takes notice, that's great. I really hope I can play in my home state. If it has to go to we're playing off or whatever, so be it. I'm ready to take that call if he wants to give me the call.