US OPEN

August 29, 2003

James Blake

JAMES BLAKE: It was impressive. I actually saw them at the VMAs last night. Did a great job. I was impressed they came out, they're fans of tennis. Great to see. It's amazing. Everyone grew up watching them grow up. It's pretty funny to see them almost all grown up now.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. This is another match since Wimbledon where I feel I've done a great job mentally. I talked to my coach beforehand. We realized I'm not a player like Sampras or Roddick who can come out and have a good serving day and put it on cruise control, you're going to get one break a set. There are going to be ups and downs in my matches. There were today. I tried to weather all of them. Got up pretty quickly in the first two sets. Played great to stay ahead there. The third one, got down, still thought I played all right. He actually just got locked in there. Then that fourth, I didn't want to give up, didn't want to just say he's up 5-4, you know, let's start preparing for a fifth. I'm going to try to fight until the last point. I did. I'm really proud of myself for doing that. It was great for me to get that done mentally. I feel like I've done a pretty good job since Wimbledon.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, I definitely feel a little stronger mentally, since Wimbledon. That was kind of a big watershed moment, I'd say, this year. Just realizing that I needed to work on the whole mental outlook. I feel like I've done a great job. It's something that's in my control. I never wanted to let something in my control hold me back in a sport. If I don't have enough talent, if I get hurt, something like that happens, you know, nothing I can do. I'll never regret that. When my career is over, I won't regret I didn't have mortality. But if I didn't stay in a few matches mentally, and that cost me, or if I didn't work hard enough, those are the kind of things when I'm 40 years old I'll think back and I'll wish I had worked harder. Right now I have no regrets. I'm really happy about the way it's been going mentally since Wimbledon. Hopefully it's going to get even better.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. We hit at the tennis club of Trumbull where I used to practice. I was just a little kid, probably 15 years old or something, still not the greatest player. My backhand was probably horrendous. But I was a fighter. I was going to try to win everything I could. He came in. I knew he was probably around 100 in the world. I don't know what he was. He was obviously a professional player, someone who I was going to most likely get my butt kicked by. We started out playing a baseline game. I didn't think he would want to, I thought he would want to drill. I won the first baseline game. I played as well as I could possibly play. I thought he was going to say, "I'm going through the motions, I don't care. I lost to a little kid." He goes, "I don't really like to lose. Let's play another one. That's too good." I was like, wow, he actually was trying. I think he took me out in the next couple. It really helped me to know I could hang in there, even at that age with someone that is that good, he was really trying. I had a little home court advantage. I played there every day.

JAMES BLAKE: I think so. I was happy about that. Granted, it was only one baseline game. He probably played terrible, was taking me very lightly. At least he said he was trying. You know, then I got to hit with him a little more as time went on. He was still in Connecticut. He really helped me. I would go up and watch him. I watched him at Newport when he was playing there, did so well. It was fun. He's one of the nicest guys on tour. I was happy he was around in Connecticut.

JAMES BLAKE: I think he had left college, but I'm not sure. I mean, I definitely knew about him when he was in college because he came to my coach Brian Barker right away, when he came over and was looking for someone to hit with. Brian actually beat up on him pretty badly when he was first over here. He was telling colleges that he's losing to me, he's probably not going -- not even going to make the team. Yeah, he's a great scout in case anyone is looking for a scout of talent (smiling).

JAMES BLAKE: When I first hit with him, I don't remember. I think it was after he had finished college, but I'm not sure, or finished his --

JAMES BLAKE: I was concerned then it just comes down to one set. It's back to even. But I also felt confident because he played a pretty unbelievable two sets there, I thought in that third and fourth. He got locked in for a little while there. I was throwing everything at him, hitting big, trying to slice a few, really mix it up. He was throwing everything back at me just as hard. You know, every single time he missed in that third and fourth set, I was surprised because it didn't seem like it was happening that often. So I didn't want it to go to a fifth set because I didn't want him to stay locked in and make me fight that hard for that fifth set. I knew there's a chance if it went to a fifth, he could start missing again, you know, get a little ahead of himself. You never know what's going to happen. I was going to keep fighting. If it went to a fifth set, I figured I had just as good a chance to win the fifth as he did. I wasn't worried about my record being 0-4, whatever it is. I don't really pay too much attention to that.

JAMES BLAKE: No. I'm definitely still learning. I think even guys like Todd Martin say he's still learning. You can learn every time you go out there. Everyone seems to say you learn the most from your losses, you take your lumps early on, you learn so much. I also try to learn from wins. I think that's important. You learn what you do right, you learn what you do wrong. Today I stayed in it mentally, kept fighting. He was locked in in the third and fourth sets. I tried not to get too angry at myself because I didn't think he was doing too much wrong. Made a couple mistakes here and there. I learned if I stayed in it, he can make a couple errors at 6-All in the tiebreaker. Just stay in it, win the point in front of you, don't worry if someone is playing too good. I definitely learned something today. Every time I step in front of a big crowd, a big moment like Arthur Ashe Stadium, it helps me. It helps me getting a little more used to being there, a little more feeling like I belong on a Stadium Court in front of that many people.

JAMES BLAKE: "Thank goodness." No, I mean, I really felt good about the forehand. You know, running forehand is one of my favorite shots to hit. I thought I'd be able to get that by him down the line. I just miss-hit it a little bit. I really thought once I hit it, I was like, "Oh, gee, that's going to sit up for him." Lucky he missed it. I just thought, you know, he played some of the best points. That 6-3 point was just an unbelievable point by him. Made a great get, put away a good volley. Gets to 6-All, he missed that one. I just thought he should have won that one, I should have already won it. You know, it's fun. It's still a sport. I try to enjoy it. Obviously it wasn't a whole lot of fun for him, that point. You know, it's still fun.

JAMES BLAKE: Great. The netheads are awesome. They're fun. I actually knew Sargis would have a big group of people. Like I say, I knew him in Connecticut. A lot of friends from Connecticut were coming down. It was fun. When they start chanting right at the beginning, I thought, "Wow, that's pretty impressive considering I think they might be a little out numbered." They kept at it the whole time. I love that atmosphere. Almost like a team sport atmosphere where you have a home team and you got maybe a couple of people that made the trip from there to root for their home team. It's so much fun. It's like a Davis Cup atmosphere. The netheads being here is a lot of fun. I'm glad the USTA has them here. It's awesome.

JAMES BLAKE: I'm feeling like we're all starting to deserve it now. I think before it might have been a little bit of hype, asking every single time what is going to happen when Pete and Andre retire, Todd, when all the guys are done, what is going to happen to American tennis. Now I feel like we're showing people. We're doing our best. We really care about Davis Cup. We're starting to make some waves at big tournaments. Have an All-American final in Cincy, Andy winning Montreal. We're starting to make things happen. I think every tournament Andy goes into, he's practically a favorite. I'm starting to play a little better now. I feel like I can get hot for a week or two - hopefully two at a Grand Slam - and make -- have a few upsets. Play some great tennis, really make it deep into the tournament. That's what I'm focused on. I know Mardy can. He has an enormous serve. If that gets on, you never know what can happen with him. Robby Ginepri is playing awesome. He can do some damage. He's a strong and streaky player. Taylor, if he stays healthy, we've seen him on grass, he can make it deep into tournaments. Even guys like Jeff Morrison is playing better now that he's healthy. If he's healthy, he's a top 60, top 70 player. We're going to have plenty of guys that are going to do some things in this world of tennis soon. I'm really excited about it. I think we're trying to prove the hype right.

JAMES BLAKE: No, it's good to see. Now stop making jokes every time something happens to me. "You're 20. I'm 30." He makes jokes all the time. Now he can't make those anymore. Maybe I can make a few jokes about him. You know, it's great to see. I'm really happy. I knew it was only going to be a matter of time till he started playing better and got up to that ranking. I just feel like my ranking isn't where it should be and I need to keep working to get it back up there. Possibly because of a little injury, because I had a bad clay court season. I'm not worried. I think my ranking is going to jump back up. I'm not worried about one person like Mardy being ahead of me. It's fun to see him up there.

JAMES BLAKE: Now you put the pressure on me, saying I spoke with eloquence. I got to do this right. I think the AIDS awareness is what really impressed me because he got it basically from being loyal. He went to the doctor that he was friends with as opposed to, you know, being an international celebrity. He could have gone to the best doctors in the world, Mayo Clinic, wherever. He went to the doctor he knew well and was friends with. It just was loyal to him. It turned out their facilities might not have had the same kind of screening techniques as the best in the world. That's how he contracted the disease. Instead of saying at that point he was going to go into a shell and, "Take all the sympathy the world is going to give me, have them honor me with awards." He didn't say that. He said, "I didn't say why me when I was holding up the Wimbledon trophy, I'm not going to say why me when something tragic happens to me. I'm going to do what I can to make it possible for others in even less fortunate situations to have chances and hope." When he did something like that, it just proved what everyone who already knew him I think knew, that he was just an absolutely -- was an absolutely amazing person and had just a great spirit, was, I mean, just phenomenal. One thing, it's amazing to do as much good as he did when he was in a positive situation, when he was winning tournaments, when he was a superstar athlete, doing things like that. But then to do it when you have such a grave illness in front of you, it just shows the poise he had. Going through the breaking the color barrier for him, there's no way it was easy, but he still managed to even top that. It's amazing.

JAMES BLAKE: I think that's great. I really think it's something that needs to be addressed. I mean, the AIDS rates in Africa are skyrocketing. You can see people in America, wealthy nations, it's very possible to live for 10, 15, even almost back to normal, healthy lives after they contract the disease. They're having no treatment, no prevention, nothing. It's kind of sad. It's tough that possibly we have to be the police of the whole world. That's the role we need to play I feel like in that situation where people are dying needlessly. I think the greatest resource in the world is people. If we can add to that and help them, that would benefit obviously them and us, as well, just to have a great variety of people and cultures in this world that we can learn about. It's great that Arthur started a trend that way. I hope our government goes through with any promises they make to really help the situation in Africa.

JAMES BLAKE: Talk about tennis again? Having fun talking about politics (laughter). No, next round is going to be fun. Good chance it's going to be Federer, obviously. Last couple years, second and third round I played Hewitt, had some fun matches, played really well. This is going to be another one I go into with no pressure on me. I think that's when I play some of my best tennis. Last two years I played pretty darn well and just came up a little short. I think this will complete -- let's see, two years ago Lleyton was the third seed, then top seed, now second seed. Pretty good draws here at The Open (smiling). Hometown kid, they could make a draw for me or something. I guess they didn't get around to that. No, it's going to be fun. Playing a guy like that that's got so much talent, so much potential, you know, to win this tournament possibly, makes it fun for me because I go in with no pressure. I'm going to have some fun and play my best. I'm going to go down swinging. I'm going to go for everything. I'm not going to just try to push and see if he's going to give it to me, because I know better. That's when I really start to play well. If I don't play well enough and he beats me, so be it. I'll go to the locker room and say I played my best, go get ready for Davis Cup. I think there's no reason why I should feel like if I play well, I'm definitely going to lose. If I play well, he's human, he's going to make mistakes. I've got a pretty solid game when I'm playing well. So I think I got a chance.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, I actually haven't talked to my coach really about it yet, since I was worried about Sargis first, and Roger hasn't played his match. If I do play him, he can hit the ball so heavy, he's going to have a lot of points where he's on the offensive that he can attack my backhand. But I'm actually really confident now in the fact that my backhand isn't a weakness anymore. I feel like I'll be able to battle with that. What I usually try to do is get the backhand deep enough to get myself some forehands. If that happens, I feel like I can control the point on my forehand. He's actually a pretty similar player. He does the same thing: hits the backhand heavy, then looks to get the forehand. Once he gets the forehand, he takes control of the point. We'll see who does a better job of that.

JAMES BLAKE: You saw the shorts and the shoes today. I'm still a Tar Heel fan. Kenyon college baseball is where one of my best friend coaches. I got him tickets last week at Long Island. I think he was supposed to be at Kenyon, but he said he was scouting. At the end of the week when I got him tickets all week, he said, "The only things I get for free are these Kenyon college T-shirts, I thought I'd at least try to repay you by giving me these." He had no reason to do that. I'm thankful when my friends get a chance to come watch me play, see what I do for a living.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I would love to wear a Harvard T-shirt. Maybe take a trip up to Boston, see my coach and everything. We'll see. I don't know if they have too many Nike Harvard things. I got to make sure I don't wear any of the competing brands. I got some Harvard gear back at home.

JAMES BLAKE: It's crazy because I'm still a fan. I remember the first -- I remember the times I came to watch, sneaking in, trying to sneak down the bottom of the stadium, watching matches and just thinking the guys were unbelievable. They were so impressive, they were like machines how good they were, I thought. The first time I came here for quallies, I never thought I'd have a chance to even play in quallies. You know, just sitting in the locker room, the lounges, being like, "That's Stefan Edberg. That's Thomas Muster. Sampras is there." Just looking and being in awe of how good the players were. Now I go in the locker room, and I'm still pretty impressed by how good the players are, but I also realize that now maybe there's some kid in the quallies or Juniors that's nudging his buddy saying, "There's James Blake." I think that's amazing. It's a long way that I've come. I'm still a little shocked that I'm always in the locker room now instead of in the line waiting to get in to watch. It's crazy. I never thought this was going to be possible. I'm very happy.

JAMES BLAKE: I had an Ivan Lendl autograph when he used to do a charity event at my tennis club. I have a Tom Seaver autograph that my mom got and gave me. I had Roger Clemens, and Carl Banks did something at our local YMCA.

JAMES BLAKE: LT never made it. I played a golf tournament with him. I didn't get to meet him. He was in a different foursome. That was the big talk of the event. I think that might be the only autographs I have.

JAMES BLAKE: They're in my room, which my mom does a great job of cleaning up for me before I go home. They're still there. I have a Charles Nagy, because he went to my high school. He came back when he was on the Olympic team and signed his Olympic card at my elementary school.