DAVIS CUP - SPAIN vs USA

April 6, 2002

James Blake

TODD MARTIN: Well, probably not in doubles. It's , for me, I thought it shaped up to be a pretty easy match to serve. I think, you know, doubles, typically I like to serve a little bit more conservatively. Grass, my best serve is a slice serve. That's accentuated on grass. And I didn't feel like with James at the net I was going to have to work very hard after my serve. And that was definitely the case.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, I didn't feel uncomfortable yesterday. Obviously, it was a disappointing loss, the second one, just because of, you know, we were up two sets to love. But as I said yesterday, I didn't feel that bad being 1-all. I hoped to be 2-0, but 1-all was okay. And I feel slightly better being up 2-1. I'll feel a whole lot better when hopefully we're up 3-1 (smiling). But we still have our work cut out for us, and we know they're going to compete and come out hard. But certainly this was a big win.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: I wasn't that surprised. I mean, obviously you hope he's not injured badly. I mean, I know he had some tape on his wrist. And I don't know how bad it is. But, you know, in addition to that, he played a long, tough match - four-hour match - on a surface that he's not used to playing on. It's one thing to play a four-hour match on clay for him; it's another thing playing on grass where the movement is different. And he obviously had to put a lot more strain on to serve. So certainly I was surprised that he was hurt. But, you know, that's what's great or unique or whatever you want to say about Davis Cup, is that it's about three days and it's about a team winning the match. It's not about one player. And if one player can pull off three wins, that's an incredible effort. It's difficult to do that.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: You know, I -- I'm not going to read too much into it. I don't know if he's going to play. But all I know is that, you know, Roddick will be ready to go no matter who he plays. And I think he's going to play well, and I think they're going to have their hands full with him tomorrow no matter who they put out there. We're going to go about our business of getting ready to go and getting Andy ready to play that first match and getting Pete ready to play the last match if necessary and take it from there. It's not really going to change the way we go about looking at the match or preparing for tomorrow.

JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. I never think that much about playing a better doubles match because it's really a team thing. But I don't think any doubles matches have meant as much to me as these two Davis Cup ones. Because normally you're in a tournament that's just for you and your partner, and it's a lot of matches throughout the whole week. It's four matches or so. But this is just one match and very important to the whole tie, because it's right in the middle. It's 1 -all. Could be a big momentum boost. And, I mean, every point's pretty important when you're only going to three. So I feel thrilled to get two wins in doubles in Davis Cup. And today, to do it with a great friend and to do it with someone who played as well as he did, it made it look a lot easier for me. When there's someone serving - like you said - 84 percent, it makes it easier for me. He was returning great. I don't know if I played as well. It was just pretty easy with the way Todd was playing.

TODD MARTIN: Oh, stop (laughter).

JAMES BLAKE: I wish I could argue. But he already said the stats.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I mean, on grass there's always going to be some tough bounces and they're going to mix it up well. But I felt like when we needed it, we returned well. Todd's always going to return pretty well. And I felt like I returned well in spots. I mean, there were definitely times, a game or two here or there, where I had trouble finding the court. But they put some pressure on us at times, and they mixed it up well. I felt like I could return better, obviously, returning these guys' serves, if I'm returning Andy and Pete's serve. But I don't think anyone's going to have a whole lot of success returning their serves (laughing).

JAMES BLAKE: Geez, what have I learned from Todd? Not a whole lot, no (laughter).

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: I'm right in the middle of this love-fest here.

JAMES BLAKE: Let's see. I learned just from Pete and Todd this week, learned from Pete, unfortunately, that you have to keep your foot on the pedal, you got to keep going forward. I think Todd and I did a good job of keeping our intensity up, even if we were up two sets to love or a set and a break at any time. We felt like we wanted to get another breaker, we wanted to keep going forward. That's something we learned from Pete. Unfortunately, it was in a bad situation yesterday. But that's the only thing you can do about a situation like that, is learn from it and try to move forward and improve. And, unfortunately, I have to admit that's something I learned from Todd, because I've had times in my career these last two years when I've had a lot of bad losses in a row and not felt too good. He's helped me keep my head up. And my coach has always helped me a ton. Just, you know, I'm still young, so I'm still learning from all these guys that have been around a lot longer than me.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, obviously they've both been playing great singles, number one. They both have great games for doubles. They both are good friends. They've been playing some doubles together recently. And they're both capable of stepping in and playing singles for us as well. I felt that was important for this particular match. As a doubles team, I think that, you know, they just mix well together. You know, they match up well with their strengths. And I just felt that they would play well. But, you know, most of it is just what they do week in and week out and seeing how they perform. Todd's been there a couple times where he hasn't played, and he's just always been a guy supporting the other guys and helping the other guys. And, you know, I wanted to tell him, as I sort of told him a little bit this week, "Go out there, and you play now." I wanted him to really be ready to play and focus on himself and get himself ready. He did a great job of that, you know. And the guys just played a great match today. You know, the pressure was on, and they just handled it and played aggressively and went and played their game.

JAMES BLAKE: Just a little better than Pete (smiling).

TODD MARTIN: He's probably the only guy I'm 1-0 with (laughter). It's been a while since I've won one, so he's probably better than the last few I've played with. No, it's -- with all due respect, I don't really want to answer that question. I think James is a great player. He's very versatile, and his game translates well to doubles, like Patrick said. And he's a perfect matchup for me because I play very simple tennis, and he provides a lot of fire power that can take over periods of the match. And that was the case that -- that was exactly what happened today. And, you know, you can't put two guys like me out there and you probably can't put two guys like James out there together. So we do match up fairly well.

JAMES BLAKE: I think it was good because that was a long game. I think it went to deuce. Gave me time to just focus and worry about making sure to get my legs under me and making first serves. I think I came out, made two first serves. So it just got me refocused. The whole warm-up I just thought about, you know, making sure to get those first two points. I think it helped a lot. We did that. But I think if we didn't have the rain delay I probably would have - hopefully, with the help of Patrick and Todd on my side - they would have done the same thing to calm me down and get me refocused on using my legs, getting up into those first serves, and putting pressure on them.

TODD MARTIN: Kind of (laughter)? You're too kind, Sandy. Well, it felt better. I enjoy being a part of the team. I think a big part of what Davis Cup is about happens between Sunday and Friday morning, and so it's been enjoyable for me to be a part of that process the last two ties that I haven't played. However, it's a lot more fun being out on the court with the pressure on you than to sit in street clothes or hanging out watching your buddies play. You don't want to -- you don't want it any less or more, it's just you feel a whole lot more involved, and I enjoy that feeling.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Hopefully, it will go beyond Davis Cup. But I think Todd's one of the guys who is taking it beyond Davis Cup in just what he does week in and week out on the tour. Tennis is a lonely sport. And there's a chance that we have to make it not as lonely and to go out and work together and push each other and compete with each other. And these guys are doing it week in and week out on the tour. And, you know, you see a nice combination just in , as Todd said, in the way these guys matched up well. Just as, you know, Todd being very thoughtful out there, knowing the right thing to do pretty much all the time, and James playing with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. That sort of works together, it rubs off for both of them. And just like it's worked with Pete, I think he's enjoyed these weeks, being with the team. And certainly having Pete around has really been, I think, inspiring to the younger guys. So, you know, on top of everything, it's fun. You know, it's just a fun group. And, you know, we want to enjoy ourselves. We want to win, obviously. But I believe that if we have fun and we work well together as a team, that in the long run we'll probably win more than we'll lose because we have great players. And hopefully the younger guys that are coming up, you know, the 15-year-olds, the 16-year-olds now will see what we're trying to do and want to be part of it.

TODD MARTIN: Go ahead, Junior (laughter).

JAMES BLAKE: Thanks, senior... citizen. Anyway, I think it helped. I had a great time in college. I don't think I would have been ready for the tour at 17 when I went away to college. I grew up a little bit in those two years and I had a great time. And being a part of a team is something I really enjoy because, like Patrick said, tennis is kind of a lonely sport. You're out there on your own doing everything by yourself. And to have a whole team that really appreciates every victory and, you know, feels the same pain that you do every loss, it's something that's fun. And I enjoy it here. Especially with, you know, representing your school is one thing, but to represent your whole country is something that I'm amazed I've had the opportunity to do. And I really appreciate it every time I get the chance. So it's -- it translates to being similar, but nowhere near the same scale.

TODD MARTIN: Well, I think be it that we play an individual sport week in and week out, I think it's probably the most awkward when you lose a big match in Davis Cup, to come into a locker room where everybody lost with you. And I think last night we probably felt a need to give Pete some space to let him cool down and sort some thoughts out. And then today, I said to James at lunch, "I was not expecting the Pete that showed up today." He had a great attitude. He was happy and having fun. He was shooting baskets.

JAMES BLAKE: Working out.

TODD MARTIN: Running warm-up drills. It was great to see. And I think, for me, it definitely gave me a real sense of comfort, knowing that he was still planning on being as prepared as he possibly can if we didn't do our job today so he could win that fifth rubber.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Sure, he can. There's no doubt he can give anybody trouble if he can beat Sampras on grass. But, you know, Andy looked good. He served real well the other day. I think he'll play even better tomorrow with the rest of his game now that he's got one match under his belt. You know, it's a little bit of a different matchup. And I think his game matches up well with Corretja. I think they play a similar -- both like to stay at the baseline, but they both can serve and volley a little bit. And, you know, they played at The Open last year, and Andy had a pretty good match against him. But, you know, Alex is smart. He's crafty. He's a great competitor. He knows how to play in big matches. So it's going to be a difficult match, but I think that Andy's going to have, you know -- come out with a lot of energy and a lot of fire power. I'm really going out on a limb there, right, to say that (smiling). But, you know, he thrives in this situation, and I think he'll thrive tomorrow. But, you know, I think if Alex is healthy, I think he'll play well. As far as the fifth match, you know, Todd pretty much summed it up - the attitude of Pete, you know. Pete came in this morning, had a smile on his face, is getting himself prepared to play tomorrow. And, you know, he's one of us. He's one of the team. And I think that says a lot about what we're all trying to do here. And it's, you know, we were disappointed for him, but, you know, you look at the matchup with Robredo, and who knows, maybe they'd substitute even for him. You never know what they could do. They have options as well. But, you know, Pete's just got to be aggressive. You know, he got a little defensive. Maybe that was my fault for telling him that, you know, to make some more returns in play. Maybe I took him out of his game. So I have to look myself in the eye as well about what I do on the bench. But, you know, Pete will come out and we'll get in his ear if it is a fifth match that's live. And even if it's not, you know, he may want to go out there and play anyway; I don't know. But to be aggressive and to play his game. Because we've seen it all week in practice, we saw it in the first couple sets yesterday that his game is there. You know, when he's attacking and moving -- and moving and being athletic, his game is there. It's just a question now of doing that throughout the course of a tough match when the pressure's on. I think he'll be able to do that.

CAPTAIN PATRICK McENROE: Well, you know what, a credit to the organizers of this. That includes the people that support us, which is the USTA, and Jim McIngvale and his wife and Westside and the whole club, because, I mean, it's just a fantastic atmosphere. I can't see a seat that's open. The people are out there from the beginning of the match. They stayed throughout the whole rain delay. The Net Heads provide some, you know, nice entertainment. The music is fun. You know, it's what Davis Cup should be - fun, entertaining, a lot of intensity, a lot of pressure. And, you know, they've done a great job. We certainly - the team - appreciate it. And for us to go out there and play in front of that type of crowd, that's what it's all about. I told these guys before the match today, you know, "Let's go out there and play our game, but let's have fun." You know, these are the matches that you want to be in when you're a professional. And, you know, you play week in, week out on the tour, and obviously all the matches count and mean something. But these have a little extra something, a little extra special. So we did enjoy it, and we enjoyed it a lot more in that we won.