PACIFIC LIFE OPEN

March 12, 2002

James Blake

JAMES BLAKE: No, definitely not. I just try to improve every day, and every match try to get a little better. Today I felt like there were a couple things that he picked on to, you know, show me where my weaknesses are and still need to keep working. I keep saying, "I never really expected any of this." I didn't really set goals, like, to be Top 50 or anything like that. I was going into college, planning on going for four years. So, this is all just a lot of fun for me. Every match I win is a pretty big deal to me. So I feel great, but I don't set those kind of ranking goals.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I mean, the ball bounced up pretty high on these courts, I felt like. He definitely took advantage of that. He's a little bit smaller. So the slice, he would use the fact that he's not as big to get down to those, and stay down on them. As soon as he got up, he could take it from above his shoulders. He was really ripping it. I don't think he missed -- I mean, barely missed any of those forehands when he had time to set up until finally at 1-Love in that tiebreaker, maybe just missed it by an inch. Got maybe a little ahead of himself or went for too much or something. I think that was probably the turning point and the biggest difference in the match, was he just finally just missed that one. Like you said, I was hitting those short balls. And that's something I'm going to work on. I'll go out there tomorrow and make sure I'm not doing that as often, especially on these courts where the ball's bouncing high.

JAMES BLAKE: I'm still having fun like it is just in the backyard. It's great to get all this attention now and get fans actually knowing who you are and not asking for autographs then saying, "What's your name?" So that's a lot of fun for me and, again, something I didn't expect at all. It makes it even better going through it with Andy and Mardy, two guys I'm good friends with. The tour is somewhat selfish by nature since you're out there playing on your own. But to have two guys like that also coming up at the same time as you, as well as Taylor Dent, Robby Ginepri, and a lot of these other guys, we get along so well and we're having fun. We're cheering for each other. I came out and watched Mardy's match yesterday. Mardy, right before he left, was saying good luck. He's got to get ready to play tomorrow. We're all very supportive of each other. It makes it even more fun. So we're never really lonely out here. We've got someone else going through similar situations.

JAMES BLAKE: If the schedule works out right and we're practicing at similar times, yeah, definitely. I mean, I practice with Mardy probably more than anyone else on tour. He stays at my house usually when we're training. We practice at Saddlebrook just about every day. I definitely hit with him well. Our coaches are all friends. Now that we're kind of at these kind of tournaments, the coaches end up organizing the practices a lot more. Our coaches are always talking and they're setting up practice for us.

JAMES BLAKE: I live in Tampa, just outside of Saddlebrook, about ten minutes away from it. It's great for me. Training at Saddlebrook has everything I could need - a great facility, my trainer, Mike Nichlahara (phonetic spelling), works there, so it's perfect. There's every surface of court there. And a lot of great, great players come through there. So it's perfect for me.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it seems like we're getting that comparison. But that's, to me, along with not setting ranking goals, things like that, I'm not going to try to compare myself to any other people. I never tried to mold my game after anyone specific. I tried to do what came naturally to me. I don't think we can say we're going to be like those guys. It's pretty tough to live up to. I mean, 13 Slams from Pete, seven from Andre, one from Chang, what was it, four or five from Courier. I mean, that's pretty staggering numbers. And for any group from any country to do that at one time is incredible. And I think it might be a little unfair to stack us next to them. But we're going to go out there and we're going to do our best. I think Andy's taken a lot of pressure off of all of us, hearing the "Who's going to be the next one to step up after all those guys retire." He's doing a great job for us. Now that we have a little less pressure on us, we're having fun. You can see that out there in our confidence and in our tennis. Andy's continuing to improve. He's still young and still getting better and better, I mean, which is, I would assume, scaring those guys at the top of the game. It's just fun for me to watch.

JAMES BLAKE: No, it was just something -- it's taken me a while to get to this point. I think it's because I'm trying to learn from each match. And I never have been in the finals of a tournament before. When I played Memphis, then going to San Jose, going all the way across the country for that, I felt like I played pretty well, but definitely not as well as in Memphis. Then, you know, you know, I think maybe that took a little more out of me mentally than I really realized. Then going to Scottsdale, the switch to outdoors, a little bit of altitude, and Indian Wells playing a good player like Jan-Michael Gambill, I think I just -- I'm going to learn how to deal with those situations a little bit better as I keep going. I feel like every time I go through a situation like that, it's going to help me for next year or for the next time I step on the court. I think the match against Gambill helped me realize I can't try to go for too much, I can't try to play above myself. Just keep playing my game, and if I win, I win; if I don't, I know what I need to work on. Today I came in, maybe went for a little too much once in a while, but I made sure to think about that, you know. Now that I have that experience to fall back on, I can play better I think. I can play more within myself, and I feel like I did that today. That's about all I can do really.

JAMES BLAKE: Win a couple more matches (laughing). I'm not looking towards the fourth round or towards the quarters or anything. I'm playing Fabrice Santoro next, who's a guy that is very tough to prepare for. I've never played him before. But just watching him play, there's no one else on tour that plays like him. So I'm just worried about that match. If I can get through that, then I'll worry about the next one. It's kind of unfair to look past a player like that, so I'm just going to look at that match.

JAMES BLAKE: As a player, I feel like, I don't know, I feel like I'm getting better. So I don't really know. I don't necessarily know how good I am. I'm just trying to get better. Every match I go out there, it kind of surprises me and it lets me know how good I am. Seems like each time it's testing myself, seeing if I can, you know, come through in a tight match against Galo Blanco, someone who's been on tour for a long time; if I can beat Jan-Michael Gambill twice in a row when it's much more difficult that second time in a few weeks. Sometimes I'm going to pass, sometimes I'm going to fail. From each of them I'm going to learn. I don't know necessarily how much better I need to get to get to a fourth round or fifth round or quarterfinals or whatever. I've been close before. My match with Hewitt last year was very close, my match with Rafter last year in Cincinnati. Close matches that it's just going to take the difference of playing a point here or there better, and I think that comes down to confidence. I feel like I've gained more confidence from those matches. So, we'll see if I can make it through.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'm going to be going to the clay. I definitely don't feel as comfortable on clay, because most of the Americans grew up on hardcourts. I grew up on hardcourts, especially indoor courts because I was in New England. But, again, it's learning on clay. We have one of the best coaches in the world here at the USTA for clay court tennis in Jose Higueras. So, hopefully, he can help me out; he has in the past. He's given me a lot of confidence and positive feedback on how I can play on clay. And he's instilled some confidence in me saying he thinks I can really do well there and I have the game that could excel on clay. But it's just going to take time to learn how to play on that. I feel like I'm now just learning how to play on tour. But then to learn to play on tour on your least favorite surface, that's going to be another stepping stone for me.

JAMES BLAKE: Roddick's taken me out the last three times I think. We had a real battle in Memphis, it was 7-5 in the third. I was up a break in the third set. That match really could have gone either way. He played better on a couple points, and that was it. I got a little nervous maybe because it was my first final. He's been there before. Then that next week I played him again. He played -- he stepped up his game and, like I said, I might have been mentally a little bit fatigued. And he pretty much dominated that match. And -- but I feel like when I'm playing well, I can play with just about anyone in the world. He's getting to the stage where he's one of those guys that you can say is, you know, one of the top in the world. So I feel like I can play with him on any day, and that's given me a lot of confidence. And it's just the same as playing another one of the top players, a Hewitt, a Sampras, an Agassi. He's getting close to that standard right now. I feel good being on the same court as him.

JAMES BLAKE: I actually never lived with Roddick. Mardy lived with Andy. Mardy stays with me a lot. He is a slob, yes. He's - I don't know - I'm not going to give you guys any dirt (laughing).

JAMES BLAKE: Wherever they need me. I'm always open. As soon as Patrick gives me a call, it's -- he never really even needs to. Just if he wants me to be there, I'll be there. And I'm going to do my best. I'm going to prepare for whatever he needs me for, if one of those guys gets hurt or something. In my opinion - which is very humble and they shouldn't take it into any account - but Pete and Andy are our best options on grass. Pete, I mean, there's really no argument there. I don't think anyone in the world would argue that. But then if he wants to rest them and get them just playing singles, I think I could play doubles. I feel like I've done well on grass. I think I have a pretty decent game to play on grass. So I'll just do whatever he needs. I'll practice to get ready for anything.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I mean, I do have some empathy in the fact that it's a tough decision but that's his job, to make these tough decisions. I think it's a much better decision to make with a few guys playing really well than "Who am I going to pick? There's no one playing really well." So I think it's a situation where he's going to be second-guessed no matter what he does I think if we don't play as well. But you can't really make a wrong decision, I don't think, because there are guys that are playing really well. It's up to him. He's going to have to take that second-guessing, and I think he's one of the best guys to do that. He's going to stick with his choice. He's shown that he does have some guts and some - whatever, I don't know, whatever the word is - but going with me instead of Todd when Todd is experienced against India. So he's shown that he'll make the tough decision and just whoever is playing well at that time, he'll take the hot hand.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I mean, every time I've gone, I went as a practice partner under Tom Gullikson, and there was enthusiasm there. I had a great time. And now going with Patrick, it's so much fun. I don't know, I can't ever see it being a bad time. Even I've been a part of two losing teams. But they've helped my confidence, they've helped my growth as a player. So I think the camaraderie's great. I try to get along with everyone. You have to be realistic that you might not get along with everyone. But I've had a great time with the Americans. It's so much fun being a part of a team where you know you're all striving toward one goal. I think Patrick's a perfect blend of, you know, being friends with all the guys, a great guy to hang out with in the locker room, but also someone who we know we have to take advice from. When it comes down to business time, he's going to be the leader. He's not going to be just our buddy, he's also a leader. And he's done a great job.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I went for two years. I plan on going back whenever I'm done playing tennis. They have a great policy of taking you back whenever, you just have to let them know six months in advance. When this whole tennis thing is over, I'll be back in the dorms probably.

JAMES BLAKE: My brother's doing well. I practiced with him a lot last week as well. He hits the ball great in practice. He was, to be honest, he was beating up on me. And he's -- I think it's just going to take more matches for him. He took so long off because of his wrist injury that he just doesn't have the match experience. When he gets into a match, I think he feels like it's such a big opportunity that he ends up playing very tentative. And I know where he's coming from. I went through that my whole first year on tour. I felt like every opportunity I got, I had to advantage of. I didn't want to mess it up. Now I go out there and I say "It's just another match, just go out there and play your game. If it's not good enough, it's not good enough." If you play tentative, I mean, you're going to lose to anyone in the Top 100 or the Top 150. They're going to beat you four and four if you're tentative because it's just going to come down to those points where they're going for it and they're a little looser.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, that taught me that the guys out here are too proud and too good of competitors to ever give up. Stefan never gave up. Was up two sets and a break, and he was still getting pumped up. He didn't hang his head, he didn't get down on himself, he didn't start tanking. That's something I learned there. I also learned I need to just keep working harder. I feel like after my losses, I end up working harder because I am still a competitor, I still have that, you know, little kid in me that used to throw his racquet every time he'd lose a point. Just that if I lose a match, I don't want to feel that again. Every time I lose a match, I think, "This is a terrible feeling. I don't want it anymore." So I end up wanting to go work harder. As soon as I got home, I wanted to keep working. It felt great actually to go from there to Hawaii and play a challenger, a lower-level tournament. No matter what, to win matches makes you feel better.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, the Ashe- Buchholz facility, I was told actually by -- my agent brought it to my attention that this is a charity down here in the Miami area, and obviously having Arthur Ashe's name involved in it made a difference to me. He was a role model to me. Butch Buchholz has been great to me, giving me a wildcard in the qualifying and wildcards into doubles. So I feel like those two guys supporting a charity like this, it's going to make a difference hopefully in inner-city kids. I also at the same time wanted to help out the Harlem Junior Tennis Program, and I did that. That's, I mean, it's an inner city program that I really learned how to play tennis in. The more of those we can get around the country, I think, the better. Most of them, have to be honest, probably aren't going to spawn any top-level professional tennis players, but the main goal for that shouldn't be that. It should be to spawn tennis fans and also mainly good citizens. They're going to be off the streets, they're going to be doing something productive, they're going to be having fun and meeting people with the same goals. So I always want to support charities like that one and programs like grass roots tennis programs.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think so. I haven't had a whole lot of money before, before this, to donate. I think I've donated, you know, when they send those Habitat for Humanity things to your house, a few of those. But nothing this substantial. So it feels great to give to charity. My coach is someone who I've been with for about ten years. I feel great with someone that doesn't just worry about my tennis; he's also kind of a mentor. He's always watching me, you know, knowing that I should also be a good human being as opposed to just being a good tennis player. He's someone that has given well beyond what he should be - or not what he should be - but well beyond what anyone would expect of him. So that's had an effect on me, seeing how much joy he gets out of it. And just the fact that he'll do it, and I won't even find out about it for years. I mean, I'll find out about the things he does from other people, not from him. And that's something that's made a difference to me.