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PACIFIC LIFE OPENMarch 11, 2006James BlakeINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We'll get started with questions for James, please. Q. Was it just a slow start today or... JAMES BLAKE: I mean, I wouldn't even say it was that slow to start. I think Sam played unbelievable that first set. He was serving big. I don't think he missed many forehands. His backhand was more solid than I'd expected after having practiced with him a lot in December. He played a great set. And I'm happy I did a good job of after that not getting down on myself, not panicking. Luckily I feel like I'm now at a point in my career I've seen a lot. Just because a wildcard wins a set 6-1, no reason to hang your head because they can play well. He's here for a reason, especially after winning a tour-level match against Bobby Reynolds. I know he can play well. I practice with him a lot. I know how good he can play. And I just try not to get down on myself. And I think he stopped moving his feet a little bit maybe. I don't know if he was thinking a little bit too much about how well he'd been playing or if the slight drizzle was getting to him or what. I just started attacking his backhand as much as I could and things started going my way. But that first set he played great, and it's good for me to see that American tennis has someone that talented, that young, and can hopefully play at this level for many years, especially since he's a really good kid. I hope he continues that success. Q. What sort of mental skills did he use at 6-1 down when you went to the changeover? JAMES BLAKE: Just a little bit of -- a little bit of calm, just making sure that even if I had lost 1 and 1, I don't want that to affect me. I don't want that to affect me. I don't it to affect the way I'm playing or anything like that. Because I did my best in the first set. I did miss a couple balls that maybe I shouldn't have, but it was what I thought was the best shot at the time. It wasn't like I was going for too much or hanging my head or getting crazy or just playing too passive or anything. I just -- I missed a few and he came up with unbelievable shots. So I didn't want that to affect me at 6-1 down. I didn't want to say, "Okay. Now I need to win six games all at once. Just win one point at a time. Keep playing the way you're playing. Hopefully I can start imposing my game on him." I was able to do that. I started getting better looks at his first serve and taking advantage of his second serve better. The first set I did feel like I was missing a few too many second-serve returns, but it's going to happen. His second serve is pretty solid. It kicks up on these courts, but I just managed to kind of stay calm and go -- continue going for my shots and not panic. No reason to -- sometimes people will play a little passive expecting guys to miss now because they're ahead or anything. I didn't want to do that. I mean, I took my chances. If they weren't going in, you know, I'm going to lose, but I'm going to win more matches that way, than the few that I lose just because I was going for my shots. You've got to accept those. And that's the way I play my best and I managed to keep doing that. I think a few years I ago I would have been down 6-1 and tried to go for way too much. Same way that I lost the second set 6-2 to Hewitt last week. Then, I didn't change anything, I didn't start going for too much, didn't push or anything. I just kept playing my game. Now I'm confident enough to keep doing what I know I do best and hope that it gets me through to the winners circle at the end. Today it did, last week it did. And hopefully it will continue to get me there. Q. James, you've obviously been able for the most part to keep your momentum going from the late summer, late fall. Robbie has struggled a bit. Talk about what you've been doing to try to maintain that level and how hard that is. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. It's not easy at all. And I was actually just telling Sam when we were coming back in the cart that he's going from here to a future in Little Rock, and I told him, you know, it's so easy for guys to go to a big tournament, especially for me to come from a win to go to the next tournament and have a little bit of a letdown. And I told him, you know, "If you go to that future, you stay calm, you play your best, and it's something that's harder than people think." And I can completely understand what's happening to Robbie, you lose one match when you're kind of expecting to win, you get a little down on yourself, then you expect to win the next one, it didn't happen. Crazy things can happen in just one or two matches, so you can't look at it that way. Even for me, I lose two first rounds in a row, San Jose and Memphis. I try to just continue to play the same way and playing what I think is my smartest tennis and good things are going to happen. But you just can't let yourself get down too much from just one or two losses. And you can't put so much pressure on, "Okay. Now I need to keep the momentum going, I need to keep the momentum going. Just keep playing your game, kind of let everything fall where it does." And I've been able to do that and things have gone right. But each one of the -- both of the tournaments I won, I mean, I think in Sydney I was down maybe a set and a break or a set and break points to come on in like the second round of the quarters, and last week I was down a break to Srichaphan in really tough conditions where it would have been difficult to come back from a set. So I mean easily things can go the other way. The matches that I lost, it's one or two points. I could have won the match against Vliegen in Memphis with a couple of breakpoints. It's just right now things seem to be going my way. I have the confident to play my game on those breakpoints or tie breakers or things like that. And right now, I think Robbie may be lost a little bit of that confidence, but I practiced with him and he sure hasn't lost his talent. He's got plenty of talent. He works hard. It's just going to take a couple of times, maybe a lucky break here or there, and it can turn around in a heartbeat. I mean, he still has the talent to go deep here, and, I mean, I wouldn't count him out of winning a tournament here next week or anything. He's got that talent. He's just -- I mean everyone at some point has struggled with their confidence and I think his will come back soon enough hopefully. Q. The end of last year what really seemed to change in your game? You seemed to get through a certain level. It didn't drop off. There was a consistency. Is there a reflex this year of how tough it is at this level or have you found that you are struggling still a bit with your own consistency? JAMES BLAKE: No. I don't feel like I'm struggling at all with consistency. I think this level is very difficult, and I think, just like I said, each match I could give you a different explanation for. I'm not one to really make excuses, but these guys are good, and they've come out and beaten me on certain days. And the only one that may have been, you know, really tough is right after Davis Cup to go to San Jose from playing outdoors, kind of the celebration of being excited about Davis Cup, to go a couple days later to go play in San Jose. That one was obviously a little tougher to get up for. But in Memphis I don't feel I played badly. I think Vliegen beat me. He played well. I didn't play great on a couple of big points. He did. He came up with huge serves when he needed them, and, you know, especially indoors at this level. Big guys are serving, if you're playing indoors, anything can happen. So it's not a matter of consistency. I felt like I actually played all right in that match, and then I felt like I continued to play all right, kept working hard in the gym for that week, got ready for Vegas, and turned it around pretty quickly. I don't feel like I'm struggling with my consistency. I've beaten a lot of good players this year. I've lost to a few good players as well. I don't feel like I'm struggling with the consistency. I'm actually pretty proud of how consistent I've maintained my mental approach to each match. I'm not getting down on myself. I wasn't down after two first-round losses. I got fired up to play some doubles with Marty. You know, he just -- I mean, that's all you can do. You're going to lose matches out here. I'm sure at some point throughout this year there's going to be another time I lose two first rounds in a row. Now I have the experience to fall back on and say, "Just because I've lost two first rounds in a row doesn't mean I can't win the tournament next weekend." I think it's a big deal to have that confidence and that outlook as opposed to kind of starting a downward spiral, where you lose a couple, you kind of get used to that, it becomes a habit, and you feel like you're going to lose the next one as opposed to just going out and having fun and doing your best. And that's what I've been doing and it's been working for me so far. Hopefully it will continue. Now is the real chance for us to prove ourselves in these Master Series where all the top names are. Q. James, for the end of a match there was quite a few more words than normal exchanged. What did you say to him at the end? JAMES BLAKE: Well, Sam is a good kid, and I actually was visiting my now ex-girlfriend in Chicago last year for Christmas and had no one to hit with in Chicago, and so I was scrambling around looking for any northwestern players or someone who I'd be able to practice because I was going to be there for a week. It just -- somehow I guess someone had informed Sam that I was going to be there and he offered to come out. So I flew him out to Chicago and we practiced for a whole week together, every day. And so he became a pretty good friend. He was also a practice partner last year at Davis Cup in Belgium, so I got to know him a little bit there. We were hitting together every day and just -- I did my best to help him. I'm starting to feel like a veteran where I could help the young guys, and doing my best. At the end of the match, I said, "You know what, you're playing a lot better than you were in December and it looked like you're going to keep playing even better, so I'm happy for you and I'm proud of you winning the first round and keep it up." Because I know he's got a good head on his shoulders, he's got a lot of talent. I really am happy for him. I hope he keeps doing well and maybe if he doesn't beat me so badly in the first sets, you know, you can beat other guys that badly, but... I'm really proud of him. I just want -- I wanted to let him know that he's going in the right direction. Don't hang your head just because he lost a close match. You know, I'd like to -- I didn't say this, but I'd like to think that I am playing at the level of my ranking and, you know, pretty high level, and he just -- he was -- he came up a little short today -- but he's -- he's definitely I think prepared and ready to for this level of tennis. And I hope whether or not he decides to go to college, that's up to him, but I'd be happy to help him with any decisions he's making and I wish him the best in college or on the tour. Q. Do you think it was a little easier for him to play you today since you guys had been playing as opposed to going to stadium court playing somebody else he wasn't as comfort with? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I mean, I talked to my coach about that, making sure that, you know, it's not like your playing any other wildcard that might be a little nervous or anything like that. He's hit with me. He beat me in practice. I beat him in practice. The fact that we are pretty comfortable together might take a lot of pressure off. He might have come out there saying, "It was the same guy I was practicing with, you know, that we were playing baseline games, we were playing stupid mini-tennis games, whatever. It's the same guy, so there's no reason why I can't beat him just because it's the stadium court and it may have helped that we were playing first. There weren't really as many fans there, you know, it's not a packed stadium, night match kind of an atmosphere. But I think he's also actually pretty good at dealing with those kind of conditions and everything else that's going on. I think he's someone that doesn't really worry too much about what's going on the other side of the net. He focuses on his game which is something that's important and hopefully will bode well for him in the future. Q. Did you play here last year? JAMES BLAKE: Did I? Q. Yeah. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I don't think I played the stadium, but I played it. Q. What was the result? JAMES BLAKE: Oh, yeah, I did play the stadium the first round. I lost -- well, I won two matches, but I was starting in the first round as opposed to -- I beat Martin and lost to Davydenko and lost to Gonzalez. Q. With a career high 14, how attainable do you think breaking into the top 10 is for you? JAMES BLAKE: Well, just as attainable as dropping out of the top 20. It's something that's possible, but, I mean, the guys are so close. I think I looked just yesterday or the other day, I mean, if I'd lost in the finals, I think I'd be like 18 or 19 as opposed to winning it. So those players are so close from 14 down to 20 or whatever, separated by less than a hundred points. So these next few weeks are big events where you can accumulate a lot of points. I hope I do, but if I don't, there are other guys that are going to be accumulating a lot of points. I try not too worry too much about those rankings. Other guys have mentioned that, you know, you could get to top 10, you could get to top 10, it's a big deal and all. But, you know, I don't think of it as much as other guys do. I'm worry about just improving on the way I'm playing. And today I was happy and proud of the way I did that. And hopefully I can keep doing that. I'm not -- I'm not as worried about the ranking. If I get into the top 10, that's fantastic, you know. Maybe it will kick in a bonus or something like that. I have no idea. But I don't worry that much about that. I worry about improving. And I never believed -- or I never really could have dreamed when I was a kid that I'd be 14, so 10, I mean it's just -- it's more of a dream. It's just everything that's happening is just icing on the cake. I never really thought about it until now, and now that I'm living it, I try not to think too much about it. I just go out there and keep playing. And if I get up there, it's just something else I will have accomplished that when my career is over, no one can take away from me. So I don't think about it as it's kind of attainable, this tournament I need to do well in it or that one or who's ahead of me, are they dropping. I don't worry about that because I realized that the time I worried about that the most was when my ranking started dropping the first time, so I don't want to -- I don't want that to happen again. Q. James, what's been the proudest moment in your career? JAMES BLAKE: Proudest moment was probably my first Davis Cup win over Leander Paes in 2001. That was my first time on the team. It was debatable whether I was going to be playing or Todd Martin was going to be playing. Patrick chose me. I played Leander, who had ton of experience in Davis Cup. It was just months after 9/11, it was probably the only time since I turned pro just about that I really had legitimate butterflies in my stomach going out on the court, to the point where I was telling the doctor, "I don't know. I think I might throw up. What can you do for me?" I was taking, I think it was Rolaids or Tums or something like that on the court just because my stomach was still churning so much. I get through that match and to hear game, set, match, USA is a pretty big thing. It's still something that isn't quite as normal to me to be playing for the Davis Cup. It's something I'm really proud of. Both my parents were watching and seeing the smiles on their faces, too, think that their kid is the representative for the USA. It's a pretty big deal to me, and that's probably for me been the big biggest deal. Q. About the last year, I mean think about coming in here, you know, Davis Cup not really even a possibility at that point, you know, playing first rounds and you've just come off all the stuff from 2004. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it just makes me -- makes me realize that I need to expect the unexpected. Everything going into 2004 seemed pretty positive with my tennis, things were going well and everything, you just get hit with some bad luck and things can happen and things can change very quickly. And I can come in here the next press conference with a very different attitude, you never know. But I'm trying to make the best of every situation. Now obviously it's much easier when things are going well to make the best of it. But I'm also trying to make sure my friends enjoy their time watching me, following me on the Internet, stay in touch with all them. And they were the ones to pick me up in 2004, and now I'm doing my best to repay them to let them know that it was them that got me through it. And now I'm doing my best, and I hope they're enjoying it as much as I do. Because it seems like they enjoy it even more when they're sitting there watching. They get to have a few more alcoholic beverages maybe enjoy it maybe more so. But I'm doing my part, doing my workout on the court, and it's been crazy. And I mean for me to have gotten up to 21 or 22, whatever I did before I got injured, that was a huge accomplishment for me. I never -- like I said, I never really expected anything like that. Now to be surpassing that, it's crazy. I thought I had that chance when I was coming back. I thought I was playing well, but I also -- I mean just like there's a chance I'll get into the top 10, there's a chance I'll drop out of the top 20. There's a chance I thought I could do this well, but there's also a chance I thought I'd never been as good as I was. If my eye didn't quite come back to full strength, if I was still a little off balance, then I never would have made it out of the challengers again. And so it's crazy how quickly things can change. That last year I was getting ready to go to Tunica, Mississippi, at this time and almost losing the second round of a challenger. And it's -- I mean, the crazy thing is, the thing I see about how close all the players are is, I go to Tunica, Mississippi, this year, and possibly almost lose in the second round again. The way I'm playing right now, even so. There are guys that are fighting that hard at the challengers that, you know, they can win matches, especially on clay, my least favorite surface. I could go there, luckily this year I don't have to. I'll be in Rome. Q. James, when you start making the turn around, was it a fairly deep analytical approach that you took, thinking about it or it just happened? JAMES BLAKE: It kind of just happened. I mean, it was a lot of confidence that had been building. I felt like I was playing well. No one would believe me except for my coach, maybe my brother. But I felt like I was turning it around, playing better, playing with more confidence. I just lost a couple close points in Indianapolis, and then lost to the hottest player for the summer, Robbie Ginepri in LA. I didn't feel like I played badly there. I felt like my confidence was rising and rising there. Got to DC, people started believing in me a little bit there when I made my run to the finals. And then New Haven -- New Haven and the US Open happened so quickly for me. It literally was like a blur because it was so much fun being at home, being with my friends, so many people coming out, you know, dealing with ticket requests, dealing with who's going to be this, my mom, my brother, my friends, my girlfriend, all that stuff going on. Just it just happened so quickly that, I don't know, I don't think I had time for deep analytical thought. I was just trying to win each match, enjoy it for what it was. And then before I knew it, it was three weeks later. I was a quarter finalist at the US Open. I was ranked, I don't even know what, 20 or 30 in the world, and, you know, it was crazy. It was just crazy. And I never expected it, and I was so happy that all that happened, and my friends were there to see kind of the, I guess, culmination of that comeback, I guess. So I was -- it was pretty exciting.
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