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NASDAQ-100 OPEN

March 25, 2006

James Blake

MIAMI, FLORIDA

THE MODERATOR: Questions for James Blake.
Q. What can you gain from a match like that?
JAMES BLAKE: What is it, like $9,000 or so I gain? No, I mean, it builds your confidence to know that you can beat a player at this level that soundly. It's actually one of the toughest things I knew, that was going to be going into this match, was coming from a Masters Series final to a first round is difficult. Although the match is still important, it seems to, you know -- most people's mind, it's less important. So you might not get as fired up, you might not be as intense. That was gonna be a challenge, another one to face and to figure out how to deal with it, because I've never been in a Masters Series final before this.
So coming into this, I wanted to continue the intensity and match the other person's intensity because he's already had a match under his belt. He probably hasn't been in this situation very often. So it's probably a big match for him to get excited, to get fired up for, and I wanted to match that because I didn't want to just rest and try to win just on my name or just because I thought I had done so well last week. I managed to do that and keep my focus the whole time, which obviously the score line shows that I kept my focus the whole time, which is something I'm proud of.
Q. Do you remember your last shutout?
JAMES BLAKE: No. Probably not on tour. Actually, definitely not on tour. I would most likely have to go back to college or maybe in the futures or the challengers. I don't know. I can't remember specifically.
Q. He had a couple of breakpoints on you, fourth game, second set. Obviously, you had the match well under control. How important was it for you to not give up anything?
JAMES BLAKE: I wasn't thinking about just not giving up anything, I was thinking about winning each game. I mean, at that point, you're up two breaks. He breaks you, you're only up one break. Obviously, he had the ability to break me if he gets to breakpoint. I had second serves on both of them.
All I think about is the fact that I need to do everything I can to win each game 'cause it's not, you know, a social game. It's not a country club game where we're gonna go have tea and cookies afterwards. We're doing this for a living, trying to win. That's my goal. It's not to embarrass anyone, do anything like that. It's to go out and win.
I thought the best way to do that is play, you know, to show respect, play as well as you possibly can. That's what I did. Unfortunately for him, he obviously didn't capitalize on any of those chances. He did play some unbelievable points to get there, and I, you know, just happened to play better on those game points and breakpoints. Once I got my confidence going, it was tough to stop that momentum.
Q. Your backhand used to be considered somewhat attackable. That no longer seems to be the case. How much work have you put in? Do you feel it's at the point now where you can win as many points on your backhand?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I'm still definitely going to try to end points with my forehand and kind of base my game around my forehand. But I definitely feel much more comfortable on my backhand side, and guys, if they are going to attack it all day, I don't think it's going to be quite as easy as it was a few years ago for them to do that and be successful. I think I can pass pretty well off it, I can defend off of it. If they give me a short ball, I feel like I can attack with it much more so than I used to be able to. I'd still rather run around hit my forehand, but if I can't get, if they're hitting it well enough, positioning it well enough to my backhand, I don't feel as uncomfortable. It did take a lot of work, hitting ball after ball after ball, and kind of grinding and stuff that's not as much fun and also getting into the weight room and getting stronger. A lot of the guys hit such heavy balls, you're hitting some of them out of your strike zone and up above your shoulders. That's not easy to do if you're not strong enough to get it up there and still feel confident enough to hit it.
Q. Do you have to do drills to keep your speed?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I definitely do a lot of drills with my speed. I think it's kind of human nature, when you're pretty good at something, you try to -- you end up working that more than some of the other things just 'cause you feel like you're good at it and you want to keep it.
So I definitely do a ton of off-court -- on the track I do a lot of longer sprints where it's 200s and 400s. That's more for the cardio. But then at the end of most of those sessions, I'll do the 20-yard sprints, the first-step kind of drills, agility drills on the court. I do tons of those.
I mean, really, on the court, you're very rarely getting up to full speed like in a 200 or in a 100-yard sprint. The more important stuff is doing the just, for lack of a better term, you call them "suicides." A lot of suicides on the court. Other kind of variations of those. Kind of quick-step things on the alleys, just little drills like that. I do do them very often. I don't get the chance to do it as much during tournaments because you're just focused on playing tennis and saving your energy. But when I have time and I get weeks off or have at least a few days off, I definitely do plenty of those.
Q. Does Brian time you?
JAMES BLAKE: Brian times me sometimes, but it's more often Mike Nishihara, who's my trainer, or Mike, who's my new trainer up at Saddlebrook. They're the ones that are timing it. They're pretty loose because the 200s are set up just by steps. It's not a track. It's actually on a field just because I think that's better for your knees. There happens to be a field right by the tennis courts. So it's probably not an exact calculation of 200.
I still haven't actually timed myself in a real hundred. I want to do that. Andre always asks me to do that. I don't know how fast I'd be in a hundred or a 40. It would be fun.
Q. Give up the numbers.
JAMES BLAKE: I actually don't even remember. All I'm thinking about is not throwing up when we're doing it. I think for a 200 I want to say it's around 28 or 29 if that seems reasonable. And I try to get, you know, three or four under that time and then take a little break and do it again. I think it's around there, but I'm not positive. You can't -- don't quote me exactly on that.
Q. What's the sequence of how long you do it?
JAMES BLAKE: A lot of times it will be -- I mean, changes depending on how long I have off. If I have plenty of time off, a pretty tough one would be maybe do two 400s then do three 200s, take a little break, do three more 200s and then do maybe 800s or something like that. That would be a pretty tough day. Then get into the gym and lift.
Q. What's the break? How long?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, in between each one, in between each 400, it's probably a minute. Then in between the 200s, in between the 200s, you get maybe 30 seconds, 45 seconds. But then a longer break in between the three. You get maybe two minutes to kind of rest up and recover and do another three, then take a two-minute break before you do the hundreds and maybe just 25 seconds in between the hundreds.
Q. Have you ever run track as a little kid?
JAMES BLAKE: I ran track. I ran cross country for I believe two days, until I got very bored and I wasn't going to practice as much because I was playing tennis and the coach didn't like that. So I stopped that.
And I ran indoor track. I made it in that for about two weeks until I explained to the coach beforehand in high school that like, "I play tennis first, I'll come here and I think I can help the team, I'll be one of the better sprinters," and I think at that time it was a 55-yard dash we did in high school. "I think I'll be one of the better guys." But I'm only going to come to practice twice a week because I want to be playing tennis. He said, that's fine.
I did that and came. About two weeks into it he said it's not fair to the rest of the guys, which I totally understand because I was only at practice a couple days a week and I was still on the team, and the other guys were showing up at practice every day. Tennis took precedent, priority over the indoor track.
But I made it about two weeks on the indoor track team.
Q. What are the suicides you just referred to?
JAMES BLAKE: No, that's just on the tennis court where you're going kind of side to side, touch the line, go back, touch the line, go back, kind of do those. So you do those.
Q. Doubles line to doubles line?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah.
Q. How long do you do that?
JAMES BLAKE: The most we do is 17s, where you go one, two, three, four, five, you know, seventeen. Sometimes you'll do just two 17s, sometimes you do like different sequences of maybe like 10 and 2, then 8 and 6, then 4 and, you know, things like that.
Q. That's just your quickness?
JAMES BLAKE: That's, yeah, more for quickness. The 17s, by the time you get to 17s, it's a little bit -- it's some cardio, because that takes about 50 seconds or 40-something seconds.
Q. Why 17?
JAMES BLAKE: That's just what the NBA does. Mike Nishihara, the trainer, he, I guess worked with some of the NBA guys, college basketball players. They would do on the basketball court 17s. He would always give me the times that they were supposed to do for a basketball court, which is a little wider, and we would have to beat that. I'm actually amazed at how fast those guys are. The times he was telling me for them is pretty darn impressive.
Q. Do you beat their times?
JAMES BLAKE: I beat the centers, that's for sure. I probably beat the big guy -- the forwards. But the point guards, I'm pretty close with them, but, like I said, a tennis court is a little smaller than a basketball court. So I think if it was on a basketball court, I think I'd be losing to Allen Iverson and Steve Francis and those guys.
Q. Do you hold your racquet?
JAMES BLAKE: No, without the racquet.
Q. 40 meters or 40 yards would make more sense in terms of usable speed on the court. Now, in your opinion, including yourself, if you had to line up the five fastest guys on the tour, who would they be?
JAMES BLAKE: That would be a rough one. I mean, if you're asking the people themselves, I think Mark Knowles would say he's No. 1. He's had this debate that he thinks he's one of the fastest guys out there.
But it's tough to say because you really don't know -- you don't get the sense of it on the court. 'Cause I think it would be very surprising to a lot of people if we all did. I think it would be a fun exhibition. But I think some of the guys that are unbelievably quick on the court like Lleyton Hewitt, Arnaud Clement, Sebastien Grosjean, I don't know, because I haven't seen them run it, but I don't know if they'd be as fast in hundreds because it's very different.
Q. It's different.
JAMES BLAKE: Their forte is more like that quick first step, that quick burst. Also, they're a little smaller so they'd have to take more steps. As opposed to, I think one of the fastest guys probably ever or, you know, in the last few years would have been like Sampras or Rafter. Those guys are bigger, they take longer strides. I think they'd be some of the faster ones.
But right now, I don't know. Monfils would be up there, I think. He's incredibly quick. Nadal might be up there.
Q. Nieminen?
JAMES BLAKE: Nieminen, you say? Possibly. I haven't played him in a while, so I haven't seen it. There's some quick guys. I'm trying to think who else. I mean, you have to put Hewitt and...
Q. Coria?
JAMES BLAKE: Coria in there. Even though I'm not sure, since I don't know if they're as good long term, a little bit longer.
But I don't know. It would be a fun exhibition. I wish they did like that Wide World of Sports kind of thing for the stars where you run a mile, see who's the best at that, run the 40, see who's the best at that.
Q. Swimming?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. See who can hit the most targets with a serve. See who can bench press the most.
Q. Archery?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, that would be fun, I think. I don't know, we'll talk to the ATP about setting that up.
PETE HOLTERMANN: We'll get on it (smiling).
Q. What does it mean to be in the top 10 and have your name mentioned with the likes of Arthur Ashe?
JAMES BLAKE: It's an honor any time I hear my name linked to Arthur Ashe, it really is. It kind of takes me back a second to think about how incredible he was, and also to think about what he did with his fame and with his influence. It kind of overshadows what he did on the tennis court.
So when I'm linked to him, I know it's just in tennis terms and I've got a very, very long way to go to be linked to him in terms of what he did off the court. That's something that I attempt to do, but I know it's gonna take a lot more work.
Q. I've spoken to six females earlier today. They all say you're so hot. Does it bother you that they didn't talk about your tennis game?
JAMES BLAKE: It depends (laughing). What do they look like?
No, I'm just kidding. No, I mean, I think when I started on tour, I had the dreads and everything and that was kind of what all people would talk about. And, I don't know, I didn't know what to do about it. Now I've kind of figured out what the easiest solution is, and that's to win matches so I don't feel like that's the only reason people are coming to watch me.
So it's pretty -- it means a lot to be in the top 10 so that I feel like, "All right, people are here to watch the fact that I've played some pretty good tennis," and being in the top 10 means you've played some pretty good tennis over a while. It's not just one fluke tournament or something.
It's still obviously always a compliment and always something I'll be happy to hear, but I always say people should just compliment my parents because I don't do a whole lot to look good; it's their genes that have made me look the way I look. I don't do a darn thing.
Q. They're complimentary of the story, the last couple years and the adversity you've come through. They have taken a liking to you and read about your story, look up your stats.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'm happy they did. I guess that means I've got some fans. It's always fun to have fans. It was a pretty cool atmosphere out there on the Grandstand to see how packed it was at the start of that match. It might have helped me actually a little bit because I think this was probably his first time being in that kind of an arena. He might have been a little nervous. So that might have helped me as well today.
But, like I said, it's good to know that I have fans that are looking up to me or looking up scores and stats online of me, and I like to think that that's because of good tennis. I think many guys in the past have said - I think I first heard it from Jim Courier - that the more matches you win, the better looking you get.
So I think hopefully I'm getting better and better looking (smiling).
Q. Real quickly, are you comfortable being called America's No. 1?
JAMES BLAKE: Not yet. That's for sure. Andy has dealt with this for years now. He's proven himself. He's won a Grand Slam. He's won Masters Series titles. He's dealt with so many things. The pressure that he's felt on his shoulders and done such a good job of really maturing and growing up under the public eye, and that's something that I'm very impressed with. I'm really proud of him.
So he's still No. 4 in the world and is, in my mind, America's No. 1. I'm happy and proud of him. Right now I'm playing great tennis, but it's -- as much as being in the top 10 means I played good tennis for a while, being No. 4 and at one time being No. 1, finishing the year No. 1, means you've been playing really good tennis for a long time. He deserves the credit. Even if I were to ever pass him in the rankings, until it's something that I've done day in, day out, month in, month out, and possibly for a year, then I don't feel like I deserve that title quite yet.
I'm happy to leave the pressure on him. He does a good job of handling it.
Q. About Davis Cup. You have a good record against Gonzalez. You played just once Massu five years ago. But you obviously know them very well. Can you analyze their games.
JAMES BLAKE: Sure, Fernando's pretty simple: He hits the ball as hard as he can very often, and so he's pretty hit-or-miss. He can have days where he's unbelievable, he can have days where he's kind of off. Hopefully we'll catch him on an off day.
I like the fact that my speed kind of counteracts some of his power. That's probably why I've got a pretty decent record against him.
And you try to attack the backhand, generally, because his forehand is so dangerous. But he's done a very good job of countering that by running around and hitting a lot of forehands.
Massu, very similar. He hits tons of forehands. If you can get him hitting a lot of backhands, you're probably in good shape. But he's another guy that plays well in big situations. Obviously, at the Olympics he probably had his best week ever.
But I think with us on grass, we'll hopefully feel more comfortable on the grass than they do.
Q. Massu said you're playing great, but he thinks you are not better than him and Gonzalez playing on grass. I guess you don't agree?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. That's his opinion. I mean, that's, I would assume, in their mind. Everyone goes into a match, they don't think they're going to lose. I go into a match thinking I'm going to win no matter what. So I have no problem with him thinking he's better, or Gonzalez is better. That makes it for interesting competition. If I went out there thinking I was going to lose, it probably wouldn't be a good match, a good competition.
I take no umbrage to that. I wish him the best, but I like our chances, especially with Andy being the, I think far-and-away the second-best grass court player the last few years.
Q. Yesterday Andre pulled out and talked kind of philosophically about, you know, the thought that, you know, some day he might not play again and all that stuff. Can you just talk about, you know, where do you think he is? You just played him in September at the US Open and obviously he played well there.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah.
Q. Where do you think he is right now?
JAMES BLAKE: Las Vegas probably.
He was pretty impressive in September. It's amazing to all of us, I think, to think about how long he's been playing this game. We all, I think, did little tributes to him last week or talked about the fact that this would have been his 20th time at this tournament. That, to me, is just amazing and shows how long he's been playing at this high of a level. It really is incredible.
I think so many of us feel little aches and pains and we feel like we've been out here for a while. I'm 26 years old and start feeling kind of old. Then you look at him, he's 35 and in better shape than half the guys out here and has worked so hard to stay at this level.
So we're all extremely proud of him. We owe him a lot for how much he's done for the sport of tennis, how much his whole legend, his whole story, everything about him has brought to the game, how many fans have been brought in because of him.
So as long as he can strap on the shoes and get out there and play, I want to see him out there. But, unfortunately for him, I think if his back isn't well, if he's in pain and if he knows it's not getting better, then he knows his body better than anyone. He should go out on his terms. He shouldn't go out there being hobbled. We all feel like we're on borrowed time with him anyway with how long he's lasted. It's just so impressive. We should be thankful that he has played and given us so many memories, especially last year at the US Open. It was thrilling.
Q. He says he wants to only play if he can win. He wants to feel he can win big matches.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, and I think he's earned that right to go out there. There's no point in him going out to play to get to the Round of 16 or something. He's done that too many times. He knows he wants to win. And I think he can. Obviously, he made it to the finals of the US Open not that long ago. There's a lot of guys out here on tour that have never made it to a Grand Slam final and will never make it to a Grand Slam final. So no one's asking them to retire, no one's questioning when they're going to stop. He's got that ability, still. If his back is healthy, with a couple weeks of training, I have a feeling he can still win. It's obviously tough these days with Roger playing as well as he is, but if anyone can do it, I think Andre can.
Q. We hear a lot about the Russian women, but the Russian men have been making some news on the ATP Tour. Can you comment on them.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I've played a few of them. They're very impressive.
Andreev has made great strides. His forehand is unbelievable, it's one of the biggest on tour. He's just proven that he's a solid player who's moving up pretty quickly.
Nikolay Davydenko just kind of sneaks under everyone's radar. He's No. 5 in the world. People don't give him a lot of credit as being a contender for Grand Slams or Masters Series, but he seems to be in the mix come Round of 16s or quarterfinals every tournament. He's someone that can be dangerous if he does get hot.
I think everyone knows about Marat Safin, one of the most talented guys on tour. On a good day for him, he can obviously win Grand Slams. He's a Hall of Famer, he's unbelievable.
Who else is out there? Youzhny.
Q. Tursunov?
JAMES BLAKE: Tursunov. I mean, I still look at him as American, so...
I mean, he strikes me as a California surfer kid. So I don't necessarily think of him as Russian, but I guess he is. He's a great player but, like I said, I think of him as American.
Youzhny is a good player. He hasn't had as much success lately as he did a couple years ago. But he obviously has talent, so he can get right back up there and will have some confidence soon probably.
Q. With the Williams sisters, so much was said about the older sister constantly losing to the younger sister. I'm curious, in your case, you are now in the Top 10. Your older brother is in the challenger circuit trying to achieve some of the success that you are having on this level. How is it affecting you? How is it affecting the relationship?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, first of all, he's officially retired now. I don't know if you saw the press conference. Big news.
No, just kidding (smiling).
No, he's decided to call it a career. He had too many injuries. But we have an unbelievable relationship. I mean, I followed him to college. I grew up looking up to him. I still look up to him. If there's any big brother you want to be like, it's him for me.
Just I happen to have had more success on the tennis court. But he is extremely intelligent. He graduated from Harvard. Right now he could walk into just about any office in the world and get a job. I have no doubt of that. They might make him cut his hair, but other than that, he could get ant job. He truly is one of the nicest guys in the world. I've heard him a few times talking to friends, talking to anyone, and he seems genuinely proud of me. That's something that my mom would always worry about, like, "Is this okay with Thomas" and everything. That's a mom's job, is to worry. But he really is proud of me, I think. It makes me feel extremely good.
I think about if the roles were reversed how I would feel, and there's no one you want to do better than your brother. I remember all the times when he was doing so well in high school, All-State, then All-American in college. I was going bragging to my friends that my brother's an All-American at Harvard, how cool is that. That's an amazing accomplishment. Just, I mean, I think in most families having an All-American from Harvard would be a pretty big feat. It just happens that I've had some success, a little more so in tennis. That, I hope, doesn't bother him at all. If it does, he hasn't showed it. I really don't think it has. Because he's just proud of me, and I'm proud of everything he's done. He's a graduate of Harvard. I always say that just because I'm better at tennis, he's still the one that got the looks and the smarts in the family. All the girls come up and tell me they love his light eyes or something. I don't know. He's got the height, too, so. He didn't get short-changed. I don't think he'd do it all over again any different. I'm proud of him and everything he does, and whatever he does after this.
He's been helpful to me the last few weeks, too. He's been around here, he's still here with me as well. It's good to have him in the crowd and see that goofy hair cheering for me when I'm playing well.

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