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ROGERS MASTERSAugust 7, 2006James BlakeTORONTO, ONTARIO THE MODERATOR: Questions for James. Q. What did you think of your opponent today? JAMES BLAKE: You know, like I said out there, he would have beat the tar out of a 17-year-old James Blake, I'd know that. He definitely has some work to do to get to tour level. I think he's got a lot of talent, but he's just young. It's not something that he can work on and say it's going to get better in just a day or two. It's something that's just going to come from playing a lot of matches, getting stronger. He's got talent. He knows when to come in. He plays smart. His serve has got to get a little bigger. That's something that's going to come in time with getting stronger. He's definitely a quick guy, so he's got a lot of time ahead of him and a good future. I don't know him very well. I don't know his work habits. I don't know how professional he is all the time. I think he's got the talent. It's just a matter of putting in a little bit more work the next few years and being able to be patient because there's going to be some losses. I remember -- this match reminded me of matches when I got wildcards against guys like Corretja and Rusedski where I didn't have the power to hurt them. I couldn't overpower them at all. I couldn't do anything the way I liked doing it in juniors. He's going to be able to do that once his shots become a little bit heavier. Q. What did you say to him at the net after the match was over? JAMES BLAKE: I just said, Good luck with everything. I remember at that age, I'm sure he's disappointed in the loss. This is a big opportunity for him. But I think it's tough to realize at this point that there are going to be a ton of other chances. I hope he realizes that there will be a lot. Q. What has created the transformation over the last 16 months, to see where you go from like 210? JAMES BLAKE: Well, the injuries and everything I went through in 2004 really did put a whole new perspective on everything I've been doing out here. I tended to put a lot of pressure on myself, would get upset, be so kind of overanxious on a breakpoint or a set point or match point or anything like that, that I was almost too anxious about it. Now I've come to realize that I have friends that will be there whether I win or lose tennis matches. I have a family that will be there whether I win or lose. Just having that kind of confidence makes a big difference in being able to relax a little more on the court. There's, of course, a fine line being too relaxed and too kind of wound up. I think I found my best kind of comfort zone, my best happy medium. I've been sticking with that for the last year, whether it be in challengers, on clay, on grass, now back on hard courts where I feel even more comfortable. I just kind of found that comfort zone. It feels really good to be kind of in that zone and feeling good and confident on my favorite surface here. Q. Going through those injuries in 2004, has that experience made you stronger or you just appreciate everything more? JAMES BLAKE: Well, I definitely appreciate it a little more because I had so much taken away from me. When you have, first, your mobility taken away, when I broke my neck, then when I had everything really taken away when I got zoster. You know, when you can't even smile, you can't see straight without getting dizzy, you can't get up without feeling you're kind of wobbly, you can't even taste food really. It's something that makes you realize, all right, I should just be happy when I get up in the morning and I can smile and I can hang out with my friends, I can play cards, I can do anything that a lot of people don't have the ability to do. Also it gave me a long time off. I never had that long really away from tennis to think about how lucky I am. I got to see my friends going off to work in the morning, coming home from work at night every day, seeing kind of the normal routine of everyone else's life. Just getting so excited for the weekend, being able to go to the beach or something like that. I never had that because my life was kind of a fantasy world. Every day is a weekend. I play a game for a living. It made me realize how lucky I was, that I don't have to kind of go through that. Not that I wouldn't enjoy it in some ways, but it made me realize how lucky I am, how none of those people will ever really stand in a stadium and have 20,000 people cheering for them, or be on TV day in and day out. Just how lucky I am to have that as my reality. Q. Does it feel different to have become the No. 1 American or is that something you just block out? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I haven't thought about it too much. I mean, it's a great feeling to see my ranking continuing to rise. Something I learned when I was pretty young, probably about Philip Bester's age, when you start thinking about ranking is when your ranking starts dropping. When I stopped thinking about ranking is when I got No. 1 in the country in juniors. I didn't think about it when I got to college. Before I knew it, I got ranked 3 or 4. I started getting a big head, thinking I was too good. I was thinking about the ranking, and it dropped pretty quickly. So now to get ahead of myself and think I'm 5 or 6 in the world, I should be beating all these guys that are 10, 20, 30 in the world, I know my ranking will drop if I think like that. I just worry about getting better and match to match the intensity of guys that are 20, 30, 40 in the world that are trying to knock me off. They have that ability. I'm not thinking too much about the ranking; I'm thinking about getting better and matching the guys who are that hungry. Q. Virtually all the No. 1 Americans have won Grand Slams in the past. Is that something in the back of your mind? Is this sort of the next step? JAMES BLAKE: That would be a great next step. I would love to win a Grand Slam. But I just feel like it's an honor because, like you mentioned, a lot of the No. 1's have been just tremendous players with Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Jim Courier. The list of Americans that were No. 1 Americans is very impressive. Now even if I'm that footnote as the only one that didn't win a Grand Slam, I still feel like it's impressive to be on that list. It will be something I appreciate when I'm done with my career, I think. Like I said, I can't think about it too much right now. Winning a Grand Slam these days is not easy, especially with Roger around. It makes it very difficult. I would love to do that. I definitely now have the sense that I can be there on the second Sunday as opposed to a couple years ago when I probably figured getting to a second week would be a great thing. Now I shouldn't be. I wouldn't be extremely surprised if I'm there on the second Sunday. I'd love to get that opportunity, whether it be once in my career, twice in my career, many times or never. I'm still going to do my best to get there. If I don't, it hopefully won't be through any fault of mine, it will just be I wasn't good enough those weeks or those days. Q. How unique a game do you think you have? You hit hard and flat. Does that give you an advantage when you play most players? JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. I've never asked someone for a scouting report on me. I don't know exactly how other guys play me. I actually feel like my game is a little similar to Roger's, obviously a little less effective. We both try to get forehands. We both try to take control of the point that way. We both are comfortable moving forward. His volleys are some of the best in the game, even if he doesn't do it as often as a lot of the other guys. I feel like now I've gotten to the point where I can also play defense, which he's exceptional at. I can play defense if I need to, then I attack when I get forehands. I don't know. I mean, there's only a few different styles of tennis now. There's the dying breed of serve-and-volleyers, then there's the guys that stay back and kind of grind, then there's the guys that try to rip from one side or the other at the baseline. They just take that one and rip it. They have their favorite side. They go after it. I guess mine is a little different because I feel like I have the ability to play different ways. I think that's something that Philip is going to deal with, because he seems like he is talented enough to move forward, he is talented enough to play defense. I think those kind of guys take longer to develop, like Roger. I think it took him a little longer, although not very long in the scheme of things, but he was 20 or 21 when he really started breaking through because he had so many options. I think that held me back a little at times with not knowing the best way to play. I found my way to play that works best for me. At times I can drift back into playing a little too tentative, a little too much defense, going for too much. But I know there is that right level. I've done a much better job. I think that's been a huge contributor to my success, is being able to find that right spot, that right kind of happy medium of, okay, go for enough, but I don't play too tentative. I guess my game might be a little unique in that way. Q. Obviously with the US Open coming up, really kind of put yourself on the map in a lot of ways last year. What would it mean to have a chance to win on home soil? Obviously, Andre will be the sentimental choice. Arthur Ashe, in that stadium? JAMES BLAKE: It would be incredible. Every time I play on Arthur Ashe Stadium, it's incredible to me, just to think of everything he did for the sport, for humanity really. It's an honor. Then to be there with one of the last two guys final Sunday, it really would be amazing. It's the same thing that I dreamed of when I was 10 and 11 and 12 years old. Then was very realistic when I was barely making Nationals at 13, 14, 15, 16 years old. That dream never dies as a kid. Every kid has something that they dream of, and for me it was winning the US Open. Then as I got older and realistic, it was going to the US Open as a fan, maybe playing in the quallies or something. It's turning into more and more of a reality that I could be there late in the tournament. To be there on the final Sunday would just be that literal dream come true as a 10-year-old. I would cherish every moment. Win or lose, I would cherish it and try not to take anything for granted that day. We'll see. But, yeah, Andre would definitely be the sentimental choice this year. Q. You talked about Roger a fair bit. In terms of him setting the standard, there's talk of him being possibly the greatest of all time. What is your take on that discussion? Also, it wasn't that long ago when we said Sampras was greatest of all time. Who is the better player in your eyes? JAMES BLAKE: I never played Pete in his prime. I got to see him a lot towards the end of his career, practiced with him a whole bunch, never played him in a match. Just as much as I am really good friends with Pete, in my opinion, Roger is going to be the greatest of all time. He's just got so much talent. It seems really the game is getting better every year. I'm sure that's the same going into Pete's generation. But now it seems like it's improving two to three to four to five percent every year. Guys are getting better. The whole depth is much more impressive. Back in the days of the '70s and '80, it seems like there were a few select guys that could kind of sleepwalk into the quarterfinals and then that's why those rivalries were built up so much, I think. Nowadays, to win your first round is not easy. Roger, whoever he plays here, I didn't look, but he plays Mathieu, that's a guy -- that guy can beat just about anybody in the world when he's playing well. There's so many guys like that. What Roger is doing now is incredibly impressive. To make 16 straight finals on every surface, just amazing. His kind of all-around game is probably going to go down as the best ever. Q. What about Nadal in this mix? Could he derail this whole thing? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, he's figured out a secret the rest of us haven't figured out about Roger. He possibly could derail it. If he comes up against Roger more and more times in finals, continue beating him the way he has on hard and clay, then he could change that. I don't know. It's tough to say. What is he, 19 or 20 years old? There's a ton of possibilities. But for right now, I still feel like Roger's the best player in the world. Rafael, so young, so much talent, never know what could happen. Like I said, right now Roger's the best. Q. Are the players in the locker room intimidated by Roger, before they get out there? JAMES BLAKE: I can't speak for everyone else, but I'm not. He's an excellent player, the best ever I think. Just like I said, tomorrow he could lose to Mathieu. Mathieu is an exceptional player. I hope guys don't go into it already beaten. I know that happened when Pete was around. Guys definitely in the locker room felt like a match against Pete Sampras, it's time to book your flight for the next day. Against Roger, the way the racquet technology, everything is, if you're serving great, you just happen to play a really good tiebreaker or two, you have a chance. That's the way I feel when I go into it. I just feel like when I play him, I have to play my best tennis. I'm not going to win playing tentative. I'm not going to win if I don't play well. There's no chance I can just do that. I have to go out there with the idea I can play well and see what happens. If I'm in there at the end, if I'm in a tiebreaker, if I'm winning, down a break, whatever, I just need to play my best tennis. Q. As the top American, do you feel there's a lot more pressure on your shoulders now to carry tennis in the U.S.? JAMES BLAKE: I feel like there is pressure, whether it's just being top 10 or the No. 1 American. To me that's always been an enjoyable thing. I really love pressure because I think it's the opportunity to do something great. If you don't have pressure, then you're probably not doing anything that's as of great a value as you'd be doing with pressure. I'm proud to have pressure. It's always interesting because I guess I feel the more pressure that's put on you, the more the losses hurt. But I think that's a good feeling. After you're in kind of agony like I was after losing the quarterfinals last year of the US Open. The fact you're in that much turmoil, you're thinking about that much about it, there is that much pressure on you, means you're doing something that's pretty impressive. I'm happy to have that pressure on me and I always look at it as a positive opportunity. FastScripts by ASAP Sports |
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