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ROGERS MASTERS

August 9, 2006

James Blake

TORONTO, ONTARIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Looked like everything was going pretty well and then the match seemed to completely change around.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I don't know what there is to explain. Just one of those days. A lot of my shots weren't going in. When they were going in, I was giving him opportunities to come up with good shots and he did. If I don't have my best tennis, you are going to lose to a player like that. I think he's been a top 20 player, will possibly get back to being a top 20 player. Maybe even better. He's got a ton of talent, he's dealt with injuries.
If I'm not playing my best tennis, I'm going to lose to a guy like that. He played well. I did everything I could. Just didn't have my best tennis today. I fought hard. Got one of the breaks back, just couldn't do it.

Q. When did it start going wrong for you? Did you feel good coming into this?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, felt good. Felt like I'd been playing well every step of the way. The preparation has been good. I feel like I'm in great shape. On my favorite surface. I don't know what happened. One of those days. I guess it's going to happen plenty throughout my career unfortunately. I wish I could go out there and play my best every day. Not many guys can do that.
I still did everything I could to win the match. I just wasn't able to.

Q. Everybody talks about his backhand. Is there anything particular that gave you trouble today?
JAMES BLAKE: His backhand's really good. I felt like he did a good job of keeping the forehand in play, going for it when he did have the opportunities, but not trying to do too much too soon with it.
I never played him before, so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was hoping for a few more errors off his forehand. He didn't make too many. Off his backhand side, he can hurt you from anywhere on the court. He can really dictate play with it. That's pretty impressive for somebody that is not physically as large, and to have a one-hander that is that effective. That gave me trouble.
Also he barely missed any returns. That's troublesome when a guy doesn't give you any free points on your serve.

Q. Obviously US Open a couple weeks away now. How do you regroup for that? What is your plan?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I'll kind of curse myself for about another hour, two hours, then tomorrow new day, get over it. Probably take the day off tomorrow and then right back to the practice court working hard, knowing that this match should have absolutely no effect on my first round, second round, third round, any round at the US Open. Just go there. That will be a different setting, three out of five, hopefully playing with more confidence.
This hopefully won't affect US Open at all.

Q. Other than this match today, I would assume you have to be more excited going into the US Open than any other year because of the year you've had.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'm going to be really excited going into it. I love playing the US Open every year. Happy to be healthy and playing well. With the exception of today, played great in Indianapolis. I definitely am excited. I'm excited just to go to Cincinnati next week.
The US Open for me every year is the biggest circle on the calendar where I want to be playing well, I want to do my best. Means a lot to me having my friends and family there. For me it's the biggest Grand Slam. I can't wait for it already.

Q. Do you take anything from this match?
JAMES BLAKE: You learn from your wins and your losses. I think most people try to only learn from their losses. I'll definitely learn something from today where I feel like I had a lot of opportunities. Although the match seemed, whatever the score was, 4-3, it seems routine, there was a lot of chances I had, a lot of breakpoints I didn't convert, a lot of balls that he just managed to get to that I didn't quite put away. I'll learn that I got to be a little more patient and maybe instead of going for a winner so early maybe wait one more ball, two more balls. I learned how to play Gasquet. First time I played him. I learned a little something about his game. If I get a chance to play him again, hopefully I'll do a little better.

Q. This has been your best year. Seems in tennis right now after Roger and Rafael, it's tight, but there's room to move up. What do you think you need to get up into that top tier?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, it's unchartered territory for me, so I don't really know. It's tough to say. I don't feel that much different from when I was kind of making my run last year in terms of my ability. I definitely feel like I've gotten better, a little more confident. If I had said what it would take to get to top 10 at that point, I wouldn't have really known. So I don't know what it will really take to get to 4, 3 or even higher. I don't know.
I think it's plenty more time on the practice court. I'm sure there's going to be more matches like this where I have to learn exactly what my weakness is, what Richard picked on today, what can break down at important moments, what goes wrong in these losses. It's just figuring out these. Unfortunately, it's probably going to be more losses till I figure it out.
But, like I said, I also try to learn from my wins. Hopefully there will be plenty of wins in there for me to learn from, as well.

Q. Going into the US Open, so many people have talked about the decline of American tennis right now. You seem to be pretty much the exception to that, especially with the struggles that Andy is having. Do you feel any added pressure going into the US Open?
JAMES BLAKE: No, I really don't think about that too much. If there is more pressure, I try to look at it as a positive thing, as an opportunity to do something good. It means people are watching, it means people care about what's going on.
All the stuff about the decline of American tennis to me seems a little ridiculous anyway. I can't worry about it. I can't play for commentators. I can't play for people that are critiquing what's going on. I can do my best 'cause I know every day if I was so worried about what everyone else was saying, I'd be hanging my head so much. It would take me back to when I was 21 and 22 years old and I put so much pressure on myself that every loss felt like the end of the world.
It hurts to lose still, but I got to just know that I did my best. Today I didn't have my best tennis. I fought hard, though. What else could I do? I wish I played better. There's nothing I can do.
The decline of American tennis seems a little premature since we still have two guys in the top 10. I'd say outside of Roger and Rafael, we're two of the better contenders for the title at the US Open. I'm pretty happy with American tennis right now. We're still in the semifinals of Davis Cup. I hope to bring a Davis Cup home to America. Maybe that will stop people from saying we're declining.

Q. Why do you think so many people are saying this? I think John McEnroe was questioning the drive or something of American tennis players now. John McEnroe says a lot of things. Why do you think so many people are saying this?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. Like I said, I can't play for those guys. Whatever John McEnroe says, that's his prerogative. He's earned it. He's won tons of titles. He was an excellent player. In his mind, still (indiscernible) an excellent player.
He's got the right to say that. I don't think he's ever seen me on the practice court. I don't think he's ever seen me working out in the Tampa heat. I don't think he's seen Andy working out in Austin. I don't think he's ever come to one of our Davis Cup practices where we're pushing each other for hours on end. He's probably not going to be in the gym later when I'm working. If he questions that drive, it's his prerogative.
I know he's very knowledgeable on many subjects. But on whether or not I have drive, he's not very knowledgeable 'cause no one else is outside of me and my coach.

End of FastScripts...

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