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TENNIS MASTERS CUP

November 18, 2006

James Blake

SHANGHAI, CHINA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I have two questions. The first one is you said you want to win one set in the match against Roger and you. You did it in the US Open this year. What's the next goal of your match? And the second question is I heard you want a special gift as your maybe present this year. How about the Mercedes-Benz S350?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, first of all, yeah, I did win one set against Roger at the US Open. That was something I've heard from Todd Martin and other older veteran players - is a better term than older - is you win one set, you can win two. If I just played like I did that set and kind of keep my level up, hopefully I can get more than that and maybe get a win. We'll see. But obviously it's a tough task. He's the best player in the world - possibly ever. So it's not easy for anyone to get a win against him. I'll do my best and see what happens.
As far as my little present to myself, I think maybe after this week I've earned a little something. A Mercedes-Benz sounds like a good idea (smiling).

Q. Two-part question. Can you reflect a little bit more on what your thoughts of that match at the US Open with Roger were like. Was it the best match you've ever played against him? Also today's match, was it a little bit easier than you thought it would be, or was it harder than it looked?
JAMES BLAKE: First we'll talk about the Federer match. It was definitely the best I've played against him. And he makes it difficult to play well against everyone. So I was proud of the way I played there. Had a couple chances that I let slip away. I had two set points in the first set that I didn't take advantage of. Then I think I had one or maybe two breakpoints to get the last break back in the fourth set. I tried to have a very short memory of the second set because it went by in a blur when he killed me there.
But it was a lot of fun, an electric atmosphere. I felt good about the fact that I actually had to push him. I felt like, I don't know, maybe ask him, he said it was easy, I don't know. But I felt like I had to push him to kind of step his game up in the tiebreaker in the first set and in the fourth set. So I was proud of that. And, you know, hopefully tomorrow I can do a little better, you never know. I could come out and just have a terrible day and he could just run over me. That would be unfortunate but I know I've prepared the best I can. So I won't hang my head in shame. He's a great player. He's gonna do that to a lot of people.
Today's match, definitely was not easy. David is an incredible player. It seemed like today every one of those shots where he'd just make a stab at it, you kind of hope and pray it goes in. All of those for me were dropping in. I was serving well. He happened to guess wrong a couple times. I was guessing right on his serve. Just one of those days where things were going in.
But that's never easy because you know it can change in a heartbeat. If he stays positive, which he did to break me back at 4-Love, and keeps putting pressure on me and making me hold out, making me get tight or something, you never know what can happen. You can all of a sudden start guessing wrong and he can play more relaxed. He definitely has the ability to turn it around in a short time. So it wasn't easy, but I'm happy to get through.
In terms of physically, I wasn't out there for as long as yesterday, so that's a good thing for tomorrow since it's probably gonna be a longer match.

Q. James, what sort of attitude are you taking into this match tomorrow? Is it a case of, you know, nothing to lose, or everything to gain? How do you approach it?
JAMES BLAKE: Absolutely nothing to lose. We're -- the eight guys here are the guys that tend to have the pressure on us when we go to Grand Slams or Masters Series or other events. Now it's a good feeling to be here amongst all the other guys that feel that same kind of pressure and now it seems like the pressure is off a little - especially for me now going into the finals against Roger.
So feel like I have no pressure and I'm gonna have some fun. I think that's when I play my best tennis. So I think the crowd, hopefully, will be in for some good shot-making between the two of us, some great defense, some great points. You know, for my sake, I hope a win for me. But either way I think there's going to be some great tennis.

Q. I saw you hold a bag of ice. Does that mean you have injury somewhere?
JAMES BLAKE: No, my knee is just a little sore. It's nothing that's gonna cause a problem. It's the end of a long year. There's always something to put ice on at the end of a long year. It's just -- I think it was a little tendinitis a couple weeks ago. Now it's just to prevent it from coming back. It's not a big deal at all.

Q. Nikolay said surface is slow. Gives him some influence that he can't play as good as he did in Paris. What do you think about?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think the surface is a little slower than Paris. I think we all have to adjust to that. I feel like it's a good surface for me because it gives me time to make some of the gets I need to make to stay in points, and then I feel like I have enough of a weapon in my forehand to still hurt guys even on a slow surface. And it's not clay, so I feel comfortable moving on it.
I think it's a great surface for me. I think it's very fair 'cause a slow hard court gives the guys who are better on the clay courts time to get to balls and set up points, like Nadal and the guys who can attack, like Federer or Andy, it gives them the ability to still be able to put pressure on guys. I really like the surface.

Q. This whole year you've been very giving to Andy in terms of his role as the leader of the American players. You will end the year No. 4, he will end it No. 6. Are you willing to give yourself the nod now at least, give yourself a little credit?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I've always said it's an honor for the short time I was the No. 1 American this summer, I said it's an absolute honor to be considered with guys like Andy and Sampras and Courier and Agassi and McEnroe, Connors. It's an incredible list of guys that are the No. 1 Americans.
So to finish the year as the No. 1 American, I hadn't even thought about it coming into this tournament really. Now, to have that as a reality is, like I said, an honor. But I definitely still say that Andy has taught me a lot about dealing with that kind of pressure. He's taught me how to go about my business, how to deal with the media, the pressure going into each tournament and all that kind of stuff. He's been a great positive help to me. And I never would have thought when I saw him come up at 17, 18 years old, a little brash, you know, little -- guy that came up to kind of ruffle some feathers, that I'd be learning a lot from him.
He's matured in front of the public spotlight. That's something that takes a lot of guts and a lot of maturity, which I also never thought I'd say about Andy Roddick. But it's true. I have learned a lot from him. So I'm thankful to him for putting me into this position. And we definitely don't care that much about who's No. 1. I'm sure it's just gonna be who's gonna make fun of who more in the locker room. He actually usually wins that battle, but I'll work on that for next year on how much I can make fun of him.

Q. Just how does tomorrow's final rank in terms of the matches that you've played in your career?
JAMES BLAKE: It will be pretty high up there 'cause as much as we take it for granted that Roger is going to be around and at this level forever, uhm, I'm pretty aware that all things come to an end. All good things must end. So he's at the top of his game. He's really at the top of "the" game for all time I think right now. So to get a chance to play a guy in his prime like that in a big arena where it's the finals of the Masters Cup is something to -- that will be a benchmark in your career, it will be something that you'll remember for ever. I'm really going to be excited about it.
It's tough to say before the match how it's going to rank because I could come out and play terrible and lose 2, 2 and 2, and not want to think about it too much. But after the match, I'll let you know how it ranks in terms of how I played. But for right now, in terms of the importance, it's going to be a big deal. There's a lot of ranking points, a lot of money on the line. For me to ever get a win over Roger would be a thrill.

Q. If you will write your autobiography, would you write Federer in it? If so, which sentence will you use to describe him, both on the court and out of the court?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I would describe him on the court as an artist, in my mind the greatest of all-time. That's easy to put into words on the court.
Off the court, one of the nicest guys on tour, and a guy that is very easy to cheer for. He really cares about the other players. He cares about the sport and is a great role model. If I had kids, I'd say Roger Federer is someone to look up to.

Q. You probably had the most anxious wait before finding out that you'd qualified for this. Has that helped you in any way, being the No. 8 guy here?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, 'cause I heard in China the No. 8 is lucky (smiling). I heard that as soon as I got here. Apparently it's worked out well so far. I heard last year Nalbandian got in as No. 8. Maybe it will be two years in a row.
But in terms of the anxious waiting, it was tough. It's tough. I flew home from Paris. While I was on the flight, Ancic was playing Davydenko. Davydenko did me a favor, Ancic couldn't make it. Haas had a chance if he won Paris. Watching that match, I don't even have the Tennis Channel at my house, which is kind of sad for a pro tennis player to not even subscribe to the Tennis Channel. I had to watch it online, watch the scores go by. That's a tough task to do that and have no control.
So it was not a whole lot of fun, but to get here, and the end result, was a lot of fun. To know that and have all my friends call me as soon as Tommy retired, I was concerned, I hoped he was okay, but my friends were just happy for me. Hate to say it, but they probably didn't care too much. They just were happy that I was coming here.

Q. The Williams sisters want you to be the President of the United States. If it really happened, what would you do first? What policy you will carry out first?
JAMES BLAKE: You definitely win the award for the two best questions this week with if I missed on purpose and if I was president (smiling).
Let's see. Well, first I have to finish my degree at Harvard, to even have a chance for that. I know you have to be at least 35 years old so I have a few years to go for that. But if I were to be president, I don't know. The first thing I would have to do is surround myself with the best staff possible because I know I couldn't handle it on my own. I couldn't handle any of the pressures that our presidents go through.
I know I would never enter into a preemptive war, but I'd -- I don't know. I don't know my policies exactly right now. I'll think about that plenty in the next ten years.

Q. The impossible missions are the things that attract: Tennis and life in general. So tomorrow is one of them. To try to beat Roger, he's nearly unbeatable. So why not?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, why not. I'll have some fun. Try to do what most seem to think is impossible, I'll take my best shot.

End of FastScripts

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