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MEDIBANK INTERNATIONAL

January 10, 2007

James Blake

SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES

THE MODERATOR: Questions for James Blake.

Q. You served as well as you did yesterday but maybe not returned as well. Was it still valuable to be tested and get through a match like that at this stage?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think Nathan had a lot to do with me not returning as well. He's got a huge serve, which hopefully will serve him well next week in the Australian Open. He's got a lot of talent.
In terms of my serve, I'll real happy about that because I took care of my serve extremely well except for one hiccup. So I'm really happy about the way I played and the way I got through it.

Q. Nathan spoke earlier about difficulties of trying to break through that level from the Challenger circuit because of the costs of a coach and getting that type of assistance. Did you have that experience yourself? And kind of is that an experience that a lot of young tennis players find?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, a lot of people have that trouble. It's tough. I mean, it's not easy to be top 100 in the world, otherwise everyone would be doing it. Some it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of talent, a lot of effort and a little bit of luck, and so many things have to go right for you to be up there, and it is tough if you don't have the funds to pay a coach all the time, and you have to kind of win just to be able to afford that.
I started out when I left college, and it took me I want to say over two years to break into the top 100, and I felt like I was stalled at 150 or 180 for it seemed like almost a year, until I finally kind of broke through a little bit of confidence one summer where I won a couple matches at the Tour level. And to be honest, it really started against an Australian, against Rafter, where I played him in Cincinnati, and he kind of gave me the confidence that I needed to just let me know that I had the game I needed to be up there.
From there I played a match -- I don't know if any of you guys, remember, Lleyton Hewitt at the Open, I think I might have won (laughter). But then just my confidence grew when I could play that kind of tennis with the No. 4 player in the world, or No. 3, whatever he was at that time. But to keep the confidence I think is something that needs to keep growing, and it's tough when you're at the Challenger level and then you come up to the Tour level and you can't win every week. You can play well and still lose at times. You have to just kind of keep plugging along, and you can go a month without winning a match. It's really tough to do and still be confident. Like I said, it's not easy to do.

Q. Just on Lleyton, do you have any thoughts about his withdrawal here, not playing? Are you disappointed you're not playing him?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know, he's an excellent player, so it's tough to say I'm disappointed to not be playing him. But he is also someone that is a great counterpart because he fights so hard against so many balls that to get a win over him is very, very rewarding.
So it depends how the result came out; I'm disappointed if I could have beaten him, but if he was going to beat me, then maybe I'm happy that he's not here. I hope he's healthy for the Australian Open. It's great for the fans to have him to cheer for, someone to be the first Aussie to win it since, who was it, Edmondson. It's been a while, so it's great for the fans to have that, and their No. 1 player being healthy.
I heard the courts are a little faster, more to his liking, so maybe he's got a really good chance this year. I know if past results have anything to say about it, he's got a great chance.

Q. This year compared to last year, how do you place it?
JAMES BLAKE: I definitely feel like I'm a better player now. That's exciting to me. That's one of the main reasons I play the game is to keep getting better. I definitely feel like right now my backhand is a lot better, physically I'm better, and I think just mentally I'm a little stronger and just being able to get through any of the ups and downs of the year, whether it's the ups and downs of one match or the ups and downs of one month or the ups and downs of a whole year, so I'm more confident in that regard. I hope it's showing on the court.

Q. Mental strength, does that come from the confidence you talked about before?
JAMES BLAKE: I think it comes from confidence, and it's tough, you either -- I think at the beginning of your career you either have it or you don't, and then as you get older, it's something you gain. I definitely didn't have it right at the beginning of my career, and through the help of coaches and other players, especially veteran players, to just make me realise that I have nothing to fear and no reason to feel like I didn't belong, and then once I got that and kept rolling along and rolling along and winning matches, it made a huge difference in my confidence.
And then you kind of go through so many things, you go through ups and downs, and for me it was stuff off the court that I went through that made me realise that it's still just a game and you have to be able to roll with it. Luckily in the last six months, eight months, year, has been a pretty fun ride. I've been rolling upwards it seems like, which I know according to gravity is impossible, but I seem to keep going further and further higher. I hope to continue that, but I know there's going to be times where there's valleys to go with these peaks.

End of FastScripts

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