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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 18, 2007James BlakeMELBOURNE, VICTORIA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How would you sum up your game today? JAMES BLAKE: It was good. A little bit of a slow start, but Alex played well at the beginning and me just a little bit of a slow start. But after that, not panicking. Happy about that. And just going about my business and trying to get back one point at a time. And before I knew it I was back in the set and had a set point and took advantage. So I was real pleased with that. And then really kept rolling. Everything for me was pretty solid. I got a little lucky with that lefty shot and then I was kind of rolling. Q. Yesterday Serena Williams was at 4-love the second set, lost the next two games, which seemed strange, and she said she was daydreaming. Did you start the day daydreaming perhaps? JAMES BLAKE: No. Alex played great. He was cracking returns. I wasn't making first serves. And he served well most of the day, just kind of in spots. And at the beginning it was coming in. And I've got to respect a lot of the guys out on Tour. I don't know exactly what he's ranked but I know how dangerous he can be. I've practiced with him a lot of times. I think maybe at that point he started realizing what he was doing, what court he was on and kind of the arena that he was in. That's something I hopefully have going for me now, is a little bit of experience, and to ride that storm that Alex was kind of bringing to me. Q. What's it like facing somebody who you're so familiar with? JAMES BLAKE: Well, it's a little tricky because if you face a real young guy, being a No. 5 seed in a Grand Slam, you like to think that they might be a little nervous or tight. But I know Alex, he's practiced with me tons of times at Saddle Brook. It's not like him playing somebody he doesn't know or doesn't know the pace. He knows the pace, he knows how well I can move, he knows kind of the things I can do. It's almost a little frustrating. I probably don't get that kind of respect or anything like that because he knows he can beat me. He can beat me on a given day, and he proved that first few games how well he can play. It's something where I know I have to respect him, too, and not go out there expecting anything for free. I got a few free points, but I think that's just for him going to be a positive in the future, the fact that he was just going for his shots and praying aggressive tennis. For me to see that in a young player is a really good thing. As long as they keep their head on straight and keep going for their shots, I think he's got a good future. Q. A lot of guys come on Tour and have a really quick impact and jump up the rankings really quickly, and you've probably done more of an apprenticeship. Was there a time when you thought, Is my time going to come, am I going to be able to make the next jump? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, definitely. I think probably the point Alex is at right now, he's done it a lot quicker than me. I was probably 22 or 23 years old going through what he's going through at 19. But yeah, you get stalled at 150 or 200 in the world and you don't know -- you're losing a lot more matches than you're winning at that point. And that's a pretty frustrating situation for somebody that's used to winning a lot. All of us that are out here pretty much got used to winning at some point, whether it's in the juniors, whether it's in college or at the futures level, or anything you start getting used to winning, and when you start losing you can't figure it out and can't get over that hurdle. It's a tough situation for me. There were definitely times when I thought I don't know if I can take this. If this is going to be my career, am I going to be handle losing more than winning? Dealing with the losses, the 6 in the third and 4 in the third, and taking a positive out of it. At 21 and 22 years old I don't know if I was mature enough and equipped to deal with that and move forward, and it took maybe a little bit of growing up to do that. I'm impressed with a lot of these kids that can do that at 19 and 20 years old. I wish them all the best, but it is something that can be frustrating at times, and for me it took a little longer. So everyone out here is an individual. We play an individual sport and there's so many different routes you can go to success. I don't regret any part of my route. Q. Do you feel used to winning now? JAMES BLAKE: I'm trying to get used to it. It's something that they say is a habit. Trying to get into the habit of doing it. I've had some pretty good success so far this year, at the end of last year. So I definitely enjoy that habit a lot more. Q. You're one of the few players with a good record against Nadal. Would you explain your recipe? What does your game have? JAMES BLAKE: It's tough to say because I've played him always on hard courts, which is to my benefit, I think. And I've played aggressive tennis, and it's been effective. I've played some of my best matches against him, at Indian Wells I played great, at the US Open. Maybe he didn't know what to expect at the US Open because he hadn't seen me and I was still a wild card and I don't know if he took me lightly or whatever. But to do it again at Indian Wells and Shanghai, I was going for my shots. He's got a huge forehand and get it up high to my backhand, but I try to take that early and take that shot of his away from him. Otherwise I go for my forehand when I get the opportunity. He's a guy that gets a ton of balls on the court. But I try to make it so that when I get control of the point, I don't let it go. I don't let him get back on offense because he's so dangerous that way. He can turn defense into offense, but I try not to let him do that. So far it's been effective. It's really tough to say because it's been a matter of me playing against tennis against him. He's tough to volley against. He hits so much spin and he passes so well off the forehand that it's hard to do that consistently. You have to mix it up against him. You can't give him the same look all the time. I wouldn't say it's something I do any more than usual against a guy like him. Q. Can you talk about the potential match-up against Robby? JAMES BLAKE: Could be interesting. We've been practicing together here, practiced together last week in Sydney. I'm really to be honest excited for him for this year because he had a little bit of a down year last year, and maybe dealing with pressures and expectations, I don't know exactly what it was. But this year I think he knows going in that he's so excited about it because he's going to -- I have a feeling he's going to do a lot better because he doesn't have the same expectations, the same pressures, and even when he does get those he'll be better equipped to deal with it. He's still got the talent. For six months he played like he was top five in the world, and I think he still has that talent. It's just a matter of getting the confidence back. And that happen as quickly as one week. For me it took doing really well in Washington, D.C., to go to the Pilot Pen and US Open. And for him it can easily click in in one week. So I know to be fearful and very respectful of a matchup with him because he's ranked 40 or 50 now but I know he has that talent in him to be a top ten players. So I'm a little nervous but it's also fun because I'm wishing him the best for this whole year and I'm looking forward to seeing him have a lot of success. I hope it comes after this tournament because I hope I can still beat him. But either way, I'm going to be happy for him towards the end of this year I think when he has a very successful year. Q. He gave you some tips against Almagro. Are you going to give him some tips on how to play you? JAMES BLAKE: If I do, they'll be lies. I'll tell him to hit it high and short to my forehand. We're professionals so we've played each other before. Played each other last year at Queen's. We could still easily go have dinner the night before and not talk about tennis once, and go out and kick each other's butts for four hours out there and be friends right after the match. Maybe not right after. You've got to take about an hour to cool down, and then we'll be right back to being friends. That's not an issue. We're professionals, we've done this before, and our friendship is definitely stronger than one match. I assume he's not worried about it. I don't want to put words in his mouth. But I'm not worried about anything like that. We'll still be friends and we'll still give 100 percent on the course. Q. (Question regarding a bet in Sydney.) JAMES BLAKE: No, no, that was a bet we did last year and he didn't do it this year. We had another bet that you might notice about my box this year that they lost the bet from me in Shanghai. So they're doing something for this week. But it's something to keep us having fun out there. Q. What do you think about the first chapter of your career? Was up and down, and now you're sort of level at this point, and been able to sustain it for a long period of time. Does that surprise you that you've been able to sustain that level and what's the secret to that? JAMES BLAKE: It's tough to say I'm surprised because now I'm pretty good at not being surprised by anything because I know anything can happen. I can keep rising in the rankings. I could dip real low. I could get injured. I could just kind of stagnate. I could stay in the top ten. I have no idea what's going to happen. But I know I've continued working hard, so I'm not surprised by the fact that I continue to get better. It's just a matter of competing consistently on the Tour and being at the top of my game. It seems like in finals, in big matches, in semis, and now it's a matter of taking it to the Grand Slam. Hopefully I can have some success here, but if not I know I'll have confidence going into the French Open and Wimbledon and the US Open, that I can be there the second week and hopefully late into the second week. I just hope it starts here. I don't want to say I've been surprised because so many things have happened to me in the first chapter of my career, and I don't know how many chapters there are, but I'm not going to be surprised by anything anymore I don't think. Q. There's been some differing views on Hawk-Eye. You didn't seem to muck around at all with the chair; you just pointed to the screen when you wanted to challenge. What are your thoughts on it? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it seems to be pretty simple. You don't need to argue with the chair umpire, go into any sort of histrionics, whatever. Just go about your business. If you think they missed the call, you have the Hawk-Eye there to prove you right or prove you wrong. Unfortunately I was wrong the one time I tried it. But I'll take being 0 for 1 in challenges and 1 and 0 in the match any time. It's something that's great. It humbles the players sometimes. It humbles the officials sometimes. And I think it's great because we're probably both too arrogant at times. The players always think they're right and the umpires always think they're right, and it shows that neither of us are always right. I think it's a good system. It doesn't take any time away, really. It's just like playing on clay. It gives us that kind of secure feeling. We know we're not getting the short end of the stick three or four times in a row or anything like that, so it maybe keeps guys in the match a little bit better mentally. For me that's something I've always worked on, trying not to get too excited about it anyway, even when I'm not on a Hawk-Eye court, to try to just let it go and let that one point go if you think you got a bad call, maybe make your point to the umpire and move on. And here it's so easy to do that now. You just make a challenge and move on. So I think it's been great. As long as the fans like it, I say we keep it. Q. You'd prefer to play on a Hawk-Eye court then? JAMES BLAKE: It doesn't make much of a difference to me because, like I said, I try not to worry too much about it. If I get a bad call, if a bad call goes my way, whatever. It's amazing how few have been changed because of Hawk-Eye. But it's also incredible how many times it's been on very big points. So it could change a match, but I like to try to think maybe it's just for my own security that it all evens out, and just to tell myself that so I can get through the match. But it doesn't make much difference to me. Q. Your forehand is probably one of the fastest on Tour. What do you think of Monfils'? JAMES BLAKE: He's got a big forehand. I saw that one he cracked at about 190 kilometers an hour last night. That's impressive. When he's got time to set up and hit that, it's lethal. It's something that's big. And it's incredible how young he is to be that talented and that much potential and a great future ahead of him. And that future for him already is right now. He's beating guys like Baghdatis in Grand Slams, got a win over me on clay, and Andy Murray. But that forehand is huge. I never claimed mine was the best on Tour. I generally like hitting it, but it looks like he likes hitting his a lot, too. Q. Your backhand improvement, has that made the difference do you think overall? JAMES BLAKE: It's made a big difference. Hopefully a lot of things have improved, but my backhand improving has taken away a weakness. When I was on Tour at 21, 22, 23 years old, my backhand was a weakness. Guys could attack it. I don't think they needed to scout me for too long before they realized hit it and come into his backhand and he's going to have trouble. I don't think they can do that anymore. I also think I'm able to defend better on the backhand and the forehand. That's made a big difference. Mentally I feel like I'm much stronger. There have been a few things. Definitely improving my backhand has been a big part, and it gives me confidence to know that I don't have that kind of a glaring weakness. Q. You've always been I guess considered a bit of a spokesman and had your role with the Players' Council and that sort of stuff. Does that responsibility or role fit a little bit more comfortably now that you're sort of a top five player? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it is a good feeling to know for one that I'm on the player council, that guys respect me enough to vote me on that. But also I hope that they respect me for my game, for the way I play on the court and also the way I conduct myself, which is most important. That's the way my parents brought me up is that a lot of times the first question is how did you act on the court, you make sure you act appropriately, and then the rest of it is just a game. But you do your best, you compete hard, but you also try to do it with respect for others and the fans and your opponent. So it is nice to know that people have that kind of respect for me, I hope. And on the player council I try to make a difference in a positive way for the Tour. Hopefully I can do that, but if not, then in about a year they'll vote me off and somebody else will be on. It's nice to have that responsibility and feel like you're a part of the Tour more than just some guy hitting the ball around. Q. What's your thought on moving Davis Cup to the week after Wimbledon and the US Open? JAMES BLAKE: I'm all for it. The weeks right after Grand Slams are where I want Davis Cup to be. It's where the top ten -- I think at least 19 out of the top 20 players on Tour want it to be. And I really -- it baffles me to think that it still might not get changed. We all agree that we want it there. It makes it better for our schedules. And I would love to see it there. But I guess we've got a few guys in suits that don't want it that way. So we'll see if we can convince them. Q. Alex talked about you being a role model for him and other players. At your ancient age, how does that feel? JAMES BLAKE: Man, until you said "ancient age," I felt pretty good about that one (laughter). Yeah, it's something I was lucky enough to have guys that I looked up to when I started, Todd Martin, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Alex O'Brien, guys that were just very helpful to me at the beginning of my career. At that age I never thought I'd be the one giving out advice, but now here I am. I don't feel ancient, but I guess in tennis years maybe I am. But I definitely feel like I've got more experience than these young guys, and anything I can do to help, when they are good kids like Alex is, Amer Delic is, Bob Reynolds, Sam Querrey. When I can help out, whether it's hitting with them, whether it's taking them out to a meal and trying to teach them about being a little bit more professional on Tour, anything, it's my pleasure. That's a role that I take seriously when you say a 'role model' because I'm really proud to think that people could look up to me. As much as you say I'm ancient, I still feel young. And to have people looking up to you at 27 years old is a feeling a lot of kids at my age don't have. I'm really proud of that. I try to do my best. I try to make sure I'm not the stereotypical athlete that's found in the police blotter or anything, but I'm one that people can hopefully have a positive story about. I'm doing my best. And these kids have a lot of potential to do the same, and hopefully even better because they've got a lot of talent, so I'm really looking forward to watching their careers. I hope I can keep beating them, but once I stop, once my body starts giving out or their talent starts taking over even more, then I'll be proud to watch them carry the flag for us. End of FastScripts |
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