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WESTERN & SOUTHERN FINANCIAL GROUP MASTERS

August 19, 2007

James Blake

CINCINNATI, OHIO

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. He opened up with two aces, and from there you never seemed to get too comfortable. How did it feel hitting out there for you?
JAMES BLAKE: Felt all right from the baseline, but just he served great. Any time I felt like I had a little rhythm or felt like I was playing well he came out with big serves.
Sort of felt like I was out there against one of those huge servers, like an Andy Roddick, where you get close and feel like you play a couple good points and then he comes up with a great serve. He's good enough to find just about every way to beat you. Last time he beat me with his backhand. I felt like this time he beat me with his serve.
Every part of his game there's not a hole, so it just seems like there's always something for him to fall back on. Today he served great and took advantage when he had chances.

Q. You had been serving really well for most of the tournament. How did you feel today in that one game where you had four double faults to open the second set?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't think like I served as well, but I actually felt like that game, I thought, was going to help me. I fact that I served four double faults and still ended up winning the game, that was kind of a confidence boost for me.
Maybe I could hang in and stay with him in the second set and get -- when I have some chances take advantage. Didn't quite happen that way. He played a good game at 3-All and made a couple mistakes and then I felt like I like chances there at 4-3.
Had a backhand on the run. It's a very tough shot, but I thought maybe I could have made it and didn't get it that time. Then came up with a great point after that.

Q. The game plan of attacking his second serve seemed to really work in the first set. Still couldn't break him.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I mean, I did what I thought was a great job of attacking the second serve. I actually felt like I returned very well on his second serve, but I didn't get enough chances. He made too many first serves, and when he was making his first serves he was hitting lines or hitting corners where he wanted it to be.
There wasn't a whole a lot more I could have done with those. That was unfortunate, but that's one thing I'll definitely take from this match confidence-wise, the fact that I returned his second serve great. Against most players if I'm hitting almost all those returns they're wither winners or near winners, and he was still able to do something with them.
But I felt like I was getting on offense off of his second serve quite frequently, and that's not easy to do against him. I'm happy with that.

Q. He mentioned this on the court, but this is title No. 50 for him. Is that pretty impressive?
JAMES BLAKE: Just about everything he does is pretty impressive. So, yeah, 50 titles at any age is impressive. 50 titles at 26 is incredible. 50 titles with 11 of them being Grand Slams, and I think now 14 being Masters Series, that's just phenomenal.
These Masters Series are so difficult. I don't know if people realize just how hard it is to win six matches in seven days, now with the byes he only has to win five. But you're playing the top players. Everyone is at these.
And like he said, the humidity is a factor. He's done this two weeks in a row. These are not easy. Some might even say it's tougher than at Grand Slam because you're playing top quality players every single time and you have it in one week.
So the fact that he's won so many of these is just amazing. And, yeah, it's impressive, just about everything he does.

Q. He spent the better part of this week talking about how difficult it's been for him here and that really anyone could beat him. Could anyone have beaten him today the way he served today?
JAMES BLAKE: You know, I don't know. It's tough to say. Might have taken the guy a could that match him with serves that could hold easily and put more pressure on him than I did. I don't know. I think a lot of people have tried to say at time that he looks beatable, and then he goes out and shows that he's not beatable.
Then it goes into a Grand Slam where he plays even better. But I think his record in finals speaks for itself in how well he played today and how well he tends to play against big players in big situations. Unfortunately, that seems to be when I run into him. I guess that's fortunately and unfortunately, because that means I'm doing well that week, but unfortunately it means he comes to play ever single time he plays me.
So it's a tough situation, but if I keep putting myself in those situations one has got to go my way.

Q. Given where you were with the injury coming into this week, this has really got to be a pick-me-up going into the Open?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, when I digest this in a little while I think it will. Right now obviously I'm a competitor so right now it hurts. I would I have liked to have been holding up the winner's trophy. When I look back by tomorrow or something I'll have some pretty fond memories of this week. Think about the confidence I built, how well I played leading up to this match, just how really well I returned on the second serves, and really the fact that I'm leaving here healthy.
That's about the biggest plus I could get going into the US Open. The fact that I'm playing pretty darn well on the American hard courts overall. A final in L.A., a final here, not really having a chance to compete in Montreal. But I'm confident going into New Haven where I've had a lot of success. It's a lot of fun playing in front of my home crowd and staying at my house.
And then going into New York where I again, will have plenty of fans, family, and plenty of friends, and I love those courts. I love the surface. The conditions seem to be suiting me great here on the American hard courts. I'm going to take a lot pluses.

Q. What happened on that one point when he was serving for the first set. You would have had like a cross-court winner and the linesman --
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. Can we dock his pay? No. It was an honest mistake. The ball was floating, and I guess he thought it was going out. Made a call just a little too early and realized it caught the line.
Actually didn't even hear him hit it until after I had hit my shot, and that was probably one of the best shots I had hit all day. Would've given me a breakpoint. Might not have meant anything.
Given the way he's playing he might have broken me the next game or still held to win the first set. But I would have loved to have had that chance and make him do it. That's what I always try to do if I'm down a break: Make them serve it out and make them think about it and then take your chances and see if you can get back into it.
I would have liked to have had that one, but we all make mistakes. I made plenty today. Even Roger made a few. And the linesperson made one. It's going to happen.

End of FastScripts

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