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U.S. OPEN

August 30, 2007

James Blake

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The phrase "get the monkey off your back" is a common phrase, but it's not very descriptive when push comes to shove. What does this really mean to you?
JAMES BLAKE: I'd find another cliche that fits better.
A weight has been lifted off my shoulders. That's definitely the feeling of -- I actually honestly said to myself at the beginning of that fifth set, I'm just not going to lose this match; I'm going to win this. Up until now the whole five-set jinx, whatever, it had never really entered into my head. When I got in a fifth set, I was just focused on winning and doing what I had to do to get there, but this time I just said to myself, I'm not going let it happen this time.
I feel fine physically. That's not going to be an issue. I know I have a game plan that can be effective against him. I know what I need to do, I just need to go out and execute. I was able to do it today.
And that was just an unbelievable feeling at the end of the match to look up and see how pumped my box was, and to see how pumped the J Block was, and to know that they all believed in me when many people at desks in front of computers and in front of microphones didn't, I know that.
So I'm happy that they were so happy for me.

Q. Is there a little bit of an irony after this five-set win that you're playing Stefan Koubek next?
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I think that was my first five-set lost.

Q. Second.
JAMES BLAKE: Second. Wouldn't mind getting a little revenge. That was many years ago. I think we were two completely different players at that point. He's improved a whole lot, and I really hope I've improved a whole lot, especially mentally I feel like I've improved a lot.
That one he came back from two sets to love, and really just wore me down. So this time if I get up two sets to love, I'll know just to take my time, and play it one point at a time, and just keep doing what I had been doing to get there. If he makes an adjustment and I need to make an adjustment, then go about doing that. I feel much more confident in my ability to do that nowadays.

Q. What did you say to Fabrice at the end of the match?
JAMES BLAKE: I said, It's incredible that you're still playing this way. You do it every single Slam. You've been doing it for so long, and that you can still fight this hard. You're a credit to the game.
And he said, I just love it.
And I said, It shows, and the fans love you for it.
I meant that for sure. He is a credit to the game. I'm in awe of someone that at 34 years old, as many Grand Slams as he's played, go out there and battle for five sets, in singles and doubles, and probably in the mix there, too, I don't know.
To play that many matches, and the brand of tennis that he plays. He's not an Ivan Karlovic who goes out there and gets 50 free points on his serve; he's got to work for his points. It's incredible to be doing that still at this age. I hope my body can hold up the way his does.

Q. How much is lack of success previously, how much of that missing link has that been important for you?
JAMES BLAKE: Well, I think I lost nine matches. I could have done better. Some of them there really wasn't that much I could do. When I lost to Lleyton 6-0 in the fifth I think I very easily could have just walked off the court because there's no chance I could have won that after I was cramping and throwing up on the court twice.
There were a couple that were just one or two points. Obviously the Agassi and the match with Hewitt again in '02 or '03. It was one break and I think he had only one breakpoint and took advantage of it.
The one with Wawrinka my body kind of gave out as well. I wasn't ready for that kind of a grind on clay. Otherwise, I'm -- I didn't really think too much about it. I didn't worry about it, like I said, until tonight when I got to the fifth set. I just said, this time I have had enough of it.
So yeah, the monkey's off my back. It's a good feeling to know that I don't need to answer these questions all the time. I don't need to come in and lose a five-setter and say, Why can't you win a five setter? At least I know I can.
I hope there's many more, because it's a great feeling to know that two guys battled hard and you were very, very close and it always will come down to a couple points in the five-setter. And to know that you won those points is a great feeling.

Q. Did it have a larger impact for you? I mean, not just next time you go to a fifth set knowing you can win it, but...
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it's a great feeling. Like I said, I went into it feeling like I was going win this time. And next time it'll be good. Any time you have that kind of confidence when you've done it before it makes a big difference. Right now I'm riding high on the confidence of doing so well in Cincinnati and L.A. and New Haven.
There's really no substitute for the fact that when you go into matching -- and I don't know if I would have had that feeling if I hadn't done so well this summer, because you get that in you where you feel like you're not going to lose.
I was down a match point in L.A., three match points in New Haven. You get the feeling that you're just not going to lose. There's no substitute for that. There's no way of pumping it into you artificially or anything. It's just a way to feel from doing it over and over. Now to win five setter, it's not something that I could have got artificially or come out and won a practice five setter or trained for five hours in a day and felt like, Okay, I know I can do this. There's no substitute for going out and doing it, so I'm real proud I did it.

Q. There was a major crisis in the ninth game of the final set. Three break points you're facing.
JAMES BLAKE: Uh-huh.

Q. What's the mentality?
JAMES BLAKE: For one, I was questioning why I couldn't make a whole a lot of fist serves. I think two of them I think I had to hit second serves, and I saw that he wasn't really going after my second serve. He very rarely did that. So I kind of just rolled them in with little pace and did a little Fabricing to him by giving him no pace to work with.
I knew no matter how much pace I gave him he was going kind of chop it back to me and give me no pace to work with as well. So I might as well be real safe and make sure to get it in, and then after that take my chances with my forehand and get him running hopefully to his forehand and set up that point that I felt like I'm more in control of.
I was able to do that. One of them he actually hit a ball. Skidded off the line and I got lucky enough to still make it and then put a ball short to do the same thing he does to me: Put a ball short and low and make them have to hit up.
And if they do that really well, then you still usually have a look at a passing shot, and he luckily missed that one. From there I was off and running.

Q. How many times have you hit three winning lobs in a match?
JAMES BLAKE: I don't know, but it's another credit for him to be coming in as much as he is and be covering the net as much as he does at 5'9" or whatever he is. But he moves so well up there. Seems like it should be an easy shot, but he covers it really well so it wasn't that easy.

Q. What's the best part of playing at home and what's the worst part of playing at home?
JAMES BLAKE: The best part is the crowd. Having this many people that I know that care about me that support me is such a big thing. To look up to just about any part of the stadium to see some friendly face or someone cheering for me is an unbelievable feeling.
It's something that I actually thought about going out onto the court and the ovation I got and thought about how few people get lucky enough to have that feeling just once in their life. I've had it so many times, and I hope that I have it many more. But just the fact that I've had it once is unbelievable.
And worst part is sometimes just kind of the commotion that comes with it. Pete making me work a little too hard with the press. All my friends and family wanting, you know -- me it's not them it's me want to go spend time with all the people that I don't get to see that often, and the sometimes -- I guess I could equate it to like a wedding. People tell me that when you get married you'll never blow off so many of your friends.
Because you just have so much to do. So I have so much to do and so many close friends around here that I don't get to devote enough time to each one of them. Hopefully I'll have enough time after the Open.

Q. How frustrating was his style? It seemed to bothering you that he was taking a lot of time between points.
JAMES BLAKE: I knew he had gotten a warning already. Just kind of seeing if they would enforce it and get a point penalty. Points are hard to come by in the fifth set. If I could get one by him taking too long I would take it.
I just always want the rules to be enforced. But he's entitled to 25 seconds and he took his time. It's a very loose rule anyway, so it's not a big deal. It's just there in case I think it's grossly abused.
And he definitely didn't, except for the one time they gave him the warning, but that was clearly because he was cramping. He needed it anyway. I think he'd take that warning just to make sure that he could move. His style is what was much more frustrating. I played him a couple times and he's just so difficult to deal with. No one else on tour plays like that.
Some many of his shots look like they're easy to deal with, and I promise you they're not. That's why he's 40 something in the world at 34 years old and been on the tour for 15 years at least and made over $8 or $9 dollars because those shots are very difficult to deal with.
I was lucky enough to deal with them tonight and I can keep going, and I know I'll play a totally different player next time.

Q. What are your expectations for the rest of the tournament?
JAMES BLAKE: I never come in with expectations. I feel like I'm playing great. Like I said earlier, the confidence that I have from winning so much this summer is something that can't be replaced. I'm riding high on that and you never know how far that can take me.

End of FastScripts

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