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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 16, 2009

James Blake

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

F. GONZÃLEZ/J. Blake
7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Is this particularly difficult, relative to what happened in China?
JAMES BLAKE: No, it's just a bad day. That's about it. He played well; I played badly. Just one of those -- it's relatively simple. Normally there's a few big points you can look back on. This was just a bad day. It hurts. Makes me want to get back on the practice court.
What happened in China is out of my mind. I haven't lost any sleep about it since then. Once I get off the tennis court I don't think about it as much. I think about my friends, family, a lot of positive thoughts.

Q. Did you ever sit with him and chat about it later?
JAMES BLAKE: Nope. We haven't -- we haven't really said a whole lot to each other since then.

Q. He didn't approach you and say anything?
JAMES BLAKE: Nope.

Q. Okay. What really changed things between the first and second set with the dramatic score difference?
JAMES BLAKE: I think my serve was a big difference. I think I probably got about two, maybe three free points, in the whole second set on the first serve wasn't coming in. And when it was coming in, it wasn't hitting its spot. If I'm not getting any free points off of that, and he's as confident as he was playing after winning that first set, then it's going to be tough for me.

Q. He's beaten you seven times in a row. You won the first three and then he wins seven.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, there's just, you know, been a lot of close ones. He beat me 10-8 or 11-9 in Davis Cup. He beat me whatever it was in Shanghai, 9-7, 10-8.

Q. 11-9.
JAMES BLAKE: Whatever it was in the third set. It's been quite a few close ones, and just haven't quite played my best against him. Today was another example of me not playing my best against him.
But I don't really have a huge explanation for it. He just has played better than me on those days.

Q. You said you've been thinking a lot of positive thoughts. Obviously you have your health, you have a tremendous family, you're lucky to be a touring pro in this great game. What are some of your other positive thoughts you're going to be thinking about?
JAMES BLAKE: Just being around my friends. When I get off the tennis court, I put it behind me. I have to put the losses behind me. I think you have to do that, especially at this age.
I beat myself up so much the first few years I was on tour, and, you know, still get pretty upset at myself. But I'm doing much better job now hopefully tomorrow putting it behind me and not worrying about it. Just forget about tennis for a day or two, and then get back to the practice court and worry about getting better, not worried about what I did poorly today.
I worry about, you know, improving, and just for the next day or two getting away from the game and being around my friends and hopefully just enjoying the rest of the world outside of tennis.

Q. You were articulate about what you said in China, and you got a lot of worldwide positive feedback from that. I assume you still feel the same way about what happened.
JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I said what I said in China. Absolutely stick to it.
I respect this game too much to ever short-change it. I wouldn't do that, so it's still what I have to say about it, and I sleep very well at night thanks to that.

Q. Davis Cup last weekend, does it take much out of you?
JAMES BLAKE: No, that had nothing to do with it. It was just a bad day today.

Q. Feeling physically okay?
JAMES BLAKE: Physically fine. Ankle is fine. Health is good. Slept well last night. No excuses. A bad day. Those are going to happen.
Probably plenty of more times throughout my career. They've happened plenty of times before.

Q. With the clay season coming fairly soon, will you feel a little bit more pressure going into Miami to get a deep run there?
JAMES BLAKE: No. Uhhh, we'll see what happens. I've played well there in the past. I've had some success. Never made it past the quarters, I don't think, but I've played some pretty good matches. Hope to do the same again this year.
Just go there and see what happens. If I don't do great, you know, I'll see if I can do better on the clay. But I'm not going to -- I'm not going to feel extra pressure when there's already, you know, enough pressure that we each put on ourselves as competitors to do well, to improve ourselves, and to win as many matches as we can without adding any extra pressure. There's really no need to do that.

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