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WIMBLEDONJune 25, 2013James BlakeLONDON, ENGLAND J. BLAKE/T. De Bakker THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You have had a tough four years here, last four years, must be nice to get a win, no? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I definitely wasn't thinking about my record here that often. I was just going out, getting a scouting report, and worrying about the guy in front of me. That's all I can do. I can't change what happened in the last few years. Today felt good. Trying to appreciate this kind of a day. We don't get this kind of weather here that often. Go out and make the best of it. You know, played pretty well I felt like, and, you know, took advantage of opportunities. Got a little lucky here and there. Just one of those days where all of those things are going together and it worked out well. Q. You've played enough years on grass. I know it's not your favorite surface, but a bit comfortable on it? I think you had three wins in Eastbourne. I know they were in quallies, but it's a good sign coming in at least. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I have had some success on grass. Obviously it's definitely not my best, but, you know, I think it's tough for anyone to feel comfortable on grass with this short of amount of time we spend on it. We are on it less than a month out of the year, so I don't think ‑ with the exception of maybe Roger ‑ the rest of us, you know, feel extremely comfortable. I do my best with how comfortable I feel. I have had some success at Queen's making two finals there. Here I don't know what the reason is for me never having a ton of success here, but just haven't put together a good run. Maybe this year will be one I put together when it's sort of least expected. Q. Does your movement suffer more on grass than it does on clay? If so, why? JAMES BLAKE: I do feel it suffers more on grass. I just feel I have a little bit more trouble stopping and cutting out of corners. On clay I feel like I know maybe a little better how to slide and then adjust. And get back on grass, I think I'm a little tentative because I feel like I'm not sure if I can slide with the sort of nubs on the bottom of the shoes; whether you're going to roll your ankle or stop and slip. I feel like I'm more tentative on grass than I am on clay. Other guys are dealing obviously with the same issues, some are adjusting better than others. I have never felt like I was a great mover on grass. Throughout my career I felt like my movement is one of my strengths, and on grass I feel like it's a little bit nullified. Q. Along the same lines, how much more stress do you feel on your legs? You have had knee problems. You saw Nadal yesterday. Do you feel the difference with the bending, and do you feel like the transition from clay to grass is pretty hard on your lower extremities? JAMES BLAKE: I don't feel it as much on the grass as I do on the hard. I think it's no secret the hard are pretty damaging to our bodies, but it's what I feel most comfortable on. I feel better playing on the hard courts, even though it's probably in the long term going to end up hurting my knees or ankles a little more. But here on the grass I don't feel it as much. Where I do feel it is at tournaments like Newport where the grass is much lower bouncing. I would say kind of the way it was here many, many years ago I think when the balls really weren't getting up. You end up bending a whole lot more. I feel like the ball bounces up here almost as much as the hard courts. I don't feel ‑‑ I don't get that same feeling. Used to come off the grass and definitely your lower body would be a lot more sore than you're use to. Nowadays I don't feel that as much. Q. What was your reaction when you learned that Nadal had lost yesterday? JAMES BLAKE: I was a little surprised. Well, actually more than a little surprised. I really didn't feel like he would struggle coming off obviously I would think a lot of confidence from the French Open. He's won here before, so I didn't think it would be as much of an adjustment. I. Didn't see any of the match. I didn't get a chance to see any. But from what I heard from some of the other players, looked like his knee was pretty shaky. That's unfortunate. I sympathize with him having had pretty similar knee problems and ended up having surgery on it. I know it's not comfortable, no matter how good you are. If you're playing 80, 85%, it's tough to beat anyone out here. If anyone can do it he can ‑ or Roger can or Novak can ‑ but it's still not easy. I'm guessing Steve came through in some big opportunities and tiebreakers and must have played well. But that's a pretty surprising result. Q. Your contemporary, Serena Williams, is on a different march to history than Nadal. What are your observations of her play right now and your thoughts on her place in history. JAMES BLAKE: She's writing her place right now whether or not she's going to be considered the greatest female player of all time. She's probably got my vote. She's an incredible competitor. No matter what she does, she wants to win in absolutely everything. That's something that you'll see sometimes out here on tour with the guys. That's what we've got ‑‑that's how we got here is that competitive nature. She's got it. She's got it as much as anyone out here. She wants to win everything. And she's nice as can be off the court, but you put her in something competitive and she wants to win and she will work hard to get there and all her hard work is showing now. I'm really happy for her, how well she's doing. She's a great champion, and I think she's not done. She's not done with any of her records. She's not done winning Grand Slams. You know, I actually have fun seeing her continue to dominate. Q. How do you put perspective on being 87th ranked now when you've been a top 5 player in the past and stuff? JAMES BLAKE: I don't worry about it too much. You know, I can play well, having been top 5 in the world. I know that I can be the top 5 in the world. I know I can beat a top 5 player. I'm capable of doing that on any given day. The difference between 87 and top 5 is the consistency. I haven't put it together week in week out where I'm playing at that high of a level all the time. But that doesn't mean I'm not capable of playing it. As you see with Steve Darcis, Rafa Nadal, guys are capable of playing it, but it's just not that often ‑ or as often. And right now my body has taken a little more of a toll the last 10, 13 years I have been on tour. I don't feel as perfect every day going out there. So there's going to be days it might not be pretty, but I still feel like the next day I turn around I can be the top guy. That's why I'm still playing because I still feel I have that confidence and I have that ability. If I can't do it every single week like I used to, I have to accept that. Father time gets us all, so I'm doing my best. If 87 is where I am now, so be it. I know I have the ability to keep moving up, and if I don't, then, you know, there will be hopefully other opportunities in life besides this. I'm just enjoying it while I'm still relevant out here and still enjoying it. Q. The women are obviously surging now with Madison and Sloane and Jamie, etcetera. American men are a significant step behind. No offense to Jack or to Ryan, but why do you think that is? Is it gender‑related to American culture? JAMES BLAKE: I have a daughter now and I keep hearing that they develop a little faster. Maybe the girls are just developing a little quicker, but the guys, in the end, I think will do fine. Jack is right around the top 100; Steve Johnson is into the top 100; Dennis Kudla is doing great in the top 100. And Ryan Harrison is doing well. We have guys that are kind of on the cusp, and I think one thing that's going to ‑‑it's going to take one of those guys breaking through and they're all going to follow, I think. I was just actually talking to Jay Berger yesterday about it. What they are doing in Carson training together, working hard, is going to be so beneficial for them, that once they see one of these guys can do it, they're all going to say, You know what? I can do it, too. They will get the confidence and break through. They are going to push each other. That's going to be a really good thing. I hope they can do it soon, but if not, I think they do have the ability to do it down the road. You know, Jack's got a huge game; Steve's got a big game; Kudla is a grinder. He's playing really well. So I'm not that worried about him. I think American tennis is still fine. I don't think we will ever see the days of Sampras, Agassi, Courier, Chang, guys can win Grand Slams at every event. That's the way tennis is. It's much more global. It's tougher for one country to dominate. I think we have to be happy with what we've got. We have the best doubles team in the world and two guys right around the top 20 in Sam and John and young guys coming up showing some potential. Q. You talked about taking a longer time for men to develop.  When you started, it wasn't uncommon to see a teenager win an ATP Tour event. We haven't had a teen win since 2008. What do you attribute that to? JAMES BLAKE: I think possibly the biggest thing is the physicality of the game. It's become so much more grueling out here on tour and it's tough do. I just look at myself. There is no chance I can win a tour event. I couldn't win a match on tour when I was 17, 18, 19 years old. I was 6'1", 150 pounds soaking wet, so I couldn't compete with these guys out here. It took a while for me to grow into my body, become, you know, able physically to compete and to handle the riggers of week in, week out travel out here. So I think back then you saw a few really special cases with Rafa winning a match at 15 years old, Gasquet winning a match at 15 years old, I think those are more anomalies than the norm. I just think it's going to towards a much tougher physically sport. We're out here, and you see all the guys now having their own trainers. We're on the massage table a lot more, icing a lot more. We are doing a lot of things just to keep ourselves healthy because it's becoming a lot more physical. I just think, yeah, it's a tough sport. Doesn't look like it. We are not hitting each other like basketball, football, and hockey, but it definitely takes a toll on our bodies. Q. Training technology helped that at all? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, training technology just keeps getting better. You just look at the guys. Same as in football. Linebacker used to be 180 pounds back in the '70. Now they're 240 and running faster. In tennis, as much as I'm probably going to be that guy when I'm 40 years old saying the good old days, we would have made that, the game just keeps getting better. Training techniques are part of the reason for that. Roger Federer, in my mind, is the greatest of all time right now. But in 10 years, whoever is No. 1 in the world at that time is the best at that time. The game gets better, gets that much better. So I think it's partly because the training gets a little more specific, a little bit more‑‑ a little bit tougher. Guys are able to handle things more than they used to. The games just get bigger, faster, stronger. You see it in every sport. Q. Nelson Mandela is in critical condition. Can you provide your reflections on his life and legacy? JAMES BLAKE: That would take possibly more than 10 minutes, but I will do my best. I mean, the guy spent 27 years in prison for what he believed in. You know, we're out here and we think we're doing something important playing a tennis match, and it puts it into perspective when someone has such a belief that they're willing to go to jail for it. They're willing to fight for it. Then in the end they change a country and in turn change the world. That's something that for me I can't fathom having that kind of effect on the world. I'm trying to do my best just to affect the people around me in a positive way. My wife, my daughter, my mom. For him to affect that many people, you know, we all owe him a huge debt of gratitude. You know, me especially included. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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