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U.S. OPENAugust 28, 2013James BlakeNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK I. KARLOVIC/J. Blake THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Is it the hardest way to go out, up two sets to love? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I mean, it's not ideal. Try to have some perspective immediately after and think about the fact that it is just one match and it won't be the defining moment of my career luckily. I'm proud that I have the rest of my career to look back on as some pretty good matches, some pretty good wins. Hopefully this won't be my lasting memory, is that loss, up two sets to love, two tiebreakers in the fourth and fifth, losing both of those. Pretty much in my hands at times, and I was the one that I felt like I gave them away. So that's frustrating. But, like I said, it's one match. I think I lost 200 something over my career. It's not a fun way to do it, but only one guy's holding the trophy at the end of this two weeks. I wished it was me. I did everything to prepare as if it could be me. It's not. Q. How are you feeling right now? You must have a lot of emotions. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, definitely. Like I said out on the court, I'm never going to have 15,000, 10,000, 20,000 people cheering for me, chanting U‑S‑A, screaming my name, that kind of stuff. I'm lucky enough to have had that for 14 years. I try to look at the positives. Most people never have had that. Most people in the world will never be able to relate to that. That's why I was proud of my book. I felt like I related to people on a much more human level. Now I'll go back to being a normal person that doesn't have people cheering for him, just changing diapers and hoping to get 18 holes in on a given day. That's okay with me. I'm lucky enough to have done what I've done in my career to give me some security and flexibility with what I want to do with the rest of my life, and know that my kid and hopefully kids will be comfortable. I'll hopefully be around to take them to soccer practice and softball practice, and if they really want to, tennis practice. Just get to be that normal person and embrace that, because I haven't had that for the last 14 years. I'm looking forward to a new stage in my life. I'll miss this one. I could have finished this year a little better, this tournament, but to expect to win more matches in my mind would just be greedy. Q. Obviously the script tonight wasn't ideal. You got to finish in a fifth‑set tiebreak in a night session at the US Open. It was going to end with a loss regardless, unless you won the whole thing. Is it still sort of not a terrible way to go out in some ways? JAMES BLAKE: There's no good way to go out unless you're holding that trophy. Yeah, I guess if you want to look at the positive that way, you can. You know, I definitely won't sleep a whole lot tonight. I'll be thinking about opportunities I had. When it's that close, you know, obviously a point here and there could change it. I definitely had opportunities and didn't take advantage at times, and other times he came up with great serves and great shots. Like you said, chances are it wasn't going to end with me holding the trophy, but I did my best to put myself in position for that. Q. Besides changing diapers and playing golf, do you have concrete plans for the next part of your life? JAMES BLAKE: No. When I started getting serious with my wife, I told her when I'm done playing tennis, I'm going to have six months where I get the freedom to do kind of what I want, play some golf, and relax. We didn't have a kid then, so I didn't really know that wasn't an option. I'm still going to be busy, but I'm just not going to have a job. I want to take a little time and just kind of relax. As much as our job does seem easy and it is very fortunate what we do, one thing that's different about our lives as athletes is we're always pro athletes. So when you feel like you have time off, you still have to be training. You still can't be going out, staying till 3:00, 4:00 in the morning like your buddies can because they have to be at work and get through it with a couple cups of coffee. You can't fake your way through a tournament. You're sort of on a pretty selfish schedule, a pretty regimented schedule, for a big portion of your life. I'm looking forward to not having that. If I feel like staying up late and hanging out with my friends or taking a weekend trip to Mexico, just being with my wife and kids or whatever, I've never really had that opportunity. So that's what I'm looking forward to for the next few months. Q. You mentioned the crowd. What did go through your mind as you stood there well after midnight? JAMES BLAKE: There's a ton of emotions and a ton of things I thought about. So many matches I've been out there, been out on Ashe, crowd supporting me past midnight, crowds supporting me during the day, through rain delays, through everything. All the people that have kind of driven miles. I know my friends have driven hours to be here and people have flown in to be here. It means a lot that people come to see me. It's another time when I think about how lucky I am that I have fans. Everyone goes and plays tennis or plays golf or plays something to be active in their own tennis club, in their own backyard. They don't get to have that kind of adulation when they do something well. I'm lucky enough to be good enough to have earned my spot in this tournament for 14 years, earn my spot in a lot of other tournaments, and have that kind of a crowd. This one definitely has been the best throughout my whole career, the US Open crowd. I know how kind of daunting it can be playing me here at the US Open with my fans, because I don't think there's too many people that had as much support. I'm so thankful for my friends for being very vocal. I should probably thank Heineken for making them so vocal at times. I know they have a lot of fun, and they mean a lot to me, the fact that they put off their lives for two weeks pretty much every year to come and support me. Q. We were talking to Betty after the match. She was saying you had spoken today about how pleased you were that the match came on the anniversary of the march. You tied it into Arthur. Take a moment and share your thoughts on that. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I thought about that a lot this morning. Thought that would be a great day to get a win because of how important this day is in our history. I guess it's now yesterday. I think maybe we should take it as at midnight hopefully I was winning and I lost the next day. Yeah, to have something that was a demonstration 50 years ago that still resonates today and still is sort of a beacon for what Martin Luther King did, how much he progressed the civil rights movement, I'm proud that I'm in a situation now where I don't have to face the same things he had to face, I don't have to face the same things my dad had to face. But I also don't think we're at the finish line, which I'm proud to be a part of hopefully helping get towards the finish line. I think it's a good reason to celebrate the 50th anniversary, to let people know that the civil rights movement isn't over. There's also new topics that need to be dealt with. I mean, I did join Athlete Ally because I feel like rights need to be given to those that have a different lifestyle than what some people may consider normal. I think we need to embrace the fact that there are people that want to live their life the way they want to live their life and should be given that right. I'm happy that DOMA was overturned. I'm happy that things like that are getting better. But we're definitely not at the finish line. I think Athlete Ally is a great cause, especially in the world of sports where you're too often seeing a lot of macho sort of showboating when everyone should feel comfortable. Sports is a great equalizer. Some of the proudest times I've been on the court is Davis Cup and the Olympics. They're supposed to embrace sportsmanship. It's a level playing field. You go out, you're good enough to win. It has nothing to do with what you do the rest of your time. I'm proud to be playing on such an historic day, and glad we're still working. Q. What are your thoughts on Russia and the homophobic laws they have there? JAMES BLAKE: It's sad. Like I said, we're still in this fight. I don't know if a boycott would change that. I don't know all the politics that go into a boycott, but I know that policy is unacceptable. I wouldn't want to be over there. I wouldn't want to have anyone associated with me. I think everyone at this point, when you look at numbers, someone in your circle, whether it's a family member or a friend, is gay, transgender, or bisexual. You should appreciate that those people are valued members of society, people that are doing something good in the world. They should feel comfortable to live their lives. I think any sort of policy that discriminates against them, that excludes them, is completely unfair in today's day and age. That's why I say we're 50 years out and there are still things going on that are discriminatory. Q. You've been one of the faces of American tennis throughout your career, but you've been the face for African Americans on the male side. Talk about how it's been to carry that torch, and now leave that behind. JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I mean, I think Donald Young getting a good win here in the first round is a good sign. He has a lot of talent. I hope he can realize all of that. I understood that when I started on tour, when I first sort of burst onto the scene. I remember being in this room and there was the talk with Lleyton Hewitt when I had that incident with him back in '01. That's when I realized that I might have a different path than a lot of other guys. The other thing that made me extremely proud was when I stopped getting questions about being the only African American as opposed to just being a tennis player. That made me feel like I really accomplished something because people were talking about my tennis instead of just my skin color. I know there are people that look up to me that may not have ever been involved in tennis, may not have thought of tennis, because they saw someone that looked like them on TV. They hear that I started playing tennis in Harlem. They know I still go back there and volunteer. Maybe there is a possibility for a kid that feels like their only option is basketball, they say, Hey, I can pick up a tennis racquet, too. I'm not going to have a job for a little while, but I also want to help out where I can, help grass‑roots programs to get more players. I think in America we need to just grow the talent pool. We have a large pool of athletes, but a lot of them are breaking off into other sports. They're not focused on tennis. I want to get more tennis players, because then we create hopefully more tennis champions, but we also create more tennis fans. I think it's so great when you see a kid learn to play tennis and they realize how difficult it is what we do out there on the court. Then they come to appreciate it and become tennis players for life. I want to help out in any way I can to do that. Q. The other day you talked about how you used to sneak into the US Open as a little kid. You say you're going to be up a while. When you leave the grounds tonight, will you look back at that kid? JAMES BLAKE: I still have doubles. I'm not saying my tearful good‑bye to Billie Jean King Tennis Center yet. When I do leave, I'll realize it's been a long road. I'm at the same venue, but I'm not the same person. I've had a lot of miles, a pretty good and long journey since I was a kid sneaking in here to a full‑grown man leaving here. I've had a lot of people that have helped me become that man, and I'm hopefully someone my mom is proud of, my friends and family are proud to call a friend or a brother or a husband. That's hopefully what I'm most proud of when I do leave here for the last times as opposed to just the wins that I had here. Q. Would you ever want to coach tennis? Can you speak to some of the people who coached you and what they did for you? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I would love to coach if I didn't have to travel as much as the coaches do travel on tour. I don't want to be on the road for 30 weeks out of the year. I also don't think I'm a very good coach when it comes to like beginners and intermediate players. I think the only people I would be successful in coaching is players at a pretty high level, a college player or tour‑level player. I've learned that in trying to teach my wife how to play. I've turned her over to actual coaches. But I do like that. I've learned from some of the best coaches, in my opinion. Really, in my opinion, the best coach I could have possibly have had with Brian Barker. I definitely wouldn't have had a career without him. I don't think I would have been the man I am. I don't think I would have the sportsmanship I have if I didn't have him in my corner for so long. I was so happy he was able to come today and be a part of my box again. He was a mentor. He was basically another big brother of mine. Doesn't get nearly the credit he deserves for knowing the X's and O's and helping me become the player I became and having the fortitude to stand up to people who said I needed to change things. He was so adamant that we do what we know we needed to do on the practice court, and we had a singular focus on the match court and we were doing it the right way. I was proud to have him behind me for so many years. If I could ever be a coach like him, I would definitely do it because I would feel like I have to. I would owe it to the sport. He's one of the best. If my kid or kids ever decide to play tennis, there's no coach I'd want for them other than him. Q. You mentioned family and kids a lot. What has your most memorable moment been with Riley on the tour, and what do you look forward most to doing with her in New York? JAMES BLAKE: It's every day. Every day is something new. It's so much fun. It was just recently the first time she walked. The day before I left for Atlanta. I couldn't have been happier that I was still home, watching her walk across the basement floor. Once she realized she could walk, I don't think she's stopped since then. It's been a month and a half. She hasn't stopped walking or running. She starts to mimic you. You say, Night night. She says, Night night back. She said, Bye‑bye mommy. I think my wife and I went to tears. Every day is so much fun. I'm looking forward to being around and not missing another milestone. I'm lucky to have that luxury, and can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Like I said, I won't sleep much tonight. I'll still be up when she makes up at 7:00. Q. Maybe this side of Kafelnikov, you're the best poker player in the tennis universe. Put your career in poker terms, bluffing? JAMES BLAKE: Oh, I bluffed a ton. I finally started admitting that to a couple practice partners I was hitting with a couple weeks ago. We were doing two‑on‑ones. I'm running. They're running. They're dying. My trainer let it slip. You know James is tired, too, he's just a better actor. There were so many times I was late in matches. My legs were burning. My lungs were dead. I stood up there and I looked‑‑ I stood as straight as I could. I looked across the net, saw my opponent hurting, and got so much more strength from that. I bluffed a ton of times. Now I can admit, there were so many times I was tired out there, beaten down, could have stopped and thrown in the towel, and didn't just on wanting to be out there, wanting to win. Early in my career I had problems with cramping. People were so shocked when it happened because it looked like I'm running, looked like I'm fine, then I cramped. I don't think people realized I had been tired for the last half hour, 45 minutes. There were tons of times when I was bluffing. In terms of the cards I got, I can't complain. I got up to 4 in the world. I said the other day that, people, I think ‑‑ I appreciate that they gave me so much more credit for being a better athlete than I deserved. It was the hard work that made me look athletic and made me look like I was that graceful or that fast. That was from hours and hours on the track, on the field, doing things like that. But, I mean, I got to 4 in the world, so I had to have some pretty decent cards. I definitely did the best I could with them. I played them the way I could. I made mistakes. No doubt about it. If you're a poker player, you're going to lose pots, but you try to minimize the losses. That's sometimes as good as winning a pot, when you minimize your loss. I did that with some of my mistakes. I made them for, say, a month, or one tournament, then I fixed the problem. That's what Brian was so good it. When we tried something new and it didn't work, we could look back and say, We gave it a shot, tried everything we could; now we're moving on. Back to a singular focus of what I need to do. I maybe take offense I'm on this side of Yevgeny. Never played with him. Q. Are you going to take in a few more Mets games? JAMES BLAKE: Take in some Mets games, some Yankees games, some Giants games this season. Taking in plenty of games sitting on my couch watching them on DIRECTV, too. That's pretty comfortable these days. Yeah, I'll do a lot of things. Like I said, I'm so lucky. I don't know what I'm going to say honestly in two weeks. Am I unemployed? Am I retired at 33? Am I in between jobs? It's going to be interesting, but I'm looking forward to just relaxing and seeing what comes. I'll definitely have time to do those things. Before, my schedule would never allow a lot of those things to happen. Now on a whim, we can go to a Mets game tonight, go to a Broadway show tonight. Call my mom, baby‑sit, we're off. I'm sure I'll take in plenty of the culture here. Thank you, everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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