PILOT PEN TENNIS

August 26, 2005

James Blake

JAMES BLAKE: Definitely. I have said a few times I felt like it's been completely back since I got off the grass I felt really comfortable on the hard courts. Had some close matches, some tough losses but now they are starting to go my way. This is just a great feeling today. It's another match that I think it's going to happen a lot more now. It's one that I know at the beginning of the year I wouldn't have won because it turned on one or two points here or there, and those are the points now that I feel comfortable going after my shots and when you have that kind of confidence and you are clear in your intentions you are going to play a lot better and win a lot of those points. I think he had a breakpoint early in the third. I managed to save that. Came up with a big serve and then the game I broke, I came up with one really good forehand, he went for it a little too much on the next one, a doublefault, then I played a pretty solid point. Those kind of just points, if I don't play that game, and he doesn't give me a couple of free ones, it could have gone to a breaker anything could have happened. He was serving well at the end. So just a couple of points here and there in these kind of big matches. I expect the same tomorrow. I expect the same in just about every match I play to be based on a few points. Now I am feeling like those are going my way.

JAMES BLAKE: This summer is a little better than last summer. I can actually sit here without feeling I am going to fall off the chair. I can actually smile, and yeah, I definitely feel so much better and I am enjoying it a whole lot. And it does put a few things into perspective and I am just so happy to be playing and now that it is going well and I feel like I am healthy, I feel like things are starting to go my way, it's such a good feeling. Knowing as low as I was last year that I can come back and be playing this well, is a great feeling. Now doing it in front of the friends that got me back to where I am now, I have to credit my coach a ton, my mom, my brother, people like that, but also my friends, just for keeping me smiling, keeping me a little upbeat during some down times. Now I am doing well in front of all of them which is really important to me and it just, you know, makes me feel good and yet another reason why I have started to believe that everything happens for a reason.

JAMES BLAKE: Well, I like to think I keep getting better. Outside of a match here or there where I felt like I just really exceeded myself I feel like now I am playing as well as I did when I was 20-something in the world. So it's been a while since I have really feel like I have played this well.

JAMES BLAKE: I do. I really think it is going to in the long-term make me a better player giving you the perspective of being out on the court knowing that it's not the end of world if you lose and that gives you the opportunity to go after your shots a little more and that you know you have other things other than tennis and there are much worse things in life than losing a tennis match. So it will give me, I think, a better perspective, a little more calm on the court. Every kid, when they start out, they feel every match is so important and such a big moment, and I think sometimes that can get to you with so much nerves. Now I don't feel that nearly as much. I also feel I had sometime last year to when I couldn't do a lot of things but I could work on a few things. And my serve was one of them and my serve is coming in a lot bigger now. And my defense, and I felt a lot more comfortable now playing defense. See a guy like Tommy Haas, or Andy Roddick and Federer, those guys can attack you and hurt you pretty easily but they are also three of the best at playing defense, really making you win the point twice or three times. I never really had that in my game before. I could get to a lot of balls with my speed but then I didn't do enough with it. I didn't feel comfortable playing defense and now I do. I also want to make sure I don't use that too much and make sure to attack. A couple of times tonight I felt like I was using it too much and I was being pushed back too easily. Then you got to click in realize what you are doing and make sure you are keeping moving forward.

JAMES BLAKE: Sure did. Those are a lot of my friends, a lot of people I don't know that well, I am sure a lot of people that have, you know, some sort of connection to me. I think I have heard at least 40 people that they are my neighbors so far come up and say, hey, I am your neighbor. Okay. Everyone seems to have a connection to me and that's such a great feeling and that makes for some good fans; feel like they are really connected to you. That's what comes with growing up too close to here and going to high school around here and trying to be as friendly as you can to those people that are around you. Makes for having some great fans that are on your side no matter what, and even if they do happen to cheer a few times when he doublefaults, you got to kind of grin and bear it.

JAMES BLAKE: No, doesn't get any better. If this is my life every week I would never retire. It couldn't get any better. Only part of this job I don't like is the travel. Now I get to not travel. I am driving home every night. I am sleeping in my own bed, hanging out with my friends, I am having dinner with my mom or my buddies and having breakfast with my friends, and waking up to my own alarm clock and it's just, you know, everything just seems so much more comfortable when you are at home. Then you come out and you feel you are at home on the court too when you've got these many fans cheering for you, got a whole section kids painting their chest for you, doesn't get a whole lot better than this.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I have talked about that with my coach a little. He just mentions that we are not expecting anything of you. Try to take the pressure off, but I know it is there. I have never worried about that because I always try to look at pressure as a positive thing. If you have pressure that just means there's an opportunity to do something great. Any time you do something without pressure, it doesn't seem like it's quite as gratifying as when you had pressure, you overcame it, and you had that opportunity to do something great. I think that's my way of just looking at it and I am trying to take advantage of that this week.

JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. I think I am at the point now where a lot of the guys on Tour don't want to see my name in the draw right away. Because I am not ranked high enough to be seeded but I feel like I am playing pretty darn well. So I think a lot of guys don't want to, you know, don't want to play me early in a tournament because they know -- I think they know I have the ability to go on a run and beat guys like Chela, like Haas, and hopefully some of the top guys as well. It's just -- I am not going to -- I am still not going to worry too much about the ranking as to whether or not people are going to accept me as to whether I am back or not, I think I am back. I think I have been back for a little while, and it may take a certain ranking to get the media, the press to accept that okay, now he's ranked this, so we can accept him as, you know, as a force in tennis again, but I don't worry about that. I am worried about getting the respect of the other players and hopefully I mean, the easiest way to do that is to beat them. That's what I am trying to do.

JAMES BLAKE: Little difficult but it would be a whole lot more difficult if I didn't have the comfort of knowing which restaurants stay open late, knowing I can get to bed whenever I want and not feeling uncomfortable in the bed and knowing what I am -- knowing where to go for breakfast, what places --, you know, who makes a good egg and cheese sandwich. It makes it so much easier being at home because 20 minute drive up here and go right home. So I know I feel -- I still feel pretty comfortable even though it is a tricky situation being day, night and then coming right back here.

JAMES BLAKE: Yes. Driving myself.

JAMES BLAKE: Early this year on grass. It's going to be, I am sure a pretty different matchup, grass is completely different situation. But I know he has got a really big serve and he also makes it very consistently. He's one of the highest-- has one of the highest first serve percentages on Tour, I think. A very tall guy, going to try to take advantage of that a little bit more, difficult to move when you are that big, got a great hitting partner in my brother that's about that tall so that will help me. He's a really talented player, had a couple long matches this week too. Maybe I can use to that to my advantage. I am just -- I have seen what -- his weapons, he can rip the ball from the ground on the groundstrokes and he can serve big so I am going to have to play well, I am going to have to use defense at times for sure because he can hit it for sure huge. Try to attack him. If I can dictate play and get him moving, I really feel like I will be in control.

JAMES BLAKE: I am not worried about that. I don't think I will run out of steam at the US Open. That's another one that feels like my backyard. Last year was the first year I missed the US Open, that hurt more than anything else in terms of watching on TV and seeing my friends play and the US Open is what I get geared up for every year. So I don't ever run out of energy in terms of just being hyped up for it for the US Open. I have run out of energy that match against Lleyton when it was too hot and my body couldn't take it, but I don't worry about that. I am going to have a whole bunch of fans there too. I am going to have -- make a nightmare for the tournament director wit ticket requests there too, maybe he can just transport the J block down there, it's going to be just as hectic. I want to do as well in front of my friends and family again. That's always a pretty hectic and fun time but I am not worried about running out of gas.

JAMES BLAKE: What are you talking about, that was quick. (Laughs) it's really funny because my coach who is about as conservative as can be, when he makes statements he wants to cover everything else, OH, James, better get ready, this one could go quickly. I brought that up just about every 20 minutes of that match yeah, good call, yeah, it IS going to go quick. Yeah, that was -- I mean, we are used to it now. I have been lucky enough to be playing a few times when it's right at 7 o'clock or right at a certain time so that -- just like it normally is on the Tour you got to figure out when you are going to eat, what you are going to eat, how many times -- if you are going to get stretched out. Just kind of getting ready, you are getting your legs loose, and you are ready to go, and it goes -- it goes to a tiebreaker, you are ready to go, then, oh, go back, sit down for another half hour, it's part of the game.

JAMES BLAKE: He's a guy that I am never going to count out. It's so amazing to me how many people write or ask him the question when he's going to retire. You don't see that happen too much on a guy that's Top-10 in the world and has won tournaments and, you know, why should he retire if he's enjoying it and he's still the biggest name, biggest draw in tennis, I am really happy he's still playing. Helps us to have such a marquis name, a legend still playing, and also a great champion that's willing to help the young guys. He helped me when I was coming up, he's just truly a gentleman, so I am never going to count him out. People have counted him out so many times. I don't think anyone ever thought he would win Wimbledon with his game. He did. I don't think anyone would have thought he'd win the French being two sets to love in the Finals and he did. If anyone wants to make the statement that they don't think he can win it, I'd love to see him prove them wrong. I am not going to make that statement. I think he has got a great chance. It's pretty tough to say with as good as Roger and Rafael have been playing all year, but Andre has the ability to beat anyone on any day. Pretty glad I am not playing him first or second round.

JAMES BLAKE: Yes, I did. I have done that every time I have won the toss so far this week, I feel like I have been ready going out there and maybe hoping a little bit they are not ready for as loud as my fans are going to be, try to take advantage of that early. Because it does help when you have the fan support like that. If you are running in front it makes it so much easier. I feel like Juan actually did a great job this match of being able to fight from behind because I can only imagine how difficult that is with the fans getting on you every point and being down and a little frustrated you make one mistake, they are still cheering, so I wanted to get an early break and get up. And I did that. I didn't hold it, but I still felt good about my decision and it also makes it easier I think if you are not quite warm and you can take advantage of them not being warm and if you are not quite warm worse that happens is that they hold serve and you get ready to serve and you are ready to get into the match.