James Blake
James Blake| Blake at the 2006 Australian Open |
|
| Country: | United States |
| Residence: | Tampa, Florida, USA |
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) |
| Weight: | 175 lb (79 kg) |
| Plays: | Right |
| Turned pro: | 1999 |
| Highest singles ranking: | 5 (7/24/2006) |
| Singles titles: | 6 |
| Doubles titles: | 5 |
| Career Prize Money: | $3,094,545 |
Grand Slam Record
Titles: 0 |
|---|
| Australian Open | 4th ('03, '04) |
| French Open | 3rd ('06) |
| Wimbledon | 3rd ('06) |
| US Open | QF ('05) |
This article is about James Blake, the professional tennis player. For other uses, see James Blake (disambiguation).James Riley Blake (born
28 December 1979) is an
American professional
tennis player and is currently ranked the number one player from the United States by the
Association of Tennis Professionals.
Blake was born in
Yonkers,
New York, to parents Thomas Sr. and Betty. He has a brother,
Thomas Jr., who is also a professional tennis player, and two older half-brothers, Christopher and Howard.
Blake attended
Fairfield High School, in
Fairfield,
Connecticut. He dropped out of
Harvard University after his
sophomore year to pursue a career in tennis. Blake was inspired to pursue tennis after hearing his role model,
Arthur Ashe, speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program. Brian Barker was his first (and current) coach.
Blake has
scoliosis and for five years as a teenager, he had to wear a full-length
back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis.
Blake is known for his speed, extraordinarily powerful forehand, and intimidating service returns, which leaves many opponents baffled, including fellow top 10 players
Roger Federer and
Andy Roddick, and particularly
Rafael Nadal, whom he has never lost to.
Blake first gained the attention of tennis fans worldwide after playing
Lleyton Hewitt at the 2001
U.S. Open. In an event that Hewitt would go on to eventually win, Blake gave Hewitt his toughest challenge of the entire tournament in the second round, falling in five sets, 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-0. Cramping prevented Blake from offering much resistance in the fifth and final set of the match. The two would have another long, brutal five-setter in the third round of the same tournament the very next year, with Hewitt winning that match by a score of 6-7 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3.
At age 21, Blake saw his first
Davis Cup action in 2001 against
India and became the third African-American man to play the Davis Cup for the
United States. Blake won the 2002
USTA Waikola Challenger in
Hawaii. He has also twice won the
Hopman Cup (with
Serena Williams &
Lindsay Davenport).
Blake was named Rookie of the Year for the 2000 World Team Tennis season.
2004 was an especially difficult year for Blake. While practicing at a tournament in
Rome, he broke his neck by running into a net-post. In July he lost his father to
stomach cancer (
linitis plastica). The stress of this caused him to develop
shingles that paralyzed half his face, reduced his hearing, and blurred his sight. Blake did not know if he would ever play tennis again.
In summer 2005, once Blake had recovered from his injuries, he reentered the ATP top 50 at #49 from #210. He won the 2005
Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in
New Haven,
Connecticut, defeating
Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Having received a wildcard to enter the
2005 US Open, he defeated 2nd seed
Rafael Nadal in the round of 32, which marked the first time that he defeated a top 10 player in a Grand Slam event. In the round of 16, Blake beat
Tommy Robredo in four sets to send himself to the quarterfinals. This result marks Blake's best effort yet in a Grand Slam, where he succumbed to
Andre Agassi in a fifth-set tiebreak after winning the first two sets.
Blake won his third ATP tour title in October 2005 at the Stockholm Open in Sweden. Blake defeated Thai player
Paradorn Srichaphan in the final 6-1 7-6. Blake finished 2005 ranked at No. 22 in the world according to the entry ATP rankings.
In January 2006, Blake lost in the second round of the
Adelaide International. However, Blake bounced back and won the Sydney International winning his fourth ATP tour title defeating Russian
Igor Andreev in the final 6-2 3-6 7-6 in blistering heat.
At the 2006
Australian Open, he was seeded #20, where he lost in the third round to Spanish player
Tommy Robredo 6-3 6-4 6-4. Regardless of the loss he cracked into the top 20 for the first time in his career. In March he beat Lleyton Hewitt 7-5 2-6 6-3 in the finals of the Las Vegas Open for his fifth ATP tour title. This win marked the first time he had beaten Hewitt in seven tries.
At the first Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells, Blake defeated Robredo in the third round and beat world #2
Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets 7-5 6-3; he would lose in the final to Roger Federer, though making history in the process. By reaching the finals of that event, Blake became the first African American man since Ashe to reach the top 10 rankings on March 20th 2006.
Kicking off the clay court season, after two first round losses, Blake had a victory over Carlos Moya at the
Hamburg Masters event in the first round. He would lose to Mario Ancic in the third, despite being up a set and break. At the
French Open, he took down rising Spanish player
Nicolas Almagro in four sets in the second round. The last remaining American man in the third round, he was beaten by French home favorite
Gael Monfils in five sets.
To start the grass court season, he made what many considered to be a surprising run at the Stella Artois Championships, reaching the finals, defeating
Andy Roddick in the semifinal for the first time in his career. He lost to
Lleyton Hewitt in the final, 6-4 6-4. At
Wimbledon, Blake progressed to the third round and faced
Max Mirnyi in the third. After being up love-40 for break point to take a lead in the first, he could not convert, losing the first set 6-4. He would take the next two sets, but won just one game of the last 13, losing to Mirnyi in five sets. The defeat dropped Blake to a disappointing 0-9 in five-set contests. [
1]
Blake's first tournament after the loss at Wimbledon was the RCA Championships, a tournament which he would go on to win by defeating Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the final—his fifth title in 11 months.
With his advancement to the RCA final, Blake is currently ranked 5th in the world.
Away from tennis, Blake also enjoys
golf,
basketball, and
baseball. Blake has also been featured on
Bravo's
Celebrity Poker Showdown. He is dating
Jennifer Scholle, who recently posed in
Maxim as No. 87 on their
Maxim Hot 100 2006 List.
Blake has appeared in
People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" issue. He is also good friends with singer/songwriter
John Mayer, who is from Fairfield as well.
[Patrick, Dan (2003). "Outtakes with James Blake" ESPN.com (accessed May 2, 2006)] When Blake was invited by
Anthem Insurance to do a cancer charity game honoring his late father, he invited Mayer (along with
Andy Roddick and
Gavin DeGraw) to perform.
[Pratt, Jane (2005). "Tennis Great James Blake, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the Virginia Historical Society Announce an Acquisition of Arthur Ashe's Personal Items" Anthem.com (accessed May 2, 2006)]*Finished 2002 ranked No. 28 on the ATP men's tour
*Reached the fourth round in the 2003
Australian Open, losing to finalist
Rainer Schuettler in four sets
* Reached the fourth round in the 2004 Australian Open, losing to finalist
Marat Safin in four sets
*3 September 2005, beat
Rafael Nadal in the third round of the
2005 US Open, his first win over a Top 10 player in a Grand Slam event
*2005 US Open quarterfinals: Lost to
Andre Agassi 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 6-7(6)—dominated Agassi in the first two sets with a break early in the third; however, Agassi adapted to Blake's game and took the match to a fifth set tiebreak where Blake got the early lead, though Agassi would take the match
*March 20, 2006: Blake gains the world #9 ranking, losing to
Roger Federer in the final match of the
Pacific Life Open on March 19th; first time Blake has been ranked in the men's top 10, moving up from #14
*June 17, 2006: Defeated
Andy Roddick for the first time in the semifinals of the
Stella Artois ChampionshipsSingles (6)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (0) |
| ATP Tour (6) |
Singles Finalist (6)
*
2002**
Memphis (lost to
Andy Roddick)
**
Newport (lost to
Taylor Dent)
*
2003**
Long Island (lost to
Paradorn Srichaphan)
*
2005**
Washington, D.C. (lost to
Andy Roddick)
*
2006**
Indian Wells Masters (lost to
Roger Federer)
**
Queen's Club (lost to
Lleyton Hewitt)
*
James Blake's official website*
ATP player profile *
'Comback Kid James Blake'*
James Blake ORG Site
