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Old News 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
12/31/03 JB Makes the Cut! At 3:42pm on December 28th, JB was pronounced bald to the world, following a thorough tonsorial trimming by none other than world renowned hairstylist James Riley Blake. Contrary to initial reports, the cut had nothing to do with an attempt by James to pledge a fraternity back at Harvard. Two of the locks will be included as part of special packages listed for auction at the start of the first grand slam event of the year on the 18th of January. The remaining locks will also be made available on an individual basis shortly thereafter. Stay tuned for details
on the auction, which will benefit charity!
Ready to gear up for the 2004 season? Visit Tennis Warehouse for the latest and greatest from all the top tennis brands. Profits help keep this site fresh and clean. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 12/24/03 Holiday Message
12/15/03 JB Beats Roddick at Swingtime JB closed out the exhibition season yesterday in Florida by beating Andy Roddick 8 games to 3. For some firsthand accounts of the match head to Blakefanz.com where a couple attendees offered up their take on the event and party. Next up for James- the holidays and a trip to Australia to team up with Serena at the Hopman Cup. 12/13/03 JB Takes out McEnroe JB beat John McEnroe on the way to winning the Minnesota Tennis Challenge in St. Paul tonight. It was a special format, so the score was: 6-5 (7-4). James then beat the host of the event, David Wheaton in the final. 12/11/03 Minnesota Mallrat "This reminds me of my days cruising at the Turnpike Shopping Center back in Fairfield," said James Blake of his venture to the Mall of America, here in Bloomington. Blake is in town to promote the Minnesota Tennis Challenge on Friday. To help raise as much interest as possible, James will be taking tickets at the AMC movie theatre in the mall, manning the Clinique counter at Macy's, helping wrap gifts at guest services, and handing out free samples of sweet and sour pork at the Asian Chao in the food court. "They have me doing quite a number of things to help promote the exhibition," said Blake. "Normally it's in Europe where they have the really corny PR stunts, but this really takes the cake. At least I don't have to help give pedicures at the L.A. Nails or run the fryer at the Funnel Cakes/Dippin Dots stand like they're making Mardy do." jj folks. 12/8/03 Lexington Exhibition
12/5/03 Baltimore Exhibition
11/25/03 Superset Tennis
this idea was very funny to me during my 3 month old's 2am feeding last night....what can i say, it's the offseason. 11/23/03 Superset Tennis Update Had a chance to catch up with James regarding Superset. Here were a few of his comments:
JB beat Andre Agassi in their opening round match in the Superset exhibition event yesterday in Portland 6-3. That advanced him to the winner's bracket and a chance to win the $250,000 top prize. Unfortunately Jan Michael Gambill beat James the next round to knock him out of the competition. Gambill then lost to Robby Ginepri in the title match. Robby can buy plenty of Willy's burritos with that loot. Apparently they had about 15,000 people watch the event, which sounds like a strong number to me. Here's a blurb from the Oregonian:
Next up is the Mercantile Tennis Exchange exhibition vs. Roddick in Baltimore. 11/22/03 Superset Tennis JB plays in the featured match this evening against Andre Agassi on the opening day of the Superset tennis exho from Portland, Oregon. Not sure if there will be live scoring anywhere, but hopefully this will be one of the televised matches on Thursday on CBS. We'll see if we can get JB to file a short recap of the match tomorrow. If not, the Oregonian should have coverage. 11/11/03 Partial 2004 Schedule Just learned of JB's early season schedule for next year. A few interesting changes to note. Head here to see the details. Also, one other exhibition to announce. On December 12th, JB will participate in the Minnesota Tennis Challenge event in St. Paul, MN. James will square off against John McEnroe in one match, with Mark Philippoussis playing David Wheaton. Winners and losers of the first matches then play one another. 11/3/03 Exhibition Season In case you didn't see the news when it was announced, here's a recap of the exhibitions James will be involved with this offseason. Two bits of news I hadn't reported earlier- James and Serena will be teaming up again down under for Team USA in the Hopman Cup, and James will be participating in a previously unannounced exhibition, again against Roddick, on December 7th in Lexington, Kentucky. Here's a recap with links and ticket info: Superset Tennis Spectacular in Portland on November 22, see more at: http://www.superset-tennis.com/index_flash.html. Mercantile Tennis Challenge vs. Roddick in Baltimore on December 4, see more at: http://www.tennischallenge.org/. Lexus Tennis Challenge in Lexington, KY on Decemeber 7 vs. Andy Roddick Swingtime Benefit for the Tim and Tom Gullickson Foundation on Dec. 13 in West Palm Beach, FL. vs. Andy Roddick Also, check out the media section for a good article from Black Enterprise magazine just published. 10/29/03 Au Revoir Paris Didn't get to follow the match, but looks like James made a good go of it vs. one of the top players of 2003, Rainer Schuettler. Scores were 6-3, 2-6, 3-6. So that puts a wrap on the 'official' portion of JB's 2003 campaign. His final match record was 32 and 26 in singles. Next up are a series of exhibitions here in the US (see results/schedule for more info). 10/27/03 "I Don't Know What Happened" "I was supposed to lose today, I just don't know what happened," remarked JB shortly after his match today against Fernando Gonzalez in the first round of the Paris TMS. "I had my tickets ready for my flight back to the States, my bags were packed...I was set for my deep sea fishing expedition for Thursday. I guess I will have to postpone that, or take a flight out immediately after my loss to Schuettler. I'm sorry to disappoint my fans with this win, I'll try to lose Wednesday toute suite." Looks like JB went with the rally cap for tonight's match:
10/27/03 Starlight Children's Foundation Benefit in NYC The Starlight Children's Foundation, a non-profit organization benefiting seriously and terminally ill children, is hosting its 14th Annual Celebrity Sports Auction on November 3rd in NYC at Madison Square Garden. James Blake is one of our Honorees and will be attending to receive a Starlight Shining Star award. The event will benefit the Starlight Children's Foundation and tickets are $100 (includes open bar, food, silent and live auction...we expect to have items donated by JB!) and of course, an opportunity to see Mr. Blake himself. Here's an invitation. The event is open to the public. Today, JB takes on Fernando Gonzalez in the final match of the day at the TMS Paris event. Follow the action on atptennis.com. 10/24/03 "Loss Inevitable" In an exclusive interview with JamesBlakeTennis.com, JB said he was extremely confident about his inevitable first round loss this coming week in Paris. "Over the past few weeks here in Europe, I really wasn't sure if I would win or lose these matches, which makes it difficult going in. But I've found the confidence I need to know for sure that I will in fact lose in Paris first round. This just makes it so much easier on me going in. It's a tremendous burden lifted off me." How's that for some reverse psychology folks? It worked for me this past year with Syracuse in the NCAA tournament (I predicted a loss every round and they won the whole shebang), so I thought I'd write this send up to see if we can't get JB a win this coming week. (BTW- JB okayed this before it was posted, so don't get upset at me). Meanwhile, he and Verkerk play their dubs match later on today in Basel. On
the fund raising front, profits from the Tennis Warehouse sales were
decent for the third quarter ($270), but I'd like to get to at least
$500 to donate to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program. You can continue
to make purchases at Tennis Warehouse, or if you'd like to pledge some
money to the program we can go that route as well. Email me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net
if you are interested in making a contribution. Any and all contribution
levels are welcome. Only $230 gets us to the $500 figure. 10/22/03 Doubles Success! JB and Martin Verkerk struck gold today in Basel, beating the number one seeds- Mike and Bob Bryan 6-3, 7-5. Next up is the tandem of Scott Humphries and erstwhile JB dubs partner Mark Merklein. 10/21/03 Bowing Out in Basel JB lost to Tomas Behrend today in Basel, another disappointing result this season in Europe. Scores were 6-1, 3-6, 4-6. We'll see if JB and Martin can upset the Bryan brothers. If not, it's on to Paris for the final tournament of the season. 10/19/03 Dandy Dubs Duo In a match that could possibly provide the greatest range of facial expressions ever seen on a tennis court, JB and his expressive mug (see below) will team up with the facial contortionist that is Martin Verkerk (see below) to face the Bryan twins in Basel. This is a match not to be missed. Let's analyze these two side by side: Fist Pumping in Exhilaration: Advantage Verkerk. The above photo of Verkerk is, quite possibly, the best picture ever taken on a tennis court. 'nuff said. Incredulous Reaction Using Arms and Hands:
Advantage Verkerk. It's quite obvious Verkerk was in rare form at the French Open this year, and he also played some decent tennis. Here he combines a melancholy visage with operatic arm gestures, all the while falling over. James, on the other hand, ruins his expression by revealing his arm pits. Maybe that's why he lost out to Vahaly this year in People magazine. Fan Acknowledgement using Hand Gesture:
Here I give the nod to JB, who gives a sincere thumbs up with a semi-satisfied facial gesture. Martin clearly has not collected himself before addressing the fans and gives only a halfhearted hand gesture, and he is clearly distressed about not having taken that bathroom break after the second set. JB nearly lost it again here though by showing us his arm pit; fortunately it is looking fairly well groomed. In singles, JB squares off against Tomas Behrend in the first round. 10/14/03 Chocolatier Following
JB's opening round TMS Madrid loss today to Max Mirnyi (5-7, 2-6), James
shed the Nike gear and donned the chef's hat and apparel for his new
job at the historic Botin restaurant. "What people don't realize
is that I take extra special care to ensure that the chocolate I make
continues to be of the highest quality, thanks to my expert palette
which is able to distinguish even the most subtle differences in taste.
Genuine cocoa science does exist! Like wine, cocoa originates from different
regions and bean varieties and can therefore have totally different
flavours. It is only after roasting that these flavours become fully
apparent. The end result is a smooth, rich paste which can be modified
depending on the flavour required and which is then mixed together with
other cocoas to form magical blends. My exact recipes are of course
a guarded closely secret." Who knew?
James samples some of his produce. "Tennis smennis, chocolate is where it's at." 10/13/03 Beast in Waiting JB drew Max Mirnyi in Round 1 at the Masters Series in Madrid. Should be an interesting matchup, it's their first meeting. Match is on Tuesday, I believe. Potential Round 2 opponent? Andy Roddick. 10/7/03 Ousted in Austria JB won the first set today against Beck, and had a few matchpoints in the third, after losing the second set 6-3, but he lost in a tiebreak. Guess it's sightseeing time in Vienna. Next up is Madrid. Racquet flew out of your hand and hit your partner in the bridge of the nose requiring stitches (that didn't happen to me, REALLY)? Visit Tennis Warehouse and buy yourself some grip tape to make sure it doesn't happen again. Also, check out their liquidation center for some great deals. All site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 10/7/03 Questions and Answers Galore! JB took time out from his training schedule to answer your questions today. So if he loses tonight it's your fault. Check out all the answers, including what to do with cheats and the cheating cheaters who cheat. Click on 'Latest Responses' you cheater. 10/5/03 In Vienna JB gets underway Tuesday in Vienna at the CA Trophy tournament. He squares off against Karol Beck. It will be JB's first tournament action since the US Open when he faced Federer. James' potential second round opponent? Roger Federer. JB will also be tackling some of your questions in the near future, so stay tuned. Cracked your racquet against the court or over your parnter's head? Visit Tennis Warehouse and find yourself a suitable replacement (racquet, not partner). Also, check out their liquidation center for some great deals. All site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 10/1/03 Rome Recap Jim Rome took it easy on JB today, lobbing him nothing but softballs. Where were the questions about JB's affair with Uma Thurman, his undercover arms dealings with the island of Mauritius, or his stab at acting off-broadway? Actually, I didn't get to hear any of the interview. But Marianne at AIG did! Here's her recap of the interview, or you can listen to an mp3 of the interview over at stomps' site. Right click the following link and select 'save target as'. http://www.stomps.org/Blakes/Videos/jimrome.mp3
Thanks Marianne! You get an autographed poster for your efforts! Want to at least look good while you're getting your tail kicked on the court? Visit Tennis Warehouse and find yourself some nice new tennis duds. Also, check out their liquidation center for some great deals. All site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/30/03 Jim Rome Show JB will be on the Jim Rome sports talk radio show tomorrow, Wednesday October 1. Not sure exactly when the interview will be (it's live). You can listen to the show on the net at http://www.jimrome.com/home.html Want to at least look good while you're getting your tail kicked on the court? Visit Tennis Warehouse and find yourself some nice new tennis duds. Also, check out their liquidation center for some great deals. All site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/28/03 Update Sad news from the tennis world- pioneer Althea Gibson passed away today in New Jersey. Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-Obit-Gibson.html On Thursday the US learned their first round opponent in next year's Davis Cup competion: Austria. James has confirmed a couple of tennis exhibitions (exhos) for this year. He plays Roddick in Baltimore on December 4, see more at: http://www.tennischallenge.org/. He's part of the Superset tennis spectacular (I love that word) in Portland on November 22: http://www.superset-tennis.com/index_flash.html. Ready to move on to a new racquet? Visit Tennis Warehouse and try out their demo program. Also, check out their liquidation center for some great deals. Site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/21/03 Final Davis Cup Diary Entry JB finishes off his Davis Cup Diary entries here. Congrats to the US Davis Cup team, who will learn their first round opponent on Thursday. Fan feedback time. If you wouldn't mind to take a moment it would help out if you could let me know what features about the site you enjoy most/least, and any ideas you have for additional content. Email me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net. Anyone who offers up an idea that is implemented gets an autographed JB poster or two. Honest! Next up for James is a return to Europe, where he begins a stretch playing Vienna, Madrid, Basel and Paris. Hopefully he can earn some points and improve that ranking for the beginning of next year. Do you have shorts with stains, socks with heels missing? Visit Tennis Warehouse. Site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/20/03 Davis Cup Diary Entries 3 & 4 JB did a make good on his diary entry for yesterday and added another entry for today's match. Read his diary entry for Friday's matches here. And read his diary entry for Saturday's match here. Do you have sneakers with holes, shirts with stanky armpits? Visit Tennis Warehouse. Site profits will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/17/03 Davis Cup Diary Entry 1 Big news to reveal in the first edition of James' diary. Read here. Here is the US TV schedule for the matches: ESPN2 Friday, September 19th
2-4 p.m. Eastern (taped) Need some tennis gear? Then visit Tennis Warehouse. Profits beyond site hosting costs will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 9/15/03 Exclusive JB Davis Cup Diary Starting this Wednesday, JB will share with us (in diary form) his thoughts and observations and how badly he's kicking the rest of the team's butts in cards. Here's where to head starting Wednesday. Need some tennis gear? Then visit Tennis Warehouse. Profits beyond site hosting costs will be donated to the Harlem Tennis Center. So use the link above or the links on JB's gear page to make some purchases. Thanks. 7/7/03 Seeded number 1 in Newport The draw is out for the Newport tournament (which is on grass), and James is the top seed. Unfortunately, if I remember correctly, the top seed has never won (including JB last year). He plays Gregory Carraz of France in the first round. JB will also be playing doubles with his brother, who missed out on qualifying for the singles draw. First singles match will be tomorrow evening. 7/3/03 Newport Not much news to report of late. I'm assuming JB is still ready to go for Newport this coming week. JB reached the final of Newport last year, the semis the year prior, and also got his first ever ATP win there over MaliVai Washington back in '99. 6/27/03 Site Redesign The site's been up for a year give or take, so it's time for a redesign. Hope you guys like it. 6/26/03 Rough Day at the Office JB didn't have his game at all today vs. Sargis Sargsian on Court Number 2, known as 'The Graveyard'. You know something's wrong when he has only 1 ace vs. 10 double faults and 15 winners vs. 60 unforced errors. Not good. Things got off to a very shaky start in the first set with JB down two breaks of serve in no time at all. 6-2 was the final score there. He lost his serve in the third game of the second set, so I went out to do something else, to see if that would help him turn things around (because all the results of his matches are predicated on what I do, in case you didn't know). Well, it helped for a while- he broke back and took the second set to a tiebreak, where he lost 7-3. Apparently it was more of the same in the third set, with another 6-2 score. Credit to Sargsian as well, who played his normal solid game, making few unforced errors and dictating play for the most part. Had a look at a part of JB's press conference, and, as you can imagine, he was in a rather desultory mood. He was unhappy with the way he served for the entire match, in particular the tie-breaker in the second set, saying his serve "was inexcusable." He also dwelled on the fact that he got down on himself far too often and too early. "You look at Todd Martin or Pete Sampras and you can't tell how the match has gone," he said. In regards to his on-court demeanor he also said, "At 23 years old, it's pathetic that it comes down to just something that, you know, a 15-year-old should be able to figure out. You're going to play better if you're holding your head high and you're focused on each point and not worrying about the last point. It's really simple, and I'm disappointed that that's possibly a reason why I'm not ranked higher or not as good a player as I should be." He also stated how disappointed he was with his rate of improvement over the last six months. And, in other news, actor Kevin Costner, who skyrocketed to Hollywood fame in 1990's Oscar-winning movie "Dances with Wolves," has become engaged to longtime girlfriend Christine Baumgartner, the actor's spokesman said on Thursday. Costner, 48, and Baumgartner, 29, met four years ago and have been dating since. A wedding date has not yet been set. The marriage will be Costner's second and Baumgartner's first. 6/24/03 JB Wins (I'm pretty sure) Just moments ago on court 5 James beat the other guy 6-3, 6-1, 6-1. It was difficult to tell who was who from the pictures, all of which looked like this:
As usual, ESPN bigwigs thought the American audience would be more interested in the first couple of sets from the JC Ferrero match and Tim Henman talking about his mum with Suzy Kolber. Even Pat Mac was begging his producers for a bone from the JB match. Obviously the Davis Cup captain doesn't hold enough sway in the pressbox just yet. Kidding aside, this is just what James needed- a straight set win and a day off before facing his next opponent, the 'Sarge' - Sargis Sargsian. 6/21/03 Wimbledon Awaits After an injury-shortened warm up period for Wimbledon, JB will take to the courts at the All England Club on Tuesday vs. Aussie qualifier Todd Larkham. Here is the U.S. TV schedule for Wimbledon, which airs on ESPN for the first time (with the finals on NBC as usual). As for the wrap up to the Stoke Park Exho, JB lost to Zabaleta in a tie break in the third set, raising his record there to an impressive 0 and 5. Once again though, the shoulder was feeling good, so he's ready to get busy at Wimbledon. 6/19/03 Injury Update Heard from JB early today- he played Alex Corretja yesterday at the Stoke Park exhibition. Although he lost, the good news is he played pain free. Apparently his shoulder is improving. He has the day off today and then plays one more match on Friday. Top Spin Tennis for the X-Box- Aaron sent in a screen shot from the upcoming tennis video game Top Spin Tennis by Microsoft for the X-Box. Check it out, pretty cool! Set to hit shelves in the fall. ESPN Magazine- JB confessed to me that Dan Patrick woke him up from a nap when he conducted this interview, but it's still pretty entertaining. Check it out inthe current issue of ESPN the Mag or right here. 6/17/03 Updates JB is scheduled to play his first match at the Stoke Park event tomorrow. Not sure yet who his opponent will be. Hopefully we'll hear from JB as to how his shoulder is holding up. The draw was announced today for Wimbledon. James faces off against a qualifier in the first round. He's in the same quarter as French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero. An interesting bracket. Also heard from Christine that James is in the current issue of ESPN the Magazine. He does a short Q&A session with Dan Patrick. I'll post it in the Media section soon. 6/13/03 Injury Update Just heard from JB and he said he received some favorable news from the doctor yesterday. He will be flying back to England early next week to compete in the Stoke Park exhibition, and then hopefully Wimbledon! With that in mind, I'll be sending off his well wishes to him today, so thanks to everyone who sent one in. 6/10/03 Get Well Wishes If you would like to send a get well wish to JB, send me your name, hometown, and a one liner (a one sentence get well message) that I can include in his card, which I will snail mail on to him. Send it to me here at jbinfo1@adelphia.net by 6/17/03. 6/8/03 JB has to Withdraw from Queens Club Event Unfortunately James has sustained his first significant injury of the season, which has forced him to withdraw from the Queens Club grass court tune up event. An injured right shoulder is the cause according to the press officer of the tournament. UPDATE: Just heard from JB, here's what he had to say:
6/3/03 GQ Spread Finally Up Sorry for the delay folks. In case you haven't already seen it, head to the Images section to see the pics from the current GQ spread (scans courtesy Stomps of Blakebrothers). Head to your local newsstand and pick up a copy! 5/31/03 The entries are in and We Have A Winner! The response to the first ever contest here at jamesblaketennis.com was overwhelming! I sorted through the four entries and am now ready to hand out the $5000 first prize! Feel pretty bad you didn't enter now don't you? Just joking...we received a few dozen entries and I appreciate the participation. First off, a few awards for some of the non-winning answers, and then the Grand Prize Winner. The Brown Noser Award goes to Aisha, who actually thought JB could dance! She wrote: James
"twinkle toes" Blake! He went from James Blake to James Brown
- I guess The Most Creative Award goes to Bonnie Goodman, who came up with this entry: DICK ENBERG: "Hello, I’m Dick Enberg along with John McEnroe, and welcome to Breakfast at Dusseldorf. We’re already in progress at the event we’ve all been waiting to see: James Blake in his first-ever encounter on this new surface, the dance floor. Now watch this play. It’s quite amazing, really. The footwork is exquisite! The split step here, the shuffle there….it’s incredible how he covers this surface! And look at that arm motion! Wait, let’s see an instant replay here……can you believe what we’re seeing here? Yes, let’s see it one more time….it is… it is a two-handed backhand! That is amazing! What’s your take on this, John?" JOHN McENROE: "You cannot be serious, Dick! I mean, yes, the split step is definitely there…but…wait a minute, that was an obvious foot fault! James doesn’t seem to mind, though. He seems to be totally enjoying this new surface. In my opinion, though, the form is lacking….lacking….something. Ouch…..that overhead….give it up, James! I mean, don’t get me wrong…..this is good, but give me a break! Blake needs to stick to hard-court, even clay, where he can definitely attract more girls. Sorry to disagree with you, Dick, but let’s be serious, this dance floor surface is not Blakes’s forte." ENBERG: "I concede that you’ve got a point there, John. So before our ratings tank, we’re going to switch to an exciting event, lawn darts, in progress at Greencastle, England……" And the Grand Prize Winner is... Gabrielle Parker! Gabrielle's winning effort combined deft commentary with a healthy dose of diss, all the while playing off JB's m.o. of being a role model for kids. Here's an excerpt: "It
is possible that James was simply a victim of circumstance... and was
caught on tape at a bad moment? (We still love you James....just never "dance" again...unless you are SURE no one is watching!) : )" For her efforts, Gabrielle is in the process of negotiating her prize with James' agent Carlos Fleming. She'll be lucky if she doesn't end up owing James money! Actually we're trying to iron out a suitable prize now.
5/29/03 JB Loses to Ljubucic I picked up the match at 4 all in the fourth set (with no breaks so far) and unfortunately Ljubuc held for 5-4 and then broke JB at love (at least I think it was love because the scoreboard stopped working at that point) to win the match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. A disappointing end no doubt for JB at this year's French. Read JB's post match press conference here. The good news? No more clay! One other bit of news- JB mentions in the press conference that he will be playing doubles with Roddick at Queen's. 5/28/03 Match vs. Ljubicic suspended After a day of waiting and a court change to boot, JB started playing around 8pm local time vs. Ljubicic. He got off to a rough start, barely denting Ljubicic's serve in the first set, losing 6-3. Midway through the second set, JB took control breaking him twice to win 6-4. The third set was fairly even, but Ljubicic prevailed in a tiebreaker. After an hour and a half or so, that was it for the daylight. The two are set to resume the match tomorrow morning on the same court (17) as the second match of the day. Hopefully we get to see the conclusion on ESPN2. GQ Spread - I still haven't seen this on the newsstand, but you can see it here courtesy the BlakeBrothers site: http://www.stomps.org/Blakes/Images/Pages/2003/GQ/index.html 5/27/03 Doubles and Schedule JB isn't planning on playing a lot of doubles in grand slams anymore (he;'s not playing in the French)- I just heard from him and he had this to say: "i'm
not gonna do doubles much more in slams i don't think. it's James squares off against Ljubicic tomorrow on Court 1 (4th match). It looks to me like Agassi will be playing at roughly the same time so I'm sure we'll get to see plenty of JB's match...not! We'll just have to sit by our computers like dorks and wait for those point by point updates. Is it just me, or do you guys get more nervous following the points on the net than on T.V.? Don't forget about the contest we're running. Here's a blurb about it from below: Well our first ever contest just got easier. Stomps informed me that there is video up from the Players Party at this year's tournament where (unfortunately) JB took to the dance floor again. See it here at: http://www.arag-world-team-cup.com/en/news/videos.php If you guys can't come up with some stingers from this video you're not worthy of being JB fans. Send in your dance descriptions to me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net. 5/26/03 James Beats Dent to Advance JB played a solid match today and ESPN2 actually showed most of it! Final scores were 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. Key to the match was JB's ability to pass Dent, who did not forsake his serve and volley game, despite being on clay. JB hit a ton of great backhand passing shots, some wonderful topspin lobs and a few forehand winners as well. Dent didn't return very well, making quite a few unforced errors, but JB was still broken 4 times I believe. See a couple images from the match in the Images section. Next up is a rematch with the Croatian, Ljubicic, whom JB squared off against in the Davis Cup. Ljubicic beat JB that day, but he relies on a power game, which should be neutralized on the red clay. That match will take place on Wednesday. Not sure what JB's doubles schedule is...
Blake plays
the blues in Paris PARIS (AP) -- In a matchup that was all red, white and especially blue, James Blake earned a first-round victory Monday at the French Open. A nattily dressed Blake wore a shirt, shorts, bandanna and shoes that were matching powder blue as he beat fellow American Taylor Dent 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (3). "I call it Carolina blue, because I'm a big North Carolina fan," said Blake, a New York native and former Harvard student. Blake was one of nine Americans in Paris advancing to the second round on the opening day of the tournament. Blake was eliminated in the second round in his Roland Garros debut last year. He plays best on hardcourts and is still adjusting his game to clay. "I'm getting to like it a lot more," he said. "You know, a lot of Americans have had trouble on it. But I feel like eventually in my career, it can be a very good surface for me." 5/24/03 Observer Article Posted Found a good article from the British newspaper The Observer. Check it out in the media setion. 5/23/03 French Draw, Contest Made Easier & Gullikson Board Well our first ever contest just got easier. Stomps informed me that there is video up from the Players Party at this year's tournament where (unfortunately) JB took to the dance floor again. See it here at: http://www.arag-world-team-cup.com/en/news/videos.php If you guys can't come up with some stingers from this video you're not worthy of being JB fans. We are equal opportunists however; we present the bad and the good. JB recently joined the Board of Directors of the Tim & Tom Gullikson Foundation. JB had this to say about it: "tom
gullikson is a very close friend of mine, and The French Open draw is already out. JB drew compatriot Taylor Dent. That should be an interesting matchup, considering neither fits the bill as the prototypical clay courter. Tough draw with Ljubicic, Schuettler, and Ferreira all in the near vicinity. Hopefully we get to see the match, as opposed to Serena's 6-0, 6-0 round one whitewashing. 5/22/03 James Earns a Win Heading into the French Open JB put an end to his 5 match singles losing streak* (the longest since 2000, when he lost his first 6 professional matches) by beating Jiri Novak today in Dusseldorf at the World Team Cup. Final scores were 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. One break of serve in each set. Unfortunately he and Mardy Fish couldn't win their doubles match to give Team USA a berth in the finals, so JB's next match will be at the French Open. Click HERE for the TV broadcast schedule for Roland Garros. Don't forget to send me your entry into our first contest! See news below from 5/19/03. *the 2 matches at the WTC technically count as exhibitions. 5/20/03 French Open Seedings and other News JB reeled in the 24 seed at the French Open. The draw is announced Saturday, I believe. JB is confirmed to play one date of World Team Tennis this season- July 14th for the Hartford FoxForce in Hartford. The GQ issue hit subscribers' mailboxes just the other day, so that means it may be another week or so before it hits newsstands. Speaking of magazines, Jon Wertheim of Sports Illustrated penned the cover story on Serena Williams for this week's issue. The first tennis cover since 2000. More magazine news- JB is in the current issue of Teen Vogue along with Andy Roddick and there's an interview with JB's mom Betty in this year's edition of Deuce magazine, which you can pre-order here. JB plays tomorrow against Novak. 5/20/03 JB Loses to Hewitt I didn't get to see the stats, but it looks like a fairly routine loss to Hewitt today- 3 and 3. Unfortunately JB hasn't been doing too well on the red clay for the past month or so. Hopefully he can turn it around vs. the Czech Republic on Thursday and get some mo going for the French Open. Todd Martin also lost his match to Wayne Arthurs, so that means the US team will have to take an L vs. Australia. Don't forget to submit your entry to the contest below. A tip: The more comical or disparaging your commentary, the better chance you have to win! 5/19/03 Glimpse of JB on the Dance Floor For those of you who are already accomplished dancers, you probably don't want to check this out- but you can catch a snippet of JB on the dance floor in a video from last year's Dusseldorf WTC here: http://www.arag-world-team-cup.com/en/news/videos.php Best dancing commentary/analysis submitted to the site wins an autographed JB prize! 5/19/03 GQ Hits Newsstands This Week! Look out for the June issue of GQ this week. Not sure if it will actually be hitting newsstands, or just the mailboxes of subscribers, but, in short, it's going to be out soon! JB and the US team hit the court again tomorrow in Dusseldorf. Despite JB's loss yesterday, Todd Martin and the duo of JB and Mardy Fish both won their matches against Spain giving the US a win. Next up is either Australia or the Czech Republic. 5/18/03 Moya Takes Opener A close match today in Dusseldorf, but Moya once again beat James- this time 7-6, 7-5. That raises Moya's record to 4 and 1 vs. JB (this was an exhibition, however). The US will face off against Australia and the Czech Republic this week as well. For those of you who want your Tennis Channel, I was forwarded a listing of websites and email addresses you can write/visit to demand your Tennis Channel. The list was (I'm asssuming) compiled by the RoddickRocks site. You can see it in the Links section of this site. 5/17/03 World Team Championships Draw The USA opens up against Spain tomorrow with JB facing off against Carlos Moya in the first match on center court, while Todd Martin takes on Corretja in the second singles match. Doubles follows afterwards. 5/15/03 On to Dusseldorf After a loss today to the Bryan brothers in doubles, JB will head on to Dusseldorf tomorrow to compete in the World Team Championship with fellow Americans Todd Martin, Mardy Fish, and Graydon Oliver. They were able to make the draw when Safin pulled out, along with the rest of the Russians. This gives JB a chance to get in some more clay court tennis before the start of the French Open in a week and a half. 5/14/03 Doubles Win JB and parnter Donald Johnson won their doubles match yesterday against Stepanek and Novak 7-6, 6-4. Next up are the Bryan brothers. That match will take place tomorrow. Also, according to Stomps, who runs the Blake Brothers site, JB is trying for a wild card into the St. Polten tournament next week. We'll see how that turns out. I would imagine the GQ piece is set to hit newsstands any day now. Let me know if anyone sees it! 5/12/03 Gaudio Comes Back to Beat JB in Three Gaston Gaudio overcame a loss in a first set tie break to beat James handily in the second and third sets. Final score was 7-6, 1-6, 2-6. This looked to be a rough match for JB considering he hasn't started off very well on the claycourts (at least outside of the River Oaks exhibition) and Gaudio has posted some strong results so far this season. James is in the doubles draw with doubles specialist Donald Johnson. They take on Stepanek and Novak first round. I'm checking now to see what's up next on James' schedule since the US isn't participoating int he team cup this year in Dusseldorf according to the tournament website. 5/11/03 TMS Hamburg Draw & JB Responses! First up- the draw is out for the Hamburng TMS event. JB plays the featured match on Center Court tomorrow night against the Argentinian Gaston Gaudio, an experienced clay courter who reached the quarters in Monte Carlo and the round of 16 this past week in Rome. He's ranked 31 in the Champions Race currently. We'll see how it goes. After his opening round loss in Rome last week, JB had some time to answer some fans questions. I've posted them in the Q&A section. You'll notice I spent painstaking time reorganizing this section so that responses are now grouped by subject, as opposed to chronological order. I then further organized the responses alphanumerically based on the coefficient of the month they were asked. Enjoy. BTW- Is the Hamburg site the most god-awful thing you've ever laid eyes on, or is it just me? 5/10/03 Germany 2003 JB hopes to improve his results in Germany from last year, when he lost in the first round in Hamburg, and then all three of his matches at the Team Cup in Dusseldorf. Draw should be announced tomorrow. Play starts on Monday. Note to high school tennis team coach out in California- Please send me your contact details again. jbinfo1@adelphia.net 5/8/03 New Email!!!!!! I have upgraded to a cable modem- 'bout time. That means a new email address for everyone to write in to. And the new email is (drumroll please): jbinfo1@adelphia.net Now that's some exciting stuff! 5/7/03 JB Continues To Lag in the Polls Boy, after a tough first round loss in Rome, JB is getting no help from the readers of YM.com. James is a candidate in their Sexiest Guy poll, and he's not even the leading vote getter from his own high school! That's right, John Mayer is beating JB, the reigning People's Sexiest Athlete Alive, in an upset of disastrous proportions. JB only has 1% of the vote so far. Head to ym.com and click on 'Stars' to vote. 5/7/03 And JB thought he had a bad day... My hard drive bought the farm yesterday evening. Fortunately I had most files backed up, except for my emails- dowh! My address book contact hadn't been updated for close to a year, so I lost a lot of folks email addresses (not to mention their messages). So all you regular correspondents- please send me an email! One person in particular that I'd like to have write is the coach of the high school tennis team out in California. Please send me your contact details again- sorry! jbinfo1@mindspring.com 5/6/03 Arrivaderci Roma JB had a rough day yesterday, losing to Radek Stepanek in the first round in the first round of the TMS Roma 2-6, 6-1, 3-6. Looks like it will be a little more difficult to enjoy the sights this year. Next up is Hamburg. 5/5/03 TMS Roma Underway James plays Stepanek today in the first round of the Tennis Masters Series Roma. Follow the action here: http://www.telecomitaliamasters.federtennis.it/ James has a fairly favorable draw, with Safin, the 2nd seed in his quarter. We'll see how things pan out! 5/1/03 Tennis.com Chat Check out James' chat from Tennis.com yesterday (courtesy Stomps). JB is off to Rome today. 4/28/03 Back! Sorry for the extended absence folks. It's official now, MOVING SUCKS! If you happen to live in Metro Atlanta, DO NOT use Dedicated Movers. They failed to show up for our move at all, and almost caused this webmaster a mental breakdown. Thank God for heavy drugs- just kidding folks. JB is off to Rome for his next tournament, so in honor of that, I'll write the rest of my posts in Italian for the next week or so. Scorso anno, JB ha havuto un campionato di tennis favoloso a Roma. Era tra un punto da guadagnare una nascita nelle semifinali, ma ha perso in tre set contro Novak. Vediamo se lui potra amegliorare quest'anno. Adesso possiamo discutere come JB ha perso settimana scorsa a Houston- Marianne Bianchi (chi sa se lei parla un po d'italiano anche?) mi ha scritto che JB non ha giocato molto bene contro Mutis- infatti ha perso 6-1 nello terzo set. 4/22/03 Claycourt Championships Round One Win James took out Alexander Waske yesterday night 4 and 4 before a sold out audience at the Westside Tennis Club. Looks like it's going to be difficult to follow the action this tournament, however. The tournament website doesn't post scores or news, from what I can tell. There are articles in the Houston Chronicle, however: http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/ Thomas lost his match against Kenneth Carlsen 6-7, 1-6. Today the partners pair up to take on some friendly foes- Mark Merklein (James' 'regular' partner) and American Jeff Morrison. James' next singles opponent will be Attila from Hungary. Isn't he like some historical figure or something? Actually it's Attila Savolt, but he is from Hungary. Also, don't forget about the upcoming chat:
4/21/03 Claycourt Championships James plays Alexander Waske this evening in Houston in the first round of the US Claycourt Championships. The tournament has plenty of American flavor; it features Agassi, Roddick, Ginepri, Fish, and Thomas Blake, who received a wild card entry. Updates to the site may be few and far between over the next week- my family is moving, so I'll be knee deep in boxes and packing tape. 4/17/03 ESPN Jocks to GIs Update James has corresponded with a member of the US armed forces via ESPN's Jocks to GIs program. Check out what the two chatted about here: http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/jockstogis/story?id=1539433 4/16/03 TMS Monte Carlo Round 2 Loss & News Galore! http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/jockstogis/story?id=1539433 JB got served a bagel for breakfast in the first set today against Guillermo Coria, but he fought back valiantly, winning the second set in a tie break. He lost 6-3 in the thrid though, so now it's back to the States to prepare for another tournament in Houston, the US Men's Claycourt Championships. Here's a short writeup from the Monte Carlo site: Guillermo Coria, a semifinalist here on debut in 2001, let slip
a 6-0, 4-2 advantage against James Blake, but steadied in the third
set to advance to the third round with a 6-0, 6-7(3) 6-3 win. Coria
is enjoying his best start to an ATP season and improved to 16-6 on
the year. He next faces either Roland Garros champion Albert Costa or
16-year-old Spaniard Rafael Nadal. I still haven't gotten my new Tennis magazine, so if you haven't seen the cover yet, check out Stomps' site at: http://www.stomps.org/Blakes/Images/Pages/2003/TennisMag/index.html NEWS GALORE! I have some updates to pass along in terms of some off-court activities- the 12 page GQ spread is happening in the June issue, which hits newsstands next month. This includes shots of James in some of the most famous cities in the world, including Scarsdale (NY), Colico (Italy), Surbiton (England), and Tahlequah (OK). Should be a dandy. Also, James did a commercial last week for Citizen watches as part of their summertime "Unstoppable" campaign. It should air during tennis events, primetime programming, and Sesame Street, etc. James also shot a commercial for Verbnow, which you can see here. This is a PSA style commercial for the Harvard Department of Languages, advocating the use of more immediate intransitive verbs. Actually it's for the Center for Disease Control and it tries to get children more involved in sports and physical activities (?) (just as long as they have this whole SARS thing on the front burner). James, Mardy Fish and Taylor Dent just shot a fashion piece for the New York Times Magazine on 70s tennis. I'm told it was a high fashioin piece in tennis settings, and it's going to run during this years US Open. Here's to hoping Mardy and Taylor did something with their hair, for their sakes. 4/15/03 TMS Monte Carlo Round 1 Win & Barker Award JB got by Dominik Hrbaty today in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. He's already improved over last year's event where he lost in the first round, so this result should move JB up in the rankings. Next up is Coria, who beat Acasuso 2 and 2. James is not in the doubles draw. Blake Experiences Joie de Clay-Court Tennis. Can It Last? By Richard Evans - Tennis Radio Network Traditionally, many Americans
view the European clay court season with fear and trepidation. Not so
James Blake who survived a gruelling test of skill and patience in swirling
winds to beat Dominik Hrbaty in the first round of the Tennis Masters
Monte-Carlo on Tuesday. That kind of attitude will carry Blake far and on Wednesday, he'll have a further chance to test his clay court skills when he faces the talented Argentine Guillermo Coria first up on Centre Court at 10:00 AM. The pair have only met once before, at Washington D.C. on a hard court last summer. Blake won which will provide an added boost to his confidence. ---------- Also of note, James' coach, Brian Barker, recently won the PTR Traveling Coach award (thanks for the heads up Marianne). Here's the piece on the PTR website: Jim Verdieck Award/Touring
Pro Coach - Brian Barker 4/13/03 Tennis Magazine Cover U.S. Tennis Magazine subscribers should have received the first look at James' cover issue the past day or so. Apparently James' first CItizen wach ad is in the issue as well. I should have scans up in the next 24 hours. JB is in Monte Carlo now, preparing for his first round encounter with Hrbaty. He will be playing either Monday or Tuesday. ESPN is really going overboard with their coverage of this tournament. I was thinking I might need to compress this info into a PDF file, but I guess I can fit it in here: Mon, Apr 21 4-5 AM (PST) ESPN 2 Man, that is going to be the most exciting hour of television ever. 4/10/03 Site Updates A few site updates to
point out. We have some updated favorites in the JB's
Faves section. Also, the picture gallery has been updated to include
some of the pictures since the Aussie Open, including some from the
recent River Oaks tournament by site contributor Marianne Bianchi- thanks.
James is participating in the Jocks to GIs program running on ESPN.com. Check out the page at : http://sports.espn.go.com/chat/sportsnation/jockstogis/index Also, I'm checking now for updates on the Citizen watch deal and GQ spread. 4/7/03 A Rousing River Oaks Exhibition Next year's River Oaks tournament may very well be re-christened the James Blake Invitational. (Here's to hoping he doesn't actually have to participate however; let's get back into the Davis Cup second round.) The subject of this website took both the singles and doubles titles this year, winning the former yesterday against Wayne Ferreira 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Next up is TMS Monte Carlo, in a week's time. 4/6/03 What a Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!! First me and my tennis partner knock off the first place team in our tennis league, then James reaches the finals by beating Burgsmuller, then James and Thomas capture the doubles title against Kendrick and Vahaly and then my Orangemen take it to Texas for a birth in the final game of the NCAA Hoops Championship! Not a bad day's work. JB's final against Wayne Ferreira is today at 2pm and is a best of 5 affair. For you trivia buffs out there, James earned his first victory as a pro against Ferreira back at the Hopman Cup in 1999. 4/5/03 River Oaks Exhibition Semifinals James took care of business in the quarters beating Sargis Sargsian 3 and 4. He also teamed with his brother Thomas to win in the semis as well- they took out Burgsmuller and Tarango 4 and 3. Today James squares off against Burgsmuller in the singles semi, while the brothers Blake face Vahaly and Kendrick in the doubles final. Many thanks to Marianne Bianchi for forwarding some images from the tournament. 4/3/03 River Oaks Exhibition Update After a tight first set, JB disposed of collegian Amer Delic this evening in Houston. Next up is the Sarge- Sargis Sargsian. James and Thomas won their doubles match yesterday as well, they face off against Tarango and Burgsmuller next. 4/2/03 Big Rumor Unveiled! Well, unfortunately I've failed miserable at 'my first big rumor'. The (sorta) big news was that James is going to be on the cover of the next Tennis magazine. Unfortunately, the news was released to the public courtesy a Tennis magazine e-newsletter on March 21st, so most of you are probably yawning right now. Well, I tried. In tennis news, James and Thomas play their first doubles match of the River Oaks tournament today. I would imagine James plays singles tomorrow. His opponent will be American Amer Delic. Thomas lost his singles match last night in a three setter to Robert Kendrick 4/1/03 Huge Win! James and Mardy teamed up this weekend to root on the Syracuse Orangemen as they earned an unexpected birth in the Final Four. After the Orange finished their dismantling of the Sooners, James and Mardy rejoiced and pledged their undying suport, including a trip to New Orleans this weekend to support the team against Texas. Said James. "The Orangemen are clearly the team worth rooting for in the tournament. Carmelo Anthony is the best freshman player in the country , while Jerry McNamara and Billy Edelin are also excellent first year players, and Hakim Warrick is the most improved player in the country, I mean I could go on and on. Plus they are a Nike school so I can wear their duds." "Yeah," said Mardy. In other news, James and Thomas are playing in the River Oaks exhibition tournament. Follow the action at the tournament's website: http://www.riveroaksinternational.com/
3/26/03 Doubles Wrap Up After wining their opening round match fairly easily on Monday, JB and partner Mark Merklein ran into the 2 seeds yesterday, Bjorkman and Woodbridge, and lost 6-1, 6-4. Next up is the River Oaks exhibition tournament in Houston. Also, in terms of that rumor I hinted at last week, it has been confirmed, but I can't reveal it :). It's not huge....but pretty cool. In an unrelated story...JB will be hosting a chat on tennis.com April 30th. 3/23/03 Ginepri Takes it to JB I was only able to follow on the net, but from the looks of things, James was barely in this match from start to finish. 6-3, 6-2 was the score in favor of the young Atlantan. Here are a few comments from James following the match: Q. What didn't work for you today? JAMES BLAKE: It wasn't as much as what didn't work for me as it was what worked for him. He served great, returned my second serve unbelievable. Really didn't miss much at all. I'd like to say this is the best I've ever seen him play, but I also saw him beat Safin last week 1 and 1. So these last couple weeks, he's played at a higher level than he had in the past. Today, I guess I just wasn't ready for it. Q. Is it easy or more difficult to play someone whose game you know so well? JAMES BLAKE: It's a little tough because, well, I haven't played him in a match in a couple years, but it's tough because he knows exactly what he wants to do, I know exactly what I want to do. It just comes down to a matter of who executes better. There's no feeling-out process, there's no real just-getting-to-know-you phase, kind of. It's right away, you're going to play your game, he's going to play his game and see who plays better. Today, I don't feel like
I went away from my game plan too much, besides a couple times here
and there, but it was just a matter of him playing better than me. 3/21/03 Quick work in Round 2 After a somewhat shaky first set, James turned on the heat against Fernando Meligeni in the second set today to win 7-6, 6-2. See JB's post match interview below. Next up is compatriot Robby Ginepri. This is the first time they have met in a major event, so it should be a fun match. They will play Sunday. Also of note, Mr. Hewitt lost, so that opens the draw up a bit for James. Unfortunately the draw is top heavy (and James is in the top half of the draw). Also, there is a new Links section up in the Fan portion of the site that you can check out. And I heard a BIG rumor today that I hope to be able to pass along in the very near future. Of greater importance, however, the Syracuse Orangemen won their first round game today against Manhattan! Q. Tell us about the match. JAMES BLAKE: Well, to begin with, it was pretty hot out there so I knew I wanted to try to end it as quickly as possible. It's tough to do sometimes against Fernando who runs down a whole lot of balls and doesn't miss too much without being provoked. Really wanted to get into net, especially on his backhand, and volley pretty well. But I felt like my volleys let me down a little bit. A couple times on big points, I just missed them instead of making him pass me. Lucky the rest of my game was pretty solid. I felt like I returned pretty well, was always in his service games. So it was good to get out of the heat. Q. You've had some success here in Miami last year. Tell us about that, coming back in. You won three matches last year. JAMES BLAKE: Uh-hmm. Last year, that was really fun. I didn't have a whole lot of expectations. Fought really hard and won against Santoro. Played a really great match against Canas. Again, it was pretty hot last year. I've had some trouble in the heat before, but somehow here I've been able to get past that and do pretty well. It's a lot of fun. Miami's an unbelievable city, so it's a pretty good time here. Q. How much does the heat have an effect on your game? JAMES BLAKE: Not a whole lot. I think earlier in my career, you know, a year ago or two years ago, it had more of an effect because I was just thinking about it and worrying, "Maybe I'm using up too much energy early in the match, maybe I should go for a little more." I found that that's just not playing my best tennis. To give up that 5 percent difference, it's not worth it. You're going to lose more matches that way and regret it instead of just playing your game. Now I just play my game, whether I'm down 40-love, I'm still going to run for every ball, because you never know when you can get that turning point and come back and win the game. Now it doesn't affect it at all except if it's possibly a three-out-of-five match if I'm in the heat or end up cramping or just letting the heat get to me too much. So far this year I don't think the heat's affected me. Q. Are you in better shape now than you were last year? JAMES BLAKE: I think so. I think that has an effect. It's a little tough though here, being the first one. Indian Wells, it's kind of hot, but it's really dry. You don't have to deal with this kind of humidity. A lot of the guys haven't been used to this kind of heat and humidity. So this is probably where most of the troubles are, is the first time. Then you get used to it. Your body adjusts. That's why it's great to get through the first one. I think I'll just feel better and better as the week goes on, hopefully. Q. A lot of talk about the growing camaraderie among the Americans as you guys are moving up the rankings. Mardy had a good win today. JAMES BLAKE: Uh-hmm. Q. Did you talk to him about playing Grosjean? Have you talked to or will you talk to Brian Vahaly about possibly playing Corretja, since he beat a bunch of Spaniards at the last tournament? JAMES BLAKE: Well, actually I've had some pretty good success against Corretja. I've beaten him the last two times I've played him. Hopefully, I won't need anyone else's scouting report on that one. Hopefully, I won't need that scouting report at all because Robby plays him this afternoon so we'll see. Mardy had a great win, I talked to him a little bit. Unfortunately for Mardy and I, I think people play us about the exact opposite. They attack his forehand a little more, block his serve back a little bit more, might not worry as much about his speed. With me, I've got the speed to just run down a bunch of balls. My forehand is my bigger weapon. Our scouting reports sometimes aren't the best for each other. He helped me out last week. We help when we can. I've never beaten Grosjean so I couldn't help him too much, I don't think. I know Andy practices with him, and Andy beat him last week. So possibly he could have helped him out. I'm just happy he got a win. Q. He practices with Grosjean down here? You don't? JAMES BLAKE: I don't come down here very often to practice. I practice up in Tampa at Saddlebrook. Q. What about the prospect of facing Robby in the next round? JAMES BLAKE: That would be fun. I played him a couple of times in much smaller events, in a challenger, in tour event quallies a couple years ago. So it will be a nice experience to play him in, what will it be, the round of 32 of one of these Masters Series. It will be a lot of fun. That would make it -- make for a good win for him to beat Corretja. So I'd be happy for him. Then we'd go out there and have a battle, probably go out to dinner afterwards. Q. Have you been timed for 40 yards? JAMES BLAKE: I haven't done that, no. I did a couple of the little, like, agility drills that I think some of the football players do up at Saddlebrook. I've scored pretty well on those. I haven't done the flat-out 40. I probably should some time. Q. What do you think your time might be? JAMES BLAKE: I don't know. I'm definitely not in the range of those guys that are runningbacks that running 4.3s, I'd guess somewhere around 4.5, I'm not sure. I know one of my roommates was trying out for the NFL, trying to be a tight end or H back, he was running like a 4.7. I'm pretty sure I was faster than him. But I won't tell him that, because he's about 250 pounds. Q. What about you and Grosjean running a 40, who might win? JAMES BLAKE: I don't know, he's quick. He gets to a ton of balls, and I played him on clay. I don't know, I think maybe we should set up a race, 40 yards, 100 yards - me, Grosjean, Hewitt, couple of the other speedsters on tour and just see who's actually the fastest. It would be fun. Q. Still trying to get Robby to move down to Saddlebrook? JAMES BLAKE: Still trying. We're working on him. Probably not the best time to talk to him about it right now, he's getting ready to play Corretja, possibly play me. But we'll work on it. Maybe if he plays me, we'll play for it. If he wins, I'll move to Atlanta. If I win, he'll move to Tampa. We'll see if we can do that. Q. Looking at the rankings, how you steadily improved this year, is getting to the fourth round of a Grand Slam your goal? Is it Top 10? What is your goal? JAMES BLAKE: To keep improving. Like you said, I've improved so far in my career. My ranking keeps going up. Not necessarily improve my ranking, but just to get to be a better tennis player. I feel like I've done that since I've turned pro. Whether I get to the fourth round, or quarterfinals or semis of a Grand Slam, sometimes that could be luck. It could just happen you have a great draw, matchups could work out perfectly. You could come up in the first round against a guy like Wayne Arthurs who serves unbelievable, and you lose. So that could be a lot of luck. I don't worry about the rankings because they're not always the fairest assessment of how good you are. So I worry about getting better in my mind, and I've done that so far these last few years and I've done it with a lot of hard work and, you know, getting mentally stronger. And if I can keep doing that, I'm pretty happy. I don't set specific tournament goals or ranking goals like that. Q. What have you gotten better at specifically when it comes to your game? JAMES BLAKE: Well, the mentality is a lot better. I think today's match is a good example. That tiebreaker, I lost a set point where I really had an easy volley on top of the net and missed it. A year ago, that might have really frustrated me. I could have given away that set, and it would have been really important. But I've gotten a lot better at just putting that behind me, having a short memory and worrying about the next point, and also staying on top of a guy when I am up. Fernando looked a little tired in that second set and I just managed to keep playing my game and keep attacking him. So I've gotten a lot more -- a lot tougher mentally and also just more confident in my ability. I feel like my forehand can match up with just about anyone's in the world. When I have that confidence to go for it, I feel like it's improved a whole lot. Q. When you and Mardy and Jeff are all home together, how often does the opportunity present itself for you to get to dinner? JAMES BLAKE: Just about every night. Almost all the time, yeah. Q. No girlfriends allowed? JAMES BLAKE: Well, Jeff sometimes, he gets commandeered by his girlfriend. We make fun of him a little bit. But we understand. He's in a much more serious relationship than either of us are in, so we'll let it slide for a little while. But we make sure to get him out every once in a while for some fun with the boys. We have a really good time. Q. Who picks up the tab? JAMES BLAKE: We play the credit card game; you put them all in, have the waitress pick out one, whoever loses has to pay. I've got pretty good luck in that. I'm probably going to jinx it now, but I've been pretty lucky most of the time. Q. Who's the big loser there? JAMES BLAKE: Mardy seems to lose a lot. I don't know, usually we get, you know, a few more people going out and it just ends up being -- it gets mixed around pretty good. Somehow I come out unscathed. Q. I think it's been a couple years since you had a conversation with Patrick Rafter after a match and he gave you some inspirational words. Is that 2001 Cincinnati? JAMES BLAKE: I was in Cincy. I think it was 2001. Q. Could you tell me about that, what it meant to you? JAMES BLAKE: Sure. Yeah, that was really important. It was the first time I made it to the third round of a Masters Series - probably one of my first Masters Series at all. I won two pretty big matches for me, then playing a Top 10 player at that time, someone who's playing great on the American hard courts where he does his best, and I had a set point on him, maybe even two. Then he got to me. Similar to today's match actually, just flipped around. I had chances, he took over and then he kept the pressure on and took me out in the second set. But it was a really close match. After the match, he told me, "The only reason you lost is because you didn't believe you could beat me." That's possibly true. Was a good chance he still could have won. But I didn't believe I could beat him at the time. His sportsmanship, him telling me that when he doesn't need more friends in the locker room, he's such a likable guy, it means a lot for a veteran player to tell me he believed in me more than I believed in myself. It helped my confidence. It showed a couple weeks later when I played Hewitt in the US Open where a lot of people think that was my breakthrough. I was up two sets to one, playing great tennis. Unfortunately, my body gave out. That was when I had incidents with the heat. To have someone like that tell you that you're going to make it or that you're going to do well is very helpful, and I owe a lot to him. If he ever did come back to the tour, he'd have my vote for the Sportsmanship Award again. He's a true champion and gentleman. Q. Backhand, serve are things you're working on. Something else? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I'm working on pretty much everything. Like I said, I need to improve. I'm not going to neglect my forehand just because it is my best shot. I need to always still work on my weapon. But working on the weakness is important, too. Working on my backhand, getting it stronger. Working on my first and second serves can get better with just especially, you know, strengthening my legs to get a little more up into the ball. And hopefully it will come around, just putting in the hard work and see if it pays off. Q. If you were to point at one thing that has sort of contributed to this general rise of all the Americans, young American players, what is it, do you think, that's causing it? JAMES BLAKE: I'd like to think the camaraderie. The guys are helping each other out, we're having a lot of fun, practicing together. I think it makes a big difference when you have that level of players to practice with. I improved a whole lot when I got out of college. When I got to college, I was practicing with players that were better than me. My brother was better than me at that time, a couple other guys on the team were at least peers. Then as I got to the point where I was kind of surpassing some of them, I turned pro and started practicing with guys that were a whole lot better than me and made me a lot better. And just having Mardy and Jeff to practice with all the time, them having me to practice with, just, you know, being around each other and always working hard together, you see good examples. I think the younger guys, when you first turn pro, you think you're going to set the world on fire and it's going to be easy. Then you realize you're not going to do that. You see it takes a lot of hard work. A guy like Mardy or Robby, even though they're young, they're realizing that pretty young and seeing the hard work I put in, the hard work Jeff Morrison puts in and Andy puts in. They realize it's not as easy as it looks when you're out on the court. There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes to do that, whether it be getting enough sleep, getting massages while you're just practicing that week, or whatever it is, it's important and they're learning that. I'm still learning that, so... Q. Is the atmosphere in the lounge, locker room, different here with what's going on in the Mid East? JAMES BLAKE: Little bit. People are definitely a little more concerned with that than, you know, who wins a tennis match. It's going to bring a lot more concerns I think with the travel issues when we have to travel over to Europe. It's going to make people, I think, a little bit more jittery. But we're here to entertain. So we're not going to stop doing that. Hopefully it can take people's minds off it a little bit, but we're not going to trivialize the war going on by any means by saying this is the most important thing in the world, this is the only thing we care about. Definitely in the lounge and locker room, it's pretty important and it's a topic of conversation . Q. You're comfortable with the decision to go ahead with the tournament? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I think so. I think it's important to go on with life. Unfortunately, at this point, you know, there's nothing we can do. We're just going to be, like I said, an entertainment, a diversion from the serious things that are going on in the world. And, you know, if that's one thing we can help to entertain people, you know, that's the best thing we can do over here, I think. To sit around and just live in fear or kind of just halt our lives completely, I think that's kind of giving in to fear that we shouldn't. We just shouldn't do that. Q. You ever get in touch with your mother's roots in England? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, I went back to Baneberry not last year, the year before, and I got to see where she went to school. Q. Is it fascinating? JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it was really nice. It's good to see where she came from, where all the stories, you know, that she had told me, I had a picture in my head and just get to see what it's really like, get to see her school. It was obviously very sentimental for her so it meant a lot to me. And also this year we're going to try to get a couple of the top students from her school to come over to Wimbledon and watch me play, which would be great. 3/19/03 NASDAQ100 Draw Announced Play is underway on Key Biscayne at the biggest tournament outside the four Grand Slams- the NASDAQ100 Tennis Masters Series event. Due to the large draw, JB has received a seed (21) and a bye in the first round. He will face off against the winner of the Meligeni Kratochvil match. Also in James' portion of the draw are Corretja and Ginepri, and a possible third round meeting with Hewitt. James will most likely play on Friday I would guess. I'm not positive, but it appears the first bit of coverage for the event will be this Sunday at 3pm on ESPN2. 3/15/03 Kuerten Outguns Blake to Reach Semis Gustavo Kuerten outgunned
James Blake in the Pacific Life Open quarterfinals Friday to win through
to his first Tennis Masters Series semifinals in seven attempts since
his hip surgery in February last year. Kuerten contested a staggering
eight Tennis Masters Series finals in a three-year period between 1999-2001
but had fallen in the first round of his past four TMS tournaments before
arriving in Indian Wells. On Friday, he brutalized Blake from the back
court with stringing forehand and backhand winners. Kuerten's past three tournament titles have come on hard court - Auckland (2003), Costa do Sauipe (2002) and Cincinnati (2002). The Brazilian is 17-4 on the season and 10-1 on hard courts. Kuerten said: "It's new for me again playing this kind of match with the hance to go to a semifinal in tournament like this. It's been almost two years that I haven't played in a semifinal in a big event. So it really means a lot for me. I've gone much farther this week than I expected. My level of tennis, confidence, physical condition have taken a big step up for me.
Appearing in his second Tennis Masters Series quarterfinal, Blake said: "I actually didn't feel like I played that great in the first set to win it. I think I just kept him off balance and didn't give him a whole lot of rhythm. He got into the match, started playing better. I never picked up my game. I'm pretty disappointed the way I played that first and second set. The third set I definitely thought I could have played better. I just didn't have it today." "He gets really excited for these kind of matches, I guess. You know, a night match, the crowd was into it. So, yeah, he was wired. That definitely helped him. Looked like he got excited, definitely started playing better. Can't fault him for that. Too good. "As I'm getting better
and better, the losses are hurting more and more because they are for
something important - they're for a semifinal berth in a Masters Series,
they're for bigger things, greater rewards. So it's very frustrating,
but I try to take that as a positive because that means, I'm getting
close." 3/13/03 JB Takes Out Moya in 3 Sets! JB took out the 5 seed, Carlos Moya, a player he had never beaten previously, to move on in the first Tennis Masters Series event of the year. Next up is none other than Guga Kuerten- now that should be an entertaining match! Today's final numbers- 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Blake Emails Mardy For Carlos Secrets - from pacificlifeopen.com Having lost to Carlos
Moya three times in the past six months, James Blake was running out
of answers. So what to do? Ahead of his third-round meeting with the
Spaniard at the Pacific Life Open Thursday, Blake emailed fellow American
young gun Mardy Fish - who has beaten Moya twice this year - for some
advice before the match. "I said, 'Just send me some good beat Carlos Moya vibes because I don't have them yet.' He just told me his game plan. He said: 'You've got nothing to lose. The way I did it, I took rips at his second serve, got in and put pressure on him...' So when I did take advantage of that, I think it put a little more pressure on his first serve as well. He started missing that a little more, too. I'm glad Mardy sent me those beat Carlos Moya vibes." Asked if the win was his best of the year, Blake said: "I think so. Just given the history. To get that win finally, especially being down a set and a break, really having to fight for it, and play some of my best tennis, it's probably my best win of the year. "He's beaten me three times before. I really respect his game a lot. He's got a huge forehand, plays relatively similar to me. I'm amazed how well he moves as well. He gets a ton of balls, makes you hit another ball, has a big first serve. For me, it's a tough match-up. "Now I feel comfortable
even going forehand to forehand with the biggest forehand in the game
in Carlos, I believe. I might not have had the confidence to do that
a year ago, even three or four months ago. I feel like I've put in the
hard work so that I got to just test it against these guys and see how
good I am."
3/13/03 Round Two Win- Moya's Up Again JB got by Chela pretty handily yesterday night, but unfortunately there's no prize waiting for him. Today he squares off against Moya, who is undefeated against James. Yesterday's match , which ESPN FAILED TO TELEVISE BECAUSE THEY ARE MORONS, ended up 6-1, 6-4. Follow the action at the Pacific Life Open at: http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/en/# 3/12/03 Round One Win- More Action Tonight JB looked like he would breeze past friend and compatriot Todd Martin yesterday after an easy first set, but he was pushed to 3 sets (and almost lost a 5-1 lead) before winning 6-1, 3-6, 7-5. He's right back in action tonight against Juan Ignacio Chela and it should be the match featured on ESPN at 11pm EST. And, according to Priya, Sport+Direct, a French satellite channel is also giving good coverage of Indian Wells. James Blake's match against Chela should be at 4am GMT Here are a few interesting comments from his post match interview: Q. You guys are out
there hitting a yellow tennis ball across the net, but some pretty serious
stuff is going on out in the world. Many have commented about what's
happening. What are your thoughts? Q. About Pete Sampras
retiring, what do you feel? If you were in his shoes, what would you
decide? Q. Talk about your
next match. Q. I'd like to ask
a Davis Cup question. Been a good while since an American captain has
picked a doubles specialist team. The Bryans have had some pretty good
results. Any thoughts on their being selected next time around? 3/11/03 Indian Wells Underway and Doubles Report Had a chance to speak with JB briefly yesterday evening and he offered up his thoughts on playing Todd Martin today (which should occur around 4pm PST/ 7pm EST/12am GMT) and he gave a short report from his doubles title match on Sunday. Here are his comments: playing todd in the
first round here should be a very exciting match. we both know each
other's games very well from practicing together a lot. he's one of
my best friends on tour and has been like a mentor to me. so whichever
way the match goes, it will be friendly and sportsmanlike. we will try
our hardest, and then maybe go get some regarding our doubles
final on sunday- we played about 45 minutes after the singles final.
there was still a pretty good crowd to watch the match. the tournament
director seemed pleased with the amount of people that stuck around.
the match was very high Here are the the US TV times for the tournament: Tue, Mar 11 3-5 PM ESPN
3/9/03 Doubles Title #2! James and partner Mark Merklein beat Hewitt and Philippoussis this evening 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) in what sounds like a thrilling match. That's doubles title number two and overall title number three for JB. I'll see iof JB has anything to offer up about the match, because I'm sure there will not be any media reports on it. Next up is Indian Wells, where James has drawn friend and mentor Todd Martin in the first round. JB's in the same quarter as the 10th seed Nalbandian, a potential second round opponent, and Carlos Moya. He is not entered into the doubles draw. I would imagine his match against Martin will be on Tuesday. 3/8/03 Out in Singles in Scottsdale Haven't found a whole lot of info on the match last night, other than the fact James lost in three sets 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 to to Mariano Zabaleta. Here are a few comments from the victor: "I think I played with a lot of confidence today because he played very good in the first set. Then in the second set I played better and I really thought I could win the match. " James and his doubles partner Mark Merklein continue to roll in doubles though. They beat Malisse and Sanguinetti 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) . Today the square off against the best doubles team in the world, Knowles and Nestor, in the semis. 3/6/03
Blake
knocks out Enqvist despite second-set lapse James Blake wasted match points in the second set Wednesday night against Thomas Enqvist, but it was nothing Blake couldn't overcome. Up 6-5 in the second set with the Franklin Templeton Tennis Classic crowd behind him, Blake had Enqvist down love-40 but lost three straight points and two more break points to send the match to a second tiebreaker that Enqvist dominated. But Blake picked himself up to win the second-round match 7-6 (5), 6-7 (1), 6-2 and reach a Friday quarterfinal with Mariano Zabaleta, who upset No. 5 seed Rainer Schuettler. "I got a little more confidence and I made sure to keep my head in the right spot as opposed to worrying too much about that second set," said Blake, ranked 26th in the world. "I feel like I raised my level." Serves dominated the match until Enqvist, who upset Andre Agassi on Monday, opened the second set with a service break that Blake answered. Blake took a 6-5 lead in the second with a service game that featured three aces, but Enqvist crawled out of the love-40 hole with one of his service grooves, one close baseline call and one tough bounce for Blake. "I was maybe a little tentative and looking for freebies because I had three chances," Blake said. "You can't play that way. He's way too good to give up freebies." The Harvard man showed his brains match his brawn by keeping his cool and breaking Enqvist's serve in the third set's third game. It seemed to break Enqvist's rhythm too, as he swore at his mistakes in Blake's ensuing service game that made the lead 3-1. Blake ripped more big forehands to break Enqvist in dominating fashion. He won a love game on Enqvist's serve for a 4-1 lead. On his second match point of the third set, Blake used his frequent weakness - backhands - to win a second straight match after losing his first three appearances here. "I wanted to keep the pressure on and see if he could keep up that level of tennis," Blake said. "I was able to do that and maybe even go a little higher once I got that confidence." This year Blake reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and the semifinals in San Jose. No African-American has broken into the world's top 10 since Arthur Ashe in the late 1970s. His run this week has begun with two night matches, a tough transition with the cool nights and bright lights after playing indoors. "Why mess with something that's not broken?" Blake said. Doubles Update: James and partner Mark Merklein beat Ginepri and Dent on Tuesday and now face off against Malisse and Sanguinetti this afternoon. 3/4/03 Quick Work in Scottsdale James got 71% of his first serves in and whipped up on Jay Gooding in the first round yesterday in Scottsdale 2 and 2. Of even greater significance- Andre Agassi lost! James would have had to face him in the second round, but the American lost for the fist time all year. So now the 2nd round matchup is against Thomas Enqvist of Sweden (to take place Wednesday). James plays doubles today with partner Mark Merklein against good buddies Fish and Ginepri. Also, if you'd like a JB background for your computer, I came up with this the other night under the influence of the new Massive Attack record '100th Window'. Right click on the image and select "save target as" .
3/2/03 Back in Action in Scottsdale James will be back in action tomorrow evening (6:30 PST, 9:30 EST, 2:20am GMT) facing a qualifier, Jay Gooding, in the first round of the Scottsdale (Arizona) tournament, which features Hewitt and Agassi as the top seeds. James is also playing doubles- he's teaming with Mark Merklein. Their first round match is against Davis Cup teammates Robby Ginepri and Taylor Dent. 2/23/03 Doubles Wrap-Up James and Justin Gimelstob made it through to the semis by beating Bhupathi and Eagle on Thursday. They played the top seeds, Knowles and Nestor, yesterday and lost 6-4, 7-6. No word on if James won his match on the undercard of the Tyson fight last night against Paula Jones. After a week's break now, James heads on to Scottsdale. 2/20/03 Unexpected Exit from Memphis Labadze
Upsets Blake The 21-year-old Labadze, from Tbilisi, Georgia, had not won a match on the ATP circuit in 2003 (0-3), and had lost in the first round in eight of his last nine ATP tournaments before arriving in Memphis. "It's very good to be in the quarterfinals," said Labadze. "I've had a couple of good wins over Agassi (Shanghai 2001) and El Aynaoui (Wimbledon 2002), but after losing so many matches, this is probably one of the most important victories for me." Labadze's only match win so far this year came on the Challenger circuit in Hamburg against Dmitry Babenko last month. But, after a few good practice sessions in Memphis, Labadze was feeling good going into the tournament. "I had an elbow injury during November and December and then you lose your confidence," said Labadze. "I was playing well in practice, and I said to my coach that I've lost the last six tournaments in the first round, so seven won't make much difference. I had nothing to lose." Momentum Blake, the finalist last
year who took just 39 minutes to win his first round match on Wednesday,
struggled to gain the same momentum. "It was pretty different to
yesterday," said Blake. "Yesterday I played well and today
I didn't for some reason. Obviously Irakli had a lot to do with that.
He hit winners from well behind the baseline and I let that get to me
a bit. He is one of the few guys that I feel can give me a little trouble
like that, and I wasn't playing my game the way I'd like to, so it's
disappointing to lose." Yesterday James and Justin moved into the second round of doubles, and James did the same thing this evening against Jiri Vanek, winning in just 39 minutes, 6-3, 6-0. Next up in singles is the Georgian (as in the country) Irakli Labadze, about whom I have no clue. Bhupathi and Eagle await in the doubles draw. 2/19/03 On to Round 2 MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Third-seeded James Blake opened with four aces and needed only 39 minutes Wednesday to beat Jiri Vanek of the Czech Republic at the Kroger St. Jude tournament. Blake had only nine aces in the match, but he served up four straight to win the first game. Blake never lost his momentum, breaking Vanek twice in the opening set to go up 5-2 and quickly put him away en route to a 6-3, 6-0 victory in his opening match. Blake couldn't recall
stringing together so many aces to start a match. ``I was serving so well
the points were really short. He was making a few errors. He probably
had a bigger adjustment coming from the Southern Hemisphere and clay.''
Blake had wanted to spend his first match in Memphis getting used to the indoor court at The Racquet Club after falling in the semifinals to Andre Agassi last week at the Siebel Open. He didn't get much of a chance because he overpowered Vanek, but he wouldn't change anything. ``That's what you like to see in an opening round when you come out and play well and get adjusted to new surroundings,'' Blake said. Blake's only mistake was
one double-fault, and he never faced a break point. He broke Vanek's
serve four times in eight opportunities. Blake's serve worked so well
that he won 22 of the 25 points on his first serve and 10 of 14 on his
second. 2/18/03 James Miffed there's No Eminem Hall in Graceland Graceland, TN - Today American tennis player James Blake toured Graceland, the revered home of American rock icon Elvis Presley. After touring the facility for a half hour or so, Blake began to wonder out loud about where all the other exhibits were. "I dig the King and all, but I think they need to add exhibits for a few more recording artists in here, like Eminem or something. Or maybe, you know, some Public Enemy. I think it would be a great addition if the curators decided to parallel the zeitgeist of the time with today. For instance, Elvis raised quite a few eyebrows in his time, so I think it's only natural that they should showcase some of the more incendiary acts of today, like Eminem. I think they really need some Eminem in here." In other news (of the serious sort), James plays doubles today with Justin Gimelstob vs. Ferreira and Wakefield. 2/15/03 Agassi'd From the San Jose Mercury News: Agassi rolls into final There wasn't much James Blake could do Saturday night. So near the end of the match -- after watching Andre Agassi dictate and win yet another point -- Blake took a seat behind the baseline at HP Pavilion and seemed in no hurry to get up. Can you blame him? The way Agassi is playing, it doesn't appear anyone can stop him. One day after he was pushed to three sets by unheralded Vladimir Voltchkov in a quarterfinal, the Siebel Open's top seed blitzed up-and-comer Blake 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final of this tournament for the eighth time in 11 appearances. ``I never played him in his so-called prime,'' the third-seeded Blake said after the one-hour, five-minute match. ``But I can't imagine how much better it could be than this.'' Trailing only the idle Lleyton Hewitt in the world rankings, Agassi will play sixth-seeded Davide Sanguinetti this afternoon in the first 30-something Bay Area final since Rod Laver defeated Ken Rosewall in 1971. Sanguinetti, 30, defeated Justin Gimelstob 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3 earlier in the day. Blake tested Agassi for much of the first set but spent the latter stages chasing down one shot after another. At one point near the end, after Agassi smacked another forehand winner, Blake stared at his American counterpart and shouted: ``Don't you ever get tired of doing that?'' It certainly doesn't appear so. Two months from his 33rd birthday, Agassi is 11-0 this year and bidding for his fifth Siebel title. ``It's impossible to get tired of hitting good shots out there,'' Agassi said when someone mentioned Blake's comment. ``I'll be asking him the same question in 10 years.'' In losing to the hottest player on tour for the second time in three career matches, Blake, a former Harvard standout, said he felt helpless. ``It feels like if you don't play a perfect point, you're going to lose,'' Blake said. ``That's tough to deal with. That's why I see him win a lot of matches that he makes look easy. ``He runs you around. I got much more tired in that one-hour match than in any other match this week or a lot of three-set matches. And even when he doesn't make you run, he makes you work really hard. You have to move your feet so much more to play the perfect point every time to beat him.'' Agassi said he thought Blake, 23, might have been trying too hard. ``He was probably playing a little bit bigger than he needed to,'' Agassi said. It's off to Memphis for James where he'll face Jiri Vanek in the first round, on the same side of the draw as number one seed Andy Roddick. James will also partner with Justin Gimelstob in the doubles draw. They received a wild card entry. 2/15/03 On to the Semis! From the San Jose Mercury News: In the late match Friday, Blake defeated seventh-seeded Nikolay Davydenko 7-5, 6-2 to set up a showdown against Agassi. Blake is 1-1 against the eight-time Grand Slam champion. ``He's obviously playing as well as anyone in the world, if not a whole level better than everyone,'' Blake said. ``It will be a great measuring stick to play probably the best player in the world this year. Win or lose, I'm not going to hang my head in shame.'' When asked how he expects Agassi to respond to Friday's nail-biter, Blake said: ``Hopefully not so well. I'm sure he's been through this in the past. He's got a long enough career to know how his body reacts, and I'm sure he'll be able to get ready.'' James Plays Tonight at 7pm PST (10 EST/3am GMT). 2/14/03 San Jose Second Round Win From the San Jose Mercury News: No. 3 James Blake needed only 58 minutes to rout Hyung-Taik Lee 6-3, 6-2. Blake had nine aces and converted three of four break-point opportunities to advance to the quarterfinals of this tournament for the second consecutive year. ``I thought I played well, better than last night,'' said Blake, who defeated Wayne Black 6-2, 6-4 in the first round Wednesday. ``I served a lot better.'' Next up for Blake is Nikolay Davydenko, whom Blake beat in four sets in the second round of the U.S. Open in September, their only previous meeting. ``He's improved a lot since then, and I hope I've improved quite a bit since then,'' Blake said. James plays this evening following the Agassi match, which, judging by the way Agassi is playing, could be in about 45 minutes' time after Andre starts, whcih is at 7pm PST (3am GMT).. 2/13/03 San Jose First Round Win
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- James Blake was able to put a bad weekend behind him with a quick victory. The third-seeded Blake,
ranked a career-high 24th, needed just 51 minutes to beat Zimbabwe's
Wayne Black 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round of the Siebel Open on Wednesday
night. Blake: "I felt pretty good tonight and yesterday I felt out of it from the trip. It was good to recover and play well tonight. I'm happy to get through the first match." From the San Jose Mercury News: The crowd got more of what it wanted in the night session's first match, when James Blake took off his warm-up jersey and revealed a sleeveless black T-shirt. Plenty of those in the stands at HP Pavilion let out a high-pitched ``Wooo!'' People magazine's sexiest athlete was in the house -- but not for long, because Blake's game has become almost as good as he looks. In just 51 minutes, the world's No. 24 player and this event's third seed defeated Wayne Black of Zimbabwe 6-2, 6-4. The victory pushed him into a second-round match today against Hyung-Taik Lee of South Korea, who beat Taylor Dent of Huntington Beach 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). ``Blake has the potential to be a big-league tennis player,'' tournament chairman and former pro Barry MacKay said. ``People always ask me, `Where are all the great new American tennis players?' Well, here he is. ``James is a great athlete. He's the best American volleyer right now. To win Wimbledon, you have to be able to volley on hard surfaces.'' MacKay knows what he's talking about when it comes to Wimbledon: He has been a commentator at the Grand Slam since 1973. ``The better players play to their strengths, or try to,'' said Blake, 23. ``If you go back and watch Pete Sampras, that's what he does. He has the confidence to play his best game when it counts the most. It's a matter of me getting experience in big-point situations. ``The future is now. I'd like to think that this is my year.'' James plays Lee today around 5pm EST (10pm GMT) in the second round. Also, jamesblaketennis.com
would like to pass along well wishes to Todd Martin, who had to pull
out of the tournament due to a medical emergency with his newborn. 2/12/03 Doubles Result and Citizen Watch Deal JB and Todd Martin lost their doubles match last night 3 and 3. JB plays again this evening against Wayne Black at 7pm Pacific (3am GMT for our international audience and Priya :) ). Citizen Watch Deal- You may have recently read reports about a Citizen watch deal that James has signed. A few details- the campaign, called 'Unstoppable', features young athletes and celebrities, will hit in April in print and then TV will follow shortly thereafter. Exho Addition- Since the
US won't have another Davis Cup match until September, James will be
able to play in Houston at the River Oaks exhibition just after the
Key Biscayne tournament in March. 2/10/03 On to San Jose No rest for the weary- JB is on his way to the west coast to play in San Jose at the Siebel Open. He's drawn Wayne Black in the opening round, and is partnering with Todd Martin in the doubles. The match vs. Black will take place on Wednesday at 7pm Pacific time, while his first round match with Todd (vs. Sanguinetti and Jim Thomas) will be tomorrow (Tuesday) around 5:30pm Pacific time. 2/9/03 Davis Cup Nightmare
But that only made him more confident for the future. "Every time I lose it makes me want to work harder because I hate this feeling so much," Blake said after Ljubicic beat him, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, to put Croatia in the quarterfinals of the World Group. Croatia will play in Spain April 4-6, probably on clay. The United States will play in September for its spot in the 2004 Davis Cup. Taylor Dent lost to Mario Ancic, 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (10), in the meaningless final singles match, shortened to a two-of-three-set format, to give Croatia a 4-1 victory. "It hurts; this one hurts more than any other one," said Patrick McEnroe, the United States captain. "Because I felt this team could go all the way this year. But there is a thin line between doing that and losing in the first round." Without Andy Roddick, who is injured, it came down to Blake, Dent, Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri, instead of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras. It was the second time in three years that the Americans had lost in the first round, forcing them into the playoffs to stay in the World Group. "It's real disappointing but not disheartening because I think there is a lot of potential here and down the road we are going to be a good team," McEnroe said. Blake and the rest of his young Davis Cup teammates will have to wait until April 9 to find out their opponent among the eight zone qualifiers from Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas and the other first-round World Group losers. The playoffs will be Sept. 19-21, after the United States Open, with the winners staying in the World Group and the losers dropping down. "And now I have even longer to work myself harder to get ready for that match and for next year," Blake said. That prospect did not discourage him. "I don't really make guarantees because I think it is silly, but I am pretty confident we will get a Davis Cup in the next few years," Blake said. Ljubicic served 29 aces, one short of his total Friday in his victory over Fish, sending the Croats into the quarterfinals for the second year in a row. Last year, they beat Germany in the first round in Croatia. "He did serve huge," Blake said. "He doesn't hit a second serve. He hits two first serves the whole time. That's his strategy. That's his game. It worked well this weekend. I have never seen him serve better these last three days." It helped give Ljubicic three points against the United States. Croatia had a 2-1 lead entering today's reverse singles after the sore-armed but big-serving Goran Ivanisevic, playing with Ljubicic, rallied Croatia from two sets down to win the doubles on Saturday. Ivanisevic, the 2001 Wimbledon champion, had shoulder surgery last May and aborted a comeback in his second match in a challenger tournament last month because of elbow and biceps pain. With Ivanisevic playing only doubles, it was up to Ljubicic. "The players from my squad are expecting from me to win at least two matches and, if I can, a third," Ljubicic said. "There was a lot of pressure on me." Especially playing Blake, who was ranked 24th in the world to Ljubicic's 52nd. "When I saw him playing the first day, I thought it would be very difficult," Ljubicic said. But he broke Blake's serve in the sixth game of the match, taking advantage of a double fault and some loose forehands by Blake. "James didn't play from the baseline as he did on Friday," Ljubicic said. "I won perhaps more points from baseline than him. He was always on defense. He hit a couple big forehands, but he was not controlling the point from the baseline." After Ljubicic won the first set, Blake won the second set in a tie breaker, gaining a 5-2 lead when Ljubicic committed one of his 12 double faults. Blake took an early advantage in the third set when Ljubicic was broken for the only time this weekend. That put Blake ahead, 2-1. But at 4-3, Blake's serve was broken at love. Two forehands into the net helped put Blake in a 0-40 hole. "James played a loose game and you can't afford to do that in a match like this," McEnroe said. "Ivan was doing things to take him out of his rhythm, but that was his game plan." Two games later, two double faults by Blake put him in trouble again, and Ljubicic won the set, 6-4. Three more forehand errors by Blake while serving in the sixth game of the final set allowed Ljubicic to gain the key break, and he held on to win — but not without some drama in the final game. Ljubicic rallied from 15-40 to deuce before giving Blake another break point. Then Ljubicic served two more aces to reach match point. Another Blake forehand hit the net, sending the Croats to Spain in April. McEnroe said he thought his players were only going to get better. "We have the makings of a great team the next five to seven years," he said.
2/8/03 US Team Loses 5 Setter in Doubles ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) -- Goran Ivanisevic played through arm pain Saturday to help Croatia come back and beat the United States in doubles for a 2-1 lead in the first round of the Davis Cup. Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic lost the first two sets against the U.S. team of James Blake and Mardy Fish, then constructed a remarkable rally to win 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4. Ljubicic and 2001 Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic embraced in a dance, each taking turns lifting the other off his feet. On Sunday, Ljubicic can clinch victory for Croatia in the best-of-five series by beating Blake in singles. If the American wins, Fish would play 18-year-old Mario Ancic to settle things. Ljubicic, who served 30 aces in his singles victory Friday over Fish, was again dominant and clinched the match with a service winner that Blake drove into the net. Ivanisevic had left shoulder surgery nine months ago and hasn't played a serious match since. He wasn't very effective in Saturday's first two sets, but he did manage to serve aces on some key points. ``I didn't have a feel
for the ball in the first two sets. It got better at the end of the
second and then everything went crazy,'' the 31-year-old Ivanisevic
said. The Americans won the first two set with little problem, never losing serve and taking advantage of Ivanisevic's half-speed, poor serving. In the 28-minute first set, Ivanisevic was broken on his first service game as he failed to get any of his five first serves into play. In the second, he was broken again on his first service game as the Americans breezed to victory in 34 minutes. Croatia inched back into the match in the third set and had three break chances against the Americans in the second game but failed to convert. In the fifth, the Americans earned two break points, but Ljubicic served his way out of trouble with an ace and service winner. Croatia again squandered a set point in the 10th game but took the tiebreaker when Blake hit a volley long. Croatia took control of the fourth set immediately, breaking Fish in the first service game. The fifth set turned in the ninth game, when Blake fell behind love-40 and lost his serve. 2/7/03 JB Whips Up on Ancic to Even Davis Cup Tie ZAGREB, Croatia -- After an opening match loss by US team member Mardy Fish, James took it to 18 year old Mario Ancic, winning 6-1, 6-2, 7-6. James played a consistent, methodical match, serving well, picking his opportunities to come into net well, and, as always, smoking his forehand for winners. He frustrated Ancic into a number of unforced errors and was in firm control throughout the match. Now comes the all important doubles match, which will pair James and Mardy against the hard serving duo of Ivanisevic and Ljubicic. That match will be aired tomorrow on ESPN2 at 3pm. 2/6/03 Davis Cup Pairings & ATP Award Results From the a.p.: ZAGREB, Croatia -- Mardy Fish will make his Davis Cup singles debut in opening the U.S. team's World Group tie against Croatia on Friday. Fish will play Ivan Ljubicic, followed by the Americans' most experienced member, James Blake, against Mario Ancic. Fish and Blake were also nominated to play the doubles Saturday and the reverse singles Sunday. U.S team captain Patrick McEnroe chose not to use Taylor Dent or Robby Ginepri in the first Davis Cup match between the countries. The best-of-five matches will be played on indoor carpet at the Hall Dom Sportova. Fish's only previous Cup experience was pairing with Blake to beat Slovakia in doubles last February in the competition's first round. "Mardy has played more matches lately, he's won more matches. He's in a little better shape," McEnroe said. "Taylor is not as sharp as Mardy is. Mardy is playing with a lot of confidence and started the year well. He's played Davis Cup in doubles. I just think right now, for the Friday match, he's the better guy to go with." Blake's record is 4-1 in singles and 3-0 in doubles. Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic will play only doubles for Croatia following surgery on his left serving shoulder 10 months ago. "My arm generally
is in a bad shape, but it's not hard (to play) when you have to,"
Ivanisevic told Croatian television. "I'll definitely be registered
to play doubles. There's still some time left until Saturday." New 'At Issue' Click on the @ Issue icon just above to read what JB has to say on the current Davis Cup format and timing issues. From ATP.com: Israeli-Pakistani Doubles Duo Chosen for Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award on Ashe's 10th Anniversary
"During a summer when fear and hatred garnered much of the headlines, Amir and Aisam-ul-Haq provided much needed relief with their simple message about tolerance through tennis," said ATP Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles. "It's fitting that we present the Arthur Ashe Award to these two players on the anniversary of Arthur's death, as Arthur remains the model for all of us on how athletes and sport can make a big difference in the lives of others." Among other ATP players
selected for 2002 awards were rising Thai star Paradorn Srichaphan (Stefan
Edberg Sportsmanship Award and Most Improved Player Award); Paul-Henri
Mathieu (Newcomer of the Year); and Marat Safin (ATPtennis.com Fans'
Favorite). All ATP award winners-including 2002 World No. 1 singles
player Lleyton Hewitt and No. 1 doubles team Mark Knowles and Daniel
Nestor-receive a distinguished Waterford Crystal trophy as a symbol
of their tennis excellence across the world. Most award winners were
selected by the players themselves at their annual player meeting at
January's Australian Open. 2/5/03 Stuff Grand Slam Jam Recap: The following comes from site regular (and AIG bigwig :) ) Marianne: "The GSJ was fun. It was in Davis Cup format (2 singles, doubles, 2 reversed singles). James played Taylor Dent first. I think he won 6-2 (they played one set with tie-break at 5-5). They had Andy commenting on the side. Mardy played Courier and won 6-4. Then the doubles was Fish/Blake vs Dent/Alex O'Brien. Blake/Fish played really well, hopefully a premiere of what is to happen in Croatia. Andy/Mardy were giving James a hard time about his modeling and while James was walking to court after a change-over Andy started singing the 'catwalk' song. Poor James got so embarrassed. He then shook his butt to one side of the stadium and they were telling him to shake his butt for the other side, he didn't want to, but eventually gave in and gave our side something to cheer for (he was so embarrassed). They had some really great angled shots and played really well when they were serious, but since it was an exho Blake/Fish had some mis-reads. Blake/Fish won the doubles. They then reversed the singles and Fish played Dent and Blake played and won against Courier. Theirs was the toughest, closest match. Blake played really well and hit some great shots. He had some lighting speed forehands and backhands." ATP Awards: James is up for two 2002 year-end awards: the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and the Most Improved Player award. Learn more at: http://www.atptennis.com/en/insidetheatp/atpawards/default.asp. Winners are to be announced tomorrow, the 10th anniversary of the passing of tennis legend Arthur Ashe. Davis Cup TV Schedule: Friday 2/7 1pm - 5pm EST ESPN Saturday 2/8 3pm - 5pm ESPN2 Sunday 2/9 2pm - 4pm ESPN2 New Partners: JamesBlakeTennis.com is proud to welcome a couple new partners. NetPro is a trading card company that has created a sweet new set of tennis trading cards. Of course Mr. Blake is among the 90 cards in the set. Click on the link at the top of the page to get more information on the cards and order some! Dunlop is also enjoying a great surge in popularity with the help of James and his award winning 300G racquet. Learn more about Dunlop products at their site http://www.dunlopsports.com/usa/. And, if you want to own a 300G, click on the Tennis Warehouse link at the top of the page. 1/28/03 Davis Cup Team Anounced From USTA.com: Captain Patrick McEnroe named the U.S. Davis Cup team that will face Croatia Feb. 7-9 at the Hall Dom Sportova in Zagreb, Croatia in the 2003 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first round. The nominations for Team USA went to James Blake, Mardy Fish, Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri. Brian Baker and Jeff Salzenstein will join the group as practice partners. McEnroe said that as of now, Blake and Fish will compete in singles, with doubles not yet decided. When asked why Davis Cup hopeful Andy Roddick, who received an MRI on his injured wrist yesterday, was left off, McEnroe stated, "Andy has severe tendinitis in his right wrist. He's been told not to pick up a racquet for a couple of weeks." He later added, "He just wouldn't be ready for next week." In reference to the absence of some top name players turning down any invitations, such as Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras, McEnroe said "I want players who want to be there. I don't lose sleep over the guys who aren't playing." The U.S. vs. Croatia first round series will mark the first time in the 103-year history of the Davis Cup competition that the United States will play in Croatia. The tie will be played
nearly 10 years to the day since former U.S. Davis Cup player and captain
Arthur Ashe passed away from AIDS related complications on Feb. 6, 1993.
A young Patrick McEnroe was selected by Ashe as an '83 Davis Cup team
practice partner for their match in Dublin, Ireland. The Croatian team is captained by Nikola Pilic, with team members Goran Ivanisevic, Mario Ancic, Ivan Ljubicic, and Lovro Zovko. Tomorrow, James Blake will hold a press conference for the media. Check back later today for a complete transcript of McEnroe's press conference announcing the members of the US squad, and look for a transcript of Blake's press conference tomorrow afternoon. 1/19/03 Round 4 Result Aussie Open - Didn't get to follow the match except for on the net, but looked like today wasn't James' day. He had a hard time holding serve all match, and could never seem to capitalize when he managed to break Schuettler's serve. Final score was 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 3-6. Bad things must come in twos down under, 'cause JB and Mark Merklein also lost in doubles today. Anyways, this was James' best ever Grand Slam showing in singles and doubles, and hopefully a sign of things to come for the rest of the year! Here's what he had to say in the post match press conference. 1/18/03 Update Aussie Open - James plays later on today in doubles with partner Mark Merklein in the third round (Sunday in Australia), facing off against the nine seeds, Paes and Rikl. Next up in singles is Schuettler, and that match will take place on Monday in Australia (Sunday night here in the States). Added his post match press conference following the Martin match in the media section. Another Poll - Also, you can vote for your favorite ATP tennis player at the ATP Tour website. James could currently use some help; he's garnering just 3% of the vote. He never seems to fare too well in these polls, does he? Breast Cancer Awareness- Head to Ebay to bid on an autographed James Blake Nike shirt to help benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation. 1/17/03 Round 4! JB polished off Alberto Martin in 4 sets tonight (EST) and it's on to face Schuettler, who beat Safin due to a walkover. Doubles Update: James and Mark made it through to round 3 yesterday, beating Kafelnikov and Stepanek in three sets. Exo Update: Received word today from the lovely and talented Iris that James is scheduled to appear in Jim Courier's Grand Slam Jam. Roddick and Couriere are part of the festivities as well. To be held in Austin, TX. Read more about it at: http://www.grandslamjam.net/ 1/16/03 Doubles Action JB and Mark Merklein won their doubles opener yesterday and are right back in action today (tomorrow in Aussieland). They face the seven seeds- Kafelnikov and Stepanek. 1/15/03 2nd Round Match on ESPN2 Tonight @11pm EST! Well, there won't be any live coverage of JB's match tonight on ESPN2 - that's because he just smoked Acasuso in straight sets, 1, 4 and 4. It's on to round 3 to face Martin. James should be much more rested than him; Alberto has had a tough fove setter and a tough four setter. 1/14/03 Sleeveless Sweep to Round 2 James (and Nike) decided to show off the guns in his first round match at the Aussie Open today...and fortunately it worked. Apparently his opponent, Jiri Vanek, was so put off by the site of James' arms and occasional glimpses of his underarm hair (which, incidentally, is also done up rasta style) that he put up no resistance in the match, hoping to get off the court and collect his paycheck ASAP. Seriously, looks like a fairly smooth win for JB, and now he gets to face Acasuso for a chance to move on to round 3. Check out pix from the match in the Images section. Also, looks like i was fed some misinformation about the doubles draw. Thomas didn't make it in, but JB IS still playing, with Mark Merklein of the Bahamas. James has teamed up with him numerous times in the past. Looks like they will play Thursday, the same day James plays his second round match-dowh! 1/10/03 Aussie Open Preps Random notes here as we approach the Australian Open. First off, a new feature on the site: as you'll notice there's a new button at the top of the page called "@ Issue". James has agreed to offer up his thoughts on a current 'hot topic' on the tour and perhaps beyond. First up is the proposal to move the Australian Open to March and perhaps move Wimbledon (gasp!). Next up, the draw has been announced for the Aussie Open, and looks like James finally avoided the shaft. First up is Jiri Vanek, a rather undistinguished player from the Czech Republic. A potential second round matchup is with the Argentinian Acasuso. Definitely beatable. JB is in the bracket with second seeded (and injured) Marat Safin. So we'll see how it goes. ESPN 2 begins coverage Sunday night at 11pm EST, so set those VCRs! James is going to try and play doubles with his brother Thomas, but they are right on the bubble as far as getting in. The draw is announced on the 14th. If they can't make it together, JB will be focusing on singles. 1/7/03 Short Stop in Sydney It seems Carlos Moya still has James' number on the court. The Spaniard beat JB yesterday for the third time in the last three months. Score was 3-6, 7-6, 3-6. On to the Australian Open! 1/5/03 JB Next Tournament and Opponent To find out where and who JB will be playing in the near future, head to the results/schedule section of the site. I will also link the players and tournaments he is playing to their respective webpages. 1/4/03 JB and Serena Take out the Hopman Hosts JB clinched the Hopman Cup today with a win over the world's number one player Lleyton Hewitt 6-3, 6-4. It was his first win over Hewitt in six tries. James' win clinched the cup for the US because Serena closed out her Hopman Cup campaign undefeated, beating Molik in the day's first match 6-2, 6-3. The duo then partnered for a meaningless mixed doubles match which they won to boot- 3 and 2. Check out a post match transcript from the Americans in the Media section and some images from the matches in the Images section. By the way, the University of Miami was robbed in the National Championship game last night. Just thought I'd get that off my chest. 1/3/03 JB and Serena Get by Belgium JB and Serena are moving into the finals tomorrow against Australia after beating Belgium 2 matches to 1. Serena started off with a win over Kim Clijsters, then Xavier Malisse evened up the tie by beating James 7-6, 6-2, but JB and Serena took care of business in doubles, squeeking out a win in a third set super tiebreak. Next up will be the Australian duo of Mr. Lleyton Hewitt and Miss Alicia Molik. Check out a post match transcript from the Americans in the Media section and some images from the matches in the Images section. 1/1/03 JB and Serena Ring in New Year with Convincing Wins Happy New Year everyone! JB and Serena brought in the New Year in fashion yesterday, winning all three matches for the US over Spain. The duo dominated in singles and doubles. JB beat Robredo 3 and 0, while Serena dominated Ruano Pascual 3 and 3. The two then spanked the Spaniards in dubs 1 and 4. Next up is Beligium on Friday- James will be taking on the X-Man, Xavier Malisse. Serena gets a rematch against Kim Clijsters, who beat the number one player in the world in November in L.A. Pix are up in the images section from the Spain match. See an amusing post match interview with the two in the Media section. 12/30/02 Dynamic Duo Take the Court in Perth, Australia Ready or not, the 2003 tennis season is here (so what if it's still 2002!). Which also means the much anticipated pairing of James and Serena Williams at the Hopman Cup is happening. The Dynamic Duo polished off Uzbekistan today- James winning in three sets in singles(2-6, 5 and 2), Serena in two sets in singles (3 and 2), and the team winning in straight sets in doubles (3 and 1). Pictures are now in the Images section! Next up is Spain on Wednesday (but don't ask me when that is East Coast time, 'cause I still haven't quite figured that out yet). See an interview folloing the day's matches in the Media section.
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