Old News 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

12/31/05 In Australia

James has already celebrated the New Year in Australia. He arrived earlier today, and is set to do battle in Adelaide early next week. The draw will be announced on the second according to the tournament website.

James will be sporting new Nike duds and shoes as well as a Prince racquet.

For those of you in Australia who may have missed James' appearance on the 60 Minutes news program here in the States, you can check it out. Download James' segment by right clicking here.

If you live in Australia , YOU CAN GET JAMES' STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

12/26/05 Gettin' Ready for '06

First off, happy holidays to all of you out there celebrating of late. My family has had a nice time together over the past 10 days or so. If you don't mind a couple pix: the boy and wife and daughter taken on Xmas.

James is off to Australia soon (if he hasn't left already). First up in '06 is the Adelaide tournament. Judging from the player list they have posted on the site (see James' Schedule page), I'd say James should be seeded in this one. Tournament gets going on Jan. 2nd.

Speaking of the new year, I should have an update on JBlock t-shirts in the next few weeks. Hopefully you guys will have the opportunity to get some!

Speaking of getting things- James has a birthday coming up in the next couple days. He'll be 26. I'm sure he wouldn't mind getting some well wishes for the new year from you guys. Send them to: jbinfo1@adelphia.net and title them Happy Birthday!.

Well, another week or so to kill before the action gets underway, so let's have some year-end fun. Not sure how many of you are music fans out there, but I still make time to listen to plenty of tunes. Check out my year end best of '05 list and feel free to add your own on the bulletin board. This is not for discussion purposes- make your statement with your list!

BOBBLEHEADS MAKE GREAT GIFTS! (And I only have about 25 more to get rid of)

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

I'm making the switch tot he new Prince O3 Tour, check it out plus the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collectionis there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET JAMES' STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

12/15/05 Prince Press Release

Came across this on PR Newswire today, it's the press release Prince distributed announcing James' signing. Interesting to note: apparently Prince will be making an O3 frame for James to use next season, and the contract is for 7 years!

What else? Ah yes, spoke with James' agent yesterday and we have the better portion of James' 2006 schedule ready for your exclusive viewing.

BOBBLEHEADS MAKE GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS!

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

12/11/05 Prince Deal

Word came through yesterday that James has signed a deal to play Prince racquets! The racquet itself is still in development, but I'm sure we'll see James wielding at least a prototype in Australia in January. I've playtested some of Prince's O3 racquets myself, and I will definitely vouch for them. Time for me to trade in the old Dunlops! See Prince's current line at Tennis Warehouse. Read an article about the signing by Darren Rovell over at ESPN.com.

James wrapped up his exhibition season last night in West Virginia. Read about it here.

What else...oh yeah! Time to give away those autographed JBlock Tennis Shirts!!! First one goes to James MacIndoe. James had a great story to tell, overcoming adversity not unlike James Blake's did last year. The next goes to Zach Mitchell, who did a report on James that made his school newspaper. And the last goes to Mavis McKenley who was in Norfolk for James' exhibition there, and owns a tennis shop in Virginia Beach. Congratulations and Happy Holidays!

BOBBLEHEADS MAKE GREAT HOLIDAY GIFTS!

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

12/5/05 Norfolk Exhibition

Alright, finally had enough time to put something together from my trip up to Norfolk last week. Before we get to that though, one bit of news to share: James will not be travelling to Argentina because he strained his groin during his exhibtion with Andre Agassi in Boise on Saturday night. Read a little about that performance here.

Okay, without further ado, here's my little multimedia account from the AnthemLive! event held last Thursday night in Norfolk, VA.

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

12/4/05 Norfolk Exhibition

Had a chance to catch up with James in Norfolk this past Thursday, and I'm in the process of assembling a little phot montage for you. Hope to have it done this evening.

11/28/05 60 Minutes Episode

Download James' segment by right clicking here.

For those of you visiting the website for the first time who may have seen James on 60 Minutes today- welcome! James often responds to fans, so if you have anything you want to communicate, you can email him at jbinfo1@adelphia.net .

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

11/23/05 James on 60 Minutes this weekend

James will be featured on the CBS news program 60 Minutes this weekend. Check your local listings for the time, but it typically follows NFL football, starting around 7pm. See an online preview here.

The Davis Cup in San Diego. And YOU'RE THERE! What could be better?

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

11/16/05 Norfolk Event (non)Update

Hey there folks- still working the details out on the Norfolk event. I'll post as soon as I have information.

In the meantime, let's give something away! We have autographed J-Block t-shirts!!! Write me an email why you deserve a shirt and the best answers win! Email me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net.

While you're pondering just what to write, check out the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

Want to see the Grand Slams in style? Head here to find out how.

11/12/05 Norfolk Event

We're in the process of assembling a package of four tickets and a meet and greet with James to the Anthem LIVE! event in Norfolk that we will be auctioning off on EBay. Hopefully we'll have all the details by Monday so we can get the bidding going.

James was in Virginia this past week to help promote the Anthem LIVE! event. Here's one stop he made in Richmond that's interesting...

Like the orange color James is currently wearing on court? See it here as part of the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

Want to see the Grand Slams in style? Head here to find out how.

11/9/05 Exhibition #1

James was in Hershey, PA on Monday night for a World Team Tennis exhibition (unbeknownst to me I must confess). Read a report here.

11/8/05 Exhibition Schedule

For those of you lucky enough to live in or close to one of the following cities, you get to see JB this offseason!

November 19, 20: Naples, Florida for the annual Swingtime Benefit

Thursday, December 1st: Norfolk, Virginia (with Andy Roddick, John Mayer and Gavin DeGraw), I'm heading up to Norfolk to see this one, called Anthem LIVE!, so I'll have a full report for everyone...

Saturday, December 3rd: Boise, Idaho (Rock and Racquets with Andre, Steffi and the Bryan Brothers)

December 5, 6 - Copa Guilemo Vilas with James and David Nalbandian playing a singles event in Argentina against Gaudio and Gonzalez.

Saturday, December 10: Huntington, West Virginia (with Jeff Morrison)

Like the orange color James is currently wearing on court? See it here as part of the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

Want to see the Grand Slams in style? Head here to find out how.

11/7/05 The Long Lost Oprah Link

I'm positive I posted this a while back, but it has somehow mysteriously disappeared. Use this link to download a 40 meg .mov file of James' appearance on Oprah a few weeks ago (Right click and save target as').

Like the orange color James is currently wearing on court? See it here as part of the new Nike Winter Collection at Tennis Warehouse. The ladies' collection (including Serena's holiday line) is there as well.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

Want to see the Grand Slams in style? Head here to find out how.

it was a good match today. i played really well and he still never gives you any free points. i served really well. i think i had 17 aces in just 2 sets. so it was a good day. i also am very proud to wear orange, the color of the syracuse orange. it has undoubtedly improved my game here in sweden. (editorial license used/abused).

10/5/05 New Site Partner

With a little downtime before the next tournament, we'll take the opportunity to introduce a new partner of ours- Grand Slam Tennis Tours. I was contacted a short while ago by a fellow at GSTT who, it turns out, used to school James on the courts back in New England Juniors tournaments. On top of that, this fellow had an older brother who regularly beat James' older brother Thomas as well. I mention all this now because James has always wanted to get revenge on this poor fellow, and JB recently told me that the fact that this guy now wants to advertise on HIS website cetainly qualifies as sweet payback.

Okay, so I pretty much made all that up. Forgive me, but it's been a little boring around here the past week or so. Apparently this fellow did know James and his brother back in the day and his younger sister has a wall in her room completely dedicated to James, so that counts for something.

Anyways, check out their site. You'll also notice their banner ad up on the top of the page. If you've ever wanted to go see a top-tier tournament, and have everything (tickets, accommodations, etc.) handled for you, these guys are the way to go.

10/2/05 Update

James is off to Stockholm on Thursday for the if...Stockholm Open. For more about if... head here. http://www.if-insurance.com

What else? The Oprah episode hasn't aired yet, and judging from the upcoming week's schedule, I don't think it's on this week either.

Bobbleheads are available! I am down to one box left, so get them while you can!

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/26/05 Mail

Anyone interested in emailing James can send it to jbinfo1@adelphia.net.

James has spent a lot of time on fans' questions over the years, please read a sampling of his advice here.

Bobbleheads are available! I am down to one box left, so get them while you can!

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/25/05 Davis Cup Day 4

Andy closed things out today for the U.S. Davis Cup squad with a 5 set win over Olivier Rochus, enabling the Americans to remain in the World Group. James played what's known as a dead rubber to finish off the tie, winning in two sets over Steve Darcis. Too bad James didn't get to play a more meaningful match, but at least he gets to inflate the 'ole Davis Cup record :)

Read all about the tie at the Davis Cup website www.daviscup.com.

I'm not sure if James is going to be on the Oprah show tomorrow (Monday) or not. There's no mention of him on the preview on the Oprah site, but perhaps they have more than one guest a show? Can't say that I'm a regular Oprah viewer, so we'll just have to wait and see. I'll tape it anyways just in case.

A recap from our Hurricane Katrina fundraiing efforts during the US Open- we raised over $10,000 for the American Red Cross! Give yourselves a pat on the back for that one. JB has some of the best fans in the world!

9/24/05 Davis Cup Day 2

The Bob and Mike Show went off without a hitch today; they dominated in a 4 set win over Olivier Rochus and Vliegen 6-3 6-7(2) 6-1 6-3.

Andy gets the first crack at clinching the tie when he takes on Olivier Rochus tomorrow. James will follow in either a crucial or meaningless match against brother Christiophe Rochus. ESPN 2 has coverage at 1pm.

Get all the details from the tie at www.daviscup.com

6 images from James' first match are now up in the Images section.

Good news! and Bad News! First, the latter- unfortunately the JBlock shirt order we placed a while back found its way into never never land, i.e. the back rooms of the US Post Office. Another shipment is on the way, but it consists of only 5 or so shirts. Not sure yet how we'll get them to fans, but I'm sure I'll come up with something creative, and hopefully it will be at James' expense.

Bobbleheads are available! I am down to one box left, so get them while you can!

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/23/05 Davis Cup Day 1

Close first two sets today, but James didn't have enough to beat the tougher of the two Rochus brothers (Olivier). Scores were 4-6, 5-7, 1-6. Fortunately Andy Roddick made quick work of Christophe, so the tie is all even at one after Day 1.

Next up is the crucial doubles match tomorrow. Andy starts off on Sunday with the first reverse singles match. Get all the info you need about the tie at the handy dandy www.Daviscup.com website.

Good news! and Bad News! First, the latter- Unfortunately the JBlock shirt order we placed a while back found its way into never never land, i.e. the back rooms of the US Post Office. Another shipment is on the way, but it consists of only 5 or so shirts. Not sure yet how we'll get them to fans, but I'm sure I'll come up with somehting creative, and hopefully it will be at James' expense.

Bobbleheads are available! I am down to one box left, so get them while you can!

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/22/05 Oprah Episode

The episode of Oprah that was taped last week featuring James is tentatively set to air this coming Monday, September 26th (check your local listings and then set those VCRs and TiVos!).

9/21/05 James will Play!

As I reported earlier, James is in Belgium prepping for Davis Cup. Unlike I reported earlier, Robby Ginepri is not. Coach Patrick McEnroe made the call in favor of James this time, so it will be he and Andy facing the Belgians this weekend (along with the Bryan brothers). ESPN 2 (which I now get in HD thanks to DirecTV!) will air the coverage Friday at 3pm and Sunday at 1pm EST). As a side note, you can see James' brother Thomas in action on the deuce tomorrow at 11pm playing for the Boston Lobsters in World Team Tennis playoff action.

Also, just read about another 'exhibition' James will be a part of this offseason. Here's the scoop at Tennis Week.

Hopefully we'll have some JBlock tshirts available through the site soon. I'll keep you posted. For all you who are curious about the hat James was wearing during interviews during the open. You can get one too! Head to: www.wishchristopherthomas.com. As for James' on-court apparel- see what he's wearing on this page.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/18/05 Davis Cup

James is in Belgium now for Davis Cup. I expect we won't find out who will grab that second singles spot until the last second (the tie starts Friday), so Coach Mac can keep the Belgians guessing.

This is pretty funny- http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=nichols/050902

Hopefully we'll have some JBlock tshirts available through the site soon. I'll keep you posted. For all you who are curious about the hat James was wearing during interviews during the open. You can get one too! Head to: www.wishchristopherthomas.com. As for James' on-court apparel- see what he's wearing on this page.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/15/05 Media Blitz

James is doing the media thing in style of late. He's been in Chicago the past couple days taping an episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show (a big deal for the non-Americans out there). Even more impressive, James has Mike Wallace of the CBS news program 60 Minutes on his tail (and will so through the Davis Cup in Belgium). The Oprah show will be on later this month or perhaps early October. Non set time yet for 60 Minutes. What else? James leaves tomorrow night for Belgium. He probably won't be playing a new frame (tennis racquet) until next season. Plenty of other things in the works, but nothing to report as of yet according to his agent Carlos Fleming.

Hopefully we'll have some JBlock tshirts available through the site soon. I'll keep you posted. For all you who are curious about the hat James was wearing during interviews during the open. You can get one too! Head to: www.wishchristopherthomas.com. As for James' on-court apparel- see what he's wearing on this page.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/13/05 Ranking

James is up to 28th in the Champions Race and 34th in the Entry Rankings. Not sure yet how his schedule is going to look for the rest of the year after Davis Cup...

Hopefully we'll have some JBlock tshirts available through the site soon. I'll keep you posted. For all you who are curious about the hat James was wearing during interviews during the open. You can get one too! Head to: www.wishchristopherthomas.com. As for James' on-court apparel- see what he's wearing on this page.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/11/05 Davis Cup

In all the excitement over the past week, I kinda forgot to mention the important fact that James has been selected to represent the USA for the Davis Cup squad. What a tremendous honor and reward for his play this year. It was not long after the attacks of 9/11 that James received his first call up to the Davis Cup team in a tie vs. India, so I'm sure this brings back some great memories for him.

James will join Andy Roddick, Robby Ginepri (congrats to him btw for making the ATL proud at the US Open!) and the Bryan twins on the squad. Presumably, James and Robby will be fighting it out for that second singles slot on the team.

More involving Andy- he and James will co-headline a cancer charity event on December 1st with Fairfield High grad John Mayer in Norfolk, Virginia, my birthplace. Read more here.

Here's an 8meg video clip of Jams on Letterman from Friday night.

Hopefully we'll have some JBlock tshirts available through the site soon. I'll keep you posted. For all you who are curious about the hat James was wearing during interviews during the open. You can get one too! Head to: www.wishchristopherthomas.com

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/9/05 Coupla Things

You can bid on the shoes James wore during his match with Agassi here. Money raised goes to help the American Red Cross.

James will be on Letterman tonight. Check your CBS affiliate listings to see when it's on in your area.

Looks like we might have 1 or 2 of James' racquets left to auction off for the Red Cross. If you are interested, please place a bid of $1000 or more to me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net. I'll take bids until 8pm EST tomorrow (Friday) evening.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/7/05 Agassi Match

James lost a thriller last night: 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8).

Here are match articles from the New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the St. Pete Times, the Hartford Courant, the New York Daily News, the Miami Herald, the Boston Globe and Tennis Week.

Here's James' post-mach press conference.

You can see some pictures from the match in the images section.

In the meantime, send in your congratulatory messages to James here.

James will be on the David Letterman show tonight. Check your local CBS affiliate for times. Typically it's on at 11:35 after your local news.

Looks like we might have 1 or 2 of James' racquets left to auction off for the Red Cross. If you are interested, please place a bid of $1000 or more to me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net. I'll take bids until 8pm EST tomorrow (Friday) evening.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

AUCTION HAS ENDED

9/5/05 Rd 4 Win

James got his wakeup call a little late for this match, but boy did he get with the program at 2-5 down in the second set. I was in the middle of my fantasy football draft when James turned it on, and unfortunately for me and my team, I couldn't concentrate on the draft anymore. How else can you explain me picking Drew Bledsoe in the third round? (Okay, it wasn't quite that bad).

Let's let the pros handle this one again (I'll add more as they become available)...

New York Times, Associated Press, and Tennis Week.

Images from today's match are up as well. And just how sweet is this shot?

Here's a video interview with James on the US Open site from earlier in the tournament.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/5/05 Rd 4

James is up third today on Ashe Stadium court. Have a look at the order fo play here. My guess is he'll be on somewhere around 4pm.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/3/05 Rd 3 Win & Charity Auctions

What's there to say? Well, I guess you could start with the fact he's now 2 and 0 vs. Spaniards in Capri pants within the past seven days. James came through today bigtime, beating Mr Nadal 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. What a great win. I'll step aside and let the professional tennis writers handle this match.

New York Times, Associated Press, Bud Collins for the Boston Globe, the New York Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle, Tennis Week, the Gazzetta dello Sport, and the one you've all been waiting for, the Malayala Manorama.

Plenty of thrilling pix from the match- head to the bottom of the page HERE.

According to L'Equipe, here's what James had to say following the match:

«Malgré tout le respect que j'ai pour Rafael (Nadal), qui va devenir un énorme champion. Ma plus grande victoire reste celle sur Andre Agassi. Aujourd'hui, j'ai essayé de dicter le jeu pour que ce soit à lui de trouver des réponses aux problèmes que je lui posais et pas le contraire. Il en a eu quelque-unes de superbes. Je ne pense pas qu'il ait perdu de sa concentration. Je pense juste que c'est moi qui a pris confiance.»

james has obviously been brushing up on that French, hunh? for you folks who aren't up to par on the frnech, head here for his post match comments.

Next up is Tommy Robredo, who took out Sebastien Grosjean tonight. Match will be Monday.

We're going to try and do our part for the unfortunate folks affected by Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from the sale of James' 300G racquets will go to the Red Cross in their efforts to help out with disaster relief efforts.

Here's the racquet auction info

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/1/05 Rd 2 Win & Charity Auctions

Well, frankly, this evening's match was a little boring, at least in the suspense department. TV announcers Johnny Mac and Ted Robinson earned their money tonight trying to make the match seem compelling; you know it's bad when they start rooting for a guy (Andreev) just to make the scoreline look respectable.

But that lack of suspense was a good thing for our man JB. He dispatched the awkward looking Igor 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

James came out tonight resplendant in a Carlos Beltran Mets jersey (which I'm assuming he picked up yesterday when he took some BP over at Shea). He took that off to reveal a yellow Nike cutoff shirt, with a matching yellow headband (although the yellows didn't completely match quite well enough for my wife). With his blue shorts, it looked as though he might be trying out for the Brazilian soccer team. See pictures here.

He got out of the gate quickly, breaking Andreev in a long, hard-fought first game. And that was pretty much it for the first set. James was playing well, and Andreev simply wasn't. He really looked out of place on a hard court, often hitting balls way off the court with his forehand.

The second and third sets were pretty much the same. James has added a huge dose of patience to his game, and that has really made an enormous difference. He's content trading crosscourt backhands until the other guy 'goes for it'. That just hasn't hapened in years past.

Well, the big one is going to be played on Saturday. The Blake Nadal matchup will be the CBS match of the day I'm sure. So get set because it should be a bruiser.

We're going to try and do our part for the unfortunate folks affected by Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from the sale of James' 300G racquets will go to the Red Cross in their efforts to help out with disaster relief efforts.

Here's the racquet auction info

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

9/1/05 Rd 2 Tonight & Charity Auctions

James is the featured match tonight on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court. He'll get underway as soon as the Mauresmo match finishes up (probably somewhere around 9pm EST).

We're going to try and do our part for the unfortunate folks affected by Hurricane Katrina. Proceeds from the sale of James' 300G racquets will go to the Red Cross in their efforts to help out with disaster relief efforts.

Here's the racquet auction info.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

8/30/05 Rd 1 Win

I have to admit, I wasn't particularly confident about the match against Rusedski today, but JB showed the way with an incredible display of tennis when the points mattered the most.

Got to watch most of the match on USA network and it was quite entertaining. James had a couple breaks in the first set, including one at 5-5, which pretty much clinched it for him- he held and won 7-5.

The second set was tight until 5-5 again, with James up 0-40 on Rusedski's serve. He failed to convert this time, and before you knew it, it was Rusedski with a couple break (and set) points vs. James. Aces overcame those breaks though, and we were on to a tiebreak. Rusedski scored the first minibreak and had a serve to go up 4-1, but James played his best tennis of the match from that point on to win the tiebreak 7-3.

In the third, James got an early break and held on to win 6-3.

The forehand has just been on fire of late. He's hitting his winners, but not making as many unforced errors. And the backhand is no liabilty anymore. He hit plenty of backhand winners today, including service returns and passing shots. Overall, he's just winning the close points that were getting away from him earlier this season. Have a look at match point plus James' on court interview just after the match concluded.

Today really was an impressive match. Next up is the dangerous Igor Andreev, who dispatched Elseneer in three convincing sets yesterday. I think that match will be tomorrow, but I'm not 100% positive.

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8/29/05 U.S. Open Details

Wow- not much time to enjoy yesterday's win, hunh? It's back onto the saddle tomorrow for a date with Greg Rusedski, another big serving Lefty (as was Lopez). Matchtime will be roughly 1pm, depending on how quickly Federer dispatches Ivo Minar on Arthur Ashe stadium court.

Be advised folks, this is going to be a tough match for James. Considering the short turnaround time from Sunday, the fact that Rusedski has been playing very well this summer, and has had the advantage of getting much more practice time in on the US Open courts (he didn't play last week), we could be looking at a battle tomorrow.

With his tournament win, James is up to 37th in the Champions Race! And he's 49th in the ATP Entry Rankings. That is a tremendous accomplishment that should be applauded.

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8/29/05 Pilot Pen Tournament Recap

Tons of pictures from the match yesterday- it's going to take an hour or so to upload them all, so I need to wait for naptime to get that accomplished (although Cade has decided he doesn't always want to take a nap anymore).

I can post some links to various media outlets that covered the match yesterday though: Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, New York Times, Tennis Week, Associated Press.

Here's an audio file of some post match comments from James.

And back to the work at hand- James plays Rusedski tomorrow. Exact time and place TBD later today.

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8/28/05 RD 6 Win

ATP title number two is in the books! James won a three setter this afternoon from Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. A couple key factors in this match: 1) James really didn't want to lose to the white capri pants, and 2) my old college roommate Gary DePiero started watching at 6-5 in the second set, and obviously brought James good luck the rest of the way, since he dropped only one game after that point.

In all seriousness, this was a tight match through the first two sets, and James was lucky to break through at the end of the second, considering Lopez's serve was hitting on all cylinders early on.

Speaking of that serve, Lopez hit at a 73% clip in the first set and capitalized on a few loose points by James in game number nine (I think it was), to move ahead 5-4. He closed out the set easily.

At 2-1 on serve in the second, rain hit, and there was a break of about an hour. James broke Lopez coming out of the delay, but Lopez got him back just a couple games later. It was at 6-5 that it seemed like Lopez's serves started to lack a little zip, and James started to get more returns in play. That spelled trouble for Lopez, because James was much more solid off the ground today than the Spaniard.

As for set three, it was a blowout. James held to open, then broke Lopez fairly easily in game number two. James added another break after that, and it looked like Lopez was ready to move on to Flushing Meadows in a hurry. James held his serve easily throughout and claimed his second career title when Lopez netted a return.

For those of you who weren't able to see it, here's a 3 meg clip of the final game for you.

Talk about it here! Or you can email your thoughts directly to James via this email.

OWN JAMES' RACQUET!

We have autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a personal letter from James.

Lots more to come! I'll add some more posts and pictures and all sorts of stuff later on this evening.

8/28/05 RD 5 Win

Greetings and salutations- I got stuck at a wedding shower last night during James' match. What are those people thinking scheduling some stupid shower during a big match like that? And even more to the point- why are guys invited to a wedding shower? I felt so bad for the poor groom having to smile as he got gifts of cake pans and flatware. That's just wrong, man.

I did have the crackberry with me, so I could sneak off and check James' scores against Hanescu all night long. James was up a break in the first but handed it back, so the two went to a tiebreak, which James won 7-4.

In the second, they were on serve throughout, but Hanescu took this tiebreak 7-3.

In the third, James played briliantly (I saw this part on ESPN2), with minimal unforced errors, and Hanescu just didn't have it anymore. James cruised 6-1.

Here are a couple match reports: Hartford Courant, New Haven Register. And a few post-match comments from JB.

And an extensive piece in the current New York Times Magazine by Howard Axelrod, who's making his writing debut for the NYT Magazine (congrats). This one's a must read.

The big one is on ESPN2 today at 3pm. James faces Feliciano Lopez, a big 'ole lefty.

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8/26/05 RD 5 Win

James did it again this evening, pulling out a 3 set win over Hanescu. 7-6, 6-7, 6-1. I'll post more tomorrow morning- off to bed now.

8/26/05 RD 4 Win

As promised, here's info on the match from yesterday courtesy the best media horde Connecticut can offer. First, the big boy on the block, the Hartford Courant, serves up this report. The venerable Republican American had this to offer. The up and coming New Britain Herald took this perspective. The New Haven Register will undoubtedly be up for a couple Newspaper Association of America awards for this column and this article. And the Fairfield Minuteman completes its comeback from the disgrace of a few years ago with this piece. (Okay, so the piece is a few days old- I just wanted to write something with a phoenician tint to it).

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

We also have 2 new autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a personal letter from James.

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

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8/25/05 RD 4 Win

James has it going in his home state. Today he did away with Chela in three sets: 7-6, 4-6, 6-3. I'll post more details tomorrow.

Speaking of which, the semis are on at 7:30pm, with James facing Victor Hanescu. I'm assuming that will be the match on at 9pm on ESPN2.

8/25/05 RD 3 Win

After a yucky first set (1-6), James turned on the heat in the second set vs. Tommy Haas this evening and kept cooking in the third - and the resulting dish was pretty tasty: a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win in the third round of the Pilot Pen.

This one will be on the tube in a few minutes on ESPN2, so I'm looking forward to watching it. I'll post more tomorrow.

In the meantime, James is already scheduled for his QF match against Chela: he'll be on third with the first match starting at 10:30am. My guesstimate is he will hit the court around 1pm.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

We also have 2 new autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a personal letter from James.

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8/24/05 RD 2 Win

Just got done watching JB annihilate Filippo Volandri 6-1, 6-3. James played well, ma Filippo non ha avuto molto oggi. The first set lasted 16 minutes, 'nuff said.

Looks as though James will be playing Tommy Haas tomorrow (he's up big in the first set vs. Rochus at the moment. Not sure if that will be another televised daily match, or if they will hold it back to the night session to get a better crowd. James officially has a 1-0 lifetime record against Haas (I think that was Memphis back in '02), but they have faced off on at least a couple other occasions in exhibitions, and James has won those as well. We'll see how it goes, if he does in fact play Tommy.

You can listen to an MP3 file of James' post match interview from today here.

In other news, James learned his draw today for the US Open. He plays the 28 seed Greg Rusedski in the first round. Also in James' neck of the woods are Russian Igor Andreev, Atlantan Scoville Jenkins, and some cat named Nadal.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

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8/24/05 RD 1 Win

James hit the hard courts in New Haven last night with a little excitement, some excellent shotmaking and a solid win for his fans (80 of which he had to comp- cheap bastar#s). Read all about the match here and here. And here's something James penned prior to the tournament for the Hartford Courant.

James is back on court today at 2pm (a quick turnaround) vs. Filippo Volandri. Coveage starts on ESPN2 at 4pm, so I would imagine they will show the match tape delayed, or are we going to see Davydenko's match live? Hope not.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

We also have 2 new autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a personal letter from James.

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8/22/05 Pilot Pen Tournament

James is in action tonight at 7pm! Follow the live scoring at the tournament website.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

We also have 2 new autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a personal letter from James.

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

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8/21/05 Pilot Pen Tournament

I haven't seen the draw posted anywhere yet, but James has informed me that he will be playing Michael Llodra in the first round of the Pilot Pen in New Haven, Connecticut, starting Monday.

Bobbleheads are now available to everyone across the globe! I have 2 huge boxes of these guys, so I need your help in clearing them out of my garage! Order as many as you can possibly afford without taking food off the table for your kids (you adults can starve).

We also have 2 new autographed racquets available to the first persons who make a bid of $400 to help raise money for charity. Plus you get a perosnal letter from James.

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

8/16/05 Federer Match

I haven't watched the match yet (I Tivo'd it last night), but by all indications from the internet scoring, James played a great match against Federer in Cincinnati. Unfortunately he wasn't able to close the deal in either set, losing 6-7, 5-7.

There was only one break point opportunity to be had in the first set, and it belonged to James, but Roger made quick work of that. In the tiebreak, James started off with a mini-break, but promptly lost both his service points, and never recovered, losing 7-3.

Judging by the scoring, James started off the second set by dominating, holding easily and breaking Federer once, to earn a 3-0 lead. But Roger broke back and managed to hold serve until 5-5. In the 11th game James was serving, up 40-0, and then the proverbial wheels fell off, as he lost 5 straight points to lose the game (unless the internet scoring missed a point, as sometimes happens). Federer held serve to close it out.

That's it for this tournament, since James isn't in the doubles draw. Next week is a big one- James will be playing in his home state of Connecticut at the Pilot Pen tournament. Doubtless he'll have PLENTY of friends and family on hand for that one. Hopefully he gets a better draw. On that front, not many of the Top 10 are playing the tournament, so no chance of facing Federer again.

Here's a match report from the Cincinnati Enquirer:

Federer avoids another early ouster

By Neil Schmidt
Enquirer staff writer

Top-seeded Roger Federer won here for just the second time in six matches Monday, ousting James Blake in the first round.


MASON - Light rain stopped play a couple of times during Roger Federer's match Monday night at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters. Yet lightning certainly didn't strike twice.

Though a bit off his game, Federer avoided a repeat of last year, when he became just the third top seed in tournament history to lose in the first round. The top-seeded Federer beat James Blake 7-6 (3), 7-5 Monday in his first match since winning Wimbledon July 3.

"I definitely can improve on this," Federer said. "I was struggling all the way. But it's good to get through."

Federer had been 1-4 in Cincinnati, and in that lone victory - in 2003 over qualifier Scott Draper - he had to save seven match points to advance.

Considering his layoff to rest an injured foot and this being his first match on hard courts, Federer wasn't too concerned about his sloppy play.

"All I need is matches" to regain his form, he said. "So it doesn't really matter how I play."

Federer is 76-3 since the start of the U.S. Open last August.

"He beat me with less than 100 percent tonight," Blake said. "That's something the guys at the top are able to do: come up with big points on break points and in the tiebreaker."

Blake had five break points Monday but converted just one.

After rallying from a 3-0 deficit in the second set, Federer faced three break points serving at 3-4 but saved them all. At 5-5, Blake went up 40-love on his serve, but Federer claimed the next five points for the decisive break.

Blake postulated the theory that it's easier to upset a top player early in a tournament, before that player gets comfortable with the conditions. That would seem to bear out with Federer, for he's plenty comfortable as week's end - he owns a Tour record, winning the last 21 finals in which he has appeared.

Federer has spent 81 weeks at No. 1, the seventh-most in tennis history. As those weeks have come consecutively, it's the sixth-longest streak at No. 1, and it'll become the fourth-longest in another four weeks.

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8/13/05 Cincinnati

Believe it or not, I predicted to my wife that James would draw Federer in Cincinnati. Whoops. As best I know I am still employed as the webmaster of this site.

Here's the draw. Play gets underway on Monday, with coverage from 1-3pm and 11pm to 1am. James' match will happen at 7:30pm, but won't be shown until 11pm on ESPN2. Or you can follow the live scoring on the CIncy website at: http://www.cincytennis.com/

8/12/05 Washington Wrap

Heard from someone in attendance that James gave a memorable post-match interview after the final in DC. This comes from Suzanne Eller:

James had some very complimentary things to say about Andy, the DC fans, thanked his friends for coming in from CT and Tampa and also had the crowd sing happy birthday to his mom. When Andy got up to speak, he said that he is usually pretty good at those kinds of things but James threw him off the bus with that one - no way to compare. He also had compliments about what a great person James is and how glad he is to have him back.

Also, according tot he Washington Post, James and Andy had a great time later on that Sunday evening, reveling in Georgetown:

Game, Set, Toast!

Now that that silly Legg Mason tennis tournament is out of the way, let's go drinking! Andy Roddick was spotted at Georgetown's Mate on Sunday night with James Blake , the man he beat for the tournament championship mere hours earlier.

Lounge owner Osmar Nunez said the frienemies were celebrating with a large group of people over drinks -- "There were a lot of beautiful girls," he helpfully observed. But Roddick, dressed in a white polo shirt and jeans, wasn't too talkative when Nunez introduced himself: "He was quiet. Maybe he's tired of a lot of people going to talk to him."

Or it could be because Nunez made the 22-year-old remove his baseball cap at the door? (Although the owner says Roddick was "cool about it.") He added, "I don't allow shorts after a certain hour. I like to have a good ambiance." Hey, rules are rules.

The group downed cosmopolitans, mojitos and Matatinis (the house martini), as well as a bottle of Veuve Cliquot sent over by Nunez during their three-hour stay. When the crowd finally left, Nunez said Blake, 25, thanked him, said he had a lot of fun and offered to send the owner tickets to the U.S. Open. "He was a really nice guy," Nunez said.

Some US Open news to pass along as well. This from TennisWeeek:

Lexus Lines Up Legends For New U.S. Open Site

Rod Laver, Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Jim Courier, James Blake, Nick Bollettieri, John Newcombe, Brad Gilbert, the Bryan brothers, Bud Collins, Luke Jensen and Tennis Week publisher Eugene Scott are all planning to take a trip to your PC during the U.S. Open — courtesy of Lexus.

The esteemed collection of standout players and coaches are among the guests who will appear on the daily Lexus.com U.S. Open Show during the U.S. Open, which begins on August 29th. Hosted by Barry McKay, the Lexus.com U.S. Open Show debuts on Monday, August 29th at 6 p.m. with King appearing as the opening-day guest. The interviews will be streamed for broadband.

In addition to the daily interview segment, the Lexus site will feature scores, schedules and an archive of interviews and news.

Unfortunately for those of you who frequent the messageboard, it's down and has been down for some time. Since it is actually a part of a different website, things are beyond my control/capabilites to fix. Any suggestions are welcome though.

Hey, we're stepping into the 21st century here at JamesBlakeTennis- we're going to be podcasting! In the very near future you'll be able to download an audio file of James doing interviews with me, your podcasting host. Hope to get his going very quickly.

8/7/05 5-1 in DC

James nearly pulled off a big upset today in Washington, but Andy Roddick proved a little too much with his strong serve and potent forehand, winning 7-5, 6-3. It was a great match to watch; both guys played some tremendous offensive and defensive tennis.

James was broken right out of the gate in the first set, but managed to break back a few games later. At 5-6 on serve, JB was up 30-15, but made a couple unforced errors on the backhand, and missed a difficult, but makeable, overhead to lose the first set.

In the second, James started off with some dominating service holds, but ran into trouble at 3-4. Before you knew it, Andy was serving for the match. The final game had the fans on their feet applauding; James earned a break point with the best point of the match. After a short rally, James forced a defensive lob from Andy, which he slammed right at him. Somehow Andy got it back right at James' feet at the net, but James pulled out a sweet crosscourt half volley to win the point. James couldn't get the next serve back, and after one other point that went Andy's way, he finished it off with an ace.

All in all, the best thing was seeing James back on the court on a Sunday playing in a meaningful match, with tremendous crowd support and a national TV audience. It was fun!

Check out a couple shots in the 'Images' section and a few more here.

Time for a well-earned week off for James, then he plays Cincinnati on the 15th. I would estimate that James will move up into the 80 range in terms of rankings. We'll know for sure tomorrow.

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8/6/05 RD 5 Win in DC

James delivered the goods yet again tonight, straight setting Tomas Berdych with little difficulty. It was close early on, but James broke Berdych at 4-5 in the first set. It was 0-40 for James, but he ended up taking the game on an ad-out.

In the second set, James just cruised! He broke early on and held serve very comfortably throughout. Final was 4 and 3.

Next up is a date with Andy Roddick on national television tomorrow at 3pm on ESPN 2. Be there or be square!

In other news overshadowing the above, I won my first round K-Swiss tournament match today. Oh, what? You don't care? Okay we'll stick with the news about James.

Here's an AP report on the semis from today. Also plenty of pictures up in the Images section.

Roddick, Blake make it all-American final

August 6, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - Top-seeded Andy Roddick and unseeded James Blake won straight-set semifinal matches to advance to the final at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Saturday.

Roddick beat 13th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan 7-6 (4), 6-2, advancing to a final for the 29th time in his career. Blake then beat 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal to reach his fourth career final.

Roddick and Blake in the final means an American player is guaranteed to have won each of the first three U.S. Open Series events.

Roddick, who last reached a final at Wimbledon on July 3, will be going for his fourth title of the year and the 19th of his career on Sunday. Blake's lone title came in this event in 2002.

``He's a good friend, and those are always interesting matches,'' said Blake, who last faced Roddick in Cincinnati two years ago. ``We're friends, but tomorrow we're going to want to go out and beat each other's brains in. On the court, we're both professionals and want to win the title.''

In the first semifinal, Roddick slipped by in the fourth tiebreaker to win the first set and broke serve in the first game of the second set as he improved his career mark against Srichaphan to 6-1.

``My getting that break was tough on him,'' said Roddick, the 2001 tournament champion. ``I felt like I was in control of the match at that point. Today I felt like I turned the corner to playing well. I felt good, feel like I'm in a groove.''

In the match, Roddick won 94 percent of his first-serve points, 85 percent of his second-serve points and had 13 aces, including one clocked at 141 mph in the sixth game of the second set.

Paradorn said the momentum swung when Roddick broke serve to open the second set.

``I played a good first set. But (in the first game of the second set) I just kind of lost it. And it's hard to get back because he serves big,'' Srichaphan said. ``If you play someone like (Ivo) Karlovic or Roddick, you have to concentrate on their serve. One break is enough to lose.

``It's hard to read his serve. That's his big weapon, the service game.''

Blake was dominant in dispatching Berdych, winning 94 percent of his first-serve points and breaking the Czech's serve twice, once to win the first set and once to take a 3-1 advantage in the second set.

Blake was playing in his first semifinal since Long Island in 2003. It was his third straight two-set victory and his sixth straight win overall.

Berdych double-faulted six times in a failed bid at reaching his third career title match.

``I've been playing pretty solid all week,'' Blake said. ``I was happy to get through the way I did. I'm just happy to get back to the final, and there's no pressure on me tomorrow against Andy. He's one of the top players in the world, and I'm just going to go out and play and have fun.''

Blake's showing here this week signals his return as one of the top players on tour. Last year, he was ranked 39th before suffering a fractured vertebrae during a practice session in Rome. He attempted a return here last August, but lost in the first round and appeared in just one tournament the rest of the year as his ranking dropped 201.

Blake entered the week at No. 101.

8/5/05 RD 4 Win in DC

James keeps on keepin' on in our nation's capital. This evening he dispatched Arnaud Clement in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. One break in the first and two in the second. The numbers tell the story in this match: 26 of 28 points won on James' first serve, only one break point against the entire match, and 61 points won with only 38 points lost.

We'll see if he can keep up the momentum tomorrow when he faces Tomas Berdych, a double tiebreak winner today. The match will be tomorrow night at 7pm EST (12am GMT) . You can follow the scores live on the net at the DC website.

THINGS ARE GETING A LITTLE DODGY FOR ME, BUT I WILL STILL SKYDIVE IF JAMES PULLS OFF THE WHOLE SHEBANG! THAT SAME BET WITH HIS AGENT WORKED IN 2002, SO WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN'T GET IT TO DO DOUBLE DUTY FOR US.

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8/5/05 RD 3 Win in DC

Another win for James last night. I hadn't realized his match on Wednesday was played in 108 degree heat, so it's a good thing he had until 10pm last night before stepping onto the court again. He went on after Roddick's three set win over Chela. And, just like Wednesday, he jumped out of the gate breaking Zib in a matter of minutes. He gave the break back to make it 2-2, but you could tell James had control of this match early on. He broke again to go up 5-3 and held serve to close out the first set 6-3.

More of the same in the second set, as James had a number of break point opportunities (and none against him), but he didn't capitalize until the 8th game, when he again went up 5-3. Another solid service game to win the match in a mere 58 minutes.

The quick match was just what the doctor ordered too; he gets to face a (hopefully) weary Arnaud Clement today at 7pm. Clement has played three tough three setters already this tournament. Have a look at the draw.

In exhibition news, found this on the net:

Tennis exhibition to benefit Hospice

The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON - ATP Tour players Jeff Morrison and James Blake will play in a December tennis exhibition at Marshall University.

The Cabell Huntington Hospital Tennis Classic is Dec. 9-10 in Cam Henderson Center. The goal is to raise $100,000 for Hospice of Huntington. Ticket information will be announced in mid-November. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor can contact Alan Morrison at 633-8315.

Morrison, a 26-year-old Huntington native who played college tennis at the University of Florida,defeated Blake in the 1999 NCAA men’s singles finals. Blake, 26, was a college player at Harvard. Morrison is ranked No. 118 in the INDESIT ATP Race. Blake is No. 75 and has four consecutive seasons in the top 100.

The Huntington event begins Dec. 9 with a reception for sponsors and patrons. The players will conduct a clinic and participate in the tennis benefit Dec. 10.

Other participants are WTA Tour players Julie Ditty from Ashland and Carly Gullickson.

8/4/05 RD 2 Win in DC

Was able to follow this match on the internet as well, and for the first time in a while JB pulled out a tight three setter. He absolutely steamrolled at the beginning of the match, up 5-1 or 5-2 in something like 20 minutes. Next thing I knew it was 5-4, but James held serve to close out the set.

He got down a break early in the second, and missed a couple chances to break back, and ended up losing his serve again to finish the set 2-6.

So Stepanek got to serve first in the third. James broke him in the third game I believe it was, and then he got himself out of a couple sticky situations on serve (and rested during Stepanek's service games, losing most at love), to win 6-4!

THIS JUST IN: IF JAMES WINS IN DC, I WILL SKYDIVE! THAT SAME BET WITH HIS AGENT WORKED IN 2002, SO WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN'T GET IT TO DO DOUBLE DUTY FOR US. AND TO PROVE I'M A NICE GUY, WE'LL INCENTIVIZE JAMES FURTHER:

IF HE MAKES IT TO THE FINALS I'LL JUMP OUT OF A MOVING CAR GOING AT LEAST 52 MPH.

IF HE MAKES IT TO THE SEMIS, I'LL JUMP OFF THE ROOF OF MY HOUSE INTO THE HOT TUB (AT LEAST WE'LL GET SOME USE OUT OF THE THING).

AND IF HE LOSES NEXT ROUND I'LL JUMP OUT OF MY OFFICE CHAIR (WHILE SPINNING).

(And to prove I'm also a complete Lying Wuss, I reserve the right to back out of ANY portion of the bet.)

Next up is Tomas Zib (a ringer for wrestler Kurt Angle, sans steroids), the 16th seed. Guess that will be tomorrow.

Still plenty of bobbleheads left! Click on the bobblehead image at the top of the page for more details.

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8/2/05 RD 1 Win in DC

Got to follow most of the match online yesterday evening. James started serving in the first set and was immediately broken. Oy vey...but he broke right back and broke again up 5-4 to take the first set. Lisnard wasn't getting a high percentage of first serves in (under 40%) and it seems JB was doing just enough to hold onto his service games and get a look or two on Lisnard's serve.

In the second set, they started off by playing a couple marathon games (each holding serve), and then I had to cook the kids' dinners. Before I knew it, the match was over (a quick final three or four games). Final score was 6-4, 6-3. A couple images from the match are up the images section.

James had a few words after the match with the Washington Post: "I definitely feel like the injuries are behind me," Blake said. "Last year was a nightmare. . . . I feel like I'm getting back to where I was. . . . I've lost a few close matches. It's just a matter of time till the rankings reflect my progress. I feel like it's only a matter of time where I put things together and make a run."

Next up is the dangerous Radek Stepanek, who is having his best year ever on tour. But truth be told, the draw is looking mighty fine for James, especially considering Agassi pulled out on Sunday night and a lucky loser stepped in his place. We'll see how much damage James can do.

Next match is tomorrow evening.

Still plenty of bobbleheads left! Click on the bobblehead image at the top of the page for more details.

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

8/1/05 DC Action

Back from Philly. James plays tonight in DC. 7pm EST vs. Lisnard.

There was a small feature on James in the Boston Globe yesterday. Check it out here.

7/29/05 LA Loss

I didn't get to follow the match last night (started at 10:30pm EST, way past my bedtime), but it looks like another tight loss for James, this time to fellow American Robby Ginepri. 6-3, 7-6 was the score.

James gets to try for some consolation today with a doubles match. He and partner Xavier Malisse take on Kerr and Parrot today sometime around 10pm EST.

After L.A., James heads back to the East coast, where he will try to recapture some of his glory at the Washington DC Legg Mason tournament, site of his 2002 ATP Tour win.

I'm off to Philadelphia for a few days, so I'll update the site upon my return on Monday.

7/26/05 Retirement Win

James had a win gift wrapped for him today in the heat and (presumably) smog of Los ANgeles. Nicolas Kiefer retired with breathing problems (according to James) at 2-3 down in the first set. A win's a win though, so JB will face the Indianapolis champion, and resident of the ATL, Robby Ginepri in the next round.

Also, James, along with a newly adorned Adidas Agassi, was the featured attraction in the Gibson-Baldwin Night at the Net event last night at the LA tournament. See pictures in the images section. James looks just SLIGHTLY out of place with a guitar strapped around his neck, n'est pas? He has admitted to holding no further hopes at becoming a rock star, thank goodness.

Still plenty of bobbleheads left! Click on the bobblehead image at the top of the page for more details.

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7/24/05 Los Angeles

James will be looking to break a four match losing streak when he faces Nicolas Kiefer, the third seed, in the first round of the Merceds-Benz tournament in L.A. Not sure yet if he will have a Monday or Tuesday start.

James has also entered the doubles draw with Xavier Malisse, an interesting pairing (they received a wild card). They play Fisher and Huss of Australia in the first round.

Also, the player list was released the other day for the US Open and unfortunately James just missed the direct entry cut. In all likelyhood he will receive a wild-card, but we'll have to wait to get confirmation of that.

Still plenty of bobbleheads left! Click on the bobblehead image at the top of the page for more details.

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

7/19/05 Loss at the Line

James had another battle yesterday, but came out on the wrong end of a 5-7, 7-6, 5-7 scoreline. He battled Gregory Carraz of France in the night match in Indianapolis. After a rain delay shortly after the match started, this one remained close throughout the three sets, but ultimately Carraz came up with the crucial points in the end.

James will remain in Indianapolis to play some doubles with Mardy Fish. They play third today on the grandstand court against Hrbaty and Kiefer.

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7/16/05 Indianapolis

The draw is out and it's an interesting one. First up is Gregory Carraz of France, who has beaten James before, albeit on a grass court (Newport '03). James got a little revenge against Carraz on a hard court (DC '03), but a tough opponent nevertheless. If he's able to get by Carraz, Paradorn Srichiphan awaits.

JB is also entered in the doubles draw, with pal Mardy Fish, who is making a comeback after injury. Good luck to Mardy who is the 16th seed as a Wild Card. The duo play Hrbaty and Kiefer in the first round.

This is an important part of the year for James, who has a good chance to improve his entry ranking (#110), by playing in his home country on his favorite surface (hard courts).

Check out the new Nike Fall Collection at Tennis Warehouse.

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7/14/05 Lobsters Loss

Blake enjoys lively setting
Despite Boston star's best efforts, Wranglers earn first WTT victory
By MICHAEL MURPHY
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

For some players, a World Team Tennis match can be a bit disconcerting. For those used to the starchy stiffness of Wimbledon, the WTT, which can best be described as a rowdy cross between the try-anything bells and whistles of minor-league baseball and the short-attention-span theater of MTV, isn't a welcome change.

But James Blake eats it up.

Blake, in town Wednesday with the WTT's Boston Lobsters to play the Houston Wranglers, loves any kind of tennis he can get. If it means the stately, calm quiet of the All England Club, then that's fine. And if it's the Cotton Eyed Joe spewing at Westside Tennis Club, that's just dandy, too.

"I actually love (the music and yelling from the crowd)," said Blake, who went to a tiebreaker before defeating his good friend and sometimes doubles partner Mardy Fish 5-4 in the men's singles pairing. "I've heard that some of the players don't like it so much, but I love it. I've always said that if they wanted to let fans go crazy on all Tour events, then that's fine with me."

Despite Blake's best efforts — playing men's doubles with his brother, Thomas, singles and mixed doubles — the Lobsters fell to Houston 23-22 in a match that went to super tiebreaker. The win was the first for the Wranglers, who had lost their first six matches of the season before Wednesday.

"We've had five matches that we could have won but we didn't," said Wranglers coach John Lucas. "We're really young and we don't have the marquee players (like the other teams).

"We're asking a lot of (roster players) Ryan (Newport), Ashley (Fisher), Ansley (Cargill) and Edina (Gallovits). They've done a remarkable job to be where they are."

Just being able to play tennis again is fine with Blake, so he's not about to let anything detract from the experience. Not after last year.

In May of 2004, he fell on the damp clay during a practice session at the Italian Open and slammed head-first into a metal net post, fracturing a vertebra in his neck.

While recovering, he endured a frustrating bout with zoster, a nerve disease that affected his vision and hearing. And not long after having tennis taken away from him, Blake lost his father, who died in June from cancer.

All the changes in his life gave him a new outlook on — and new appreciation for — his career.

"It was tough. I wouldn't wish (a year like that) on my worst enemy," Blake said. "Now I'm trying to keep a good perspective and think that everything happens for a reason. A lot negative things happened last year, and it definitely helped me wake up a little bit. Maybe that was my wakeup call, that I won't be 20 forever and that it was time to grow up a little bit.

"Every 20-year-old kid thinks he's invincible ... But that year made me realize that it's not that way. ... So I'm cherishing every moment I get now — every match and every chance I get to play."

7/13/05 World Team Tennis Result

Before we get to the results of James' WTT action from Monday night, check out this TV interview with James to promote the New Haven tournament later this summer:

http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3582712

Clawing Lobsters can't keep a grip
By Susan Bickelhaupt, Globe Staff | July 12, 2005

Lasers 24
Lobsters 14

James and Thomas Blake were back last night where they cut their teeth in collegiate tennis. Well, sort of.

The brothers from Tampa, who used to play for Harvard, were back in Cambridge with the Lobsters for a World TeamTennis match against the Springfield (Mo.) Lasers. But the courts the Blakes used to play on are now the site of a lacrosse field, and the Lobsters compete at Bright Hockey Center. The ice has been replaced by a rubber surface, and private boxes -- just like at Wimbledon -- surround the court.

The Lasers defeated the Lobsters, 24-14, before 1,317 fans. Boston (3-3), in the second week of its three-week season, will be home again Thursday, against Patrick Rafter and the Philadelphia Freedoms.

The Blake brothers dropped the opening doubles match, 5-1, but James Blake later rallied to win his singles match against Rik de Voest in a tiebreaker.

James then was scratched from the final mixed doubles match, but said it wasn't because he was worn out from his win.

''No, it was just coach's [Anne Smith] decision," he said. ''I was ready to play and would have loved to since I just have one more game with the team. But I guess she wanted to give Johan [Landsberg] and Kristen [Schlukebir] practice together."

Thomas Blake once was a captain of the team at Harvard. Younger brother James, 25, left the school in 1999 after two years to pursue his pro career. The two-time All American won his first ATP singles title in 2002 in Washington, defeating Andre Agassi in the semis. He helped the US Davis Cup team defeat Slovakia in the first round in '02, and was ranked No. 22 in the world in 2003.

But a broken vertebra in May 2004 and then a case of the shingles, threatened to derail his career.

Asked if his goal is to get back to his old self, he said, ''I would love to get better than the old guy. I feel like I'm playing better than I was before."

James, who was out of commission for two months with a neck brace because of the broken vertebra, said it was hard as an athlete to not be able to do anything.

''[I've been] hitting, but not at 100 percent, for most of the summer, so I'm pretty anxious to prove myself all over again," he said, adding that his goal is to compete in the US Open.

Thomas said he's enjoyed showing off Boston and Cambridge to his foreign teammates.

''I've been here for like a week and a half now, so it's like coming home," he said.

James said he didn't mind the MTV-like atmosphere of World TeamTennis, where the announcer encourages the crowd to cheer loudly and get in on the action.

''I don't mind it; I think it's kind of cool," James said. ''I think the fans like it, and it keeps them more involved. So it's good for the game."

7/7/05 World Team Tennis

James plays a couple matches this year for the Boston Lobsters of World Team Tennis. First up is a date at home vs. the Springfield Lazers on July 11th. A few nights after that, he travels to Houston to take on the Wranglers. Learn more here.

The Western & Southern Financial Group Cincinnati Masters Series event has made up a limited edition bobblehead doll of James and Lindsay Davenport, and you can get one for free! There is a shipping and handling charge, but your grand total is still only $6! Email me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net for further details. Payment can be cash, check or Paypal (to cdgriff@adelphia.net). Currently available to US residents only. (Will be available internationally later this summer).

For you players out there- here's a clip of James going over some service return tips, courtesy the BBC.

Only 1 More 300G racquet available for charity! Read more here!

7/5/05 Newport Loss

Don't have any other details besides the score today, and it wasn't a good one: 2-6, 4-6 for Dupuis over JB. This one hurts because he actually had points to defend from last year, so his ranking will dip from the 106 where it currently rests.

That's it for the grass this year, it's on to the hard courts and a slew of summer tournaments. Let's wish him luck as he prepares.

Posters are now SOLD OUT!

Only 1 More 300G racquet available for charity! Read more here!

Check out some sweet discounts at Tennis Warehouse. Click on the Red Liquidation button.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

7/3/05 Newport Draw

James faces Antony Dupuis, whom he beat in Houston, in the first round in Newport in a tough section of the draw. He has a Tuesday start.

6/25/05 Bobbleheads!

The Western & Southern Financial Group Cincinnati Masters Series event has made up a limited edition bobblehead doll of James and Lindsay Davenport, and you can get one for free! There is a shipping and handling charge, but your grand total is still only $6! Email me at jbinfo1@adelphia.net for further details. Payment can be cash, check or Paypal (to cdgriff@adelphia.net). Currently available to US residents only. (Will be available internationally later this summer).

Posters are now SOLD OUT!

Only 1 More 300G racquet available for charity! Read more here!

Check out some sweet discounts at Tennis Warehouse. Click on the Red Liquidation button.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

6/22/05 Upcoming Schedule

Here's what James' summer schedule looks like: Newport, World Team Tennis, Indianapolis, Washington, Cincinnati, New Haven and US Open.

4 More 300G racquets available for charity! Read more here!

In the poster dept. we have only 8 posters left! Remember, in the US, you can get two for $7.50!

Check out some sweet discounts at Tennis Warehouse. Click on the Red Liquidation button.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

6/20/05 Wimbledone

Sorry for the paucity of updates. Just got back into town from vacation to learn of the bad news from earlier today. But let's put it this way- as bad as JB feels, at least he didn't have to spend 5 days in his in-laws' house, with two sick kids, a wife who was PMSing, and no end to the cold and rain outside! So how about sending some sympathy my way!

Okay, scores were 6-1, 4-6, 6-7, 6-7. Man, those tiebreaks are just not happenin'. I'll see what other details I can scrounge up in the coming days. A few pictures over at Getty.Meantime, it's back to the States for a full summer schedule that starts off in Newport. Or perhaps James will head back to Forest Hills to play that grasscourt Challenger event next week? We'll see.

6/15/05 Wimby Qualies + Charity

After making it through the first round of doubles qualifying in three sets, JB and Mark Merklein lost 5 and 6 today. So no doubles this year. The singles draw will be out on Thursday.

I'll do my best to update the site between now and next Monday, but I'm off to Rochester, NY for some family time.

4 More 300G racquets available for charity! Read more here!

In the poster dept. we have only 13 posters left! Remember, in the US, you can get two for $7.50!

Check out some sweet discounts at Tennis Warehouse. Click on the Red Liquidation button.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

6/12/05 Wimbledon Qualies

Turns out James is going to have to qualify for Wimbledon! Okay- so it's just doubles. He and erstwhile partner Mark Merklein are playing today in fact. They are the fourth seeds. I seem to recall that they reached the third round a few years back, but I'm too lazy to check at the moment.

Follow the action here: http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/scores/index.html

6/10/05 Wimbledon Ahead

James got word today that he has received a wild card for Wimbledon. So it's straight into the main draw.

Also, I avenged James' loss yesterday vs. Grosjean by beating Talbott Young here in the neighborhood 7-5, 6-4 this afternoon. Somebody's got to have his back.

In the poster dept. we have only 13 posters left! Remember, in the US, you can get two for $7.50!

Celebrate Chris' K-Swiss Singles season opening win by going cyber-shopping! Head to Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

6/9/05 A Tough One to Stomach

A tough one on the heart as well; for a moment it looked like James would be able to break through and notch a third set tiebreak win, but it was not to be... James got to 6-3 in the tiebreak with Grosjean serving, but lost three in points in a row, and then they alternated until 10-10 with James serving. Grosjean broke and then served out the match. Painful to watch on the internet, so I can't imagine being part of the match.

GOOD NEWS THOUGH! THERE ARE NO TIEBREAKS IN THE DECIDING SET AT WIMBLEDON! So James can head into that tournament with plenty of confidence. Hopefully he gets a wildcard, if not qualifying starts next week, Thursday or Friday I would presume.

Drown your sorrows the way my mom does - go shopping! Head to Tennis Warehouse. (Okay, so she typically goes to TJ Maxx).

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6/8/05 Rd 2 Win

A quick turnaround for JB today, as he follows up his win yesterday with another W today, over the Romanian Hanescu, 6-2, 6-4. This contest lasted just over an hour, and from a look at the stats, James seemed to be in fine form. A few post match comments from JB:

the match went pretty well. i don't think hanescu is very comfortable on grass. he served really well, but i also returned a whole lot better than in my first round. i only got broken once and so my serve was pretty good. i actually just felt like i played better even though i didn't serve that much better. but i know today's match will have to be even better against grosjean.

Next up is a big test- Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, who has reached the Wimbledon semis the past two years.

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6/7/05 Rd 1 Win

James took advantage of his one break point in the third set today to beat compatriot Jeff Morrison. Scores were 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. James won the first set by breaking Morrison at 4-4, and then he held on handily. Midway through the second, Morrison broke James to even it up, but James came through in the clutch to beat the lucky loser.

Next up is Victor Hanescu, who, in a slight upset, beat Scott Draper. That match is tomorrow. Hanescu made an impressive run at the French, and has had a solid year so far.

6/6/05 Queens Club Update

As expected, Mariano Puerta pulled out of Queen's, meaning James will play a lucky loser tomorrow (Tuesday). And that lucky loser would be...Jeff Morrison, who was the top seed in the qualifying draw, but didn't make it into the main field. James plays fourth on Court 9. My guess is that will be roughly 6pm GMT. Follow the scores live at: http://www.stellaartoistennis.com/default.asp

In rankings news, James moved up again, and now finds himself at 111 in the ATP Entry rankings. As for the Champion's Race, he rests at 64.

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6/4/05 Queens Club Draw

James received a decent draw today for the Queen's Club tournament. He's scheduled to face Mariano Puerta in the first round, but in all likelyhood, that's not going to happen. As you probably know, Puerta will be playing the biggest match of his life tomorrow at the French, and the chances of him making to West London to play 24 or 48 hours later aren't great. If Puerta withdraws, there are two scenarios: if the order of play is made at Queen's before the finals is finished in Roland Garros and he has time to pull out then JB will play a lucky loser. If he pulls out before the order of play is made, the next seed goes into that spot, and that would be Xavier Malisse. All this is according to James.

So there you have it. As to how JB is doing on grass, "i've been hitting the ball pretty well and feeling good on the grass. the movement is the biggest difference and that is coming along. it's not easy for anyone to transition quickly from clay to grass, but i feel like i'm handling it well."

Play gets underway on Monday.

6/3/05 Queens Club Wild Card

From the Stella site:

DELGADO RECEIVES FINAL STELLA ARTOIS WILD CARD
Britain 's Jamie Delgado has received the final Stella Artois wild card after an LTA play-off with Arvind Parmar , Mark Hilton and Alex Bogdanovic .

James Blake of the United States has also joined the main draw after Frenchman Gael Monfils , who had originally been awarded one of the five wild cards, gained direct entry into the draw on his ranking.

As you celebrate this momentous turn of events, check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

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5/28/05 Upcoming Plans

James has decided to rest up this week (and who can blame him?). He'll try and qualify for Queen's Club next week, and then he'll play Wimbledon (via the qualies or a Wild Card).

5/26/05 Game Effort

James battled hard today, putting himself in a position to win, but he couldn't close things out in the heat today against Stanislas Wawrinka, losing 7-6, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6, 4-6.

This was a tremendous match, and James had to pull all his tricks out of the bag to even be in a position to win. To wit- he saved 5 set points in the first set tiebreaker, not to mention three overrules in the favor of Stanislas from the chair ump as well. The final in the tiebreak was 11-9. In the second set, James was down a break at 4-5 (with Stan serving for the set) and he battled back to win three games to win that set.

Things got off to a slow start in the third,and didn't improve, as James lost 6-1 in just 31 minutes (compared to a 75 minute first set and 45 minute second set). I believe he got down a break fairly early in the fourth as well, and that one was gone in 35 minutes.

So it all came down to the fifth set. James had already called out the trainer a couple times by this point and his movement was not there. He held serve to start, but was broken in the third game. He held on to make it 4-5 (battling off one match point on his serve), but Wawrinka delivered the goods (2 aces) on his serve and was able to close it out.

Unfortunately one might have seen this result coming; this was James' 15th match in 24 days, and it was by far the hottest day of the tournament, with temperatures in the mid 80s (30 c) with no wind in Paris. So it appears to have only been a matter of time before James' gas tank reached E.

All in all, this has been an incredibly productive month for James, his ranking has shot up all the way to the 120s (it was in the 200s in April), and it will go higher with his results in Paris. My guess is he will play the Surbiton Challenger on grass and then go from there. He's still holding out for a chance at a Wimbledon wildcard, but in all likelyhood he will have to qualify for that Slam as well.

Here are some post match coments from James:

"In the third set, I started feeling twinges of cramps, and that's always scary to me because I know what's next," Blake said. "So I started feeling it. I was going for a little bit more in that third set just trying to kind of get through it and hopefully see if my body would relax in the fourth. It didn't really." Blake also explained he "started getting pretty sick" to his stomach.

"I have a drink for when I do start cramping. It's got a lot of salt in it to kind of replenish what's lost. It can also at times mess up your stomach because it's a lot of salt at one time. And it did. So I didn't feel so great (smiling)."

"For a few games, I just felt "awful" added the American. "Actually, I started getting better in the fifth set. Luckily he said there's usually about a 30 minute window before the cramps really set in, maybe try to go for it for that time and see if you can hold off.

See images from the match today here (scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the thumbnails). Here's a post match article that reveals the charm that won him 14 matches in a row. Also, read a couple articles on James from today's New York Times and Washington Post.

As I write this, I see Andy Roddick has just lost his match in a 5 setter too. So for you fans of American tennis, hope you follow the ladies as well. The curse of the clay lives on.

5/25/05 RD 2 Schedule

James plays his second round match tomorrow on court 6. He's up second after a women's match, so let's say to tune in at 12:30pm GMT (6:30am EST). No Sharapovas, Roddicks, Nadals, or Federers on then, so if it's a televised court, then hopefully we can see some of the match on ESPN Classic.

5/24/05 RD 1 Win

I was only able to follow on the internet, but from the looks of it, James had a fairly straightforward match today, beating Tomas Tenconi in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6. Although JB was broken four times, he converted 7 of 11 break point opportunities against the Italian.

I guess some other positive news from the day is that Olympic Gold Medalist Nicolas Massu lost his first round match to Stanislas Wawrinka, meaning that's who JB faces next. I heard Massu had been suffering from foot problems, so that may be what happened in that match. In any case, no tears being shed here; James will face Mr. Wawrinka on Thursday. We'll see if we can't get a scouting report on the Swiss player. Also of note, Ivan Ljubicic, archenemy of American tennis players, lost today as well. He was in James' quarter. Hmmmm......

Check out this video interview James conducted with ESPN shortly after his match. I invite you to chat about the match over at the Messageboard.

You can celebrate JB's win by checking out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/23/05 Order of Play

James plays tomorrow on court 14, third in line. My guess is that will be roughly 4pm in Paris (10am EST). Your guess is as good as mine though.

5/21/05 On to the Main Draw

Things turned out pretty well today. I received an email from James last night saying that he thought he might be into the main draw win or lose today. Fortunately he didn't leave anything to chance. He beat Tomas Cakl in three sets 2-6, 6-1, 6-1. So it's 13 wins and counting for JB. Next up is the first round and another qualifier, and another Tomas to boot, Tomas Tanconi, of la bella paese. Certainly could have been worse considering Federer's opponent is also a qualifier. James will play on Tuesday.

James earned some more valuable ranking points in qualifying, 15 to be precise. Unfortunately this is all not in time for Wimbledon, for which I believe he will also need to qualify. It will help his seeding in the qualifying tournament, which is helpful in case there is a withdrawal (the highest seeds from qualifying grab those spots).

In off the court news, James is in this week's People magazine in the States. Check it out here. Play gets underway on Monday.

While James is busy eating his Chicken Tikka Masala at Annapurna in Paris, you can celebrate his win by checking out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/19/05 Qualifying Win #2

James continued his run today, beating a tough opponent in Irakli Labadze in three sets. I missed the first, but James won 6-3 with one break of serve (he wasn't broken at all). I started following the second set at 5 all, and he ended up losing 7-5, so that one's on me. Third set started out with a few breaks a piece, but James was able to consolidate his second with a hold to make it 4-2 (I believe). They held serve from there on out which spelled victory and a date tomorrow or Saturday with Tomas Cakl.

In the meantime, two of the the three Dunlop 300G racquets are spoken for, so there's only one left to be had! For this one, the proceeds will go to a charity you and James agree on. Bidding starts at $300, see this page for more details.

James also has a musical plug to send out to fans interested. He's currently listening to Gavin Degraw's record 'Chariot'. Here samples here.

While James is busy trying to qualify, you can celebrate his win by checking out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/17/05 Qualifying Win

James won his first qualifying round match today in France. He beat American Cecil Mamiit 6-4, 7-6. I followed the second set on the net, and the two pretty much traded breaks throughout the set until reaching the tiebreak. James jumped out to an early lead in the tiebreak and cruised to the finish line. Judging from the stats online, it looks as though James can make some improvements in the first serve dept. (48%) for Thursday, when he faces Irakli Labadze.

While James is busy trying to qualify, you can celebrate his win by checking out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/16/05 French Open Qualies Set

James has an interesting draw in the qualifying tournament for Roland Garros. He's the 17th seed and faces friend (at least I seem to recall as much) Cecil Mamiit of the US in the first round. Also in his portion of the draw are Irakli Labadze of Georgia (as in the country) and Nicolas Mahut of France. James needs to win three matches to qualify for the main draw. First match is tomorrow on court 16 around 10am EST (3pm GMT). There will be live scoring on the Roland Garros site.

5/15/05 James' 300G Racquets 4 U !

James has graciously donated the remaining supply of his Dunlop 300G racquets to help raise money thoughout the year for charities and this site. We're starting off the process this week with 3 of his 300Gs, all autographed.

For details and a look at the goods head here.

5/14/05 Forest Hills Winner!

James took care of business today, beating Dusan Vemic 6-3, 6-4 to win his second consecutive Challenger title! Believe it or not, James is already off to Paris to get ready for the French Open qualifying rounds which begin this week.

Here's a short summary from James about the final (read below for his summary of the semi as well):

as for the finals, i played well and kept the pressure on dusan the whole time. his first serve is a weapon, so i basically just had to try to really take advantage of his second serve. i did a pretty good job of this accounting for my breaks of serve. my serve wasn't coming in as well as it had the rest of the week, but i managed to back it up very well throughout the match.

And here's a report from the AP.:

Blake wins clay court championship

May 14, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- James Blake won his second title in as many weeks, defeating Dusan Vemic of Serbia and Montenegro 6-3, 6-4 in the Forest Hills Clay Court Classic on Saturday.

The seventh-seeded Blake also won a Challenger event in Tunica, Miss., last week. The back-to-back victories were his first since playing on the Futures circuit his rookie season.

It's certainly an improvement from last year. The former U.S. Davis Cup player broke his neck last May crashing into the net during a practice, and later was diagnosed with Zoster, an illness that affected his sight and hearing and temporarily paralyzed part of his face.

``My health is 100 percent,'' said Blake, ranked No. 130 in the world. ``Winning two weeks in a row is great. The goal now is to get my ranking to where it was.''

Blake, who was ranked a career-best 22nd before his injury, will try to qualify for the next two Grand Slams, the French Open and Wimbledon, before returning to hardcourts.

``I'll go on the hardcourt circuit when I get back to the U.S.,'' he said. ``I have already been promised some wild cards.''

While James is crossing the Atlantic, you can celebrate his win by checking out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/13/05 Forest Hills Finalist

James continued his run today, beating Juan Pablo Brzezicki 6-1, 6-7, 7-5. That means it's final number two in two weeks! He plays either Vemic or Guzman tomorrow at 1pm EST in the finals.

Here's what James had to say about the match:

in the semis, it was a really close match. i won the first set easily, and then got a little overconfident maybe and stopped moving my feet the way i had been. i lost the second set in a tiebreaker. the third set was more of the same. and then i got down a break and he served for the match at 5-3. i broke him that game and on my serve he had 4 match points. i played very well on all the match points and was going for my shots. i think winning a lot of matches lately gave me the confidence to do that. so it was a great feeling to get through a tight match like that.

And here's what the Associated Press reported about James' match:

Blake reaches final at Forest Hills

May 13, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) -- Seventh-seeded James Blake, a former U.S. Davis Cup player, rallied after facing a match point and beat No. 4 Juan Pablo Brzezicki on Friday to reach the finals of the Forest Hills Clay Court Championship.

Blake will face Dusan Vemic for the title on Saturday with the 26-year-old from Tampa, Fla., going for his second straight Challenger Series championship. He won last week at Tunica, Miss.

Blake beat Brzezicki 6-1, 6-7 (3), 7-5, while Vemic eliminated No. 5 Juan Pablo Guzman 6-4, 7-5.

Brzezicki's temper proved to be costly when he was leading 5-4 and on serve in the third set. He disagreed with a linesman's call, threw his racket and was assessed a penalty point by the umpire that brought Blake into a 5-5 tie.

Blake, ranked as high as No. 22 earlier in his career, breezed through the next three points. Brzezicki got to 40-15, but Blake closed out the match.

``After he was penalized,'' Blake said, ``I was concerned that he might jump on that and really fight back. That's when I concentrated even harder to make sure I would win.

``In the second set I got overconfident after having such an easy time in the opener and it almost cost me.''

5/13/05 Forest Hills Semifinals Today

James made it by Hugo Armando yesterday in three sets 6-3, 5-7, 6-1. Next up is the Argentine Juan Pablo Brzezicki. The match will probably get underway around 3pm EST.

Here's what was reported about James' match by the Associated Press:

NEW YORK (AP) -- James Blake took another step back from injury, advancing to the semifinals of the Forest Hills Clay Court Championship with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1 victory over second-seeded Hugo Armando on Thursday.

Blake was sidelined most of last year because of injuries to his neck and spine. He was hurt in May 2004 when he fell and slammed into a net post while chasing a drop shot during a practice session in Rome after losing in the Italian Open.

``The winds were tough today and I let the conditions get to me in the second set,'' said Blake, who played for the U.S. Davis Cup team from 2001-03.

``Prior to the start of the second set, I was so frustrated that I decided to just play my game -- win or lose. When I began my comeback at the start of the year I was up and down and had no idea what to expect. Not so now, as I have a plan for every match.''

Blake's semifinals opponent will be Argentina's Juan Pablo Brzezicki, who eliminated Nathan Healy of Australia 7-6 (6), 6-0.

5/12/05 Rd 2 Winner

James made quick work of Jacob Adaktusson yesterdya in teh second round at Forest Hills, 6-2, 6-0. Today at 1pm EST, things will probably be a little more rough as he faces the number 2 seed Hugo Armando.

Check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/9/05 Rd 1 Winner

James took care of business in round one easily enough; he was a 1 and 2 winner over Lars Uebel.

Tomorrow he'll be appearing in Times Square as part of the Tennis and Jazz thing the tournament has going on. Read more here.

In the meantime you can read a piece in the latest O magazine, found by the master of the messageboard, Roachina.

5/9/05 Quick Turnaround

Guess this is what it's like to be Roger Federer (or Rafael Nadal these days)- win one tournament and then it's on immediately to the next. James is in New York now for the Forest Hills Challenger (draw).

And, from the looks of the order of play (which I just checked now), James is in action today! He's playing Lars Uebel.

For those of you in the New York City metro area, this tournament is FREE! You can see James in action tonight at 5pm. Learn where to go and how to get there here.

While you're saying to yourself that 'Nothing is ever free', check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/8/05 Tunica Title Recap

Here's what James had to say after last night's win:

it was a good match. i didn't get broken the whole time. i don't think i even faced a break point at all. and i broke him 4 times, so i was putting it all together today. i think he might have been a bit nervous in the finals, but i stayed on him and kept applying the pressure. so it was a good week and hopefully will continue next week and into the french.

and here's what Phil Stukenborg of the Memphis Commercail Appeal had to write:

Blake finishes off Baker at Tunica

Losing only one set in week's play may turn out to be confidence builder

By Phil Stukenborg
Contact
May 8, 2005

TUNICA, Miss. -- Minutes after he'd beaten Brian Baker in straight sets to win the inaugural Harrah's Entertainment $50,000 Men's Pro Challenger, James Blake was asked to recall his last tournament victory.

Blake scrolled through the many events he had played before Saturday night, but it wasn't clear if it was an ATP Tour event in Washington, or a lower-level Challenger tournament in Hawaii.

After what Blake's been through the past year -- a freak injury, a scary illness and the death of his father -- he can be forgiven if his memory was clouded.

What wasn't hazy after he dispatched Baker, 6-2, 6-3, on the indoor clay surface at Tunica National Golf & Tennis Club was Blake regaining the confidence and shot-making ability that carried him to a top 25 world ranking two years ago.

Relying on a steady serve that produced six aces -- and an athleticism that earned him a regular spot on the U.S. Davis Cup team from 2001 to '03 -- Blake won for the first time since claiming his only ATP Tour victory three years ago in Washington.

The win was his fourth on the Challenger circuit -- one step below the ATP Tour -- which he was playing for the first time in three years.

''It's great to win at this level, any level,'' Blake said. ''It feels great to come in here and accomplish what you wanted to do: play as well as you can and control the things you can control.''

Blake, 25, lost only one set during the week. It came in a tough three-set win over France's Jerome Golmard in the second round. He also beat No. 3 seed Paul Goldstein, steady baseliner Brian Vahaly and Baker, a rising American, and Nashville native, who was the USTA Pro Circuit's leading money winner in 2004. The USTA Pro Circuit consists of Challengers and Futures, two minor professional circuits.

''Any of these players (in this field) could be making a run to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open in a couple of months,'' Blake said. ''Brian has the ability. For him it's a just a matter of stringing it together. I knew there was a chance he could come out on a day like today and beat a player like me.

''I'm happy I got through it, I'm happy I got through this week beating some pretty tough players.''

Last year's series of unfortunate events for Blake led to a rankings freefall. He entered the Harrah's Challenger 187th, or two years removed from a career-best No. 22 ranking. With the win, his ranking should climb about 30 spots -- or somewhere in the mid-150s -- according to his coach Brian Barker.

''I think a win is extremely important for James,'' Barker said. ''This level is just off the Tour level, but there's very little difference between the guys out here and the guys on Tour, except for those in the top 10. This will help his confidence. He beat five good players in a row.''

Baker, 20, was playing in his first tournament in months after tearing ligaments in his left wrist during the ATP Tour stop in Memphis. Ranked 195th, Baker had earned a berth in the finals with a win over No. 6 seed Juan Pablo Brzezicki in the semis and an upset of No. 8 Juan-Pablo Guzman in the second round.

But Blake presented problems others hadn't.

Blake rifled return winners, blocked back point-blank volley winners, hustled to make spectacular passing shots from the baseline and chased down drop shots. After two breaks of Baker's serve had given Blake a relatively routine opening-set, Blake used three impressive winners to break Baker in the second set to go up, 4-3.

The break came when he followed a sliding, half-volley winner with a backhand return winner down the line. He then broke Baker again to win the match, blasting a forehand winner off a short ball.

''The way he's playing now ... it shouldn't take him long to get back up there (in the rankings),'' Baker said.

Blake will travel to Forest Hills, N.Y., to play in another Challenger event before flying to Paris and playing the qualifying tournament for the French Open.

''After you get a win like this, it kind of steadies you for the rest of the year,'' Blake said. ''You know you have the ability, but you're no longer doubting yourself in a third-set tiebreaker. You've won so you know you must doing something right. Hopefully that feeling is going to continue.''

5/7/05 Tunica Title

James beat Brain Baker tonight 6-2, 6-3. Hope to share some more details with you tomorrow.

5/7/05 Semifinal Result

James won in straight sets last night against Vahaly, so only one more match to go. Here's James' assesment:

served really well, only had one break point against me the whole match. i didn't really feel like i returned too well. it was there when it counted at 5-5 both sets, but i just wasn't making enough returns before that. anyway, next up is brian baker tomorrow in the finals.

and here's what the Memphis Commercial Appeal Tennis writer has to say:

Blake makes Challenger final, hopes rank climbs

Former top 25 player shaking off bad break

By Phil Stukenborg
Contact
May 7, 2005

TUNICA, Miss. -- James Blake hasn't played on the USTA Pro Circuit's Challenger level in three years, but what he's finding at this week's Harrah's Entertainment $50,000 Men's Pro Challenger is this: it may be the best venue for his resurgent world-class game.

Blake, a former top 25 player in the world, moved into the finals of the Harrah's Challenger Friday night with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Brian Vahaly. Blake will play Nashville's Brian Baker in tonight's 7 p.m. final at Tunica National Golf & Tennis Club. Baker, 20, beat No. 6 seed Juan Pablo Brzezicki, 6-4, 6-4.

Blake is playing the Harrah's Challenger, and next week's Challenger at Forest Hills, N.Y., in an attempt to gain computer points and boost his world ranking. Ranked 22nd two years ago, he entered the Harrah's Challenger 187th.

Friday marked the one year anniversary of the beginning of Blake's rankings slide. On May 6, 2004, Blake suffered a freak injury, fracturing a vertebrae in his neck running into a net post during a practice session.

''Last year took a lot out of me and a lot out of my rankings,'' Blake said. ''I basically was off from this exact week last year until the end of the year.''

Blake, a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team from 2002-03, attempted a return to the ATP Tour -- the major pro tennis circuit -- after being sidelined two months. He entered two events, but realized it was too soon to come back.

''I was just testing things to see if I was healthy enough to play,'' he said. ''Both of those tournaments validated that I wasn't even close enough to healthy to play.''

His recent results have shown otherwise. Before reaching the finals of today's Challenger -- the highest level beneath the ATP Tour -- Blake earned a spot in the quarterfinals of the ATP clay court event in Houston.

''Last year at this point I was something like 20 in the (ATP season points race),'' he said. ''I was playing top-30 tennis. I think I'm getting back to that same level.''

Blake won both sets in similar fashion. He broke Vahaly to go up, 6-5, in each set and served out. Blake moved extremely well, consistently blasting winners to the corners and serving well. He only faced one break point and saved it.

''I'm happy I got both those 5-all games and played them the way I know I can,'' Blake said. ''That's a good feeling against any player."

In the other semifinal, Baker continued his successful comeback from a February wrist injury by reaching the second Challenger final of his career.

Playing in his first tournament since February's ATP Tour stop at The Racquet Club, Baker, was efficient in dispatching Brzezicki.

Baker pressured Brzezicki from the outset, getting two break points -- but failing to convert -- in the opening game. Baker converted break chances in the fifth game -- to go up 3-2 -- and in the ninth game -- to go up 5-4 and served out, at love, for the opening set.

In the second set, he took advantage of two Brzezicki unforced errors and a double fault to get to break point and converted with a backhand return winner down the line for a 2-1 lead. Baker held the remainder of the set and did not face a break point.

''Although I've played in a ton of these tournaments, I've only been in the semis one other time (Denver Challenger in 2004),'' Baker said. ''So this is relatively new.

'' I sort of snuck out a few key points. And every game, except for the first one, in which I had a break point, I broke.''

-- Phil Stukenborg: 529-2543

5/6/05 Semifinals

James disposed of Paul Goldstein 6-3, 6-4, so it's on the semifinals in Tunica. He will take on American Brian Vahaly, whom James beat in the first round at the '02 US Open (at which I was present). Once again the time is 7pm at EST Friday.

In case you are wondering, even if James were to produce two top-notch results in the Tunica and Forest Hills challengers, he will still need to qualify for the French Open. You have to enter the event 6 weeks in advance, so they take your ranking at that time.

Ooh yeah! Check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE

5/5/05 Two for Tunica

James beat Jerome Golmard yesterday evening at the Tunica Challenger. 7-6, 4-6, 6-4. Here's a short recap from James:

i didn't play that great, but started playing better after i was down a break in the third. down 2-1, i came back and won 6-4. golmard served really well in the first set and we both held till the tiebreaker. then he actually made some errors in the breaker.

Next up is Paul Goldstein, tonight at 7pm EST.

Updated a few of James' Faves. Learn about what he's currently reading and what he enjoyed on DVD.

Ooh yeah! Check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

5/4/05 Tunica Draw

James took out Matias Boeker yesterday evening 6-1, 7-6. In the process he earned some valuable entry points. He faces Jerome Golmard this evening at 7pm EST. Here's what James had to say about the match:

played pretty well on my serve. he served really well in the second set and i had a few break points, but he played them all well. so i won the breaker 7-4.

Ooh yeah! Check out the new Nike Shox Tennis shoes at at Tennis Warehouse (just click on Footwear).

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/30/05 Tunica Draw

Learned last night that James playes Matias Boeker on Tuesday night in Tunica. See the complete draw here.

While you ponder that importatnt bit of information, check out the new Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/30/05 Tunica Challenger

Still waiting on detials about the Tunica draw. In the meantime, ou can check out some scans from the Spring edition of Deuce magazine.

4/28/05 TCPalm Piece

A decent piece in today's edition of the tcpalm online edition on James. Read it here.

James plays in the Tunica Challenger starting on Monday.

In the meantime, we've still got posters to sell. Here's a deal for you! One autographed poster is $5, two are just $7.50! Click on the poster link above.

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/23/05 Still Not Over the Hump

For the third time in the last couple months, James has had his tournament progress halted by losing a third set tiebreak. That can't be good for the heart. Well, at least the fans' hearts.

This time, the third set tiebreak villain was Nicolas Lapentti. Scores were 4-6, 6-1, 6-7. I didn't get to follow the match, so I have to rely on just a few words written up in the Houston Chronicle about the tiebreak.

Blake, who won the River Oaks International non-ATP tournament two weeks ago, rallied after the first set but got himself into trouble with a double fault early in the decisive tiebreaker. Although Lapentti then threw one in himself, he was too exhausted to panic, so he charged in behind his next serve, and the startled Blake whacked his return into the net. Lapentti, once the sixth-ranked player in the world, then secured his biggest victory in ages with a backhand pass.

"I was so shaky and so tired," he said, "I just wanted to end it. That's why I do the volleys. For sure I surprised him."

Next up is the Tunica, Mississippi challenger. Not too far for James to travel, and they have casinos there, so he can put his tennis and poker skills to work next week. Check out the cheesy Tunica website!

In the meantime, we've still got posters to sell. Here's a deal for you! One autographed poster is $5, two are just $7.50! Click on the poster link above.

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/22/05 Quarters Await

James will be defending all his points from Houston in '04; he's reached the quarters. Here's what's in the Houston Chronicle this morning:

Blake is back
James Blake, whose career looks to be back on track after he endured a miserable 2004, struggled early against France's Antony Dupuis, at 31 the oldest player in the draw save for Andre Agassi. But when the 25-year-old Blake got going, Dupuis was soon a goner. Blake won 10 of the last 11 games and dropped just three points on his serve in the second set. He won 6-4, 6-1.

"It's amazing what happens when you stop making errors," Blake said. "I didn't feel I was out of it at 4-2. I think he got down on himself a little at the start of the second set and that definitely helped me."

Blake is trying to complete the "Houston Slam." He has twice won the River Oaks tournament and he was the champion of a Challenger event at Raveneaux Country Club in 2001. He was also a member of the U.S. Davis Cup team that beat Spain in the 2002 quarterfinals at Westside.

In the meantime, we've still got posters to sell. Here's a deal for you! One autographed poster is $5, two are just $7.50! Click on the poster link above.

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/19/05 Claycourt Tourney Underway

James won his opening round match today against Ivo Minar 6-2, 7-5. He suited up for the evening session as well, but lost with Mardy Fish at his side against Andy Roddick and Tre Davis 4 and 4.

Also, got more details about James' upcoming schedule. He will be playing the Tunica, Mississippi and Forest Hills, NY challenger events, but will have to qualify for the French Open.

In the meantime, we've still got posters to sell. Here's a deal for you! One autographed poster is $5, two are just $7.50! Click on the poster link above.

Check out this link to see the level of dedication James puts into his pre-mach preparation.

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/17/05 Houston Draw

The draw is out for the US Men's Claycourt Championships. See it here: http://www.atptennis.com/en/common/TrackIt.asp?file=/posting/2005/717/MDS.pdf

4/11/05 Recap from the Champ

the finals was a good match against tursunov. i played really well and was returning great to break him pretty consistently. and then it was just a matter of taking care of my own serve. the new clay at river oaks really helped to have a true clay court feel. it is much slower this year. that helped when i needed to defend against his big forehand.

as for the match with haas, i lost the first set but actually had more break points than tommy. so i knew that i was playing well, and just had to keep it up and hopefully the breaks would start going my way. i did just that and continued to play really well. i broke him the first game of the third set and held all the way through to make that break hold up.

this tournament felt great to help with my confidence because i really feel like i played some top level tennis. i am very pleased with my first clay court event of the year and hope it bodes well for the rest of the season.

on a side note, thank god the mets won today. i couldn't take all the jokes.

jb

and now from the houston chronicle:

April 11, 2005, 1:09AM

Blake's hard work upends Tursunov in final
Match of players on comeback trail favors American
By DALE ROBERTSON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
RESOURCES

James Blake's newfound equanimity paid off in spades at the River Oaks International this weekend. Not only did he claim the tournament's Ernie Langston Trophy awarded to the best sportsman, he also kept his cool during Sunday's final when Dmitry Tursunov got off the canvas and applied some heat early in the second set.

Blake was pummeling Tursunov at the end of the first set, winning 13 of the last 14 points. But the expatriate Russian bear, coming out of hibernation after an injury-induced layoff, had plenty of energy and desire. He sensed Blake was the better playerbut refused to let himself be embarrassed after the solid week of tennis he produced.

Two breaks sway result

So, playing in just his second tournament since the U.S. Open last fall, Tursunov came out hammering. Blake didn't blink, though. He survived the onslaught and, breaking twice to finish the match, won 6-2, 6-3 for his second International title in three years.

He's a much-changed player, however, from the guy who defeated Wayne Ferreira in 2003. Blake has been through a lot and learned a great deal, about life and tennis. Coming off a lost year on the court and a sad one elsewhere after his father died of cancer, Blake has gained perspective — with a capital "P."

"The biggest difference for me is my attitude," he said. "I realize every match isn't going to be life or death. ...

"So I don't get as nervous. I don't start asking myself, 'What should I do? Should I change my game?' I'll just keep playing the way I play."

Blake's last tournament victory on the ATP Tour was in Washington in 2003, propelling him toward a career-best No. 22 in the world rankings. Today, after injury (a cracked vertebrae), illness (the disease zoster with symptoms including dizziness and facial paralysis) and personal loss, he's No. 188.

His River Oaks triumph won't help rectify that because it doesn't offer ATP points.

No matter. This, he believes, was a milestone event, a major step forward for him.

Back for Clay Courts

Besides, it gave the New Yorker and one-time Harvard student the first leg of the Houston Slam. He already had received the final wild card into the main draw for the U.S. Clay Court Championships at Westside Tennis Club next week.

Tursunov, 22, whose ranking fell from 63rd to 129th after he broke a vertebra in a boating mishap July 4, will have to try to qualify at Westside.

He, too, saw his River Oaks run to be a satisfying experience. He didn't lose the match; rather, Blake won it.

"What's the deal with the lines, James?" Tursunov said when he walked in on Blake's post-match interview.

Blake had painted a number of them during a patch of nearly perfect tennis at the end of the first set. He alternated screaming groundstrokes off both wings with deftly placed drop shots, and he was surpassing 120 mph with his serve.

"Hey," Blake said, "you hit two lines yourself when you broke me."

That break in the fourth game of the second set had answered one by Blake and leveled the score at 2. Then Tursunov held easily. The 2,500 fans in the stadium sensed the momentum changing.

"Two years ago," Blake said, "I might have gotten down on myself there. I'd be going, 'Shoot, I saw the finish line and I couldn't close it out. I could have won this thing.' Today, I just kept my focus and went right back to work."

'Pretty big' forehand

He held at love, then broke at love when Tursunov, unnerved by two beautiful Blake volleys, answered with a pair of loose points. A drop shot with Tursunov trapped far behind the baseline made it 5-3, Blake. Tursunov subsequently would save one match point against his serve, but consecutive errors finished him off.

"Dmitry can hit that forehand pretty big from anywhere," Blake said of Tursunov, a Californian since he left Russia when he was 12. "I was hopeful I could just frustrate him with a few of my gets (off drop shots), then take control when I got my opportunities."

And that's how it played out, with Blake, 25, becoming the 13th player in the tournament's 71 years to win it at least twice.

4/10/05 Champion!

I don't have a lot to go on just yet, but there's not a whole lot more you need to know than JB is your River Oaks tournamant champion! He beat Tommy Haas in a three setter yesterday in the semis, and polished off Dmitry Tursunov 2 and 3 today for the title.

Here's a bit more form yesterday's win:

Tursunov, Blake in final
Russian survives last-game duel to defeat Ginepri
By DALE ROBERTSON
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Sometimes, you just want it too badly. Saturday, Dmitry Tursunov definitely wanted it too badly.

But, after a tortuous progression of blown opportunities in what was surely one of the most remarkable games on River Oaks' nearly 80-year-old Stadium Court, Tursunov survived. After seven squandered match points, he won the eighth to reach the River Oaks International final against James Blake.

The 22-year-old Russian who feels like an American because he has lived in California since he was 12 rallied from an early deficit to defeat 22-year-old American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 7-5, after Blake had come from a set down to oust top-seeded Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

"We're both hungry," Tursunov said of today's showdown against Blake. "Neither of us has played that much."

In Blake, the eighth-seeded Tursunov draws his fourth opponent in five days after having just one match in seven months. He was being laid low by a broken vertebra in his lower back suffered July 4, the day after he reached a career-best No. 63 in the world.

Blake, in turn, was out of commission for most of the final seven months of 2004 after first suffering a broken vertebra in his neck when he collided with a net post.

Although River Oaks offers no ranking points — and both of them could use a few because they've fallen out of the top 100 — the court time is invaluable.

As for Blake, no matter how depressed he felt when he couldn't play matches last year, he refused to mope. Instead, he made good use of his down time, relentlessly working on his serve and spending hours tweaking his drop shot. Straight away, Haas felt the full effects of Blake's self-improvement efforts. Noting Haas' position well behind the baseline, Blake won the first point of their semifinal with a perfect drop shot.

And he finished his victory over the 27-year-old German by serving a love game to give himself a chance to win the International for the second time in three years. He beat Wayne Ferreira in the 2003 final.

Haas atones in doubles

Ferreira returned despite having retired from the ATP Tour, and he joined forces with Jeff Tarango to reach the doubles final. But Haas and Hugo Armando were too strong en route to a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

"I was pretty pleased for the first set and a half, but then I played a few loose points in the second set," Haas said of his loss to Blake. "When he came up with some good shots to break me, it kind of took a toll mentally."

After a one week break, James returns to Houston for the US Men's Claycourt Tournament.

Hopefully, I'll get some sor tof match report from James in the near future so we can fill in some more details for the report.

4/8/05 Another Blowout

James had another easy match yesterday (at least I'm assuming by the score), beating pal Jeff Morrison 6-2, 6-1. Next up is Hugo Armando today at 5:30pm CST.

JB and Thomas weren't able to notch a win in dubs though; they fell in three sets to Tommy Haas and Armando.

Sorry I don't have a lot more to report, but there aren't many pictures or articles from this tournament since it's an exhibition. You can find some coverage on the Houston Chronicle website: http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/sports/

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/6/05 River Oaks Action

James won his first match pretty handily last night in Houston at the River Oaks exhibition tournament. He took out Jeff Tarango 1 and 1. Next up is pal Jeff Morrison. That match will be tomorrow.

James and Thomas are in the doubles draw. They will play Haas and Armando tomorrow I guess (it's not not on the schedule for today).

The Nike Summer Apparel Collection just hit the cyber shelves at Tennis Warehouse.

You can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/4/05 P.A. Search a Grand Hoax!

You can stop sending in the resumes now! As about half of you noticed, the personal assistant search just happened to carry an April 1st date, meaning it was a hoax (apologies to any folks who live abroad and don't celebrate April Fools Day). Many thanks to Tennis Week for helping to perpetrate the dastardly deed.

We do have a winner in the search though- the first ever Lucky Sucker Award! Among other things, Vanessa Lockhart offered up her services as a black belt in karate to act as James' bodyguard- nice touch! She also promised to visit a wig store to change her hair color to blonde! Well done!!! Here are a few samples from her winning letter:

My resume will show that I have several years experience in assisting a variety of people from professionals to musicians, and I am able to see to all of their needs. This position would give me a wonderful opportunity to assist someone I personally believed in. As a first degree Black Belt, I could bring the added attraction of functioning as a bodyguard as well as an assistant.

I also played tennis at the Harlem Junior Tennis Program so you'd be hiring a fellow alum. If blondes are preferred, I could make a stop at "Wigs R Us."

Vanessa wins an autographed poster and maybe another goodie or two down the road.

Cheers,

Chris

In real James news, he is in Houston for the River Oaks International exhibition tournament. Check out the draw here. He will play tomorrow or Wednesday vs. Tarango.

After you're done licking your April Fools Day wounds, check out the new men's and ladies Nike line now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

4/1/05 Personal Assistant Search

Here's a first- James has asked me to help him out with a search for a personal assistant. I've set up a special page for it so you can read more.

James has the River Oaks exhibition up next, starting next week. Then it's the US Claycourt Championships, and then, most likely, some Challengers here in the States. The Challengers will help him get his ranking up. He will not be playing at the TMS events in Rome and Hamburg.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/26/05 Painful Exit

James came as close as he has all year to pulling off a huge win yesterday, losing in a third set tiebreak to Carlos Moya, after having three match points earlier in the match. Final score was 6-4, 5-7, 6-7. Cramps played a role in this match, as you can see from these scary looking images on this page. Apparently James wasn't even able to make it to the net to shake Moya's hand since he was laid out on the court.

Read what James had to say in his post match interview here.

James is still in the doubles draw with Mardy. They face Oliver and Parrot in the first round tomorrow.

After you're done eating all your kids' jellybeans, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/25/05 Back in Action

Good to be back at home for me. A quick update- James beat Kenneth Carlsen in straight sets yesterday, earning JB some most crucial ATP Entry points (he lost in to Spadea first round here last year). Score was 6-3, 6-2. Next up is Carlos Moya today at 11am EST! Follow the action at the TMS Miami website: http://www.nasdaq-100open.com/

For those of you who ordered posters, they have been signed and will be delivered! I will try to get that all done over the weekend, maybe even tonight.

I saw James at Saddlebrook last Sunday and at the exhibition on Monday. Obviously the tips I passed along helped him out with his win over Carlsen. :)

Here's a pic from the match yesterday.

3/16/05 Florida

James is on his way back to the Saddlebrook resort, where he trains and lives. He has an exhibition in St. Petersburg coming up Monday night with Mardy Fish, Jim Courier and Andre Agassi, and then it's on to Key Biscayne, where he will play in the TMS Miami event. As you might have read, I'll be heading down to Florida as well until next Friday (the 25th), so there won't be any updates until then. I'll take pix at the exhibition, and I should be able to catch up with James at his place, so I'll dish all the dirt when I get back.

Speaking of James and Mardy, they lost their doubles match in three sets yesterday, so that finished up the Indian Wells event. James' Champions Race ranking heading into Indian Wells was 65. I would imagine that would go up, but his entry ranking will go down, since he had a lot of points to defend after making the quarters there last year. He does have a great shot at improving that entry ranking over the course of the next few months because this is when he hit the skids pretty much last year (except for a quarterfinal appearance in Houston). Here's to smoother sailing this year.

Poster News: If you want a poster autographed or dedicated, get your order in to me before this Friday!!! Lord only knows when the next time will be that I see James to have him sign stuff.

While you're filling out your NCAA brackets, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/15/05 Stupid Internet Scoring

I followed the match yesterday via online scoring and it was quite compelling. James had it tied up in the third set, coming back from a break down at 4-2, to get it back on serve at 3-4....but NO! All of a sudden it was back to deuce at 4-2 with Gonzalez still serving. He went on to win the game and closed out the match 6-3 in the third. What the !@#$%^&*()( ? Does anyone know if there was an overrule on that point or something? That was the worst. Stupid internet.

In any case, an internet error a match doesn't make. Life goes on and we're left with James and Mardy in the doubles draw. They play their second round match in a few hours against the seven seeds Arthurs and Hanley. Good luck to them. And while we're in ranting mode, why is it that James and Mardy needed a wildcard to get into the draw? All they've done this year is make it to the quarters in the Aussie Open and the quarters in San Jose. Shouldn't that be enough?

Now for a poster update. We're doing the family vacation thing down to Florida starting this Saturday, and I should be seeing James on Sunday and/or Monday. After kicking his butt on the tennis court, I'm going to have him sign your posters. (Okay, so the score to start out will be 5-0 me, and I'm serving up 40-0). I'll get the posters out first week of April.

If you want your poster autographed or dedicated, get your order in to me before this Friday!!! Lord only knows when the next time will be that I see James to have him sign stuff.

In sports news outside tennis, three cheers for the Richmond Spiders women's basketball team! They received their first-ever at-large bid to the big dance. Personal friend and assistant coach of UR, Lindsay Gottlieb, is in seventh heaven at the moment. Actually she's probably in the tape room looking at tape of their opponent FSU. Gametime is 9:30pm EST on ESPN 2 Sunday night for you hoops fans out there.

While you're filling out your NCAA brackets, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/13/05 Rd 2 Win

I could have sworn that James and Mardy were scheduled to play yesterday- instead, James had his second round match against the 15th seeded Davydenko, and it turned up roses! James had a break in each set, and fought off one set point in the second set tiebreak to win 6-3, 7-6. Next up is the Ragin' Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

ANd now for the important news- The Syracuse Orange won the Big East Tournament! Read more here, so you can become a convert too.

While you're rejoicing the Orange's big win, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/12/05 Rd 1 Win

James cruised by Alberto Martin from what I can tell looking at the box score. It was 4-1 first set when I nodded off, and the final was 6-2, 6-3. Next up is Nikolay Davydenko, the 16th seed.

James and Mardy also received a Wild Card into the doubles draw (they 're probably warming up for their exhibition against Courier and Agassi on the 21st in St. Pete). In any case, they play today vs. Clement and Levinsky.

3/11/05 Indian Wells Action Tonight

James faces Alberto Martin in the first round tonight at 7:30PST/ 10:30pm EST/3:30am GMT. Follow the action live on the internet at: http://www.pacificlifeopen.com/en/

Just click on Live Scoring!

While you're gnawing on your nails watching the scores on the net, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/8/05 Indian Wells Draw

The draw was released today for the first TMS event of the season- Indian Wells. James, who received a wildcard, is in the lower half and faces Alberto Martin in the first round. Second round opponent would be NikolayDavydenko. Check out the whole shebang here.

While you're perusing the draw, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/2/05 Atlanta Tennis Interview

Being a member of the USTA here in Atlanta has its privileges. I get to eat at the finest restaurants for free, I'm invited to all the top parties with the supermodels, and I get my free copy of Atlanta Tennis.

Okay maybe only the last item is true, but what a treat! When James was in town last November he did an interview with the Barbara Walters of the tennis world- Robby Ginepri. I'm sure not many of you knew this but Robby has brought many an interview subject to tears. There was the time he made Mark Philippoussis break down and admit he'd been cheating on Anna, the time he got Todd Martin to confess about lying about his IQ all these years, and, of course, getting Lleyton to divulge all the details about the breakup with Kim. But we'll save all that for another time.

What I have for you now are PDF files ( pg 1 & pg 2 ) from the actual magazine. Read Robby's probing questions of James like 'what type of wheels are on your Escalade, G ?' and 'Do you prefer the top locker or bottom locker ?' And, in a journalistic first, Robby somehow gets Mother Theresa and Carmen Electra at the same dinner table. Is that the smell of a Peabody Award wafting in the air?

In addition to those PDF files, for all you musical newbies out there (this is old news to you indie rock snobs), check out the following two CDs: The Arcade Fire 'Funeral' and Razorlight's 'Up All Night'.

While you're pondering whether or not I've completely gone off my rocker, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

3/1/05 Fan Tribute

JB has the week off (no tournament), so I thought we'd take a moment to salute some of James' fans out there.

First off, even though I'm just a lowly webmaster sitting at a computer in my home office in Northern Georgia, it's not hard to get a sense of the diverse body that makes up James' fanbase. Since the inception of the website in 2002, fanmail has been sent in from places as far away as Mauritius and Malaysia, as disparate as Naples, Florida and Napoli, Italia, and from wackos to whack hos (eat your heart out Steve Rushin).

On a personal note, I've made close friends of some of these fans, and learned an awful lot. I've also been called upon to dispense advice on relationships, jobs, musical tastes, you name it. Comes with the territory I guess.

It's also important to point out that James reads all the fanmail fit to pass along, and has answered so many of your questions through good times and bad. (In case you were wondering, he's been responding to questions on a more individual basis of late, rather than batch responses that I post on the site- hence the lack of updates on the Q&A page).

So without further ado, here's a little collage of some of the faces and stories James and I have been privileged to encounter over the past 3 years.

For all you fans who can't get enough of James off the net and the tube, now you cna have him on your wall. Click on the POSTERS image at the top of the page for more details.

2/26/05 Quarterfinals

Don't have a lot of time to write today, not that I want to devote too much coveage to this match, but ole Vincent Spadea beat JB again last night. Read about it in the Arizona Republic below.

Also, dig into some affordably priced and autographed!!!! JB posters! Click the POSTERS link at the top of the page for more info.

Spadea takes care of Blake once again

Tim Tyers
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 26, 2005 12:00 AM

Vince Spadea believes there is nothing wrong with being stuck in a rut. It seems he can't lose in Scottsdale these days, after starting out 0-4, or to James Blake.

Spadea captured his eighth straight victory in Scottsdale on Friday night when he defeated Blake 7-6 (6), 6-1 for the fifth straight time to move into tonight's semifinal of the Tennis Channel Open at the Fairmont Princess Resort against Croatia's Mario Ancic.

This isn't to say the tournament's defending champion hasn't faced problems this week. He faced two match points in his first match, and was down 4-3 in the final set with his opponent serving on Thursday, but he won both matches.

Against Blake, he was serving in the first set up 5-3 and let Blake off the hook and had to win the tiebreaker after losing a 6-2 lead, when Blake double faulted.

"I was comfortably ahead by a break and was looking to serve the match out and ended up playing too passively and James was really teeing off and getting me on the run," Spadea said.

"He broke me and I sort of lost the momentum and he gained it. I got rebroken again, then won the tiebreaker, which was another seesaw battle. I thought I was mentally pretty strong to bounce back and feel confident enough to keep winning."

Blake said he put himself in too many holes during the match. The double fault to end the tiebreaker was a back breaker.

"That was a great tiebreaker with some ups and downs and to have it end like that was pretty frustrating," he said. "I was just looking to get it in and I know he's just as nervous as I am - get it in and make him play and that's the way you win matches."

2/25/05 Quarterfinal Rematch

James gets another opportunity to knock off the man who beat him last year in the Scottsdale quarters, Vince Spadea. Match is tonight at 6:30pm Mountain/8:30pm EST.

Here's a recap of James' second round win last night from the Arizona Republic:

Blake regains his form, earns Spadea rematch

Jeff Metcalfe
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 25, 2005 12:00 AM

James Blake is back.

Back into the Tennis Channel Open quarterfinals, again against Vincent Spadea as in 2004, but more significantly back into the upper echelon of his sport after a literally paralyzing year.

The popular American slid head first into a net pole in Rome last May, fracturing vertebrae in his neck only because of ducking his head at the last instant. His father Thomas died of cancer in July even as James was coping with Zoster, a disease affecting his hearing and vision in his left eye and causing paralysis on one side of his face.

"I never said I'm not going to make it back," said Blake, who called it quits for the year in mid-September. "There were times when I thought I don't know if I will, I'm not sure.

"Especially the first day or two in the hospital with a bunch of IVs hooked up to me and not being able to move my face at all. I had no idea what to think."

Instead of a guy with model looks pushing for the top 20 and hanging with his Davis Cup buddies like Andy Roddick, Blake was faced with a life crossroads at 25.

He traveled to Boston to spend time with his friends from Harvard, to Las Vegas with tennis pal Robby Ginepri and to Colorado with his brother.

"I'm a very competitive person," he said. "Just watching some of the tennis made me kind of ache to be out there."

So Blake, almost as recklessly as ever, dashed after drop shots Thursday night at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in putting away Jeff Salzenstein, 6-2, 6-4, to reach his first ATP quarterfinal in 10 months. And at 6:30 tonight, he gets another chance against defending champion Spadea, who has won their past four meetings beginning here last year. Spadea advanced with his fifth consecutive three-set win here, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 over Janko Tipsarevic.

"I owe him some revenge, he's gotten me bad a few times," said Blake, who lost 6-3, 6-0 to Spadea earlier this month in San Jose. "I need to try and get him back."

Blake is thankful for that opportunity but better understands its perspective.

"I don't take anything for granted any more whether it's a smile, a nice day, being able to see clearly or move your face," he said.

2/24/05 Round Two Tonight

James is up at 6:30 mountain time today (8:30pm EST) for his second round match against Salzenstein.

James and Thomas lost a heartbreaker yesterday, 7-6 in the third.

New!!!! Get your JB posters!!!! Click on the link at the top of the page to learn how.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/23/05 Win in Round One

James got his first big win of the year yesterday, beating 7th seed Kenneth Carlsen in Scottsdale last night. From what I hear, this one went until 1am in the morning, and only James, Kenneth, James' mom and brother, the chair ump, and a drunk were left in the stands a the end. I've emailed James to confirm that he did in fact win 7-6, 7-5, but I guess he is still sleeping, since I haven't heard back just yet.

He'll be up and about soon enough though, because he and Thomas play doubles today. James' second round opponent is Jeff Salzenstein. That match will take place tommorow.

UPDATE: James just wrote back and had this to say:

i didn't think there would be anything in the paper since we didn't finish till after 1 a.m. i can't say it was like a night match at the open with tons of fans still going crazy for every point. it was freezing and there were very few people left in the stands. but it felt great to pull out a close match. i think that definitely will help my confidence for coming back. so far i've lost quite a few of those and this was a match that easily could have changed on just a couple of points. i was down 2 set points in the second. and the first set tiebreaker was 11-9 with only one point going against serve at 9-9. so it was pretty close.

next up is salz, who is a similar player. he has a bigger serve, and comes in more. his forehand is a little bit more of a weapon. i've had some good success against him, but that was years ago, we'll see how it goes tomorrow.

While you're waiting for this matchup with baited breath, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/20/05 Scottsdale a Go

From everything I can gather, James is set to go in Scottsdale this week. As you might have heard, JB injured a toe against Mardy Fish in Memphis, which was the reason he had to withdraw form the doubles draw. Not sure if it is broken or not, but I guess it's not too bad since he is entered in singles and doubles in Arizona.

In singles, his first round opponent is Kenneth Carlsen, who won the Memphis tournament today against Mirnyi. In doubles, he's teaming up with his brother Thomas. They face Yves Allegro and Michael Kohlmann in the first round tomorrow (Monday). James' singles match will be on Tuesday.

While you're waiting for this matchup with baited breath, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/15/05 Memphis

JB and Mardy put on a show for the fans in Memphis last night, but it didn't quite have the ending James was hoping for. After fighting off 7 match points, and coming back from 5-2 down in the third (including two breaks) James fought back to a tie-break, and had a matchpoint of his own, before succumbing to Mardy's 8th match point opportunity. Read more here.

For James (and MArdy for that matter), it's on to the doubles draw. They play Ginepri and Gambill tomorrow.

While you're waiting for this matchup with baited breath, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/12/05 San Jose Wrap and Memphis

Just a few days after their doubles loss in San Jose, JB and Mardy Fish will be hitting the court together again, except this time they'll be opposing one another. The draw was announced today, and only one of the two will make it on to the second round. Without further ado, here's the tale of the tape:

VS.

Well, clearly you can see where this is going. James will win the match 0 and 0. If anyone else has anything to contribute to the tale of the tape, please email me. Tee time will be Monday or Tuesday evening.

While you're waiting for this matchup with baited breath, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/10/05 Rd 2 Loss to Spadea

James is in a rut against VInce Spadea. After winning 2 of their first 3 matches, he's dropped 4 of the past 5 encounters. This one wasn't particularly close either; the scores were 3 and 0. Haven't seen a report from the match, but one had to expect results like this coming back after such a long layoff.

James remains in San Jose however, he and Mardy (who also lost his singles match yesterday) are trying to defend their doubles crown at the SAP Open. They play fifth today against Aspelin and Perry.

Next up for James in singles is Memphis, next week.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/8/05 Rd 1 Win vs. Moodie

James made quick work of Wesley Moodie today, wining 3 and 4. He and Mardy then teamed up for another 3 and 4 victory. Next up for James in singles is Vince Spadea, who shoud provide a stiff challenge. That match takes place tomorrow (Wednesday) during the day session.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/8/05 Back

James (and I) are back in action today. He's been off since Delray Beach, while I've been off since Friday visiting the ole alma mater Syracuse in upstate New York. Saw the Orange beat Notre Dame and lose to UConn (which cost me a bet with JB) last night.

First off, a hearty thank you to Bobby, who's forking over $1200, yes $1200, to charity and will receive James' racquet, shirt and a letter for his efforts. Fantastic stuff.

James is playing today in San Jose against Wesley Moodie. He's up third and should be teeing off any minute. After singles, he gets a break of an hour and a half or so and then plays his first round doubles match with Mardy Fish vs. Irakli Labadze and Hyung-Taik Lee.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

2/3/05 Auction Ending Details

The auction will end tonight at 9pm EST. What I will do starting at 8pm EST (to the best of my ability) is immediately post the highest bid on the SPECIAL AUCTION PAGE. All bids will be accepted until the email time says 9:01pm. You may only bid what you are willing to pay. So don't expect to put in a bid of $10,000 and expect to win the auction and only pay, say, $1 more than the current high bid. I hope all this is clear. Feel free to email me with any questions or concerns.

2/1/05 Delray Beach & Auction

First up, unfortunately James lost in the first round of the Delray Beach tournament last night. 6-4, 2-6, 2-6. Here's a short write up by the AP:

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- James Blake continued to struggle in his comeback bid, losing 6-4, 2-6, 2-6 to 19-year-old Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili in the first round of the Millennium International Tennis Championships on Tuesday.
Blake, who entered the ITC ranked 135th, rose to No. 22 in 2003 before fracturing his neck during a training session at the Italian Open last May. He is 3-6 since his return.
The 25-year-old won the first set against Gabashvili, but lost nine of the next 11 games. Gabashvili broke Blake's serve five straight times in the run.
"In that second set, when he started playing a lot better than he did in the first, it kind of surprised me," Blake said. "He kept up the level, and I never really raised my level to where it needed to be.
"I kind of knew there were going to be bumps like this. Hopefully, I'm mature enough to get by it."
It was the first ATP tour win for Gabashvili, who entered the ITC ranked 262nd with a 0-2 career match record
"It feels great," Gabashvili said. "First, because I won my first tour match. Secondly, that I beat a famous guy like James Blake. I was just trying to keep my game quiet, don't go fast."

On the positive note, the auction is up to $450, courtesy Bobby, with a little over a day remaining. Keep those bids coming. Learn how here.

2/1/05 Delray Beach & Auction

James plays this evening at 7pm. You can follow the match scores live at the ATP website. Just click 'Updated Scores'.

In auction news, Arthur has bid us up to $410. Auction Ends this Thursday 2/3 at 9pm EST.

While you're debating that bid for $1000, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/31/05 Delray Beach Draw

James will face a qualifier, Teimuraz Gabashvili in the first round on Tuesday. If he gets by that match, he faces the number one seed, Vince Spadea. See the complete draw here.

We're still at $400 for the auction. Auction Ends this Thursday 2/3 at 9pm EST.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/27/05 10:45am EST Auction Update

JP has countered with a bid of $400! See below for further auction details and how to bid.

1/27/05 8:30am EST Auction Update

Michael has bid us up to $350! See below for further auction details and how to bid.

1/26/05 Auction Update

JP has put in a bid of $300! Thanks for that. See below for further auction details and how to bid.

1/25/05 Auction & Aussie Open Recap

First off, JB and Mardy fell today to the Bryan brothers in the quarters in Australia 4 and 4. A nice run, and a great start to the season Down Under, but James is anxious to get back to the States to continue the season in Delray Beach.

Now on to the auction you saw on the INTRO PAGE. James is auctioning off one of his new Dunlop M Fil 200 racquets that has not even hit the stores yet! This is one of his customized versions, so, in fact, you'll never see this one in a store. It has James' name on it, and it has been customized by his racquet technician with lead tape, etc. You can have it strung or unstrung. Along with the racquet comes one of the Nike shirts that James wore while at the Open (sweat removed)- it will be autographed. James will also pen a personalized letter to the winning bidder.

We're doing the auction through this site, so no Ebay fees to pay. All you have to do is email me your bid. Opening bid is $250 US Dollars. For a currency converter, head here. Payment will need to be made via check in US dollars or Paypal.

All proceeds will go to help the Tsunami relief efforts via the charity of James' choice. (I'm assuming it will be Unicef, but if the winning bidder has strong feelings as to an alternative, we'll be glad to listen).

The auction will last for two weeks. I will post a countdown and the current high bid on a daily basis. Thank you so much, and happy bidding!

1/23/05 James and Mardy Move On

After yesterday's win vs. Karol Beck and Sargis Sargsian, JB and Mardy Fish find themselves deep into the doubles draw, the quarterfinals to be precise, with a date with the Bryan Brothers on Monday or Tuesday.

This is the farthest either has been in a Grand Slam, so, even though it's just doubles, I'm sure there might be a few butterflies in the next match. Unfortunately coverage of doubles doesn't exist beyond internet scoring, so that's the way we'll have to follow it.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/21/05 Boy you guys are suckers

First off, to all you Aussies out there, I don't make $420,000 a year. I've had people asking me to help them out with airfare and accommodations, pay for their kids' college, buy them rolexes, you name it. Truth is I only make $400,000. Okay, no, more like..well it's embarassing. Let's move on.

JB and Mardy are still alive in doubles after a straight sets win yesterday. They are into the round of 16 and face the winners of the Karsten Braasch GER and Jeff Coetzee RSA vs. Karol Beck SVK and Sargis Sargsian ARM match. So they get to keep their hotel rooms for now.

For all of you stateside salivating to see James play, he's back in action at the Delray Beach tournament starting January 31st.

While I'm trying to pop the blister on my right middle finger, check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, now in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/20/05 Rd 2 Loss

Well, last night I earned all the money I make doing this site (roughly $420,000/yr., plus expenses, plus 5.2% of James' earnings, for those of you keeping track). That's right, I stayed up until 1am for the match to start, and then until 4am or whatever god-forsaken hour it was that the match finished. And I was still able to add milk to the kids' cereal this morning as opposed to apple juice.

James lost as you probably already know, 6-4, 6-7, 0-6, 3-6, but boy was it an entertaining match for the first few sets. James opened up at the top of his game and had 'ole Lleyton rattled to say the least (did you see Hewitt's second serve to start off the second set that landed in the WRONG service box?). It certainly looked like the improbable might be possible. But, as is wont to happen, things turned around late in the second set when James sorta rushed his service game up 6-5, and then tried to steal second base headfirst or something at the end of the tiebreak. Hewitt tightened up his game and that was pretty much all she wrote. I must confess I was in and out of consciousness in the fourth set, so I'm not sure how close that was.

Good news is our man is back! You try taking off 7 months from whatever it is you do and then competing at the highest level like you were never missing. I bet you wouldn't remember what goes in a Decaf Shade Grown Mexico, you Starbucks employees, and I bet you wouldn't remember how many cylinders the new Cobalt has, you Chevy Car salesmen, and I bet you wouldn't be able to just take those movie tickets out of people's hands and direct them to the appropriate theatre, you movie ticket taker people employee folks. Okay, maybe not the best analogies. In any case the man is back!

James will remain in Australia until he and Mardy lose the final point of one of their doubles matches, which hopefully won't be today vs. Juan Ignacio Chela (ARG) and Sebastian Prieto (ARG) out on Court 18.

Alrighty, I'm off back to bed. If none of this rambling made any sense to you, just read James' post-match press conference here. And look at some pictures here. You simpletons.

While I'm sleeping , check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

Or you can PRE ORDER James' new racquet here.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/19/05 Aussie Open Update

The big one goes down tonight at 9:30pm EST on the Deuce (ESPN2). JB squares off against Lleyton Hewitt in a match that hopefully lives up to its Grand Slam predecessors (albeit it with a different result). Be there or be square! Follow the scoring live on the AO site if you can't make it to the tube.

JB and Mardy won in three sets in doubles yesterday, so it's off to the second round for them. Next up are Juan Ignacio Chela and
Sebastian Prieto on Friday.

Check out some videos of JB on the Aussie Open website. From the AO homepage, head to Live @ the Open, then AO TV, and then select Monday. JB makes a couple appearances including one at his hotel!

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/18/05 Dominating Win

James posted his most dominating Grand Slam win ever yesterday, beating german Florian Mayer 6-1, 6-2 and 6-0. Somewhat resounding, hunh? Gets a lot tougher next though, as James faces Lleyton Hewitt in round 2. Could this be the year he gets by the Aussie in a major? We'll see. Match will be Thursday in Australia, and I'm sure it will be on Center Court in prime time. Hopefully ESPN2 carries it live or tape delayed.

James emailed me this morning and had this to offer in regards to last night's match: it was a good match for me obviously. i played really well, and the first set was actually closer than the score shows. so that worked in my favor because i never really felt like i was that far ahead and i kept my focus. so it was a really good feeling all around.

See James' post match interview here. Click on any video and then you'll see "Blake in Reflective Mood".

Plenty of excellent images from the match to share in the IMAGES section.

James and Mardy get underway Wednesday in doubles. They are out on court 21 and face a polish duo I've never heard of- Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

If you live outside the States, YOU CAN GET STUFF TOO! Learn how HERE.

1/17/05 Show Court 3

James is scheduled to play fourth on Show Court 3 on Tuesday in Australia. Play gets underway at 11am in Melbourne, so my best guess is that he will be hitting the court sometime around 4:30-5pm. I'm no math major, but I think that translates to 12:30-1am (EST) Tuesday morning.

Read a good piece on James in the New York Times just now. A detailed account of his travails from 2004.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

1/15/05 Start

Appears James will have a Tuesday start this year; he's not listed in the order of play for Monday. Coverage is solely on ESPN 2 this year:

Date / Eastern Time / Event / Network / Status

1/16 7 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/17 2 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/17 10:30 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/18 2 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/18 11 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/19 2 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/19 9:30 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/20 2 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/20 11 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/21 2 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/21 11 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/22 Noon Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/22 10 p.m. Early Round Play ESPN2 Live
1/23 Noon Early Round Play ESPN2 Same Day
1/23 7 p.m. Round Of 16 ESPN2 Live
1/24 2 p.m. Round Of 16 ESPN2 Same Day
1/24 9:30 p.m. Quarterfinal ESPN2 Live
1/25 2 p.m. Quarterfinal ESPN2 Same Day
1/25 10 p.m. Quarterfinal ESPN2 Live
1/26 2 p.m. Quarterfinal ESPN2 Same Day
1/26 9:30 p.m. Women's Semifinal ESPN2 Live
1/27 2 p.m. Men's Semifinal ESPN2 Same Day
1/27 11:30 p.m. Preview: Weekend Play ESPN2 Live
1/28 2 p.m. Men's Semifinal ESPN2 Same Day
1/28 9:30 p.m. Women's Final ESPN2 Live
1/30 Noon Men's Final ESPN2 Same Day

FYI- I Updated the Gear page with James' stuff for this season.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

1/14/05 Australian Open Draw

James took time out from his aussie open preparations this morning to answer a few questions for the site:

1. how are you feeling heading into the first major? physically, confidence, etc.

physically heading into the open i feel good. it is a great feeling for me to go out onto the court and feel like i am 100 percent healthy. it has been a long time since i've had that feeling. as far as my confidence, that could definitely be higher, since i just feel like i don't have much match experience lately. so i don't feel the same sort of confidence that i may feel in the middle of the season when i have played a lot of matches.

2. what are you primarily focusing on in terms of your game at the moment?

in terms of my game, i am focusing on just getting back to my game before i was injured and gaining the confidence in that game. that is attacking with my forehand. while i was ill, i did spend time working on improving my defense. i will try not to use that as much, but i have more confidence if i do get behind in a point.

3. any thoughts regarding what seems like added pressure of defending a lot of ponts from this tournament last year?

i am trying not to think at all about defending points or what my ranking will be like. i am just going to have to be confident that when i get enough matches in and opportunities that my game will come back and the ranking will come with that. if i were to worry about my ranking at this stage, i don't think i would be able to focus on just improving my game, which is what i need to be doing at this point.

4. are you playing doubles?

i am not sure if i'm going to play doubles this year. if i do, it would be with mardy fish, but we might just see how we do in singles first before we decide. the sign in for doubles isn't until after our first round matches.

5. true or false- unc will win the national championship this year?

unc will win the national championship this year. but that is only on the condition that uconn doesn't put together a run and repeat as national champions.

1/13/05 Australian Open Draw

James faces the german Florian Mayer in the first round of the Australian Open. And, not to look ahead, but if he wins that, there's a showdown with aussie Lleyton Hewitt waiting! Mayer is absolutely no push over though. Ranking-wise, this is an important tournament for James; since he got to the 4th round here last year, he has a lot of points to defend.

On the exhibition front, I haven't told you guys about an event James will be a part of on March 21st, just prior to the TMS- Miami. Jim Courier is putting together a 'Battle of the Ages' in St. Petersburg, Florida featuring himself, James, Mardy Fish and Andre Agassi (pending word of Andre's injury I suppose). Buy tickets here.

Check out the Nike Spring Apparel Collection, just in at Tennis Warehouse.

1/10/05 Out of Auckland

James took 5th seed Fernando Gonzalez to a first set breaker, but then succumbed 6-1 in the second for a quick stay in New Zealand this year. According to James, Gonzo's forehand was on and there was no stopping him today.

Now it's back to Australia to get ready for the first major of the year.

1/8/05 Auckland Draw Announced

James drew the Ragin' Chilean Fernando Gonzo Gonzalez in the first round at Auckland. Check out the rest of the draw here.

1/7/05 US Finishes Off Australia

JB and Meghann had a quick turnaround for their final Hopman Cup matches, so quick in fact that I didn't even realize they had played until this morning! Some webmaster I am...

In any case, JB faced a last second Australian replacement, Paul Baccanello (sounds Australian, doesn't he?), since Mark Philippoussis (who also, incidentally, sounds Australian) went down with an injury. Apparently Paul made a game effort, but JB was too much for him 4 and 3 were the scores. See pictures here.

Alicia Molik of Australia continued her impressive form, beating Meghann handily. They all got back together for afternoon tea and some mixed doubles, at which the American prevailed in three sets.

Next up is Auckland, where James received a wild card to play. The draw should be out in the next day or two. It will be James' first 'real' match since Delray Beach last year (the Hopman Cup matches are exhibitions, albeit competitive exhibitions).

Celebrate James' successful return by opening your wallet and buying more tennis stuff that probably won't help your game one iota! Check out some of the awesome end of season liquidation deals you can get at Tennis Warehouse. Cheers!

1/6/05 USA Fall to Slovak Republic

Team USA lost to the Slovak Republic last night, two matches to one. The one may turn out to be an important one though, since it appears a tiebreak may be involved in seeing which team wins the tournament. Meghann lost to Hantuchova 4 and 2 to get things started. Then Dominik Hrbaty took out James. James was up 5-4, serving for the first set, but he couldn't close the deal, losing in a tiebreak. Second set was close as well, until Hrbaty broke James in the 9th game and went on to win 6-4.

The doubles match certainly sounded entertaining- check out the line score: 6-0, 6-7(13/15), 6-7 [7/10].

James did add another notch to a win column. He won the ESPN Page 3 Celebrity NFL pick 'Em contest. Read more about it here.

I also obtained from Dunlop a high res scan of James' new racquet, the M-Fil 200. Check it out.

1/5/05 Hopman Cup Action Tonight

James and the US team are back in action tonight against the Slovak Republic. James faces Dominik Hrbaty and Meghann takes on Daniela Hantuchova. The gals start things off at 9pm EST.

For those of you curious about James' new racquet, it's still a Dunlop, and from what I can gather it should be available in the next few months. For an unauthorized, completely uncensored, XXX-rated sneak peak, check out this site.

1/4/05 Hopman Cup Win

James got off to an extremely positive start this year after his long layoff. He faced Peter Wessels of the Netherlands in the first match of the Round Robin format at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. I haven't seen the match yet (should get to watch it later today), but apparently he was on fire in the first set (6-1), and then fought back down 3-5 in the second to win a tiebreak. Should do wonders for the confidence.

All sorts of goodies from his matches (he also teamed with partner Meghann Shaughnessy in a doubles loss following his singles match). We have two post match press conferences (combined onto one page). Tons of pictures! And I will do my best to digitize a point or two from the match and post a windows media file on the site.

Celebrate James' return by opening your wallet and buying more tennis stuff that probably won't help your game one iota! Check out some of the awesome end of season liquidation deals you can get at Tennis Warehouse. Cheers!

1/3/05 Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Year. Time to get the season underway! James and American teammate Meghann Shaughnessy begin Hopman Cup play on Tuesday as they face the Dutch team of Michaella Krajicek & Peter Wessels. Meghann plays first, then JB will follow. Then they team for the mixed doubles match. For those of you lucky enough to have the Tennis Channel here in the States, you can see the matches live tonight starting at 9pm EST. For the rest of us schleps, we have to ask someone to tape the match or rely on ESPN highlights- yeah right!

Got word yesterday from Carlos (James' agent) on his schedule for the first half of the year:
hopman cup
auckland
australian open
delray beach
san jose
memphis
scottsdale
indian wells
miami
river oaks
houston
rome
hamburg
roland garros
queens
wimbledon

Not sure which of these he will have to rely on a wildcard, but I'll keep you posted.

Check out this column from Michael Daly at the Connecticut Post about a recent episode at James' high school involving an induction ceremony at which James was honored.

Also, James will be wielding a new Dunlop frame in the match tonight. I'll get details on that as well. It's not available to the public yet, but I'm sure it will appear soon enough at Tennis Warehouse.

In the meantime, check out some of the awesome end of season liquidation deals you can get at Tennis Warehouse. Cheers!