Confidence Game

Does James Blake have what it takes to get back into the Top 25?

By Joel Drucker

James Blake is one of those rare tennis pros who takes time to listen--not just to his friends, but to virtually everyone he encounters. He's a courteous guy. A nice guy. He doesn’t want to blow anyone off. Recently, though, Blake has realized that he's been too open-minded for his own good. After finishing No.28 in the world in 2002, he fell back to No. 37 last year. And everyone, from former pros to coaches to fellow players, even fans, had an idea as to what Blake needed to do to turn things around.

You can't get down on yourself.

Spin your first serve in to set up the point.

Get a new coach.

Blake says he took in too many signals from too many well-intentioned sources and lost focus as a result.

The most common piece of advice that Blake received was that he shouldn’t play so aggressively. “I heard so many people tell me I needed to be consistent that I started playing more to not lose than to win, “ says Blake, who late last season decided that his advisers were wrong. “I won’t win by being consistent. I need to play aggressive. That means having a lot of winners and a lot of errors. I don’t want to lose four and four and look good. If my matches get a little ugly and patch, that’s OK, just as long as I get it done on the big points.”

While Blake came to understand that he has to play first-strike tennis, still unresolved was how he was going to execute the strategy.

Blake and his coach, Brian Barker, though an obvious starting point was to beef up his serve and turn it into a weapon. To get there, that had to eliminate the extraneous pauses and movements in his deliver that robbed him of power and control. So last fall and winter, Blake and Barker made an extra effort to streamline his motion.

They also tried to harness Blake’s power by having him use his considerable foot speed for offense more than defense. This is particularly effective when Blake looks to strike with his forehand, a penetrating shot that is his prime weapon.
“Scrambling may help me get out of situations, “Blake says, “but it’s more important for me to try to use that speed to take charge. Last year there were times when I thought I was good enough just to hang on the court and win—and I was wrong. No one’s going to hand me points if I keep getting balls back. I’m no grinder.”

Jose Higueras, who has coached Jim Courier, Michael Chang, and Todd Martin, among others, agrees with Blake’s diagnosis. “You almost have to become another player when you rise high enough, because people start to know how to play you.” Higueras says. “James needs to get his way up to net. When you’re there more often, you understand the psychology of applying pressure, so even if you lose a point, you know you’re coming forward for the long term. Play too passive and you’re wasting that speed trying to cover territory rather than take charge of the point.”

“My model is Roger Federer,” Blake says, “a guy who can play smart but big from the baseline, and also mix in lots of net-rushing.”

Many people have suggested that part of Blake’s problem isn’t strategy, but the person whom he’s receiving it from—his longtime coach, Barker, who has been with Blake since he was 11. Is it time for Blake to hear a new voice?

No way, Blake says: “People who’ve only seen a piece of on of my matches here, and another one there, they say all these things, but they don’t have the whole picture the way Brian does. Brian will have to quit before I fire him.”

Blake recalls that for the first couple of years of his pro career, he worked with other coaches (while Barker traveled with him 15 weeks each year) but found the relationships unsatisfying. Rejoining Barker full-time in 2001 yielded immediate improvement, including his first tournament win (Washington, D.C., in 2002) and a jump from a year-end ranking of No. 74 in 2001 to 28 in 2002.

“This is a business,” Barker says, “and we’ve talked a lot about different approaches, including other coaches. The minute I think someone can do better, I want out.” Barker adds that when Blake was a junior, he went three years without winning a match at the U.S. Nationals—“That might have been a good time to stop, but we didn’t,” Barker says—before reaching the final in 1997.

Now Team Blake moves forward with a new, focused strategy. Will it work? Blake started the year well, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open (tying his best ever showing at a major), then stumbled a bit in some small U.S. tournaments before getting to the quarterfinals at Indian Well. And at the NASDAQ-100, he had a disappointing first round lost to Vince Spadea. Many times, Blake’s reliance on foot speed over footwork has made it difficult for him to make the subtle adjustments necessary for handling hard-hit balls. His revised serve has been faster but less consistent, which ahs invariably hindered his efforts to go on the attack.

But beyond technique and strategy, there’s another issue that may help explain Blake’s predicament: Does hi believe—believe he can crack that top 20 (his career high is no. 22); believe he has what it takes to win a Grand Slam tournament; believe he can play with the best?

“I wonder if James truly believes how good he can be,” says U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe. “I wonder if that’s why he undervalues his routine shots and goes for more than he needs to. I’ve no doubt that if he plays within himself, with intelligence and confidence, he can be a Top 20 player.”