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Transcript - James Blake
(USA) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I love it. This was kind of my first big tournament, to see these kind of fans , they supported me then when I was definitely a nobody so I want to come back here as many times as I can and just have fun in front of these fans. It’s the best tournament in the world I think. How much of a relief is it for you to be out here playing your best tennis again? Because it has been a pretty hard road last year. Absolutely, it is incredible. I really didn’t know what to expect coming out here for my first match and I think it is the perfect test. I saw that I could play some of my best tennis in that first set and I saw, even when it got tight, down a break in the second set, that I could come back and still pay well and be composed out here which I knew if that was going to come back after such a tough last year. Well we are used to seeing you athletic and jumping around, we can have a look at you here (looking at the T.V.) leaping around the court. How hard do you have to work to get back in this kind of condition? It was pretty tough last year. I had such a long break to get back, that it felt so good, once I started really getting back into shape and to just see myself progressing the way I was. To feel good doing tunnel running and lifting weights. For me it is not a good feeling to be out of shape and I was forced into being out of shape for a while there and now I am getting back to it. What do you learn about how important tennis is for your life when you can’t do what you love for a quite while? Last year I had a few occurrences that put things into perspective and put tennis into perspective. I realise it is a lot of fun. It is what I do for a living and I want to be as good as I can be but there are more important things in life. I am so blessed to have my family and have my health back. You can lose your health so quickly. You can lose your friends and your family so quickly that you try to appreciate that. I just love what I do for a living. I had such a great time playing out here. I had a great time trying to entertain these fans and I am going to keep doing that for the rest of my career as long as I can do this. Do you afford now to set goals in regards to rakings and titles in 2005? Or are you just so happy to be out there? I never really do because as you say I didn’t know what to expect coming out here, this first match and this whole first couple of months I really don’t know what to expect. It could be very up and down but I am just going to try and do my best and like I said the progression of getting better and better and getting back to the kind of shape I was in before I got hurt, is all I am looking forward to this year. I want to be, at the end of this year, to have seen a progression and to be a better player at the end of the year than I am now. Well we love to see you here at Hopman Cup James. Well done, sealed the tie. Now you can enjoy the mixed doubles.
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(Krajicek) I had an awesome time it was great to play America in the first round. Meghann play really well in the singles. Her serve was going really well. My serve was going well too but I was a little bit bad with the shots from the back of the court, but I had a great time in the mixed doubles. It was awesome. Well you stood up there against James, and James was hitting balls at you left, right and centre and you just stood there and volleying at the net. There was some excellent play. (Krajicek)Yes we had a great time. We had nothing to lose. We were already 2-0 down so we were just having really good conversation between the points. Well I don’t want to get into that. Peter, a tough one in the singles, you met James in his first time back. In the first set it was over pretty quickly but then you were very close to winning the second set. (Wessels) Yes the first set he played unbelievably. I really didn’t know what happened to me. Especially after he had six months of injuries. In the second set I served a little better. At 5-4 that was my chance. It was actually my only chance that I had. I had to take that one but I served a really poor game and, unfortunately it didn’t happen today. Maybe tomorrow will be a better day for us. Well a terrific mixed doubles. You must have been pretty happy because you set up a lot of points and Michaella played some great stuff in the mixed. (Wessels)Yes Michaella played really well, especially in the important points; she was there and hit some unbelievable shots. We play well together. It is only our second mixed together, but I think if we keep going like this we can beat a couple of other teams. Congratulations on a great effort. But we are going to put your dad under the gun here. Where is he? Over here? Dad’s up here, and it is Michaella’s 16th birthday in a couple of days, on the 9th of January. So she is hoping that dad here is going to come up with a pretty good gift. Congratulations. Well Done. (Michaella) Thank you. Now to the winners over here. Meghann you haven’t played a lot of tennis coming down here and you came down when Lindsay couldn’t make it. How have you been going in Perth? Has it been enjoyable? (Shaughnessy) It is beautiful. I would like to go out and see some of the beaches. I love the water. I was so excited when I got the call. It was unfortunate that Lindsay couldn’t make it but I’m more than happy to be here. First match of the season. We know this time of the year is tough. You’ve had a little bit of time off it appears you have been staying in shape and working hard. (Shaughnessy) Yes I had a really good off season. It is always a little bit tough to play the first match and also it was against a 15 year old, which makes me feel a little bit old out here. Yeah you are all of 25, it’s a tough deal isn’t it? (Shaughnessy) I know. On the tennis tour 25 is getting up there. Well James we are so happy to have you back because we know what you went through last year. He’s only played two tournaments since May, where he took on a net post in Rome and hurt himself. Then he had some unfortunate situations as far as family and then injuries. You haven’t played since September after the US Open. Is it great to be back? (Blake)It is great to be back and especially here. This is where I feel like my career started in the first place because I came here when I was completely unknown. Paul McNamee gave me a chance to play. I thought every week was going to be like this. I have been sadly disappointed since then. But I have got to keep coming back here because everyone treats me great. They have even got pads on the net posts for me. They think of every thing here for me. It’s great. Also you have had a bit of time to bulk up a bit. You have put on a few pounds and got some of those muscles. But where is the shirt without the sleaves? You wore it in singles. (Blake)I didn’t want to wear it in doubles. She would put me to shame. Meghann might make me look bad. I have got to save some sort of dignity out there. Congratulation on a great effort. As the number one seeds and defending champions, we look forward to seeing you later in the week (Blake) Thank you.
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