From rolandgarros.com

J. BLAKE/L. Burgsmuller

6-2, 2-1 (ret.)

Q. Obviously an easier match today.

JAMES BLAKE: Uh-huh. I mean, I saw him injure himself last week, so I had a feeling that he might have been not quite a hundred percent. I can't really think about that too much. When I go out on the court, I want to play my game. It's unfortunate what happened to him, but I can't really do anything about it. I wish he had been healthy and we could have played a much better match. But, you know, sometimes that happens. I feel bad for him, but I've got to now look forward to the next match.

Q. Is it nice to get one of these in or you wanted to actually play a match?

JAMES BLAKE: I think it will be nice now since we have to play again tomorrow. It's better probably than playing 10-8 in the fifth set. It's good. I probably would have liked to play a little bit more, but I can go ride the bike or something to get a little more sweating in, be ready for tomorrow hopefully.

Q. How have you been doing on clay through the season?

JAMES BLAKE: All right. A little up and down. I did all right in Houston, quarterfinals, lost to Andy. Then quarterfinals in Rome, which was kind of a surprise. I was playing really well there. I had match points to go to the semis. Then Hamburg, lost to the same guy. He was playing really well, had my number those two weeks. Now it's my first time in the main draw of the French. Having fun, seeing what happens. Got kind after lucky one today. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Q. Looked like in Rome you were finding a great rhythm?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, it was getting better. I was playing against some really good clay-courters. I'm trying to get better and better on clay. It was a little surprising to me how well I played right away. Now it's starting to sink in that I can possibly do well on this surface, but I'm -- it's still my first year over here, so I'm definitely still learning.

Q. What are you learning about clay so far that suits your game?

JAMES BLAKE: I think I came over here expecting the worst, expecting it to be really slow, not being able to put the ball away at all. I think it favors a player that has a weapon that can, you know, generate enough pace to put the ball away on these courts and also has some speed to retrieve a lot of the other balls. Like someone like Moya, who obviously has had success here, can really pound his forehand, big first serve and runs well. Guys like that I think it favors. I think over my career hopefully that can be the type of player that I'm going to be. I think this could favor me, just as long as I'm in the best shape I can get into, and never have that be a factor.

Q. You grew up in the States. You don't think clay court. There are some guys who have done well here. Have you had a conversation with Jim Courier at all?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. I talk to him a lot. He's just helped me with everything on every surface. Since he had some pretty good success on everything, but especially on clay, he's definitely helped me. In our Davis Cup ties, he's been there to help us in general. I talk to him usually over e-mail these last few weeks. Kind of quick tips, nothing earth shattering, all this stuff to make sure I'm getting into great shape, doing the right things. He's been really helpful. It's good to hear it from someone who has had so much success like that because you know it's coming from a valid source.

Q. A lot of Americans figure they don't have a clay game. Andre won here, Michael won here.

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah. We've had some great players. That obviously helps our record. I mean, Michael is a great player. Jim was an unbelievable player. Andre is one of the best ever. I mean, that helps. I think we're starting to have guys who can have more success, too. Andy has won Houston twice, he won Atlanta. Granted, those aren't European clay court tournaments, but it's a start. He did well in Rome - did great in Rome. I think hopefully the young guys can have some success here, too. Last year we had Mike Russell within a point of beating the champion. I think we're going to have good clay court players, not just one-dimensional grass court and hard court players.

Q. Someone like Jack Brasington coming along in qualifying. Do you feed off each other's success? Is it good there's a breed of young Americans coming through at the moment?

JAMES BLAKE: I think it helps. We all heard, "Who is going to replace Pete and Andre? Who is going to be the next one?" We were all probably a little tired of that. Andy came along and shattered any expectations, just took the burden on his shoulders and said, "I'm going to carry the load." The rest of us have kind of been following for now. That takes a little pressure off, seeing a guy go through the challengers quickly, guy that we're very good friends, taking control of some of the top players in the world. It shows us it can be done. We've all I think stepped up our games because of that, because we know it can be down, and we saw how hard he worked, how tough he's gotten mentally, how quickly he's learning. For us, I think we just -- I think it helps to have guys doing well. I'm so happy for Jack. He's someone that graduated college, so down-to-earth. I don't know if he was really planning on making this a career. He's already now qualified, reached the second round of two of these Grand Slams. He's a guy that just fights for every point, every match. He's such a nice guy, you just cheer for guys like that. Same thing as like Mike Russell last year. Hopefully Jack can have just as much success and keep winning. For us it's a lot of fun. I don't know exactly how the past generation got along when they were young, like Andre, Pete, Jim, Todd. But our group, I don't see any end to us staying friends throughout our whole career, myself, Mardy Fish, Andy, Robby Ginepri, Jeff Morrison, we're all having a good time. Go to dinner together, hang out. It's a little tougher here with different hotels. When we're together, we just have a great time together. I hope that continues throughout our whole career, no matter how we all do.

Q. Did you see any of Pete's match here? What were your emotions?

JAMES BLAKE: I saw a little bit of it. I was a little surprised actually. I thought he was going to do better here than a lot of people might have expected because he was really working hard on the clay, in Dusseldorf and Hamburg, with Jose. You know, he was playing really well. I was practicing with him in Dusseldorf. It seemed like he had a good perception of what he wanted to do on clay. He had three incredibly tight matches in Dusseldorf. Lost six in the third, 1-6 in the third, lost six in the third. I felt like he had enough matches, practice on the clay, game against Gaudenzi who was playing really well. Unfortunately, Pete maybe let up a couple chances. That's something that's very uncharacteristic of him. I mean, we all have to know that everyone is human. I mean, Andre is going to go out and have a bad day, Hewitt. Unfortunately, for Pete, it kind of happened to be here a lot. I'm sure he'll turn around and come right back and be just fine on the grass.

Q. How much did your experience in Rome change your attitude to this stuff, to clay?

JAMES BLAKE: It always helps make it more fun when you're winning. I was planning on coming over here, learning a lot, having a lot of fun, like you said. With the wins coming, it makes it more exciting when you're playing in the quarterfinals as opposed to going out and practicing for the next week. Like I said, I was a little surprised, but I also have come to the realization that when I'm playing well, I can play with a lot of these guys. That's I think what's made me a better player and have more confidence, is the fact that now I feel like a legitimate part of the tour. I feel like I can play with these guys on any given day. Now I feel like on any surface really. I think just -- it just gave me even more confidence than I had before to know that I can do it on the European clay, not just in Houston against another Americans.

Q. What do you think is a realistic goal for you here?

JAMES BLAKE: Keep getting better. I don't usually set goals, like coming in to win to the tournament, getting to the quarters. I've set goals like that in the past with Juniors. I always felt like I would come into a tournament, I want to get in the quarters, I would end up winning it. It just happened like that. I don't want to feel like I was successful just because I passed my goal if I didn't play well. I want to play well. If come out tomorrow, play my best tennis, lose in the fifth set, what else can I do? I came up against a better player. If I go out and play not so great, the guy ends up getting hurt or something, I win, I shouldn't just rest on that and say, "I'm the greatest player in the world." Just go out and play my best and see what happens. Hopefully I'll keep winning. If not, I'll go back to the drawing board and get ready for the grass.

Q. How are you dealing with the clicking of cameras?

JAMES BLAKE: Cameras in here (laughter)? I try not to notice it very much. Obviously, by my hair, I haven't taken a lot of consideration to making myself look good, things like that. I think it's something that I assume comes with starting to do well. I don't really put a whole lot of emphasis on it because I want to go out and play tennis. That's something I learned. I was fortunate enough to have someone like Mats Wilander who was in Connecticut at the time I was growing up there. One of the things he said well before I had done anything to speak of, "Just worry about the tennis, don't worry about racquet deals, shoe deals, press, anything like that. All that will come if you just worry about the tennis and keep playing your best." I'm trying to think about that. Obviously there are distractions sometimes. There are times when it might not be the right time for something like that. But you just have to prioritize, worry about my practice first, then anything else that comes is secondary.

Q. Do you feel there's a certain amount of responsibility with you and Andy to sell tennis to the American public?

JAMES BLAKE: I feel it's our job to be entertainers and to make sure we're doing our best to promote the game in the right way, not necessarily to just get it out there because we're throwing our racquets and getting mad. I think we need to promote it as a positive outlet for kids, a sport that you can play for your whole life. I think that should be all throughout the world. I think we just need to be ourselves. I don't feel like there's anything we should change. I think that's when it becomes a little fake. Andy and I have slightly different personalities. He's much more outspoken, hyper, so he's going to do his thing on the court, I'm going to do mine. I'm a little more laid back. Hopefully it can reach whatever audiences we're playing in front of. I'm very into helping out little kids, especially in urban areas, just to learn the game, to hopefully make them play for the rest of their lives. Even if they're not going to be professional players or dreams like that, just to give them something to do that's fun. If we create a tennis player, then I think we've created a tennis fan. I think it's something that all of us should think about, not just the Americans. It has been lagging a little in America. See how enthusiastic and knowledgeable all the fans are in the rest of the world. Hopefully the Americans will be the same. I always feel like they're great at the US Open, so...I think we'll be all right.

Q. You talked about you guys all being friends. In the past, I think some of the guys have found as the stakes get higher, the money gets more, that's when some of those friendships become harder to maintain. Do you think you guys are going to be different?

JAMES BLAKE: I hope we're all competing for those Grand Slam titles and things. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I think if we do get to that point, I have never thought that money or fame or things like that should come between a friendship. But I guess that's a good point, that that's something that could test a friendship. The way I feel right now about those guys is that's something that wouldn't come in between our friendships. I mean, I can't speak exactly what they feel, but that's the way I feel. I mean, like I said, I really hope we have those opportunities to play in Grand Slams. Some of the biggest matches I've played, I felt like I gained friends in that. I played NCAA finals against Jeff Morrison. I felt at the time that was the biggest match I could play in. We fought hard, had a great match, we both played well. He beat me. At the end, he was so happy, and I was happy for him. I was extremely disappointed, frustrated that I lost, but I felt like our friendship got stronger through that. He got a wildcard in the US Open, he had a great opportunity. We had a lot of fun playing. I played my best that day. I feel like if we're competing for a Grand Slam final, it will be the same thing, just another memory for us to call back on. I hope it would never come between us.