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James Blake Profile |
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Birth Date: December 28, 1979
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Birth Place: Yonkers, New York, USA
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Birth Name: James Riley Blake
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Height: 6'1"
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Biography |
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player
and is currently the No. 1 ranked player from the United
States.
Blake was born in Yonkers, New York, to African-American
father Thomas Sr. and British mother Betty. He has a
brother, Thomas Jr., who is also a professional tennis
player, and two older half-brothers, Christopher and Howard.
Blake attended Fairfield High School, in Fairfield,
Connecticut. He dropped out of Harvard University after his
sophomore year to pursue a career in tennis. Blake was
inspired to pursue tennis after hearing his role model,
Arthur Ashe, speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program.
Brian Barker was his first (and current) coach.
Blake has scoliosis and for five years as a teenager, he had
to wear a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though
not while playing tennis.
Blake is known for his speed, extraordinarily powerful
forehand, and intimidating service returns, which leaves
many opponents baffled, including Andy Roddick and
particularly Rafael Nadal, to whom he has never lost.
Blake first gained the attention of tennis fans worldwide
after playing Lleyton Hewitt at the 2001 U.S. Open. In an
event that Hewitt would go on to eventually win, Blake gave
Hewitt his toughest challenge of the entire tournament in
the second round, falling in five sets, 6-4 3-6 2-6 6-3 6-0.
Cramping prevented Blake from offering much resistance in
the fifth and final set of the match. The two would have
another long, brutal five-setter in the third round of the
same tournament the very next year, with Hewitt winning that
match by a score of 6-7 6-3 6-4 3-6 6-3.
At age 21, Blake saw his first Davis Cup action in 2001
against India and became the third man with African-American
heritage to play the Davis Cup for the United States. Blake
won the 2002 USTA Waikola Challenger in Hawaii. He has also
twice won the Hopman Cup (with Serena Williams & Lindsay
Davenport).
Blake was named Rookie of the Year for the 2000 World Team
Tennis season.
2004 was an especially difficult year for Blake. While
practicing at a tournament in Rome, he broke his neck by
running into a net-post. In July he lost his father to
stomach cancer (linitis plastica). At the same time, Blake
developed shingles that temporarily paralyzed half his face
and blurred his sight. Blake did not know if he would ever
play tennis again.
In summer 2005, once Blake had recovered from his illness
and injury, he reentered the ATP top 50 at #49 from #210. He
won the 2005 Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven,
Connecticut, defeating Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 6-1. Having
received a wildcard to enter the 2005 US Open, he defeated
2nd seed Rafael Nadal in the round of 32, which marked the
first time that he defeated a top 10 player in a Grand Slam
event. In the round of 16, Blake beat Tommy Robredo in four
sets to send himself to the quarterfinals. This result marks
Blake's best effort yet in a Grand Slam, where he succumbed
to Andre Agassi in a fifth-set tiebreak after winning the
first two sets.
Blake won his third ATP tour title in October 2005 at the
Stockholm Open in Sweden. Blake defeated Thai player
Paradorn Srichaphan in the final 6-1 7-6. Blake finished
2005 ranked at No. 22 in the world according to the entry
ATP rankings.
In January 2006, Blake lost in the second round of the
Adelaide International. However, Blake bounced back and won
the Sydney International winning his fourth ATP tour title
defeating Russian Igor Andreev in the final 6-2 3-6 7-6 in
blistering heat.
At the 2006 Australian Open, he was seeded #20, where he
lost in the third round to Spanish player Tommy Robredo 6-3
6-4 6-4. Regardless of the loss he cracked into the top 20
for the first time in his career. In March he beat Lleyton
Hewitt 7-5 2-6 6-3 in the finals of the Las Vegas Open for
his fifth ATP tour title. This win marked the first time he
had beaten Hewitt in seven tries.
At the first Tennis Masters Series event in Indian Wells,
Blake defeated Robredo in the third round and beat world #2
Rafael Nadal in the semifinals in straight sets 7-5 6-3; he
would lose in the final to Roger Federer, though making
history in the process. By reaching the finals of that
event, Blake became the first man with African-American
heritage since Ashe to reach the top 10 rankings on March
20th 2006.
Kicking off the clay court season, after two first round
losses, Blake had a victory over Carlos Moya at the Hamburg
Masters event in the first round. He would lose to Mario
Ancic in the third, despite being up a set and break. At the
French Open, he took down rising Spanish player Nicolas
Almagro in four sets in the second round. The last remaining
American man in the third round, he was beaten by French
home favorite Gael Monfils in five sets.
To start the grass court season, he made what many
considered to be a surprising run at the Stella Artois
Championships, reaching the finals, defeating Andy Roddick
in the semifinal for the first time in his career. He lost
to Lleyton Hewitt in the final, 6-4 6-4. At Wimbledon, Blake
progressed to the third round and faced Max Mirnyi in the
third. After being up love-40 for break point to take a lead
in the first, he could not convert, losing the first set
6-4. He would take the next two sets, but won just one game
of the last 13, losing to Mirnyi in five sets. The defeat
dropped Blake to a disappointing 0-9 in five-set contests.
Blake's first tournament after the loss at Wimbledon was the
RCA Championships, a tournament which he would go on to win
by defeating Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the final—his
fifth title in 11 months.
With his advancement to the RCA final, Blake ranked 5th in
the world. Following that title, he had a lackluster summer
hardcourt season, having a third round loss to Marat Safin,
and then three consecutive second round losses to Richard
Gasquet, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo. He
is currently 7th in the world.
Blake blasted Tomáš Berdych in straight sets to reach the
quarterfinals of 2006 U.S. Open where he will face first
seed and last year's champion Roger Federer.
Away from tennis, Blake also enjoys golf, basketball, and
baseball. He is a big fan of the New York Mets. Blake has
also been featured on Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown.
Blake has appeared in People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive"
issue. He is also good friends with singer/songwriter John
Mayer, who is from Fairfield as well.[1] When Blake was
invited by Anthem Insurance to do a cancer charity game
honoring his late father, he invited Mayer (along with Andy
Roddick and Gavin DeGraw) to perform. |
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Other Information |
American tennis player. His best ranking was number 22 on
the world in 2003.
American tennis player. His best ranking was number 22 on
the world in 2003.
His mother, Betty, is British & his father, Thomas, is
African American
Attended Harvard University
Grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut with singer John Mayer.
Father Thomas died in July 2004 of stomach cancer at age 57.
Dropped out of Harvard University to turn pro in 1999, while
ranked the number one college player in the country.
Cites tennis player Arthur Ashe as his role model and hero. |
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