James Blake (tennis player)
James Blake ![]() |
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James Blake at the 2009 Estoril Open in Oeiras | |||||||||||||
Nation: |
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Birthday: | December 28, 1979 | ||||||||||||
Size: | 185 cm | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 83 kg | ||||||||||||
1st professional season: | 1999 | ||||||||||||
Resignation: | 2013 | ||||||||||||
Playing hand: | Right, one-handed backhand | ||||||||||||
Trainer: | Brian Barker | ||||||||||||
Prize money: | $ 7,981,786 | ||||||||||||
singles | |||||||||||||
Career record: | 366: 256 | ||||||||||||
Career title: | 10 | ||||||||||||
Highest ranking: | 4 (November 20, 2006) | ||||||||||||
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Double | |||||||||||||
Career record: | 132: 121 | ||||||||||||
Career title: | 7th | ||||||||||||
Highest ranking: | 31 (March 31, 2003) | ||||||||||||
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Mixed | |||||||||||||
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Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links ) |
James Riley Blake (born December 28, 1979 in Yonkers , New York ) is a retired American tennis player . In 2006 he was number four in the world rankings.
Career
Beginnings
James Blake, whose father Thomas is African American and whose mother Betty is from England , was born in Yonkers in 1979. His brother Thomas Blake also played a few professional-level matches. He started playing tennis at the age of 5. When he was 13, he was diagnosed with severe scoliosis which forced him to wear a back brace until he turned 18. Blake's family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut , where he attended Fairfield High School . The future singer John Mayer was his school friend there. Blake is said to have been inspired to play tennis by Arthur Ashe . He first attracted attention on the professional tour in 2001 at the US Open , when he forced the then world number one Lleyton Hewitt in the second round over the full distance of five sets. At the age of 21 he played for the USA for the first time in the Davis Cup against India ; making him the third player of African descent who competed in the Davis Cup for the United States. With Serena Williams and Lindsay Davenport he could each win the Hopman Cup once .
2002 to 2004
In 2002 there was another duel with Lleyton Hewitt at the US Open , this time in the third round; Blake lost again in five sets. In the same year he won his first title on the professional tour with the tournament of the International Series in Washington ; with two further finals, he ended the season among the top 30 players in the world rankings . 2003 was a rather quiet year for Blake with only one final appearance (he was 37th at the end of the season), 2004 turned out to be an extremely difficult year for the 24-year-old American. During a training session in May of that year, he suffered a fractured cervical vertebra and only barely escaped paraplegia . Six weeks later, his father died of cancer before Blake himself suffered another setback two weeks later with shingles , which temporarily paralyzed the left side of his face. He was only able to start training again in November of that year, and in the meantime he had fallen far behind in the world rankings.
2005 to 2009
2005 turned into a comeback season, with Blake returning to the top 50 tennis players in the world that summer. In New Haven he achieved his second career title, at the US Open he made it to the quarter-finals, where he only had to admit defeat to his compatriot Andre Agassi after five sets . Blake later managed another tournament victory in Stockholm , with which he improved to 22nd place in the world rankings at the end of the season.
The 2006 season should be even more successful for the now 26-year-old Blake, who won his first title of the season in Sydney in January . After another title, his first participation in the final followed at a tournament of the Masters Series category in Indian Wells . With three more titles and another quarter-finals at the US Open , Blake managed to take part in the Tennis Masters Cup , the season finale of the season's best eight players, at the end of the year . Here Blake was able to win the group games against Rafael Nadal and Nikolai Dawydenko to move into the semifinals. Against the Argentine David Nalbandian he managed to reach the finals of the prestigious tournament with a 6: 4, 6: 1 victory, in which he was clearly defeated by the world number one Roger Federer with 0: 6, 3: 6, 4: 6. For Blake, the entry into the final of the fifth most important tennis tournament was the greatest success of his career so far, at the end of the season he was fourth in the world rankings, his best position ever achieved.
At the beginning of 2007 he again won the Sydney tournament and reached the round of 16 of the Australian Open , in which he was defeated by Fernando González . At Wimbledon the end came in the third round. In late July he reached the final in Los Angeles , which he lost to Radek Štěpánek . In August, Blake reached the finals of the Cincinnati Masters Tournament. There he was defeated by Roger Federer with 1: 6 and 4: 6. The following week he celebrated his tenth victory on the tour at the ATP tournament in New Haven when he defeated his compatriot Mardy Fish 7: 5, 6: 4 in the final . At the US Open in September he reached the last sixteen, which he lost to Tommy Haas in five sets.
In 2008 Blake reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open , where he lost to Federer 5: 7, 6: 7, 3: 6. At the French Open , he lost in round two to Ernests Gulbis . Also in Wimbledon was for Blake already in round two last stop; there he lost to the later semi-finalist Rainer Schüttler . At the Olympic Games in Beijing, however, he was able to defeat Federer for the first time (6: 4, 7: 6). In the semifinals he lost to Fernando González after a dramatic match. He then lost the game for bronze to Novak Đoković . At the US Open Blake came out early again, in the third round against compatriot Mardy Fish.
At the first Grand Slam tournament in 2009, Blake was defeated by Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets in the round of 16 . At the beginning of May he reached the final of the Estoril Open ( ATP World Tour 250 ) for the first time , but lost there in three sets against the Spaniard Albert Montañés , who was in 7th position . At the lawn tournament in London's Queen's Club, he was defeated in the final by the Scot Andy Murray . Blake lost his first-round matches at both the Grand Slam tournament in Roland Garros and the one in Wimbledon.
2010 until the end of his career
The 2010 season was little better for Blake. At the Australian Open he was eliminated in the second round, at the French Open he was unable to compete for the first time since 2004 due to a knee injury. At Wimbledon he was already defeated by Robin Haase in the opening round . At the US Open he was eliminated in the third round against Novak Đoković. From the beginning to the end of the season, Blake dropped from 44th to 135th in the world rankings. In the following season he was able to improve again to rank 59 by December 2011, but as in 2010 he remained without a title win. He skipped both the Australian Open and the French Open, at Wimbledon he did not get past the first and at the US Open not beyond the second round. In the course of the 2012 season he fell again from the top 100. Again, he did not start in Melbourne, while he was eliminated in Paris and Wimbledon in the first round. He was only able to reach the third round at the US Open. His biggest success of the season was winning the title in the doubles competition in Houston on the side of Sam Querrey .
In the 2013 season Blake appeared again in Melbourne , but was already eliminated in qualifying. In doubles, however, he was more successful. With Jack Sock he reached the finals in Miami , shortly afterwards the two won the tournament in Delray Beach . At the French Open he was directly qualified for the main field, but, as in previous years, did not get past the first round. Shortly before the start of the US Open , he announced that he would end his career with the tournament. He lost his first round match against the Croatian Ivo Karlović 7: 6, 6: 3, 4: 6, 6: 7 and 6: 7. In doubles, he lost his very last professional game alongside Jack Sock on August 29, 2013 with the opening game.
Davis Cup
Between 2001 and 2009, Blake completed a total of 17 games for the US Davis Cup team . He won 18 of his 29 singles and three of his four doubles games. In 2007 he won the trophy with the USA team.
After retirement
In 2018 it was announced that Blake would become the new tournament director of the Miami Masters .
Personal
He married Emily Snider in November 2012. In June 2012 they became parents to a daughter.
In September 2015, Blake was knocked down, handcuffed and arrested by a police officer following a mistake. As a result, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city's chief of police, Bill Bratton , personally apologized to Blake.
successes
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singles
Tournament victories
ATP World Tour
No. | date | competition | Topping | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | August 12, 2002 |
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Hard court |
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1: 6, 7: 6 5 , 6: 4 |
2. | August 22, 2005 |
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Hard court |
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3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 1 |
3. | October 10, 2005 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 1, 7: 6 6 |
4th | January 9, 2006 |
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Hard court |
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6: 2, 3: 6, 7: 6 3 |
5. | February 27, 2006 |
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Hard court |
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7: 5, 2: 6, 6: 3 |
6th | July 17, 2006 |
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Hard court |
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4: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6 5 |
7th | September 25, 2006 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 3, 6: 1 |
8th. | October 15, 2006 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 4, 6: 2 |
9. | January 13, 2007 |
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Hard court |
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6: 3, 5: 7, 6: 1 |
10. | August 25, 2007 |
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Hard court |
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7: 5, 6: 4 |
ATP Challenger Tour
No. | date | competition | Topping | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | September 24, 2000 |
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Hard court |
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7: 6 5 , 6: 7 12 , 6: 3 |
2. | November 19, 2000 |
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Hard court |
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3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2 |
3. | November 18, 2001 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 4, 6: 4 |
4th | January 27, 2002 |
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Hard court |
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6: 2, 6: 3 |
5. | May 7, 2005 |
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Sand (i) |
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6: 2, 6: 3 |
6th | May 14, 2005 |
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Sand (i) |
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6: 3, 6: 4 |
7th | May 1, 2011 |
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sand |
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6: 2, 6: 2 |
8th. | July 3, 2011 |
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Hard court |
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6: 3, 6: 1 |
9. | October 7, 2012 |
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Hard court |
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6: 1, 1: 6, 6: 4 |
Final participation
No. | date | competition | Topping | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | February 25, 2002 |
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Hard court (i) |
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4: 6, 6: 3, 5: 7 |
2. | July 15, 2002 |
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race |
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1: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6 |
3. | August 25, 2003 |
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Hard court |
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2: 6, 4: 6 |
4th | August 8, 2005 |
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Hard court |
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5: 7, 3: 6 |
5. | March 20, 2006 |
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Hard court |
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5: 7, 3: 6, 0: 6 |
6th | June 19, 2006 |
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race |
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4: 6, 4: 6 |
7th | November 20, 2006 |
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Hard court (i) |
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0: 6, 3: 6, 4: 6 |
8th. | February 4, 2007 |
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Hard court |
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7: 5, 4: 6, 4: 6 |
9. | July 22, 2007 |
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Hard court |
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6: 7 7 , 7: 5, 2: 6 |
10. | August 19, 2007 |
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Hard court |
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1: 6, 4: 6 |
11. | February 17, 2008 |
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Hard court |
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6: 3, 1: 6, 4: 6 |
12. | April 20, 2008 |
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sand |
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4: 6, 6: 1, 5: 7 |
13. | May 10, 2009 |
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sand |
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7: 5, 6: 7 6 , 0: 6 |
14th | June 14, 2009 |
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race |
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5: 7, 4: 6 |
Double
Tournament victories
ATP World Tour
No. | date | competition | Topping | partner | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | August 5, 2002 |
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Hard court |
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7: 5, 6: 3 |
2. | March 9, 2003 |
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Hard court |
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6: 4, 6: 7 2 , 7: 6 5 |
3. | February 16, 2004 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 2, 7: 5 |
4th | April 19, 2004 |
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sand |
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6: 3, 6: 4 |
5. | April 26, 2004 |
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sand |
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6: 2, 6: 4 |
6th | April 15, 2012 |
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sand |
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7: 6 14 , 6: 4 |
7th | March 3, 2013 |
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Hard court |
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6: 4, 6: 4 |
ATP Challenger Tour
No. | date | competition | Topping | partner | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | July 24, 1999 |
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Hard court |
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6: 4, 6: 7, 6: 3 |
2. | May 12, 2001 |
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sand |
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7: 5, 6: 1 |
Final participation
No. | date | competition | Topping | partner | Final opponent | Result |
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1. | February 27, 2006 |
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Hard court (i) |
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6: 0, 5: 7, [5:10] |
2. | October 28, 2007 |
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carpet |
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1: 6, 1: 6 |
3. | February 24, 2013 |
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Hard court (i) |
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1: 6, 2: 6 |
literature
- Blake, James & Friedman, Andrew: Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life . It Books, 2008. ISBN 978-0061560606 .
Web links
- ATP profile of James Blake (English)
- ITF Profile of James Blake (English)
- Davis Cup stats by James Blake (English)
- official homepage
Individual evidence
- ^ James Blake announces retirement at the US Open. In: usatoday.com. August 26, 2013, accessed December 15, 2017 .
- ↑ James Blake confirmed as the new tournament director of the Miami Open. In: spox.com. January 12, 2018, accessed January 12, 2018 .
- ↑ Tennis star confused with cell phone thief. In: faz.net. FAZ, September 11, 2015, accessed on December 15, 2017 .
- ↑ Blake: Mayor apologizes. In: sport1.de. September 11, 2015, accessed December 15, 2017 .
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Blake, James |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blake, James Riley (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American tennis player |
DATE OF BIRTH | December 28, 1979 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Yonkers , New York , United States |