Blake's Blues: Long Career, Quick Exit

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By Josh Gajewski

LOS ANGELES – James Blake didn’t actually say the word “retirement,” but it seemed to hang in the air like his third-set forehand that, moments earlier, had clipped the tape, popped upward and refused to go over.

“I need to find ways to win these matches and take advantage of these opportunities,” a dejected Blake said after a wrenching 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4) loss to German Tobias Kamke at the Farmers Classic on Tuesday night. “I don’t know how many more I have left.”

Quite frankly, it seems, losing is getting old. He’s lost eight of his nine matches this year – though to be fair, Blake has been on the mend from repaired knee and a balky shoulder, and he did bust out of the losing funk when he beat American rising Ryan Harrison last week in Atlanta.

But especially for a man who was once among the brightest of American stars – he dueled Agassi in a US Open epic, was the world No. 4 in 2006 and four years ago in Beijing beat Roger Federer at the Olympics – flirting with the Challenger circuit and continually failing to convert good practice sessions into actual wins isn’t something he cares to do for too much longer. He said as much during a gracious and candid interview following the tough loss to Kamke, a match he had on his racket serving at 5-3 in the third before letting it slip.

“I was hitting the ball great in practice,” Blake said. “(But) I don’t know how many times I can win in practice sets and then go out and lose matches and still feel good about it.

“I really thought this was a good opportunity at this tournament – it’s obviously not the same kind of draw it always is because of the Olympics (next week), and it was a great opportunity (to win) and I didn’t take advantage.”

Blake is now 32 years old, No. 112 in the world. There were flashes Tuesday of his former self – the monster returns, the laser forehands – but consistency and confidence, Blake’s said, still lacked when it mattered.

“Even serving at 5-3 (in the third) I felt like I had my chances but I just wasn’t being as aggressive as I normally am, wasn’t as confident just taking balls and being aggressive,” he said. “If I’m not doing that, I’m in trouble. It wasn’t my kind of tennis where I’m taking a couple forehands, ripping them and running him all over and forcing myself forward. That’s when tennis is fun to me.”

When IT asked about his future, about what he might still like to accomplish in his career, Blake said, “Same goal as I’ve always had – finish, and when I’m done, hang up the rackets and have no regrets. Right now I did my best to prepare tonight, I didn’t execute the way I wanted to, I competed hard and I just didn’t win. Right now it’s extremely frustrating, but when I look back on my career I’m not going to say I messed up in this match, I didn’t prepare well or I didn’t do something I was supposed to do. I just didn’t have it.

“So that’s the goal for the rest of the career – just to keep doing my best, keep trying. And, you know, if I’ve got another year in me, if I’ve got another two years in me – great. If I’ve only got another two months in me, make the most of it, do my best, have as much fun as I can and try to win these kinds of matches.

“But I never set goals like I want to get to a certain round, or I want to get ranked a certain way, because sometimes the choices are made for you. If I end the year ranked 150 or 200 in the world, I’m probably not going to scrap out and get back to the Futures and Challengers and stuff like that. If my body is not letting me compete at the level I want to compete at, I just can’t do it. But I want to. My head’s still in the game.”

And then finally, we asked about fatherhood. Blake and his fiancé welcomed a baby girl, his first, just last month. “Off the court, it completely changes your life – I think anybody that’s got a kid will tell you that, that your life becomes less selfish,” Blake said.

“To be a pro athlete, a lot of times your life has to be selfish and there are still times when I’m selfish, but there are also times that I can’t be. When I’m at home and I’m with her, then it’s not as much about me anymore and I’m happy about that, I really am thrilled, and I really couldn’t ask for anything more than a healthy baby.

“This match hurts right now, but that’ll ease the pain when I see her next week.”