Discusión: James Blake

Fecha: 15/05/2006
Fuente: Página oficial del TMS de Hamburgo


ENTREVISTA A JAMES BLAKE DESPUÉS DE LA VICTORIA ANTE MOYÁ:


Blake - Moya 6:3, 3:6, 7:5

Q: This is going to be the match of the tournament.
BLAKE: I am sure there are going to be some other good ones, but that wasn't exactly the ... for getting a high seed, getting to play the former French Open champion is not exactly a dream draw. But it was a great match. I feel great. I hope I continue on that level and maybe can get better.
Q: You looked very comfortable.
BLAKE: I think a lot had to do with the clay. Last week in Rome, I felt I was sliding a lot. I had time to practice on it. Here I think it plays a lot better. It is soft. There was a whole in the back, so behind my back leg on the serve, but other than that the footing is great. It's really slow.
Q: For a guy like you, who has made the jump into the Top 5 and is now trying to make that next jump to 4, 2, 3, how much is it a priority to get better on your weaker surfaces or how much can you afford to take your mindset away from the hard court to improve the other things?
BLAKE: You are giving me more credit than I deserve. I think it is more important to get better on the other surfaces. I feel I haven't done that on grass either. I may have succeeded on hard courts but I feel I can have success on all of them. I am really looking forward to it actually. I was looking forward to Rome. I just had a bad day. Obviously I am always going to be dominant on hard, but I feel I can still prove that I can get past a few rounds at the French. Today I beat one of the best clay courters in the world and I feel pretty good about that. And I feel I can continue getting better. I haven't played as much as all these guys on clay. None of the Americans really have spent all the hours on clay courts as most of these guys have. So hopefully with the matches, tomorrow, to the next day, to the next week, to the next year ... The more matches I play, I hopefully will continue improving.
Q: So would you say that on clay always a clay courter would be the favourite and on hard court, the hard court player?
BLAKE: Yes, I think there is always going to be that notion. I think, Moya was probably favourite today. Most people would have put their money on him. That's why I hope to keep improving and get to the part where I will be a favourite against a clay courter. Obviously Nadal is right now the top player on clay, but I would say Roger is not a claycourter and he was within one point of beating the best clay courter in the world. So hopefully that is kind of a motivation that a guy who is as talented as Roger and plays the kind of game Roger has to be successful on clay. It is inspiring for all of us non-traditional clay courters to see Roger. And I hope we will see him succeeding at the French as well.
Q: What was the key to the match today?
BLAKE: I moved a lot better. That was huge and trying to get control of the points. Because on hard court even if you are not in control, you can kind of take it back very quickly with one big shot. You can put them in trouble and win the point. It's much more difficult to do that. So, I had to move well and I had to kind of mentally stay in each point and keep working for position to get him further out of the position and then win the point as opposed to the first forehand I see getting eyes as big as my head and try to win the point. That was important. And maybe the fact helped me that I was cramping a little at the end to go for shots. Because I've had trouble closing him out. He's come back from match point against me before and beat me. This time it maybe was better that I wasn't thinking about winning the match. I was thinking about getting through it. Maybe that ended up being a help instead of a hindrance.
Q: To take control of the rallies, did you have to take risks?
BLAKE: You have to take a little bit of risk. But on hard courts you take kind of calculated risks. I think it's not really a risk by definition, but it's more like a heavy ball to get him off the court as opposed to just try and win the point. You are taking a risk by giving them the opportunity to stay in the point and giving them the chance to go for a winner. Anytime, a player as good as Moya can take one of those and hit a low percentage shot. I did that a few times when he tried to hit the better shot and got it out to my backhand and I just decided he's not looking for up the line. So I got at least sure that I can do that and take it up the line. You kind of take a risk by kind of keeping them in the point but you also have to play smart on clay. At least I think. I'm not an expert from my one match (laughs), ask Carlos. But I definitely think I had to hit high percentage shots, but also hit them pretty effectively.
Q: There was an incident early in the second set. You were a set up and a break up, 40:0 up in the second game and you served quite a rare double fault. There seemed to be a big dip. Did it affect the course of the match?
BLAKE: Luckily it didn't. I lost that game, but I don't think that had anything to do with it. It might have affected that double fault. It might have caused me to do that. But otherwise, the rest of the game, I adjusted my service position two inches further over and it was fine. But the court is so soft that when I dragged my foot, I guess I was going for a little much and I dragged it harder and it picked up some clay and it actually it went down like gravel, so there were rocks down there. But they fixed it and also on the other side. It's unbelievable the court staff. They come out and fix it so quickly and make it like new. It's impressive what they do.
Q: What was the replay in the first set?
BLAKE: I guess the umpire had made a noise, kind of called it out and then said it was in. It was in and Carlos even said it was an inch inside the line, but he stopped. That was just part of the game.
Q: The cramping was just cramping?
BLAKE: Maybe just because the movement is a little different on clay but I think a little bit of it was just nerves. I've come so close to beating Carlos before and had him come back. So, maybe I was thinking about that. My leg just kind of locked up a little bit. Once it locks up, then other things get locked up a little. It just keeps travelling from my thigh, to my calf to my other thigh. That made me just go for my shots because I knew, once you start that, until you take a little break and really rest or get a massage or get them stretched out, it is not going to go away. So, I needed to end that match quickly.
Q: What is your take on calendar issues on the moment? With players dominating who are going to be involved at week-ends in tournaments which gives the risk of what happened this week of not showing up. Is it too much to ask with the calendar as it is now?
BLAKE: Yes. I hope we are attempting to shorten the schedule a little bit. Masters Series two in a row… It's one thing Indian Wells and Miami because they are ten day events. So, once you are done, you still have a few days. Roger and I were in the finals in Indian Wells having three days, even five days because if you are seeded, which most of the times you are in the finals, you get a longer break, so you still get four days off. But to go from playing a five-hour match, to come here, expect to play on Tuesday and have to play every single day, six days in a row on clay, That's super-human. So, it is asking a bit much. To play the Rome final and come here is difficult. But, I don't know if I need to worry about that in my career but just for the guys, who do, that would be a help. Also, I definitely think to shorten the calendar. Guys are playing so many matches. You see so many injuries and it's just overuse injuries. Guys bodies break down after a while. We need a break. That's why I see guys pulling out of so many tournaments and guys needing breaks. I hope the Tour realizes the game is different than it used to be. It is much more physical and guys need the time off. you look at every other sport, they have a legitimate off season. I don't know about soccer, I'm not European. But all sports in America, hockey, basketball, football, baseball, you have a legitimate off season, where you have time to completely heal and rest every injury you have and then get back into shape and be ready. And we have 1 ½ months, where we are still doing exibitions and playing Davis Cup final and Masters Cup. It's a lot of tennis.
Q: You might be skipping the surface a bit. But every player sets their own schedule?
BLAKE: Yes, but we are supposed to play every Grand Slam, every Masters Series, that's 13 right there. If you do well, you are supposed to play the Masters Cup, that's 14, Davis Cup is an important part of the schedule. That's four weeks out of the year. The Slams are eight weeks. So that's 21 weeks right there and you haven't even played any of the other tournaments because your results are on the best 18. 21 weeks plus five more absolute minimum. That's 26 weeks, half the year playing the absolute bare minimum of what you are basically requiring what you are supposed to do. That's not even counting extra travel time, extra practice time and anything else you're doing, whether it be exhibitions or anything like that. And then, no one plays the bare minimum, except for Roger because he has the luxury that every tournament he plays he is in the finals. But guys need to play. Some guys play 35 weeks out of the year. That's just insane.
Q: So how would you answer the critics saying that working 26 weeks a year is pretty cool?
BLAKE: I would like them to come and do what we do 26 weeks a year. Because if it was as easy as everyone thinks it is, they'd all be out here doing it. Because anyone who says that hasn't been in the top 10, top 20, top 50 and worked as hard as they have to get there. And you don't see the other 26 weeks where we are actually working harder. Sometimes I feel I come to the tournament and it's easier than some of my training weeks. It's not just that 26 weeks.
Q: A quick question on Nadal: there hasn't been a No.1 come from clay court since Borg. Tell me about his game. Leaving Federer aside for a minute, does he have that kind of game that he could be consistent on hard courts or is he always going to be a clay courter trying survive?
BLAKE: First of all, I think Moya was No. 1 of the world. I think Nadal does have that ability. If you take Federer out of the equation, I definitely think that Nadal is capable of that. He has beaten top players. He's won two Masters Series on hard, made the semis in Indian Wells. He can make guys uncomfortable on hard court. He works so hard on hard courts as well. He can be very effective. He won a tournament on hard this year in Dubai. He definitely has that ability. To beat him you have to play some of your best tennis, even the top guys. It's looking like if it wasn't for Roger Federer, Nadal would be that dominant player. On hard courts he wouldn't be winning 53 matches in a row, but he'd still be the favourite in almost every match he plays.
Q: So he can go to New York and win seven in a row, it wouldn't be an upset?
BLAKE: I don't think it would be huge upset. I think it's definitely possible. I think even last year people were talking about him being the possible favourite at the US Open. I hope I have something to say about it but if he went on and won it, I would not be shocked at all. The way Roger plays on hard, it would be shocking but taking Roger out, I wouldn't be surprised at all.
Q: So you think the way Nadal goes for every point, do you think it might take a toll later on on his body?
BLAKE: That's possible. We are all having theses discussions about Hewitt three, four years ago. He's obviously still one of the best players in the world but it's not by far at the level of No.1. I think it was similar for Michael Chang, when he was early in his career working that hard, and even Jim Courrier. Everyone seems to have the ability to rise above it and maybe Nadal does. But it's very difficult. It's much more possible, I don't want to use the word easy, for the guys like Federer, who have the game where they get free points, where they somewhat move effortlessly and have the ability to get through with less effort, to have the longer careers. But I'm not going to predict Nadal not being well five years from now, because there is the chance that he could be talked about as one of the greatest of all time in 5 or 10 years.
Q: Just a few words on your possible opponents.
BLAKE: Monfils, Murray - great players, both young. I think they are both 19. They are both out and have that hunger that I had a few years ago and I feel I have again thanks to my break for a while. They are both extremely talented. Monfils did well on clay last week. He can move exceptionally well, he runs down everything. Murray is one of those guys where it seems like the game is slow. Everything comes to him very easily. He always knows where to be. He knows what he is doing. He's kind of like Hewitt or even Roger to a certain extent. The game comes very natural to him. I never played either of them but I am looking forward to it. And I know who ever gets through is playing well to beat the other guy.