IVY LEAGUE, AFRO-AMERICAN MAKES IMPACT

Blake grows his career by playing Wilander

By Sandra Harwitt
tennisreporters.net

Fred Mullane Camerawork USA, Inc.

MASON, OHIO, AUG. 9 – Based in Fairfield, Ct., but tutored in tennis at the Harlem Junior Tennis League, James Blake confirms that former world No. 1 Mats Wilander figured strongly in his earliest realization that a path in professional tennis would be in the offing.

A Swedish tennis sensation, Wilander set down roots with his family in Greenwich, Ct., quite nearby to Fairfield, during his playing days. As luck would have it that Blake’s coach knew Wilander and asked the seven-time Grand Slam champion to trade a few groundstrokes with his young pupil.

“My coach asked him (Wilander) to do him a favor and hit with me a couple of times, just so I could see that level of tennis because I hadn’t seen that level of tennis before,” said Blake, who decided to concentrate solely on tennis when he was a pre-teen. “To see him, it was great. At first he was really beating me up badly. It was fun. It’s unbelievable to be on the same court with him. And as I got better and better, and he was getting a little older and probably not practicing as much, I started being pretty even with him. And a couple of times I’d beat him. I couldn’t believe it. To me, it was amazing. He was one of my idols. He still is an unbelievable player. So that gave me confidence going into tournaments where I’m playing number one, I’m not scared anymore because I say if I can hang on the same court with Mats Wilander, I’m not as afraid of the No. 1 player in Kalamazoo.”

These days the 21-year-old Blake has found another famous name to admire and take some well wishes from – Patrick Rafter.

In a close third round encounter here at the Tennis Masters Series-Cincinnati on Thursday, Blake challenged Rafter in the first set before surrendering to the two-time U.S. Open champion 7-6 (9-7) 6-2. Blake, who reached his first career ATP tour semifinals at Newport last month and earlier in the year reached the final of the USTA Waikoloa Challenger in Hawaii where he lost to Andy Roddick, was clearly moved by the words Rafter had for him after the match.

“He asked me if now I believe I can beat someone like him, or him,” Blake said. “And it really made me feel good that he said that. Like I hope that I’m close, and he said, ‘Really, you are, and I hope you believe that, and good luck to you. I really think it’s going to happen soon.’ That’s very encouraging. He’s such a nice guy to take the time to say that to a young guy on the tour that’s just starting out, maybe in the same position he was seven, eight years ago.”

Indeed, Rafter repeated the kind words about Blake in his press conference after moving into the quarterfinals, where he will face Greg Rusedski, the Canadian turned Briton.

“I think he can start troubling a lot of guys and then his belief, his confidence, hopefully his body stays fit. There’s no reason he can’t be a real good player,” Rafter said. “James appears to be a really good fellow, a great guy. He’s an honest guy and the tour needs good guys like that, good men.”

Blake comes to the tour via a very different route than most players.

The child of an interracial marriage, Blake’s tennis game was developed at the Harlem Junior Tennis League, a place where tennis wasn’t the only concentration.
“I wish there were more programs like the Harlem program,” Blake said. “Even if they don’t produce another player like myself, or a professional tennis player, it made for great camaraderie, something to do on the weekends instead of going out and getting into trouble on the streets of New York. It’s a very positive place to go and it’s all free. They had a homework club to do homework with tutors. The check your report cards and if you don’t have a C average, you can’t play tennis.

“I wish there were more programs like that and that that one wasn’t closing down.”
Blake told tennisreporters.net in a phone conversation that the headquarters of the Harlem Junior Tennis League is being turned into an all-purpose facility that will leave only two tennis courts and add basketball and a track. The program has played a huge part in Blake’s life and even after he moved from Yonkers to Connecticut, he returned to the program every Sunday. And after he moved past the program in terms of his skill, Blake offered his services as a volunteer to work with kids coming up behind him.

Another difference in Blake’s journey to the pros is he selected education over an early start on the tour. And his selection of colleges was the finest – a two-year stint at Harvard before he decided to seek his fortune with a tennis racket.

“I think it’s taken me longer to develop than some of the other young Americans because I went to college and didn’t develop until very late,” Blake said. “I wasn’t a very good tennis player at all till 17 or 18. I planned on going to college for four years and getting a normal job, and playing tennis for fun. I kept working hard and kept improving and got to the point where I felt that like this was a possibility.
Thus far, Blake has no regrets that he left Harvard behind after being ranked the No. 1 player in the ITA rankings in his sophomore year in 1999.

“It’s been a great ride so far,” Blake said. “It’s a lot of fun. I’m very thankful for that. And I have been progressing this year, and hopefully, keep getting better and better.”