James Blake - Tennis Star and Inspiration - from Harlem to Harvard to Top Tennis Player
Last updated 15/06/2009 10:21:14
If ever there was ever an OPTIMIST, American tennis player James Blake fills that category. After the death of his inspirational father and a life threatening illness, against all kind of odds he achieved the near impossible.
When he returned to tennis he ranked a lowly 200 in the world. Two years later he was in the world's top five.
You could almost be forgiven if you hadn't heard of James Blake before the US Open three years ago, well, he'd only played Wimbledon twice and in the early rounds each time, and the year before was forced to stay at home through injury even though expectations were running high having won a tournament earlier in the year, "that's what boasts your confidence at any level,' he said afterwards.
But it was his performance at the US Open three years later that was to prove so crucial to his career when he lost to Andre Agassi in a thrilling five set match.
So what makes James Blake the talk of the town and arguably one of the nicest guys on the tennis tour? Blake is black, 27, good looking, intelligent, and a body to die for. And guess what, he has an English mother who hails from the quintessential town of Banbury in Oxfordshire. "She moved to the States when she was 17," he explains, "but loves to show me where she grew up. I finally got to see where all her stories were coming from when played my first Wimbledon.
I remember going to a local pub with her and people even remembered her even though she hadn't been around for a long time," he tells you proudly. Understandably the name of the village, Misseldime is something few can forget.
There was a time when he could even have been considered to play Davis Cup for Britain but no-longer having previously represented the United States on several occasions. "I wasn't getting too many calls from the LTA when I was losing first and second rounds in junior nationals. It's unfortunate I can't play for both," he grins.