Tennis

From nowhere to center court

Success has mostly eluded James Blake, who now finds himself in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

By KEITH NIEBUHR
Published September 7, 2005

NEW YORK - If anyone knows James Blake, it's his older brother, Thomas.

They learned the game together, attended Harvard and subsequently turned professional. For each of James' triumphs, Thomas has been there to celebrate, and for every disappointment his shoulder was there.

He knows his brother's style.

His personality.

And, of course, his game.

Thus, it stands to reason that as James, a Tampa resident, has made his historic run at the U.S. Open (he faces Andre Agassi tonight in the quarterfinals), Thomas would be among the best qualified to answer the obvious question: Just how exactly has his brother, once a forgotten man on the tour, become the Big Apple's man of the moment?

"I don't know where it came from," Thomas Blake said. "I really don't."

Does anyone?

Earlyer this year, Blake's ranking had dipped into the 200s. A year ago, he wondered if he would play again after being plagued by head and spine injuries from a freakish accident in which he slammed his head into the net post, and a bout with shingles, an ailment that caused temporary paralysis in his face. In between, his father died of cancer.

"He's a very positive person, and his parents did an excellent job of giving him a great foundation," former tour standout Jim Courier said. "Unfortunately, he has been handed some adversity, and a lot of it recently."

Adversity is nothing new for Blake.

Neither is resilience. As a teen, he was forced to wear a back brace 18 hours a day because of scoliosis. Ten years later, Blake had become a sought-after model with a 10-page pictorial in a 2003 issue of GQ.

"James is solid as a rock," Courier said.

But until the Open, where he was entered as a wild card, Blake, 25, had never been consistently solid on the court. His career record entering the year was 97-81 and he had not advanced beyond the fourth round at a major, hardly the stuff of legends.

When rattled in a match, he often collapsed. Victories over marquee opponents were few . More than anything, Blake was known for a series of near misses, two at the Open.

In 2001, he lost to eventual champ Lleyton Hewitt in five sets in the second round. The following year, he lost to Hewitt in a five-setter, but nonetheless showed promise that season, jumping 60 spots in the rankings with a 36-24 record and claiming his first ATP title in Washington, where he defeated Agassi in the semifinals. The title made Blake the fourth African-American to win a tournament since the Open era began in 1968, as he joined Arthur Ashe, MaliVai Washington and Bryan Shelton.

In 2003, Blake reached a career-best No. 22 ranking before things went bad, largely because of last year's events. But in the weeks before the Open, Blake inexplicably turned things around, claiming his second career title in Connecticut two weeks ago and then taking the USTA National Tennis Center by storm. Blake's already potent forehand has reached another level; he appears to be unfazed by uncomfortable situations and is hitting the clutch shots that once eluded him. His victory over No. 2-seed Rafael Nadal in the third round still has folks buzzing.

"This is the best run I've seen from James ever," Courier said. "James has this calm sense right now. He's almost peaceful when he's playing. He's really maximizing his ability. The thing that impresses me is his shot selection, particularly when he has needed to be patient. And he has been aggressive when it's time to step up. I've always known James had tons of potential, and it has been fantastic to see him realize that."

Blake is the first African-American man since Rodney Harmon in 1982 to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and now comes another defining moment.

It was Agassi whom Blake idolized as a child. And now, in a unique twist, Agassi is one of the few left standing between Blake and the immortality that goes with winning the Open.

"I'm going to try to play within myself," Blake said. "I'm not going to go out just trying to blast winners from every corner because it's Andre Agassi. I'm going to try to play my game."

[Last modified September 7, 2005, 01:02:19]