James Blake
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James Riley Blake (born December 28, 1979) is an American tennis player.
Blake was born in Yonkers, New York to parents Tom Sr. (who is African-American) and Betty (who is European-English) . He has a brother, Tom Jr., and two older half-brothers, Christopher and Howard.
Blake went to Fairfield High School, and then to Harvard, but he dropped out after sophomore year to go professional in tennis. Blake was inspired to pursue tennis after hearing his role model, Arthur Ashe, speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program.
At age 21, he saw his first Davis Cup action in 2001 against India, and became the third African-American man to play the Davis Cup for the United States. Blake won the 2002 USTA Waikola Challenger in Hawaii. He has also twice won the Hopman Cup (with Serena Williams & Lindsay Davenport).
Blake was named Rookie of the Year for the 2000 World Team Tennis season, and he has appeared in the People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive issue.
Away from tennis, Blake also likes playing golf, basketball and baseball.
Highlights
- Overall record in Davis Cup is 8-1, and 5-1 in singles.
- Achieved his best result to date in a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open, making it to the fourth round before losing to finalist Rainer Schuettler.
- Finished the 2002 year ranked World No. 28 on the ATP men's tour.
- Won the 2002 International Series Gold tournament in Washington.
External links
- James Blake Homepage (http://www.jamesblaketennis.com/)
- Fanz Homepage (http://www.blakefanz.com/)
- Fan site (http://www.stomps.org/Blakes/)