James Blake Time Quotations

I'm just excited to be on the court. It was a rough patch for me for a while. I would have given anything last year just to be playing. It's not easy to take that long of a time off with so many things on your mind. So I'm happy to be playing. I know I'm going to get better.

It's interesting, I hadn't thought about that. I guess I'll have to spell Andy this one time, since he's been doing it for years. I'll take the burden this time and I'm sure he'll take it back soon. He's one of the best players in the world and I'm sure he'll prove it for the rest of this year. For this one, it's good to see we have some depth in American tennis.

I think I'm playing better every time I step on the court now,

I'm definitely flattered and humbled any time I can put my name in the same sentence with Arthur Ashe. That's something that is always an accomplishment to me. He's a role model for more than just tennis players, I think.

Hopefully the maintenance crew won't have as much to do on the court after the first match here. Andy actually came up with that joke, so I blame him. This is the first time my name has been picked. I'm usually second. But playing first, it should be fun.

That generation I think people are now realizing was kind of a freak phenomenon, just an unbelievable time in American tennis. Now I think we're going to see our true potential and see how well we can do.

I think this is the first time I've been picked. It should be fun, and hopefully I'll start us off on a good note.

Any time getting on a grass court is going to be pretty fast, especially a lot faster than the hard courts we've been hitting on. It's just going to be a matter of time getting used to it. I feel comfortable on it. It's not a huge adjustment from the hard courts. It's still quicker. You have to change your game a little more, the movement's different.

This is the first time I've had success in Europe, previously I've only done well in the States and maybe in Australia.

We live with incessant music, all the time. It's like some weird musical purgatory, there is absolutely no rest for the ears, no space to absorb and reflect.

It's going to take time because no matter how good you are or how hard you've worked, there's no substitute for playing matches. I think he needs to get a few matches in, and then once he gets a little bit of confidence in match play, I think he's going to get that ranking right back up there.

I am definitely flattered and humbled any time I can put my name in the same sentence as Arthur Ashe.

My serve was the biggest difference today, ... It's good to be playing so well at this time of the year.

It was very important to me because half the tour is in Europe, ... I'm excited and it gives me confidence to know that I can win here. This is the first time I've had success in the European season. Other times I've kind of made my rankings just on the U.S. season and maybe down in Australia a little bit.

I am proud to say that I feel like I have a chance to contend for a major for the first time in my life.

A lot of the vocal music I've been doing recently has been quite clubby. But that's mainly because I've had more time to go to clubs, and that normally breeds that kind of influence.

Maybe I'm a slow learner. But he doesn't make it easy. I'm starting to feel like one of those basketball players in the early '90s. You feel like you make Michael Jordan play well, but then every time he comes up and beats you and makes you realize why he's the best.

I figure most people, it's going to be their game plan to attack my backhand, ... I got a lot more confidence in it. When I have time to hit it, I feel like I can really go after it and hurt people with it, as opposed to playing defense all the time. I think I passed him with three backhands that first game and that's probably something he wasn't expecting.

I've got to start talking to somebody about getting some better draws, ... I always see it as an opportunity. I expect really high-level tennis on Saturday. I couldn't quite break through those times, but maybe this time will be different.

What I actually thought of then, ... was the tape that's replayed about five million times every time there's a rain delay here at the Open, when Jimmy Connors says, 'This is what they came for; this is what we'll give them.'

We weren't sure if I was ever really going to be back to a 100 percent, if I was ever going to be back to this level again. I said whatever tournament I win, the next Grand Slam, you have to wear a gold tooth for the whole time I'm in the tournament.