James Blake Playing Quotations

Last year, watching this on TV, this is kind of what I was dreaming of, playing a night match at the Open again,

I am just so happy to be playing and now that it is going well and I feel like I'm healthy, ... I feel like things are starting to go my way, it's such a good feeling.

I look forward to playing a guy like (Haas). He is someone who really has been at the top of the game and whether or not his ranking states it, he is one of the top players in the world, ... Beating guys like the way I have the last two days makes me think I can hopefully do some good things the rest of the week here and the next two weeks at the U.S. Open.

I feel that I'm playing just about as well as when I was 20-something in the world. I think I'm a more mature player, a more in-control player. I think I'm playing as well right now as I was when I was 20-something in the world. I'm happy I'm back, happy that I'm playing well again.

If this was my life every week, I would never retire. Knowing as low as I was last year, that I can come back and be playing this well, is a great feeling. Now doing it in front of the friends that got me back to where I am now, keeping me upbeat during some down times ... it just makes me feel good and is yet another reason why I have started to believe that everything happens for a reason.

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.

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

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

Tommy's a great player who hits the ball so clean, ... We're both big servers. I look forward to playing him. No matter what his ranking is, he's one of the top players in the world.

This summer is a little better than last summer, ... I can actually sit here without feeling I am going to fall off the chair. I can actually smile, and, yeah, I definitely feel so much better and I am enjoying it a whole lot. And it does put a few things in perspective and I am just so happy to be playing and now that it is going well and I feel like I'm healthy. I feel like things are starting to go my way, it's such a good feeling.

When I was warming up and it was windy and cold, it was more like a job, not going out to have fun playing tennis.

Fernando is always dangerous no matter what, and he started playing like the Fernando I've come to know, the one who can hurt you in an instant. He wasn't pushing like he was in the first couple of sets. He was going after his shots and they were going in.

There's no way I would have believed that I'd be playing a legend like Andre Agassi in the quarter-finals on Wednesday at the Open.

I've come over a few times and not had much success, which is frustrating. I like playing indoors. I feel really good here even though it's not the same kind of crowds as I have on my side in the United States.

I've been playing pretty solid all week. I was happy to get through the way I did. I'm just happy to get back to the final, and there's no pressure on me tomorrow against Andy. He's one of the top players in the world, and I'm just going to go out and play and have fun.

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.

It's pretty crazy. It means I'm playing great tennis.

It was one of those days when he is playing well and he is getting the breaks. Things tend to feel like they are snowballing.

I want to go out there and find out how good I am playing my own game.

It was just a matter of showing everyone else I'm playing well. Everyone is saying that this is my welcome back, but I feel like I've been back for a while. And this is just the fruition of it all.

I hope that's kind of the reason they put me on this team, was that I hope the rest of the teammates have the confidence in me to deal with the pressure of playing a fifth match. I'm feeling pretty good about the way I'm playing. Hopefully, I'll do the same on Sunday.

I'm happy for them that they're comfortable, and I think we're pretty comfortable as well on the grass. Especially, Andy, he's always very comfortable when he's playing on grass.

I like to think I keep getting better. I feel like now I'm playing as well as I did when I was 20-something in the world. It's been a while since I've really felt like I have played this well.

I heard the Blake chant and I decided mentally I'd start the match over. I would try to dictate more points because playing defense clearly wasn't working.

Being down a set point, I just kept playing my game. Once I got it into my hands, I felt like I was dictating better and things seemed to happen.

If I'm playing tennis like this, I'm a guy that NOBODY wants to play. I think there are a lot of guys who don't want to see me in their draw.

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.

He's one of the hottest players on the circuit right now, ... And I'm playing close to my best, so it should be a good match.