James Blake Profile

James Riley Blake is known for his speed and powerful forehands. In 2006 he reached the final of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China, but lost to World No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets.

Blake finished 2006 at a career-high World Number 4, and also finished the year as the highest-ranked American tennis player.

On January, 2003 he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to finalist Rainer Schuttler in four sets. The following year he once again lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open. This time finalist Marat Safin defeted him in four sets.

The year of 2004 was an especially difficult year for Blake causing him to suffer a huge slide in the rankings. He not only broke his neck while practicing in Rome, but his father died of stomach cancer. Furthermore Blake developed shingles, which temporarily paralyzed half his face and blurred his sight.

In 2005 Blake defeated Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S Open where he lost in a memorable fifth-set tiebreak to Andre Agassi.

At the 2006 Wimbledon, Blake progressed to the third round, but lost to Max Mirnyi in five sets.

In 2007 Blake's Australian Open campaign came to an end when he was eliminated by eventual finalist Chilean Fernando Gonzalez. His Grand Slam woes continued at the 2007 Roland Garros in Paris where he surprisingly lost in the first round to Ivo Karlovic.

Blake was one of nine American men to lose in the first round of the French Open, which marked the first time in the open era that an American did not make it into a Grand Slam second round.

He did a little better in England as he reached the third round of Wimbledon but lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. Although there were somewhat high expectations for the 2007 U.S. Open he went out in a fourth round heartbreaking five-set loss to Germany's Tommy Haas.

As of February 14, 2008 Blake was the 12th ranked player in the world. He is the second-ranked American player behind Andy Roddick.

Birthday: May 22, 1987
Birthplace: Yonkers, New York
Residence: Tampa, Florida
Pro: since 1999