Former world no.4 James Blake said he will retire soon after the US Open. James followed the example of some other illustrious compatriots (Sampras, Chang, Agassi, Martin and Roddick) to choose the US Open as his last tournament.
At 33 years of age and ranked world no.100, James can still play a very competitive tennis to defeat the upcoming Jerzy Janowicz in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. But apparently that was it.
James: I am really happy about this
The American commented “You know, despite the tears, I’m actually really happy about this. I can do it on my own terms. Always wanted to do that. I thought about it a tonne this year.”
About his father…
James gave big credits to his career to his father “He was someone that actually practised what he preached… He preached hard work. I put in hours and hours on the practice court and in the gym to make it seem easier on the court, and my dad was the one who instilled that in me, to work harder than the next guy and do it the right way.”
… and his plans
“I don’t have any specific plans. I’d like to see if there is something outside of tennis to do. Something still inside tennis way down the road I would obviously love to be back in tennis as the Davis Cup captain.” He added.
Next match
Before calling it a career, James still needs to play his US Open to face Ivo Karlovic in the opener. Head to head is 6-3 for Karlovic.
