A choked-up James Blake, occasionally breaking down in tears as he spoke, formally announced his retirement Monday during a US Open press conference.
The 33-year-old Blake, the Yonkers native and former Harvard standout, overcame long odds to become one of the faces of American tennis. But he never advanced past a quarterfinal in a Grand Slam. Blake got as high as No. 4 in the world and was a stalwart on past US Davis Cup teams after his big comeback from breaking his neck when he hit a net post in 2004..
Blake, currently ranked No. 100, will face 6-foot-10 Croatian Ivo Karlovic in the first round. Blake is not expected to be a factor at this Open and the state of men’s tennis is in disarray.
“I don’t kid myself,’’ Blake said. “ I know I have had a great career in my eyes, but it’s not one that’s going to go down in the history books. It’s not one that’s going to end in Newport (Hall of Fame), but it’s one that I’m proud of.’’
Blake said he hopes to one day to become the US Davis Cup captain. The gregarious Blake also mentioned the possibility of going into broadcasting.
Blake said his most memorable moment occurred in his five-set quarterfinal loss vs. Andre Agassi in 2005, decided in a tiebreaker. Blake added his goal all along was to retire at the Open – which is what his buddy Andy Roddick did last year.
“Despite the tears, I’m actually really happy about this,’’ Blake said. “It took me a long time to come to this decision but I’m happy with it and really comfortable.’’
Clearly, Blake would like to have input in reversing the fortunes for American men’s tennis. No American man has made it to a Slam quarterfinals in two years.
“Hopefully younger Americans can know that my phone is always there by my side, my door is always open if they have questions, if they want any sort of advice from what I learned doing things the right way, the wrong way,’’ Blake said.
As for Davis Cup captain ambitions, “(Jim) Courier has got those guys playing unbelievable right now, so I wouldn’t step on anyone’s toes. But in the future, that was such a great part of my career that I’d love to be a captain, as well.’’