Blake對即將對上Agassi的想法 - 網球

緊接著在Agassi進入八強後
Blake以輸一贏三四盤解決Robredo隨後進入八強
對於將與Agassi在美網進行地主對戰Blake很期待
談到Agassi在場下對他的幫助和為人,
也談到自己小五, 小六時在電視上看到Agassi穿著牛仔短褲和螢光綠短褲打球的回憶 :P
Blake還收藏了一條牛仔球褲喔! :P


Q. You often spoke admirably of Andre Agassi during this tournament.
Now you have to play him.

JAMES BLAKE: I think I'll still speak admirably of him before the match,
after the match, if someone interviews me during the match,
I'll probably say nice things about him.
He's really a true gentleman, one of the friendliest guys
in the locker room. That's something that's impressive
when you don't need to do that because you're one of
the legends of the sport. You've got everything
you can ever dream of, but he still knows how to treat people.
And that's something that I really admire.

He's helped me with scouting reports,
helped me when I go out to Vegas, he hooks me up with hotels.
He's just a great guy that will help out young guys
with anything, leading by example, you know,
leading by his words. He's someone that you can tell your kids
to look up to and be proud of it.

That's kind of the goal I have as a tennis player
and a public figure. He's obviously had a lot more success
on the court. But he's also a great human being.
I'm proud to be a competitor with him.

He's been my biggest win in my career so far to date.
Hopefully it will be again. But I don't think either of us
are going to go out there and hang our heads in shame
after the match. I think we have a similar attitude.
We're going to go out there, leave it all on the court.
He's been through this so many times 35 years old, his 20th Open.
I don't feel like he's going to be nervous.
He's going to go out there and just let it rip.
I'm going to try to do the same.

I don't think I'll be nervous either because I know
I got nothing to lose. Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals
of the US Open, I'm sure as heck not going to go home
and say I had a bad tournament. I'll probably be disappointed
right after the match, but other than that,
I'm going to go down swinging, giving a hundred percent.
Once I get over the initial loss, I'll think about some of
the good things that have happened this year,
some of the good things that happened this tournament.

But, you know, if I win, I won't be surprised either.
I won't get ahead of myself. Similar to today,
if I get up a break, if I'm up two sets to one and a break,
I'm not going to start getting head of myself,
thinking this is Andre Agassi, the legend, I'm going to beat.
I'm just going to try to keep the same maturity
and the same focus and perspective I've had so far
this tournament and this whole year.


Q. Do you remember the first time you ever saw Andre Agassi play tennis?

JAMES BLAKE: Geeze, I don't know. I think it must have been here.
Yeah, I think I saw him here back when he had
those lime green shorts hanging out of the denim shorts.
I think I got a pair of those, too, the denim ones.
Not the lime green ones, I couldn't pull that off.
The denim shorts, I remember that. He had the long hair,
the earring.
People didn't know if his name was Agassi or Agassi.
I remember that, being in school and talking about
how talented he was.


Q. What grade were you in?

JAMES BLAKE: Man, had to be like fifth or sixth grade.
Yeah, I was probably like 10 or 11 years old.
What was he, he was 25. I guess I probably started kind of late
because he was probably in his early 20s by then,
taking the world by storm already.


Q. Against Nadal you played almost a perfect match.
Do you think to beat Agassi, you will have to play again a perfect match?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, well, I didn't go into playing Nadal thinking that way.
I thought I was just going to play within myself.
I think too many times in the past I've gone out playing
a guy that's ranked that high thinking I have to play
a perfect match and going for too much and playing kind of
into their hands and letting them play a little conservative
and me beating myself.

I didn't do that against Nadal. I maybe played a perfect match,
but it felt like it was within myself.
I didn't feel like I was going for too much.
I felt like I was going for my shots when I had them
and not overplaying.

That's the same thing I'm going to try to do against Andre.
I'm going to try to play within myself.
If he comes up with shots that are too good,
I'll tip my hat to him and say too good. If I do need to adjust,
if I'm getting beat, if I'm down a set and a break,
he's really beating me that way, I might have to adjust
and figure out some other way to play.

But I'm always going to try to keep playing within myself.
I'm not going to go out just trying to blast winners
from every corner just because it's Andre Agassi.
I'm going to try to play my game.

I think that's a better barometer to find out where you are.
Instead of going out and if you have that one unbelievable day
where everything's going in, you still don't really know
how good you are because you were that good on one day,
but it's not going to keep up. If you lose
and were going for everything, you don't know how good you are
because you didn't play your game. I want to go out
and find out how good I am playing my game.


Q. For the two matches, you had the support of the crowd.
When you play Agassi,
how will you feel the crowd will respond to you or Agassi?

JAMES BLAKE: Well, I think it's I hope it's a very fair crowd.
I think my friends are definitely going to be here.
But I know he's got fans all over the world, especially here.
He's won here. I mean, he's such a legend.
He's got so many fans that I think they're also going to
be cheering very vocally for him.

But I think we're both respectful of each other, I think.
So I think the fans - I hope the fans take a cue from that
and are cheering winners, not really cheering the errors
or the double faults or anything like that. Just fair about it.
That's all I hope for, but I really don't know
because it's going to be a night match, I think.
People have a Heineken or two. They get a little rambunctious.
They might scream a little too early. I might make a get,
he might make a get they didn't expect.

I am sure that is going to happen.
He's dealt with it a million times in his career.
I've dealt with it a few times here already.
I don't think we're going to be affected too much by it.
He's an unbelievable professional.
I'm never going to be angry at a New York crowd.
I don't think either of us will be affected negatively.

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下面這段是Blake表示在傷癒復出後,
他有了再度向球迷證明自己的機會.
之前很多人看到他只想到他幫Nike拍的廣告
或是摩特兒走秀或其他的場外贊助活動,
但復出後他從只有十多人觀戰的挑戰賽一場一場打起
一場一場調整
終於讓大家認同他網球選手的身份和價值.


Q. How important is it for you that people begin looking at you
differently in terms of a tennis player who wins big matches?

JAMES BLAKE: Yeah, that's always what I've wanted people -
that's the kind of respect I want. I don't want respect
just because I'm in the Nike ad or just because
I've got some sort of an endorsement deal or something.
I want people to look at me as a tennis player,
as a legitimate player that's won a lot of matches
that they don't want to see in the draw next to them.
I'm doing my part these last couple weeks to try to
prove that to them.

I think it's been a lot of fun for me because the first time
I came up, it was all about proving myself,
proving I belong on this tour, proving I belong among these
top guys. Then obviously I fell back and then got injured.
Now I'm getting a chance to do it again.
That was what this year is going to be about,
kind of enjoying myself but also proving that I can do it again.

Most people only have to prove themselves once.
I'm getting a chance to do it again. It really is
a source of pride for me that I've been able to do it again
because I don't know if a lot of guys would have enjoyed
going to Tunica, Mississippi, Forest Hills,
playing a couple challengers when they're ranked 200
in the world just to get back to this point. But I did that.
I'm really happy about it.

I think people will now see that. They'll see that
I'm not just going to take wildcards and just worry about,
you know, my prize money or my image or anything like that.
I'm not afraid to go down to challengers and play in front of
10 or 12 people. I just love playing and I love proving
that I belong. I feel like I'm doing that again.

Hopefully here I can prove that I belong even on the big stage.
Up until now I hadn't been this far in a Grand Slam,
so people might have said I couldn't do it on the big stage.
I've played some pretty big Davis Cup matches,
but I think now I'm trying to prove myself in a big way.
It's going pretty well so far.
I think it helps with the new perspective
and new kind of maturity that I think I've found.

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