2007 Australian Open Preview: James Blake—The Man, The Movie by David Wheaton

Aside from glass slippers versus leather sneakers, and a male prince rather than the mallet variety, really all that separates Cinderella from America’s top-ranked tennis pro, James Blake, is that the former has a movie named after her while the latter will be getting one soon when he wins his first Grand Slam title.

Make no mistake, “The James Blake Story” is still in the process of being written, but if the first half is any indication, expect a box-office (overhead) smash hit coming to a theater near you.

Raised as the youngest son of a black American father and white English mother in Connecticut, inspired to pursue the game by legend Arthur Ashe in the Harlem Junior Tennis Program, compelled to wear a back-brace 18-hours a day for scoliosis as a teen-ager, James Blake certainly had an interesting story in the making as he contemplated leaving Harvard early to pursue his professional tennis dream.

Thinking back, I gave him an unwelcome reception.

We met in the final round of qualifying at the 1998 U.S. Open in New York at a time when my career sun was setting and the local upstart’s was rising. He had good speed, some explosive shots…and me down 3-1 in the first set of our match. Twelve games later, I shook hands with a main draw berth secured after a 6-3, 6-1 win. “Nice college player,” I thought.

Over the next several years, newcomer became journeyman, decent was too-often followed by disappointing, and the blockbuster seemed destined for YouTube.

Then a net-post changed the script.

“When it rains, it pours” wouldn’t be a sober enough description of what happened to James Blake starting in May of 2004. Running for a dropshot in practice on the red clay courts of Rome, Blake did what most Americans do on the surface—fall and get dirty. Only this time, the net-post got in the way of his head and he broke his neck.

Sadly, he soon discovered that a broken bone was nothing compared to a broken heart. Over the next two months of recuperating at home, James watched his 57-year-old father lose his battle with stomach cancer. Distressed to the limit, Blake developed a debilitating case of shingles, leaving his vision blurred, his balance wobbly, and his face half-paralyzed.

Game, set, and life for most people…but not for James Blake.

Fast forward to a “60 Minutes” interview in November, 2005. Fully recovered from his injury and illness and back on tour, James commented that his broken neck was “definitely the best thing that happened to me. It ended up being the last six weeks of my father’s life, so I got to be here to spend a lot of time with him…My plan was to be over in Europe that whole time, and so I might not have made it home at all. And I’m lucky I came home and I learned a lot more about life and just about my dad, and about everything.”

With experience and perspective like that, it’s no wonder hitting a small, yellow object didn’t seem quite as difficult upon returning to the game. Always a big-time sportsman, he now became a big-time player. In his first full year back in 2005, there was the 7-6 in the fifth set match-for-the-ages against Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. This past year, there were the five tour titles including a runner-up finish in the year-ending Master’s Cup propelling him to a career-high number-four world ranking.

If the trend continues, he truly is one golden trophy away from the silver screen.

This could be the year and the Australian Open could be the 27-year-old’s moment—especially so after just defending his title at the pre-Melbourne tune-up in Sydney. Right now, the only player on tour I’d tip the odds to in a head-to-head match-up with James is the Swiss Master, Roger Federer. Fed had another decent year in 2006 winning three Slams, finaling the other, and capping things off with a Master’s Cup win over Blake in November. Yet, I’ve witnessed James push Roger—and hard—on several occasions; it’s not beyond my imagination to see Roger falter in a future affair.

Besides, the year’s first major has a way of producing some surprises—why not from a man whose perspective has gone from microscopic to telescopic? With “90% of the game being half mental”, stepping back and seeing the broader vista only makes for a better person, player…and (moving) picture.

Minnesota’s David Wheaton reached the quarterfinals in singles of the 1990 Australian Open falling to Sweden’s Stefan Edberg. The following year, he reached the final of doubles with Patrick McEnroe. Find out more at www.davidwheaton.com.