Sam Querrey

Country	United States
Residence	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Born	(1987-10-07) October 7, 1987 (age 24) San Francisco, California, United States
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Weight	91 kg (200 lb; 14.3 st)
Turned pro	2006
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$3,385,082
Singles
Career record	129–100
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 17 (January 31, 2011)
Current ranking	No. 71 (May 21, 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	3R (2007, 2008)
French Open	2R (2011)
Wimbledon	4R (2010)
US Open	4R (2008, 2010)
Doubles
Career record	40–55
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 23 (May 17, 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2010)
French Open	3R (2008)
Wimbledon	1R (2008)
US Open	QF (2007)
Last updated on: August 30, 2010.

Sam Austin Querrey^[1][2] (born October 7, 1987) is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. His current ATP rank is 71, with a career high rank of #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong serve and forehand. Querrey holds the record for most consecutive service aces since the ATP began keeping records of those statistics, with 10 in a 2007 match against James Blake.^[3] His regular doubles partner is fellow American John Isner.

Early expectations[link]

Many tennis experts, including Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe, have touted Querrey as America's next great talent.^{[citation needed]}

Querrey turned down a scholarship offer from USC to turn pro.^[4] His father Mike Querrey recommended that his son try making it in tennis,^[5] as he often regretted his own decision to go to the University of Arizona rather than play baseball for the Detroit Tigers which had drafted him. Sam Querrey said that going pro was "one of the toughest decisions of my life."^[6]

I'd play a match and want to go pro. I'd lose and want to go to college.^[6]

He cracked the top 100 World Singles rankings following his third round performance at the Australian Open.

Career[link]

2006[link]

On June 11, 2006, Querrey became the first player to win a challenger event in his pro debut. He claimed tournament victories in the Yuba City and Winnetka challengers. He won his first-round match at the Indian Wells Masters tournament over Bobby Reynolds, before falling to James Blake in three sets. He defeated American Vince Spadea at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles. At the US Open, Querrey defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets, before falling to Gastón Gaudio.

2007[link]

At the 2007 Australian Open, he advanced to the third round. He defeated José Acasuso, the 27th seed, in the first round. In the second round, he defeated Frenchman Florent Serra in straight sets, but in the third round lost to 7th seed Tommy Robredo in four sets.

At the 2007 Indianapolis Tennis Championships, he hit 10 consecutive aces when he defeated James Blake in the quarterfinals. This is believed to be an Open Era record.^[7]

At the 2007 Western and Southern Masters, he defeated thirteenth seed Mikhail Youzhny and advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Argentina's Juan Mónaco, who had defeated Rafael Nadal in the previous round. He lost to no. 9 seed James Blake, but made his top 50 debut at no. 47 afterwards. At this time, Querrey was the third-ranked American behind Andy Roddick and James Blake.

In August 2007 at the US Open, Austrian Stefan Koubek defeated Querrey in the first round 6–7, 1–6, 1–6.

2008[link]

In January 2008 at the Australian Open, Querrey defeated Belgian Olivier Rochus in the first round, 6–3, 6–2, 7–5. In the second round, he then beat Russian Dmitry Tursunov 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. He lost in the third round to the eventual champion, Serbian Novak Djokovic 3–6, 1–6, 3–6.

In March, Querrey won his first ATP level tournament at the Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas. In the final, Querrey defeated qualifier Kevin Anderson of South Africa in three tight sets 4–6, 6–3, 6–4. The next month, at the Monte Carlo Masters, Querrey reached the quarterfinals, defeating former French Open champion Carlos Moyà, Andreas Seppi, and no. 7 seeded Richard Gasquet.

Querrey played tennis for the USA at the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008. He advanced to the fourth round of the US Open by defeating 14th seed Ivo Karlović of Croatia, where he was defeated in four sets by world no. 1 Rafael Nadal 2–6, 7–5, 6–7, 3–6.

Querrey was tapped to play for the US in the Davis Cup semifinals against Spain as a replacement for James Blake, who had withdrawn citing exhaustion. In Querrey's first-ever Davis Cup match, he lost to world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in four sets 7–6, 4–6, 3–6, 4–6. Although he lost the match, he was one of the few players in 2008 to win a set against Nadal on clay.

2009[link]

Querrey at the 2009 French Open

Querrey participated in the 2009 Heineken Open in Auckland, New Zealand in January, where he was the sixth seed. Querrey made it to the final, where he was defeated in straight sets by top-seed Juan Martín del Potro 4–6, 4–6. A day prior to the final, Querrey had a notable semifinal performance in which he beat the second-seed David Ferrer. Querrey was 5–2 down in the third set, but managed to push Ferrer into a third-set tiebreak, which he eventually won with a final score of 3–6, 6–3, 7–6.

In the 2009 Australian Open, Querrey lost in his opening round to Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–7, 3–6, 2–6.

In the SAP Open in San Jose, Querrey prevailed against Cypriot wildcard Marcos Baghdatis 6–3, 5–7, 7–6 in a challenging opener. Baghdatis jumped out to a 4–0 advantage in the third-set tie-break, but failed to hold onto the lead, as Querrey levelled the score at 4-all and proceeded to close out the match by winning the final three points. Querrey then rolled past Denis Gremelmayr 6–3, 6–2, in 52 minutes.

In the 2009 Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, no. 3 seed Querrey advanced to the final against compatriot and first-time finalist and lucky loser Rajeev Ram, who had entered the main draw when top seed Mardy Fish had to take Andy Roddick's place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals, and lost 7–6, 5–7, 3–6.

Querrey was seeded no. 3 for the 2009 Indianapolis Tennis Championships, where he made his second final in as many tournaments. However, Querrey fell to unseeded American Robby Ginepri 2–6, 4–6.

Querrey in Indianapolis

With "The Samurai" behind him at home, Querrey defeated no. 1 seeded Tommy Haas to advance to the final of the LA Tennis Open. He defeated qualifier Carsten Ball in the final for his only title of the year.^[8]

Querrey next played at the ATP Tour 500 event in Washington, where he lost to top seed Andy Roddick 6–7, 4–6, in the round of 16. He avenged that loss at the Cincinnati Masters in two tie-breaks, before losing in the third round to Lleyton Hewitt.

By reaching the quarterfinals in New Haven, he won the 2009 US Open Series, qualifying for the accompanying bonus following the 2009 US Open. Querrey reached the final in New Haven, before losing to Fernando Verdasco. In the 2009 US Open, Querrey lost in the third round to Robin Söderling in four sets.

Querrey's year was ended prematurely by a potentially career-threatening accident in which a glass table he was sitting on collapsed, impaling his arm and requiring emergency surgery; the location of injury just missed causing nerve damage, which could have ended his tennis career.^[9]

Querrey finished the year ranked a career-high no. 25, and as the no. 2 American behind Andy Roddick.

2010[link]

Although seeded at the Australian Open, Querrey lost in the first round to 2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schüttler. Querrey then reached the semifinals of the SAP Open, where he lost to Andy Roddick 6–2, 6–7, 6–7 in singles. However, Querrey teamed with Mardy Fish to win the doubles title.

Querrey's next tournament was the 2010 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, where he was seeded eighth. He avenged his loss the previous week in San Jose by defeating defending champion Roddick in the quarterfinals 7–5, 3–6, 6–1, to improve his career record against Roddick to 2–4. He then defeated Ernests Gulbis in the semifinals 6–3, 6–4, and defeated fellow American John Isner 6–7, 7–6, 6–3, for the championship. Querrey also teamed with Isner in the doubles, where they won the championship; Querrey became the first player to win the singles and doubles at Memphis simultaneously since 1981. At the Abierto Mexicano Telcel, he lost in the first round against Fernando González in three tough sets 4–6, 6–3, 6–7.

Querrey and Isner were selected to play singles for the United States Davis Cup Team against Serbia on indoor clay in March 2010. After losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets, Querrey managed to beat Viktor Troicki in straight sets in the dead rubber fifth match.

At the BNP Paribas Open, Querrey was seeded 17th and, after receiving a bye in the first round, beat Jérémy Chardy in straight sets. In the third round, he was beaten by doubles partner John Isner in straight sets. At the Sony Ericsson Open, seeded 21st this time, after receiving a bye in the first round, he lost to Jérémy Chardy in three sets.

In April, he played at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships. After receiving a bye in the first round, he beat Blaž Kavčič in straight sets in the second round, and in the quarterfinal, beat Nicolás Massú in three sets. In the semifinals, he withstood a fightback from Wayne Odesnik to reach his eighth final on the ATP World Tour. He lost to Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela in the final.

He reached the doubles final with John Isner at the 2010 Rome Masters, but lost to Davis Cup teammates Bob and Mike Bryan.

Querrey played in the 2010 Serbia Open and progressed to the final, where he faced Davis Cup teammate John Isner. Querrey defeated Isner 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, for his second title of the year, and his first ATP title on clay.

At the 2010 French Open, Querrey was seeded 18th, but lost in the first round to fellow American Robby Ginepri in four sets. Disheartened by the loss, he withdrew from the doubles event, where he and Isner were the 12th seeds.

In the Queens Club in London, Querry beat fellow American Mardy Fish in straight sets 7–6, 7–5, in the final of the AEGON Championships. The victory made him the first American to win the tournament since Andy Roddick. The victory gave Querrey his third title of the season, making him the only player besides Rafael Nadal to win at least three titles, and made Querrey the first player in 2010 to win titles on three different surfaces. This was Querrey's first ATP tour title on grass.

Despite being ranked no. 21 in the world at the time, Querrey was seeded no. 18 at Wimbledon, due to his Queen's Club result. He was entered in the doubles with Isner, where they were the 12th seeds, but the partners agreed to forfeit after Isner played the longest tennis match in history.^[10] In the singles, Querrey defeated 2002 Wimbledon semifinalist Xavier Malisse in five sets to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time, where he lost to Andy Murray, dropping his record against Murray to 0–4, having never won a set in their meetings.

Querrey defended his title at the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, surviving a third-set tiebreaker in the quarterfinals against 2003 Australian Open finalist Rainer Schüttler, then defeating Janko Tipsarević in the semifinals 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, after being down a match point in the second set, 5–1 in the second set tiebreaker, and 2–0 in the third set to reach his fifth final of the year. In the final, Querrey faced world no. 4 and 2010 Australian Open finalist Andy Murray in a rematch of their Wimbledon meeting. Querrey survived being match point down at 5–4 in the second set to defeat Murray in the final 5–7, 7–6, 6–3. This was his first victory over Murray in five meetings and his first successful title defense, making him the first man since Andre Agassi to win two consecutive titles at this tournament.^[11]

Following his victory in Los Angeles, Querrey next played in Washington, where he lost in the first round to Janko Tipsarevic. During his time in Washington, he along with Bob and Mike Bryan conducted a tennis clinic for children, where they unexpectedly met president Barack Obama.^[12]

After early losses in the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters, Querrey entered the 2010 US Open ranked no. 22 and seeded no. 20. He defeated Bradley Klahn in four sets, then defeated Marcel Granollers and 14th seed Nicolás Almagro in straight sets to reach the fourth round, tying his previous best result in any Grand Slam. In the fourth round, he lost to 25th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, 6–7, 7–6, 5–7, 6–4, 4–6; the loss ensured that for the second consecutive year, no American man would make the quarterfinals of the US Open.

2011[link]

This was a difficult year for Querrey and one in which he struggled with injury. Despite this he reached the quarterfinals of two tournaments, both ATP 500 series. The first in Memphis in February, where he lost to Mardy Fish, 3–6, 4–6 and the second in Valencia, where he was beaten in straight sets 2–6, 5–7 by Juan Martín del Potro.

He was eliminated in the second round of the French Open by Ivan Ljubičić, and did not play at Wimbledon or the US Open, due to an elbow injury that required surgery.^[13]

2012[link]

Sam Querrey in Nice, 2012

In the Australian Open Querrey made it to the second round and was defeated there by Bernard Tomic in four sets.

Playing style and equipment[link]

Querrey possesses a huge serve, one of the best in today's game. He also has a strong forehand and a good backhand. He is an offensive baseliner. He constructs points well and does not often approach the net unless to finish the point.

Querrey plays with the Babolat AeroPro Drive GT Racquet, after switching this year from Prince, which he had after switching from the Diablo prior at the 2007 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.^[14] He wore adidas apparel and shoes until the end of the 2009 season. Starting from the 2010 season, he changed his clothing sponsor to K-Swiss. As of Feb 2012, Querrey has announced that he will be joining the babolat team, and playing with his new stick of choice, the Babolat Aeropro Drive GT plus. This racket is .5 inches longer than the standard racket, which gives him more reach on serves.

Charitable work[link]

Querrey plays tournaments raising money for charity like the Boys and Girls Club, speaks to school groups like Healthy and Active Lifestyle (HAL) in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and has expressed interest in someday creating his own non-profit organization.^[6]

Personal life[link]

Support comes from the "Samurai Club", his own fan club, which started by his high school buddies, Dan Farrugia, Wes Burrows, Ellis Bertschi, Ethan Lacoe, and Shane Poppen. They attend his matches shirtless with the letters "S-A-M-M-Y" on their chests.^[15]

ATP Career Finals[link]

Singles: 11 (6–5)[link]

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	March 9, 2008	Las Vegas, United States	Hard	Kevin Anderson	4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	January 17, 2009	Auckland, New Zealand	Hard	Juan Martín del Potro	4–6, 4–6
Runner-up	2.	July 12, 2009	Newport, United States	Grass	Rajeev Ram	7–6(7–3), 5–7, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	July 26, 2009	Indianapolis, United States	Hard	Robby Ginepri	2–6, 4–6
Winner	2.	August 2, 2009	Los Angeles, United States (1)	Hard	Carsten Ball	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Runner-up	4.	August 29, 2009	New Haven, United States	Hard	Fernando Verdasco	4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Winner	3.	February 21, 2010	Memphis, United States	Hard (i)	John Isner	6–7(3–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–3
Runner-up	5.	April 11, 2010	Houston, United States	Clay	Juan Ignacio Chela	7–5, 4–6, 3–6
Winner	4.	May 9, 2010	Belgrade, Serbia	Clay	John Isner	3–6, 7–6(7–4), 6–4
Winner	5.	June 13, 2010	London, England	Grass	Mardy Fish	7–6(7–3), 7–5
Winner	6.	August 1, 2010	Los Angeles, United States (2)	Hard	Andy Murray	5–7, 7–6(7–2), 6–3

Doubles: 7 (4–3)[link]

Wins (3)

Outcome	No.	Date	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	February 14, 2010	San José, United States	Hard (i)	Mardy Fish	Benjamin Becker Leonardo Mayer	7–6(7–3), 7–5
Winner	2.	February 21, 2010	Memphis, U.S.	Hard (i)	John Isner	Ross Hutchins Jordan Kerr	6–4, 6–4
Runner-up	1.	May 2, 2010	Rome, Italy	Clay	John Isner	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	2–6, 3–6
Runner-up	2.	April 9, 2011	Houston, United States	Clay	John Isner	Bob Bryan Mike Bryan	7–6(7–4), 2–6, [5–10]
Winner	3.	May 15, 2011	Rome, Italy	Clay	John Isner	Mardy Fish Andy Roddick	w/o
Runner-up	3.	March 18, 2012	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	John Isner	Marc López Rafael Nadal	2–6, 6–7(3–7)
Winner	4.	April 15, 2012	Houston, United States	Clay	James Blake	Treat Conrad Huey Dominic Inglot	7–6(16–14), 6–4

Singles performance timeline[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sam Querrey

• Official Website
• Sam Querrey at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• USTA "Circuit Player of the Week" article and profile
• ESPN article
• Sam Querrey Yahoo! Sports
• Tennis Gear used by Sam Querrey

Sporting positions
Preceded by Rafael Nadal	US Open Series Champion 2009	Succeeded by Andy Murray

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten American male singles tennis players, as of May 28, 2012 Mardy Fish (10 ) John Isner (11 ) Andy Roddick (30 1) Donald Young (51 1) Ryan Harrison (56 ) Sam Querrey (71 ) James Blake (96 ) Michael Russell (110 ) Rajeev Ram (123 ) Jesse Levine (131 )

James Blake

Country	United States
Residence	Saddlebrook Florida , Tampa, Florida, United States
Born	(1979-12-28) December 28, 1979 (age 32) Yonkers, New York
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	183 lb (83 kg; 13.1 st)
Turned pro	1999
Plays	Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$7,350,311
Singles
Career record	349–231 (at ATP Tour-level, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	10
Highest ranking	No. 4 (November 20, 2006)
Current ranking	No. 92 (April 30, 2012)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	QF (2008)
French Open	3R (2006)
Wimbledon	3R (2006, 2007)
US Open	QF (2005, 2006)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	F (2006)
Olympic Games	SF - 4th place (losing bronze-finalist) (2008)
Doubles
Career record	109–104 (at ATP Tour-level, Grand Slam-level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 31 (March 31, 2003)
Current ranking	No. 214 (November 22, 2010)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open	QF (2005)
French Open	2R (2002)
Wimbledon	SF (2009)
US Open	2R (2000, 2001)
Last updated on: April 13, 2012.

James Riley Blake^[1] (born December 28, 1979) is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of April 2012, Blake is ranked World No. 74 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances (10–14 record), whilst his career-high singles ranking is World No. 4. His career highlights include reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the Beijing Olympics and the quarterfinals of the Australian Open (2008) and US Open (2005, 2006). His two titles for the United States at the Hopman Cup are an event record. Blake was a key performer for the United States 2007 Davis Cup championship team, going 2–0 in the championship tie vs. Russia at second singles. In 2005, Blake was presented with the Comeback Player of the Year award for his remarkable return to the tour. Later, in 2008, Blake was awarded another honor by the ATP where he was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year. On July 3, 2007, Blake's autobiography Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life, which discussed his comeback after his unlucky 2004 season, was released and debuted at No. 22 on the New York Times Best Seller list. He co-wrote this book with Andrew Friedman.

Early life[link]

Blake was born in Yonkers, New York to an African American father Thomas Reynolds Blake and a British mother Betty.^[2] He has a brother Thomas, who is also a professional tennis player, and three older half-brothers: Jason, Christopher and Howard, and a half-sister Michelle.

Blake started playing tennis at age five alongside his brother Thomas. When he was 13, he was diagnosed with severe scoliosis and for five years as a teenager he was forced to wear a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis. Blake attended Fairfield High School in Fairfield, Connecticut, where a schoolmate and childhood friend was future musician John Mayer. Blake was inspired to pursue tennis after hearing his role model Arthur Ashe speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program. Brian Barker was his first (and longtime) coach. He left Harvard University, where he was a member of the A.D. Club, after his sophomore year to pursue a career in professional tennis.

Playing style[link]

Blake's style of play is primarily that of an aggressive offensive baseliner. He generally prefers to hit winners from the baseline, but his solid net volley and transition game give him an effective all-court game. His forehand (along with Federer and Fernando González) is considered to be one of the best in the game. However, his one-handed backhand is known to be suspect. Another major strength is his great foot speed. Blake tends to return serves (especially second serves) with great pace, and also makes contact with the ball earlier (on the uprise) when hitting ground strokes. Combined with his relatively flat strokes, these techniques (despite being riskier in terms of making errors) allow him to put more pace on the ball, giving opponents less time to react. Blake likes to take control of points and will usually attempt to hit an outright winner earlier in the rally than many others. He is known as a shot maker. His go-for-broke style makes him one of the most entertaining players on the tour, though this also makes him an inconsistent player, evidenced by his recent slide in the rankings. Since hiring new coach and doubles specialist Kelly Jones, Blake has begun to incorporate more serve-and-volley play into his game.

Career[link]

2000–2001[link]

At the age of 21, Blake saw his first Davis Cup action in 2001 against India and became the third person of African-American heritage to play for the Davis Cup for the United States (after Arthur Ashe and MaliVai Washington).

Ranked no. 120 in the world, Blake accepted a wild card into Cincinnati. He beat a qualifier and Arnaud Clément to reach the round of 16, where he met Patrick Rafter. Blake came close to winning the first set (falling in a tiebreak), and after dropping the second set, Rafter, according to Blake's autobiography, complimented him at the net and boosted his confidence immeasurably by saying "Now do you believe you can beat someone like me, or even me?"

2002–2003[link]

In January, Blake won the 2002 USTA Waikola Challenger in Hawaii. A month later in Memphis he posted his first win over a top-10 ranked opponent, Tommy Haas, who was then ranked no. 5, and reached the finals, losing to Andy Roddick. He reached the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters Series (AMS) event in Rome in May and the finals at Newport in July.

In August, in Cincinnati, he won his first career ATP Tour title and his first ATP Masters Series title: it came in doubles with Todd Martin, making Blake the first African-American male to win a title of any kind in Cincinnati's 101-year history. He was also the first African-American to reach a final in Cincinnati since 1969, when Arthur Ashe reached the doubles finals with Charlie Pasarell. The next week in Washington, he won his first ATP Tour singles title, beating Andre Agassi in the semifinals and Paradorn Srichaphan in the final.

At the US Open, he reached the third round, before falling to top-ranked Lleyton Hewitt in five sets.

In 2003, his best results were a quarterfinals appearance at Indian Wells; a round of 16 finish at the Australian Open, Cincinnati, and Miami; a semifinal appearance at San Jose, and a finals appearance at Long Island.

2004[link]

While practicing with Robby Ginepri for the Masters event in Rome, he broke his neck when he slipped on the clay and collided with the net post. In July, his father died of stomach cancer. At the same time, Blake developed shingles, which temporarily paralyzed half his face and blurred his sight.

2005[link]

Blake's injuries and personal issues caused him to post relatively poor results for the first half of 2005. By April his ranking was 210. He decided to play the Challenger circuit, the "minor leagues" of tennis, in order to gain confidence and get more matches. In May he entered events in Tunica, Mississippi and Forest Hills, New York, winning both. He rejoined the ATP circuit and by August reached the final at the International Series event in Washington, D.C. where he fell to Roddick.

He was given a wild card into AMS Cincinnati, drawing Federer in the first round. He then won the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, defeating Feliciano López in the final.

After New Haven he was ranked 49.

He then accepted a wildcard into the US Open, defeating No. 2 Rafael Nadal 6–4, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1 in the round of 32. He beat Tommy Robredo in four sets to reach the quarterfinals, succumbing to Andre Agassi in a fifth-set tiebreak, losing 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6.

In October at the Stockholm Open, Blake won his third ATP tour title, defeating Srichaphan in the final. Blake finished 2005 ranking 22.

2006[link]

Blake won the title at Sydney, taking his fourth ATP tour title defeating Russian Igor Andreev in the final.

At the Australian Open he was seeded twentieth, losing in the third round to Spaniard Tommy Robredo. He broke into the Top 20 for the first time in his career.

In March he beat Hewitt in the final at Las Vegas for his fifth ATP tour title.

At the first AMS event of the year Indian Wells, Blake defeated Robredo in the third round and world No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals, reaching his first career ATP Masters Series singles final, losing in the final to Federer. By reaching the final, Blake became the first African-American man since Arthur Ashe to reach the world's top 10.

On clay, Blake defeated former world No. 1 Carlos Moyà in the first round at AMS Hamburg before losing to Mario Ančić in the third round.

At the French Open he defeated Spaniard Nicolás Almagro in four sets in the second round, to become the last remaining American man at the French, then was beaten by Frenchman Gaël Monfils in five sets.

Beginning the grass court season at the Stella Artois Championships, he defeated Andy Roddick in the semifinals, losing to Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

At Wimbledon, Blake progressed to the third round but lost to Max Mirnyi in five sets.^[3]

Now ranked No. 5, Blake's next tournament was the International Series at Indianapolis. He won the singles title, defeating Roddick (for the second time in 2006).

In Washington, D.C. he lost in the third round to Marat Safin and in New Haven in the first round to Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo.

At AMS Canada he fell to Richard Gasquet (who would reach the final that week before losing to Roger Federer). At AMS Cincinnati he lost to Juan Carlos Ferrero (who lost in the final to Andy Roddick).

At the US Open he reached the quarterfinals, losing to top seed and defending champion Roger Federer. In that match Blake won his first set against Federer, winning the third set in a tiebreaker 11–9.

In his debut appearance at the Thailand Open in Bangkok, Blake won his seventh singles title, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals, Marat Safin in the semifinals, and Ivan Ljubičić (for the first time) in the final.

Two weeks later Blake won his fifth title of 2006, defending his 2005 title in Stockholm, defeating Jarkko Nieminen.

For the first time, Blake qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai. He went 2–1 in the Gold Group, defeating No. 2 Nadal and No. 3 Nikolay Davydenko, while losing to No. 6 Tommy Robredo. He qualified for the semifinals, beating defending champion David Nalbandian 6–4, 6–1, losing the final to Federer 6–0, 6–3, 6–4.

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

2007[link]

Blake won at the Sydney International for the second consecutive year. However, he then suffered a disappointing loss in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, losing to tenth seed and eventual finalist Fernando González 7–5, 6–4, 7–6. He followed that up with a loss to Tomáš Berdych in Davis Cup play and a second round loss in the SAP Open (San Jose) to Number 103 ranked Ivo Karlović.

At the 2007 Tennis Channel Open in Las Vegas, as the defending champion, he was involved with a deep controversy. It was one of the several tournaments experimenting with the new round robin format,^[4] and Blake had lost his first match to Evgeny Korolev. Korolev lost his other match to Juan Martín del Potro. In order for Blake to advance to the quarters, he had to defeat Del Potro in straight sets while losing five games or less. This would result in a three-way tie, with Blake losing the fewest games. With Blake leading 6–1 3–1, Del Potro retired. This eliminated Del Potro from the three-way tie as he failed to complete one of his matches. Korolev then moved on to the next round, breaking the tie because he had defeated Blake in their match.

That caused a big uproar among fans, James Blake, and commentators, as they felt James Blake deserved to advance. After a press conference of many hours, the ATP, led by Etienne de Villiers, decided that, since Blake would have met the guidelines the way the match was going, and since neither player knew the consequences of retiring (Del Potro said he would have finished the match had he known), Blake would have advanced anyway. They overruled the tournament guidelines, giving Blake a place in the quarterfinals.

The following morning, De Villiers reversed his reversal deeming that it was unfair to Korolev as you should not change the rules in mid-tournament, regardless of what happened. As a result, Korolev re-advanced to the quarterfinals, sending Blake to Indian Wells without a 3rd consecutive title defense. Shortly after this incident, the ATP decided to cancel the round robin format, reverting any tournaments planning a round robin draw to the standard single-elimination draw.^[5]

Roland Garros 2007 was a disappointment for Blake, losing in the first round to Ivo Karlović 4–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. Blake was one of nine American men to lose in the first round of Roland Garros. This was the first time in the open era where an American male had not made it into a Grand Slam second round.

In Wimbledon 2007, James reached the third round, matching his best showing there (2006), but was unable to get past former World Number 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero, losing 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6.

During the summer hardcourt season, he advanced to his second career ATP Masters Series event and won a singles title. At AMS Cincinnati, he beat Alejandro Falla, Nicolas Kiefer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Sam Querrey and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final before falling to Roger Federer. He won the singles title at Penn Pilot in New Haven, CT, and started the North American hardcourt season by reaching the finals at Los Angeles, losing to Radek Štěpánek in three sets 7–6, 5–7, 6–2 after having three set points in the first set.

In the second round of the 2007 US Open, he won his first career five-set match against Fabrice Santoro, whom he defeated 6–4, 3–6, 6–2, 4–6, 6–4. Blake made it to the fourth round, where he lost to No. 10 Tommy Haas in five sets 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 7–6, despite having match points in the fifth set.

Blake and the rest of the US Davis Cup team defeated Sweden in September to reach the finals against Russia.

James also participated in Madrid and Basel. In Madrid, he fell to former top ten star Mario Ančić in the second round. In Basel, he fell in the second round to Ivo Karlović. However, Blake teamed with former number one doubles player Mark Knowles of the Bahamas to make the final. In the first round, he and Knowles upset US Open champions Simon Aspelin and Julian Knowle in three sets. In the semifinals, the team bore match points twelve times, and finally defeated Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett, the second seeds 7–5, 6–7, [12–10] with thirteen needed match points.^[6] Their luck, however, was halted by top seeds and top ranked Bob and Mike Bryan, who are Blake's Davis Cup teammates. Blake and Knowles lost 6–1 6–1. After the match, James quoted: "'Yes, they played as well I have seen them play in a while. It's tough. I have seen them do it to a lot of guys in Davis Cup from the sidelines and know how little fun it is to face them. That's the reason why they are the best doubles team in the world right now. [At the start of the week] I told Mark I had not won a lot of doubles matches this year, so I was glad to have him get me through a couple of wins. I had a great time and a lot of fun. Getting a chance to play with one of the best doubles players, really ever, was exciting for me. I learnt plenty and hopefully we’ll be better next time.'"^[7]

Blake lost in the third round of Paris to Richard Gasquet and thus finished outside the top eight players, losing his chance to defend the points he gained as finalist in the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup.

James Blake won his match in the 2007 Davis Cup finals against Mikhail Youzhny 6–3, 7–6, 6–7, 7–6 (and also against Dmitry Tursunov). Andy Roddick won his match versus Tursunov and Bob and Mike Bryan won the doubles rubber over Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko, sealing the Davis Cup win for the United States.^[8][9]

2008[link]

James Blake began 2008 hoping to win his third consecutive Medibank International title. However, the defending champion bowed out of the tournament in the first round, losing to French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6–7, 2–6. The third seed (Blake) was said to be "uncharacteristic" in reference to his frustration.

At the Australian Open, Blake defeated his first round opponent, Chilean Nicolás Massú. He then defeated compatriot Michael Russell 6–3, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he fought back from two sets down to beat French veteran Sébastien Grosjean 4–6, 2–6, 6–0, 7–6, 6–2 who had beaten him in each of their three previous meetings.

In the fourth round, Blake beat Marin Čilić in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals, his best showing yet down under. In the quarterfinal, James Blake faced world No. 1 Roger Federer, and fell in straight sets 7–5, 7–6, 6–4. Although out of the Australian Open, Blake's ranking jumped back into the Top 10 to No. 9 following his best performance in the tournament yet.

In Davis Cup, the USA played Austria on clay. James defeated Stefan Koubek in four sets 5–7, 7–5, 6–2, 6–2. Despite being down 2–5 in the second set, James turned things around, helped in part by unforced errors by Koubek.

In Delray Beach, James made it to the final for the second consecutive year, but fell to No. 244 Kei Nishikori of Japan in three sets in the final 6–3, 1–6, 4–6. At the 2008 SAP Open, he rebounded from that loss by defeating compatriot Sam Warburg in straight sets in the first round 6–3, 6–1 and Jesse Levine in straight sets in the second round 6–3, 6–4. However, he lost to Robby Ginepri 2–6, 2–6 on the following round.

At the 2008 Pacific Life Open, Blake, the ninth seed, received a "bye" in the first round, before defeating Marc Gicquel 6–3, 6–7, 6–1 in the second round. In the third round, Blake beat former World Number 1 Carlos Moyà 6–3, 6–4.^[10][11] He then defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the fourth round in straight sets 6–4, 6–2, before losing to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals 5–7, 6–3, 3–6.

At the 2008 Miami Masters, Blake reached the quarter-finals, but again lost to Rafael Nadal in three sets 6–3, 3–6, 1–6.

In Davis Cup, Team USA played France. Unfortunately for France, they were missing two of their best players, Richard Gasquet and Jo Wilfried Tsonga due to injuries. So Michaël Llodra and Paul-Henri Mathieu were the players playing singles for France. After Andy Roddick defeated Llodra, James would play Mathieu. James won in a three-hour, 48-minute, five-set match against the Frenchman 7–6, 6–7, 6–3, 3–6, 7–5. He had to save two match points to defeat the number 12 Mathieu.

Blake then started the clay court season at the River Oaks International tournament in Houston, Texas. He defeated Kei Nishikori in the first round 6–4, 6–4, 15-year-old Ryan Harrison in the second round, No. 5 seed Agustín Calleri of Argentina in the quarterfinals, and Óscar Hernández of Spain in the semifinals 6–3, 7–6. In his second ATP final of the year and his first career clay-court final, Blake fell to Spaniard Marcel Granollers Pujol 4–6, 6–1, 5–7.

James received a wild card to play in the clay tournament in Barcelona, Spain. However, he lost in the first round to German Denis Gremelmayr in straight sets.

Looking for a better performance on clay, James played in the Master Series tournament in Rome. He received a bye in the first round. In the second round, he faced Italian hopeful Andreas Seppi. James won in three sets 7–6, 3–6, 6–1. In the third round, he faced Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. He won in three sets 5–7, 7–5, 6–2. His run was ended in the quarterfinals by Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in three sets 7–6, 6–7, 1–6.

At the French, he made it to the second round before being defeated by Ernests Gulbis in four sets. He fared no better at Wimbledon, losing in the 2nd round to the resurgent semi-finalist Rainer Schüttler in five sets, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4, 4–6, 4–6.

At the Cincinnati Masters, Blake lost to Ernests Gulbis 4–6, 6–1, 3–6 in the third round.

In August 2008, Blake represented the United States as one of its three men's singles tennis players in the Beijing Olympics. In the quarterfinals, he gained one of the biggest wins of his career with his first ever win over Roger Federer 6–4, 7–6. At the time, Federer was ranked as the world's No. 1 men's player.^[12] His semifinal match was against Fernando González, the Men's Singles bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Blake had triple match point in the middle of the final set, but would go on to lose 4–6, 7–5, 11–9. He then lost in the bronze medal match to Serbian Novak Djokovic 4–6, 6–7.

In the US Open, Blake was stretched to a 5 set thriller against American teenager Donald Young 6–1, 3–6, 6–1, 4–6, 6–4 in the first round. Blake easily won his second round match after Steve Darcis retired 4–6, 6–3, 1–0. Blake then lost to friend and fellow American Mardy Fish in the third round in straight sets 3–6, 3–6, 6–7.

In the Madrid Masters, Blake had a first round bye and played Gilles Simon losing it 6–3, 1–6, 4–6. Soon after, he played in the Davidoff Swiss Indoors tournament and made it all the way to the quarterfinals before losing to Feliciano López of Spain 4–6, 6–7. In the Paris Masters Blake got to the semis after a walkover by Roger Federer in the quarters and lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 4–6, 3–6. Because of this loss, Blake was not able to qualify for the year end Masters in Shanghai.

2009[link]

Blake participated in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition tournmanent partnering Meghann Shaughnessy. The team were the top seed, with Blake looking to win his third Hopman Cup. Blake lost to Slovak Dominik Hrbatý but defeated Nicolas Kiefer and Lleyton Hewitt.

Blake defeated Frank Dancevic 6–4, 6–3, 7–5 in the first round of the Australian Open. His success continued in the second round of the Australian Open after deposing of Frenchman Sébastien de Chaunac 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 in a match laden with spectator noise and bad line calls.^[13] Blake went on to face the 18th seed, Igor Andreev, in the third round and beat him 6–3, 6–2, 3–6, 6–1. He lost in the fourth round in straight sets to the 2008 runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–4, 6–4, 7–6.

In the SAP Open in San Jose, Blake defeated fellow American Vincent Spadea 6–3, 6–4 in a first round match, hitting 12 aces and converted his two break point chances to race to the win in 50 minutes. Blake would go on to defeat Frenchman Florent Serra 6–4, 6–3. Blake prevailed in a 20-point first set tie-break against sixth-seeded compatriot Sam Querrey and then eased through the second set with one break of serve to post the 7–6, 6–3 victory in 67 minutes. He then lost to fellow American Mardy Fish 3–6, 2–6.

In his next tournament, the Regions Morgan Keenan Championships in Memphis, Tennessee, Blake was defeated in the first round by Lleyton Hewitt 6–3, 1–6, 4–6.