‘From Nadal, Federer, Djokovic to McEnroe,’ James Blake builds his perfect tennis player
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Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal
Former American tennis player James Blake was asked to pick certain qualities from players of the past or the present to make his “perfect” player, he picked John Isner’s serve Roger Federer’s forehand, Novak Djokovic’s backhand and return, John McEnroe’s volleys and Rafael Nadal’s mental strength.
James Blake who represented the USA was a remarkable player, who reached a career-high with a world ranking of 4. His achievements include then world no.1 Roger Federer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and has an impressive collection of 10 career titles and 7 doubles career titles.
James Blake talks about the ideal qualities he wants in his unbeatable player
When asked about the best serve, Blake picked John Isner, while also stating that Andy Roddick was a close second. While appearing on the US Open podcast, Blake praised the 6’10 American’s serve saying, “To go along with being 6’10, he really has a good motion, extremely flexible upper body and he places it well and spots in the way he’s supposed to and really mixes it up well. So, he does everything he needs to do on that serve.”
Speaking about Federer’s forehand, Blake said, “He hits it so unbelievably well, precise and I know you said you could say “James Blake” for something, but I’d be stupid because I remember thinking: I want to go forehand to forehand with anyone, I can do that, and Roger was the one guy who kind of showed me “Nah”. So, I can’t say me when he did that to me so many times to make me realize that his forehand is better than mine.”
Speaking about backhands, Blake said, “Backhand I gotta go with Djokovic. It just so rocks solid. Just seems like he can count on it at any moment, pressure moments, not pressure moments. He can create pace with it, he can hit angles with it, and he does it so well.”
When asked about the net game, Blake stated, “I think I gotta go back to one of the greats in John McEnroe. Seeing his hands, and they always say hands are s kind of the last thing to go and it’s true because I played him in senior events and the guy doesn’t miss a volley, he’s so good up there and the hands are just incredible, he’s got great touch, he can stick the volleys and he’s just in the right position so I gotta take his net play over anyone. Stefan Edberg is probably up there, Rafter is up there but I don’t think they can compete with the greatest in Johnny Mac.”
When asked about the return of serve, Blake said, “I feel like there are different categories. There’s being able to make enough, there’s being able to be aggressive with the returns. But I would still say probably, Novak. Having to make every single one and get in play and get in a good position, think I’m still gonna take Novak.”
Speaking about mental toughness, Blake picked Rafael Nadal, saying “You’ve never seen once smash a racket on the court, you’ve never seen him get down on himself when it seems like it affects the next point. You don’t see him getting into people’s faces. He is extremely excited, he’s pumped up and he’s the guy that looks like he’s competing for every single point. Down 40-love in the first game, he might make a great shot and give a fist pump in the first round against a guy he’s gonna end up beating 2 and 2.”
Well, we love the ideal man James Blake has created and we can only hope that there is someone who has the qualities of all the mentioned great players. On that note, we hope that the players who are still playing will continue showcasing their extraordinary skills and talent and etch their names forever in the history books of the tennis world.
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Harini Mahesh
(159 Articles Published)