A host of legendary American tennis players have contributed to growing the unmistakable lore and mystique of Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is celebrating its silver anniversary this year and, once again, is the site of another magical run deep into the tournament by the latest American tennis star, Frances Tiafoe.
No other tennis player, from one-time wild cards to multiple Grand Slam champions, has a closer kinship to the world’s biggest stage for tennis than former world No. 4 James Blake, whose career first took off as Arthur Ashe Stadium was still being built from the ground up.
Before the “J-Block” cheering section and his memorable five-set match in 2005 against Andre Agassi made him as synonymous with memorable moments at Ashe Stadium as any other American player, the Yonkers-born Blake started his US Open journey as a qualifier in singles and doubles in 1997—and mere days before Ashe Stadium first opened its doors to host tennis’ final Grand Slam.
Two years later, in 1999, Blake received a wild card to play in the main draw at the US Open for the first time and, by 2002, he established himself as a Top 30 player who won his first-ever ATP Tour title in Washington, DC.
Injury and tragedy put a halt to his tennis ascent in 2004. In May, Blake suffered a broken neck while preparing for an event in Rome after slipping on the clay and colliding with the net post. In the summer, Blake’s father passed away as a result of stomach cancer. Later, Blake was diagnosed with shingles, which caused partial facial paralysis and blurred vision.
By April 2005, Blake’s ranking was down to 210, and he needed a wild card just to participate in the US Open that summer. It turned out to be one of the most fruitful wild cards the USTA has ever given out, laying the groundwork for Blake’s tennis resurgence.
After wins in the first two rounds, including taking down Great Britain's Greg Rusedski to start his US Open run, Blake stunned No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal in four sets inside of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Blake took down another Spaniard, Tommy Robredo, to advance to his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal.
All the while, Blake’s friends from his hometown of Fairfield, Connecticut, and from the tennis club he trained at, Tennis Club of Trumbull, congregated at each of Blake’s matches and formed a loud, passionate cheering section called the “J-Block,” most memorable for its “What time is it? BREAK TIME!” chant when Blake had opportunities to break. With every win, the J-Block would gain more momentum from the crowd that grew enamored with Blake’s game, which included a punishing forehand.
Blake’s quarterfinal match was a date with two-time US Open champion and tennis icon Andre Agassi, and it was the former who won the first two sets and was up a break in the third set. Agassi came back, however, to win the third set, and after winning the fourth as well, Agassi outlasted Blake in an epic fifth-set tiebreak, 8-6 in the breaker.
Afterward, Blake and Agassi shared a warm embrace at the net, with Blake saying to Andre, “It couldn’t have been more fun to lose.” Agassi later quipped in his on-court interview, “I wasn’t the winner. Tennis was.”
Blake went on to do lots more winning, reaching as high as No. 4 in the world, reaching another US Open quarterfinal the following year in 2006 (losing in four sets to Roger Federer) and reaching the championship match of the year-ending ATP Tour Finals in Shanghai. In 2007, Blake won two matches in the Davis Cup Final over Russia to help the US earn its most recent Davis Cup title.
In August 2013, Blake called time on his wonderful career, announcing his retirement before the start of that year’s US Open. Blake’s great moments in Arthur Ashe Stadium are made extra special due to the namesake of the USTA National Tennis Center’s crown jewel, as Ashe, a pioneer for future Black athletes in the game of tennis and a civil rights activist who actively spoke out against apartheid in South Africa, became a role model to Blake after Blake heard Ashe speak to the Harlem Junior Tennis Program.
Fast forward to a new generation, and it’s another American who has captured the hearts of Ashe Stadium, College Park, Maryland’s Frances Tiafoe. Mere moments after Tiafoe soaked in the deafening cheers and shed a few tears upon securing the biggest win of his career—a four-set victory against 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the Round of 16 at the US Open on Labor Day Monday—he shared a long, warm embrace with the man who knew all too well the gamut of emotions the young Tiafoe was feeling inside: Blake, who is now an ESPN commentator and interviewed Tiafoe after his win against Nadal. Blake and Tiafoe are now the last two American men to beat Nadal at a major, and both occurrences came inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
USOpen.org caught up with Blake this week to talk about the memories of playing in Arthur Ashe Stadium and the highlights of his career.
Q. Can you believe it’s been 25 years since Ashe first opened its doors to tennis?
James Blake: It's pretty crazy because I remember when the stadium was going up. It was when I was playing here for the first time, as a wildcard, into the qualifiers and in the doubles qualifying. So I remember vividly playing my qualies doubles match with my brother and they were finishing the construction on Ashe stadium. That felt huge to be in the qualifying and especially playing with my brother was really, really special. And then Arthur Ashe Stadium is going up as we're finishing our first round of playing doubles. I just thought it was really cool. And something I would never forget. I was watching them put the signage up and get the stadium ready, preparing for the big opening night ceremony.
Q. Who were the people that made up the J-Block? Close friends? People from your old tennis club?
James Blake: They were a little bit of everything. Most of them were friends that I grew up playing tennis with. They were still in the area and wanted to come out. And at that point, everyone’s in their early twenties, and they didn't have the high-powered jobs maybe they have now, so they could get some time off and have a few drinks and enjoy themselves. The ones that were in that suite and in the box going crazy are people that I knew when I was going through my down times, were there for me through my up times, were there celebrating with me, and people that I still know and get along with great. In fact, I saw three or four of them during this tournament. They're coming out to watch, but they definitely all say the experience is a little different when it's not me who’s playing.
Q. Is there a specific match you remember where the J-Block really pushed you over the finish line when you were struggling?
James Blake: When I played [Tomas] Berdych here in 2006, I felt like he was struggling so much to deal with them. It's tough playing certain players in certain places, and I think it was tough playing me here because they were so fervent. They loved everything I did, they were cheering for me, and I always felt like they were fair, too. They were chanting, but they were never saying anything during points because most of them were tennis players.
In ‘05 when I beat Rafa, I played Rusedski in the first round, and I had lost to him the only other time I played him. I felt like it was a tough draw, but he was getting extremely frustrated with them as well. And I can see that when I'm looking over and I see [my opponents] getting frustrated, I'm just saying, "Okay, this is great. I can relax and take the pressure off playing at home."
Q. What was your biggest takeaway from that match against Agassi?
James Blake: Losing those last two points [of the tiebreaker] was painful. Going to the locker room, all I could think of was frustration and that I had my chances and I didn't take advantage and I didn't win that match. That was my chance to make a semis, and I thought I had a chance to go all away that year and was coming back from injury and illness. So I was really thinking about that and then hearing Andre say, "You know, tonight tennis won," and the more I thought about it—you know what?—that was really special to be a part of.
The further away from it I am, the more I realize how right Andre was and how special it was. It's 17 years later now, and I still get people, whether it's at the US Open or whether it's at the airport or on a golf course, saying “You know what? I remember where I was. I remember what I was doing. I remember being there at that match.” It's 17 years later and they're still talking about that match.
Q. You’ve said that Arthur Ashe Stadium is your favorite venue. What do you remember about the first time you were aware of Arthur Ashe and how did his legacy help your career?
James Blake: I learned more about [Ashe] because he was the reason my father got into tennis and he was my dad's role model. My dad was not extremely emotional, so for him to kind of have someone that he looked up to, I could tell Arthur was something special. Then I read "Days of Grace" and the more I learned more about him, the more I was impressed. I thought this is someone that could be modeled after. You could model your career. You could model your life. You could model a lot of your beliefs after this man who did everything in his power to make the world a better place.
