James Blake

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, where he again faced the top-ranked and world number one Lleyton Hewitt for the rematch of the previous year.

In an entertaining match Blake was again defeated in five sets.

James Riley Blake (born December 28, 1979) is an American former professional tennis player.

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 Masters.

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?"

Blake's name became more recognizable worldwide after he pushed the eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt to five sets at the US Open.

In January 2002, Blake won the 2002 USTA Waikoloa 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 final, losing to Andy Roddick.

He reached the quarterfinals at the ATP Masters Series (AMS) event in Rome in May and the final 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.

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, where he lost to Srichaphan.

Blake was eliminated from the US Open in the 3rd round by Roger Federer.

In 2004, Blake fractured a vertebra in an accident while training.

Blake's autobiography, Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life, co-written with Andrew Friedman, discussed his comeback after his 2004 season.

It was released on July 3.

2004 was a difficult year for Blake.

In May, 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.

Blake fractured his seventh vertebra, but did not sustain any nerve damage and was ultimately able to make a full recovery from the injury.

In July, his father died of stomach cancer.

At the same time, Blake developed shingles, which temporarily paralyzed half his face and blurred his vision.

He made a full recovery, and in 2005 he was presented with the Comeback Player of the Year award for his return to the tour.

He won 10 titles on the ATP Tour (out of 24 finals contested), reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 4. His career highlights included reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (beating world No. 1 Roger Federer en route), the quarterfinals of the 2008 Australian Open and 2005 and 2006 US Opens, two titles at the Hopman Cup (in 2003 and 2004) and being the American No. 1 in men's singles.

Blake was also a key performer for the victorious United States 2007 Davis Cup team, winning both his matches in the championship tie against Russia.

2007, and debuted at No. 22 on the New York Times Best Seller list.

Later, in 2008, Blake was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.

Blake retired from professional tennis at the 2013 US Open, being defeated in five sets against Ivo Karlovic and in three sets in men's doubles.

Blake was born in Yonkers, New York, to an African American father, Thomas Reynolds Blake, and a British mother, Betty.

He has a brother Thomas, who has also been a professional tennis player, and three older half-brothers: Jason, Christopher, and Howard, and a half-sister Michelle.

Blake started playing tennis at the age of five alongside his older 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.

The Blake family moved to Fairfield, Connecticut when Blake's father's job selling surgical supplies took him from New York to Hartford, Connecticut.

Blake attended Fairfield High School, 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.

Blake left Harvard University, where he was a member of the A.D. Club, after his sophomore year to pursue a career in professional tennis.

In 2018, he was elected into the ITA Collegiate Hall of Fame.