James Blake no longer traveling with full-time coach
Former World No. 4, James Blake has said that he will no longer be travelling with a full-time coach. The American made this announcement during the San Jose SAP, 2011 tournament.
The tennis player was being coached by Kelly Jones since last year, before that by Brian Barker for a number of years. Blake has currently been traveling with Rory Cordial, who is a full-time physio.
The 31-year old believes that at his age, he does not require somebody to help him figure out strategies on a full time basis.
The American stated that he does not need someone to put him through the same drills that he already knows and to tell him things that he has already seen and heard.
“I may have Kelly, Brian or my brother [Thomas] come around here and there because someone on the outside can always pick up things that you can’t, but I knew that by this age I would know the game well enough to coach myself,” he said.
Blake has been out with shoulder and knee injuries since October 2010 and is currently ranked 170 in the world. Blake is uncertain if he will be able to reach his career high ranking, but believes he can still produce quality tennis: “Being healthy, it gives you a better perspective how much you miss the competition, how much you like to be out here. Once I'm out here playing, I'll let the ranking take care of itself. If I get back, I get back. If I don't, I'm going to have a whole lot of fun trying.”
The American played his first match at the San Jose SAP tournament on Monday, triumphing over Jesse Levine of Canada 7-5, 6-1.
Blake missed a number of early break opportunities against Levine. He fell behind 4-5 in the first set of the match, after losing a serve. He fought back to take nine of the last ten games played in the set. This is his first win since October, 2010.
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