With the U.S. Open tennis tournament just a couple of weeks a way, I decided to begin reading a new book called Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life by James Blake. If you aren't familiar with Blake, he has an incredible story.
He started his professional tennis career in 1999 and just four years later he was ranked number 28 in the world. He had a bad season in 2003, but 2004 was much worse. Blake broke his neck on the court in a freak accident. Then his father died from stomach cancer. And with nerves getting the best of him, Blake came down with zoster, which paralyzed half of his face and made him unsteady on his feet. And obviously, it rendered him unable to play tennis.
Doctors told him that he might not be able to return to the court for several years, but after playing in some challenger events (the tennis equivalent of playing in the minor leagues) he came roaring back in 2005 and played one of the best tennis matches I've ever seen against Andre Agassi at the U.S. Open. It lasted until past 1:00 am on the east coast, but nobody in the crowd left early. They both played at such a high level that even novice fans couldn't take their eyes off the match.
Blake was influenced heavily by his father, who he describes in his book as a man who pushed James to do his best, no matter what he was involved in. "You cant control your level of talent," Blake's father used to tell him. "But you can control your level of effort." If only more professional athletes embraced such a motto.
I suspect that you'll hear a lot of Blake's father in this quote from the book as well: "Personally, I wasn't afraid of slipping into oblivion. Like most people, I happen to come from oblivion, and I was always pretty happy there, so the thought of going back didn't bother me too much." Blake was talking about his poor 2003 season, but you get the feeling that it applies to 2004 every bit as much.
James Blake appears to be one of those guys who you could hang out with on a Saturday night and he'd be the same person you'd see playing at Flushing Meadows, the biggest stage in tennis.
Technorati tags: James Blake, US Open, tennis, Breaking Back
