Autograph Corner: James Blake

The 2025 Miami Open presented by Itaú set a new standard for this incredible Masters 1000 event often referred to as “The Fifth Grand Slam.” A record breaking 405,448 fans passed through the turnstiles at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens shattering the previous attendance record. And tennis was from the only activity that fans enjoyed. From fashion shows to concerts to incredible foods and special events like Kids’ Day, tennis fans and their families and friends were immersed in fun and activities throughout the fortnight. And the Miami Open celebrated its 40th Anniversary paying tribute to founder Butch Buchholz and the first Men’s and Women’s Singles Champions, Tim Mayotte and Martina Navratilova, respectively, with an on-court ceremony complete with personalized Miami Dolphins jerseys. 

It takes a tremendous amount of staff and volunteers to make the Miami Open run seamlessly, but a lot of the credit goes to Tournament Director James Blake. Since 2018, Blake has served in that role. In 2019 he helped launch the tournament into its new home at Hard Rock Stadium. If you ran into Blake at the tournament – he seemed to be everywhere - he probably asked you what improvements can be made to the event as he is always striving to enhance the fan experience.

Photo courtesy of Adam Ross

Blake developed his work ethic and drive for excellence during his impressive rise to fame as a top ATP player culminating in a career high ranking of world #4 in 2006. He attended Harvard University ultimately beginning his professional career in 1999. During his career on the ATP Tour which ended in 2013 he won 10 titles and earned nearly $8 million in prize money. He reached the final of the 2006 Masters Cup and the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics beating world #1 Roger Federer along the way. Blake recorded wins over other Hall of Fame players including Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt. He also helped the U.S. bring home the Davis Cup in 2007.

Blake penned two inspirational books as well: Breaking Back in 2007 and Ways of Grace in 2017. He has also forged an excellent career as a tennis commentator. In addition, Blake found time to pay it forward founding the James Blake Foundation in honor of his father, Thomas Blake Sr., who lost his battle with gastric cancer in 2004. Since 2008, the James Blake Foundation has supported the efforts of the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Research Fund. That same year he was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.

Photo courtesy of Adam Ross

In 2022 Blake was awarded the Medal of Kindness by the Madison Keys Kindness Wins Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 2020 by Keys, the 2025 Australian Open Champion and Florida Tennis cover player for the March-April 2025 issue. Keys started the foundation with a mission to spread kindness to youth, kindness to self and kindness to others in times of struggle. Florida Tennis asked Blake what it meant for him to receive the award: “I think it's such a great initiative and I'm so proud of Madison and I think she's an amazing person for doing that and for taking what seems to be extremely negative situations at times for players such as getting criticized on social media and abused by these online comments.” He added, “It’s tough enough for almost all these players because they are already so hard on themselves so then to add in such negative thoughts and comments on social media and for her to turn that around and into a positive and to showcase and really highlight positive behavior of people, individuals being kind and people that are doing good things. I really credit her for that kind of thinking. She’s that type of a person.” Blake concluded, “This award is really nice of her and again I'm proud of her for what she does and says and for making a positive difference in the world.”

What are Blake’s goals for the Miami Open? “I really want this to be a tremendous event and the best event that it can be. You know every tournament has its own positives and negatives and limitations and restrictions and so we are doing our best to maximize everything we have, and I think we are extremely fortunate to be in an unbelievable situation with Hard Rock Stadium, the Hard Rock team, the Miami Dolphins, IMG Endeavour and being able to keep this in an amazing place like Miami where the culture is so spectacular. We get to showcase that.” Blake added, “I mean just figuring out on a day-to-day basis how we can make the players experience a little better. Can we make the dining a little better? Can we do something else for the players? Can we make the experience a little better for the fans? What can we do in the Grandstand, in the Stadium? Those little things.” Blake concluded, “I don’t want to say, well if we don’t have a certain amount of spectators that it is a failure or if we have a certain amount of spectators it is a success. I want to just say we are going to make it the best experience we can.”

And what are Blake’s personal goals for the future? “The way I look at it is I try to get better every day. I try to figure out small sort of achievable goals on a day-to-day basis. And that’s what I did when I was on tour, to try and get better every day and I kind of do that in my life in general. I try to figure out, what’s the simple thing I can do today to get better.”

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Adam Ross is a contributor to Florida Tennis. He is also a volunteer for the USTA Florida and a member of the TCA/Tennis Collectors of America. Top photo courtesy of Adam Ross.