Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Sports
SportsVideo

US Open: James Blake’s Career Has Come to an End

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: | Updated on March 25, 2016 CommentsComments (0)

James Blake‘s singles career came to an end late Wednesday night at the U.S. Open. In his last tennis match, Blake lost to Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 7-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-7, 6-7.

Blake was leading the match, after jumping out on the 6-foot-10 Croatian two sets to zero. He gave up the lead and lost the fifth-set tiebreaker in disappointing fashion.

“I don’t know when it’s gonna hit me. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping much tonight,” Blake said amid a standing ovation from the crowd at Arthur Ashe stadium. “Thanks for staying, for everyone, I can look at the clock, it’s after midnight, and I still got a lot of people here supporting me. It’s hitting me now that I’m never going to have this again in my life, and I need to appreciate every single one of you for being here,” he said.

Blake announced his retirement on Monday, and talked about his efforts in the sport.

“I did the best I could in every situation, and I know probably anyone in here that’s covered me before has heard me probably annoyingly give the answer often that fit my goals, when I was playing tennis, instead of rankings-based, were, one, to keep getting better and try and improve every day, and, two, when I’m done playing, put my rackets down and be content with what I did and happy that I did everything the right way.”

Blake was 366-256 overall in his career.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top