WASHINGTON, D.C. — American James Blake, a thirteen-year veteran of the ATP Tour, is back in action this week at the Citi Open for the ninth time in his career, and he candidly opened up whether he would want his new daughter to play tennis.
Currently ranked world No. 116, Blake has posted his best results since October of last year by beating Marco Chuidinelli, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the quarterfinals at the Citi Open.
Blake and his fiancee, Emily Snider, welcomed a new daughter on June 10th of this year. According to an interview done by Kelyn Soong for the Emirates US Open Series, Blake admits that having a new addition to the family “changes everything” and “puts the rest of your life before in perspective.”
So, tonight I put Blake to the test, and asked him as a new father if he would recommend tennis to his daughter. What ensued was an amusing and honest answer by the American.
“I recommend her doing anything she wants to do – preferably not the drums! I have a feeling that since she’ll be around tennis, she’ll probably be interested in it, but I absolutely don’t want to put any pressure on her. I know if she did play tennis, there would already be pressure on her being my daughter. If I’m the one taking her to local tennis tournaments, people might expect a lot out of her. If she’s ok with that, I’m ok with that.”
Although Blake lives, breathes, and sleeps tennis, he might, in the end, recommend a different sport to his daughter for his own leisure.
“To be honest,” Blake admits, “I’m hoping she picks up golf so I get an excuse to go out on the golf course with her!”