James Blake, from
Yonkers,
New York, is a professional tennis player, currently ranked #4 in the world. He is currently the top-ranked
American tennis player, the winner of 8 singles titles and $4,216,775 in prize money since turning pro in
1999.
Blake suffered some cruel setbacks in 2004, including a broken neck caused by running into a net-
post while practicing in
Rome, the death of his father in July, and a case of
shingles that temporarily paralyzed half his face and blurred his sight.
However, from doubting whether he would ever play tennis again, the 27 year old overcame these obstacles, and by November 2006 he managed to
qualify for the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup (held in
Shanghai) for the first time in his career. He defeated world #2
Rafael Nadal, #3
Nikolay Davydenko and steamrolled
David Nalbandian to earn himself a runner-up spot beside
Roger Federer, and a ranking of 4th in the world.