James Blake is a retired American tennis player who reached a career-high singles ranking of #4 on the ATP tour. Since 2018, he has been the tournament director at the Miami Open and thus was at the helm when a controversial wild card was awarded to Mari Osaka in 2019. The Naomi Osaka book reviewed last week described his role in that episode. That was enough to pull Blake’s autobiography, ‘Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life,’ up to the top of my reading queue.
This book was a stark reminder of how little I previously knew about Blake. While the book revolves around his comeback in the 2006 season, the accounts of his early development imparted page after page of revelations. For example, I was not consciously aware that Blake is mixed race. Additionally, I did not remember that he wore his hair in dreadlocks early in his career. I would have lost a bar-bet on his peak ATP ranking by at least 20 spots.
Blake turned pro in 1999 and retired from the sport in 2013. Consequently, this book was written at the effective midpoint of his career. In 2004, he fractured his back while playing a practice match in Rome, and ‘Breaking Back’ focuses primarily on the culmination of his recovery, which ultimately turned out to be his career-best season as well.
Blake shares some episodes of the social hardships he experienced as a mixed-race person without dwelling on it. One of the first matches that put Blake on the public radar was a 2003 second-round loss at the US Open when Lleyton Hewit accused a black linesman of making calls in Blake’s favor. This book came out well before the mistaken identity incident in 2015 when Blake was tackled and handcuffed by a New York City Police officer while waiting for a car to take him to the U.S. Open.
The tennis philosophy of Blake’s longtime coach, Brian Barker, permeates the pages of this book. That relationship started when Blake was 11 years old and lasted throughout the entirety of his professional career. As a result of that influence, this book has a surprising amount of tennis wisdom for readers seeking to make long-term improvements to their game.
I ordinarily don’t put much stock in mid-career autobiographies of athletes. However, the comeback story in ‘Breaking Back‘ makes this book worthwhile. Additionally, it details what ultimately turned out to be the apex of Blake’s career. Though he played for another seven years after the book was published, he never achieved the same level of success as his 2006 season.
‘Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life‘ provides a unique glimpse into the world of professional tennis while also delivering an inspiring account of human strength, self-discovery, and the unwavering pursuit of excellence. It is a riveting and emotionally charged memoir that is a great way to get to know James Blake and vicariously experience the triumph of his best year on tour.
Breaking Back: How I Lost Everything and Won Back My Life (<- Sponsored Link)
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