Blake: My kids are surprised that I beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
The former world No. 4 James Blake is proud about his tennis career. In an interview to Undefeated, Blake was asked if his kids, respectively six and four years old, recognize he is famous. 'No. A few times I put tennis on in the house and we’re watching and cheering for most of the Americans,' said Blake. 'They’ll show Roger [Federer] and the kids will talk about him being really good, and I’ll say, ‘Daddy beat him once.’ And they’re surprised. Then they’ll see [Rafael Nadal] and say he’s really good, and I’ll say, ‘Daddy beat him, too.’ And they’re surprised. They’re 6 and 4 and don’t think anyone’s famous. We met Shaquille O’Neal one day, and I introduced him to my girls and he couldn’t have been nicer, playing with them and calling himself the big tickle monster. And for the rest of the day they asked me, ‘Can the tickle monster come over later?’ Later we saw him on TV on the NBA show, and I’ll say, ‘Hey, that’s the tickle monster.’ And they’ll say, ‘Yeah, when’s he coming over?’ So they have no clue what being famous is.'
Blake deals well with not being in the spotlight anymore as a famous tennis player. He sometimes plays on the Champions Tour and serves as a Tournament Director at the Miami Open. 'Having a daughter, it was easy to change my focus when tennis was over,' Blake explained. 'I knew when I got into tennis I was entering a world where my life was public. But I was never interested in being in the spotlight. I was only interested in getting better in tennis.'
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2QLZSaC
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