Transcripts For CSPAN2 Ways Of Grace 20170812

James, tell me to kick start it, what happens when youre standing outside the grand hyatt many front of the public in front of the public, and a Police Officer comes up to you out of the clear blue, slams you to the ground, handcuffs you and, luckily, it was recorded by a camera . What happened and what are you thinking at the time . Yeah. At the time its a little strange how life works. But about three days earlier, i have a web site, and i know im still a dinosaur, so its before twitter and facebook and instagram, but i still have a web site. And the person that runs it for me sends me a lot of the fan mail or emails that he thinks i would be entered in. A friend of mine from high school who i was just talking about, a wrestler freshman year in high school, and the seniors used to playfully beat me up. One of the guys that was a senior that i knew pretty well had written in. I hasnt i had lost touch with him. Wrote in to the web site, i know its been 20 years, but we were catching up and were talking about you and were proud of you. Hope everythings going well, hopefully one day well see you. I thought, oh, thats a nice message. Three days later standing in front of the grand hyatt and someone thats shaved head, kind of muscular just like my friend from high School Starts running towards me, and im thinking to myself and if you watch the video, because you dont need to go watch because ive seen it a million times, im actually smiling because im like what are the odds in this guy found me three days after he wrote in to me. And i dont even to have time for it to sink in before im on the ground. And i said thats not the way we used to joke and wrestle in high school. [laughter] i realized how serious this was because im now on the ground and pretty scared, and hes got his knee in my back and putting the cuffs on me and saying dont say a word. At that point then my mind immediately shifts to what id seen in the media, what id seen with misunderstandings or perceived misunderstandings with Police Officers and what could happen, how that could end tragically. So the first words out of my mouth were im complying 100 . Whatever you say to do, ill do. And even though he had never said officer, never said nypd, never said under arrest, nothing like that, he had his knee in my back and telling me to shut my mouth. I had a feeling this being noon in the middle of midtown manhattan, i didnt think he was brazen enough to mug me in front of this many people, so i did assume it was a Police Officer. He walked me away, and i said, look, youve made a mistake, i have my credentials in my back pocket. Please take that. Its evidence im not involved in whatever you think it is im doing. Just said well see, well see. Eventually, finally, the fifth officer on the scene was the one that identified me and said they had made a mistake. It was pretty shocking, and like i said, its funny how life works because i dont know what would have happened if i really thought that person was coming at me with dangerous intentions, because my instinct would have been to put up my arms, defend myself, and had i done that, the results would have been a lot worse. I wouldnt have had a bruise on my elbow or my side, my head might have been slammed into the ground, and then i think about what would have happened if my brother was there or my family or my friends. Since he never said officer, if i had a friend there, my friends are crazy. [laughter] if someone attacks me, theyre going to attack him. And i dont know what would have happened to them. So i think how lucky i am that i was there by myself. James, some others would have approached this with rage. Why didnt you . Well, i try to generally be calm and collected and think about the best solution. And it sometimes is, works well for me. Sometimes my wife says it doesnt work well, i need to be a little more emotional. And this time i was trying to think about, and being an athlete, being a guy, i think it was kind of the way i was raised maybe, okay, i can take this. It was something that happened to me, im not going to complain about it, im not going to say anything until i spoke to my wife, and she said what if this had happened to me. And immediately it kind of brought tears to my eyes, and i thought about what would happen if it happened to her, my brother, someone i really carried about and they didnt have the same voice that i do. So that moment i decided now i am going to do something about this. And it actually spurred on a little bit of rage because i said, you know, i can take this, but a lot of people cant and shouldnt. And no one should have the take this. It made me think i need to the act, and thats when i decided im going to go to the press. That was before i knew there was a video. And i think everything about this changed with the fact that there was a video. Because if there wasnt a video, it would have been my word against five Police Officer, and before they knew there was a video, the comments they made were they were investigating whether there was Excessive Force and i wasnt in handcuffs, and the whole encounter was less than two minutes. So that would have been their story. And i dont even blame their superior officers, because thats what these officers told them. There should be no reason for them not to believe those arresting officers. But they were flat out lying. So having the video made it so that my story was obviously corroborated, which was the truth. How could sports bring us together . Well, sports, ive always felt like, can bridge gaps. Language barriers, religious bare barriers, any sort of wealth inequality, it can be such an equal playing field. You can get the u. S. Open so many different ways. You can get to the super bowl or Major League Baseball in so many different ways, but you have a respect for each other oftentimes. I mean, the tennis locker room i may not agree with a lot of the people in there this something that might be political, something that might be cultural, something that might be religious, but i have a ton of respect for how they got there, because i know how much hard work went into getting there. I know how much they sacrificed to get there. So there is always that bond with sports. And then from a basic and early age, i see it in my kids already. My kids are 5 and 3. My 5yearold can be shy and not know someone, but then they do hopscotch together or play something together, and they immediately have a bond, and she openeds up and becomes opens up and becomes so much more personal. I think tennis, sports in general can just create that friendship, that partnership, and most sports, team sports, you get that camaraderie. You get a feeling of working together. Theres so many lessons you can learn. With golf you learn spotsmanship, honor sportsmanship, calling penalties on yourself. So i think it can teach you a lot about life. James, on the flip side, as the number one u. S. Ranked tennis player, what is an athletes responsibility to the community . Well, i mean, i only borrowed that title for a little while from andy roddick. I think the responsibility and ive said this a lot, tennis is such an individual sport. The responsibilitying is to be true to yourself. I think it would have shine through if you see pete sampras acting like, you know, andre agassi being a showman. I think you have to be yourself out on the court, and i always respect when people are themselves. And thats why i talk about in the booking if something really does push you and it burns you and its a passion for you. Then, yeah, speak out. And you have a voice. Understand what that means and what effect youre going to have on people. But if you dont have that passion, if you dont have something that, you know, makes you feel like you want to speak out, i dont think you need to do it just to do it. You shouldnt have to, you shouldnt feel the need to speak out for some cause if youre uneducated on that cause. If its not something that really meanses anything to you. And thats i dont think theres any athletes jobbed to do it, but i think its their right to do it, and i think they should feel empowered to do it, and i think they should recognize that they have more of a voice hand most people do. Than most people do. Especially nowadays if youre the sixth bench player on the warriors, youve got a million followers on twitter. Is with 140 characters, you can make a strong statement and have an effect on a lot of people that are following you. Why force serena and venus williams, the journey has been so hard for equal pay. It takes a while for us men to catch up, i think, and listen to the smart women that we should be listening to. You know, equal pay to such a big step forward with Billie Jean King, we talk about that in the book in 1973, her battle of the sexes with bobby riggs. And i learned more about it in speaking to her for this book. And that was a big step forward. It was a big step forward for tennis in general, and people a lot of times dont want to give credit to the fact that Billie Jean King made a huge difference in mens tennis as well because she had so many millions of eyeballs on that match, so we should all be paying her a debt of gratitude. Venus and serena took it a step further. Venus was the first to win wimbledon and get paid the same as Roger Federer when they won it. The i credit the people that are fighting for that, and theres still equality to be had in so many other areas, but females are hopefully catching up. They should with be catching up even quicker, i wish they were, but it takes us a little while to recognize their greatness. But even if you take serena and Maria Sharapova, why does Maria Sharapova make so much more than serena on sponsorship . Thats a good question. You should ask nike. Thats something thats always been frustrating to me. Serenas possibly the best athlete of our generation without qualifiers, without saying male, female, black, white, anything. Shes one of the best athletes of our time and shes won three times as many majors as and shes a strong, powerful role model. Im proud, if my daughters grow up and watch her and want to be like her, so i think she should be the highest paid female athlete in the world, but she isnt. Thats something madison avenue decides, i wish i was the one pulling the strings and had the ability to write and sign those checks but what do you think madison avenues thinking is on that . [laughter] i mean, Maria Sharapova has, i guess, if you want to say the look that theyre looking for . And shes been marketable. Shes sold a lot of, she sold a lot of cars, watches, clothes, shoes, whatever it is that shes endorsing. Shes sold a lot of them. I also dont want to seem like im begrudging her, because she deserves everything that she gets. But i just think serena deserves even more than she get, and shes had to fight so hard to get what shes gotten. Why do you think there are so few africanamerican tennis players of the total percentage besides serena, venus, madison, sloan and a couple of others . Why so few of the percentage . Well, i think, for one, it still has the stigma of being a country club sport. So its not often the coolest sport to be playing as a kid. I cant say it got me a ton of street cred when i showed up at school my racquet bag. [laughter] so i think its fighting that stigma a little bit. And then theres the issue of the if you want to have role models, you look at the effect serena and venus have had, and its already being seen with sloan and Taylor Townes zenned townsend. Theres females following them and inspire youngs. Right now a kid picks up a basketball, and he wants to be steph curry, lebron james. He sees a role model, sees someone thats having success. And for a young africanamerican kid right now, hes not seeing a ton of that on tv on the mens side. On the womens side theres still serena and venus, you know, having crind bl success incredible success this late in their careers. Its a whole other topic, how amazing they are. But if you dont have those role models, its tough to look up and say i want to be like them. I hope you see that trickle down of Young Players growing up and having the talent and the work ethic and succeeding. Does it bother you when people label you as an africanamerican tennis player or instead of a tennis player . They dont say rafael nadal, caucasian tennis player. [laughter] if you think about it, they dont do that. Only if youre africanamerican, they give you the title africanamerican. Does it bother you and did it bother you on the tour . It didnt bother me. It was more for me, i actually thought of it as a challenge. I think a lot of people try to find their own ways to challenge themselves, and for me i took it as i want to be good enough that they just talk about my tennis. And that was part of the reason i cut my hair too. I was kind of the crazy kid with the wacky hair and dread locks, and, you know, pretty abnormal in the sport of tennis. So, you know what . I want to succeed and i want them to just talk about my tennis. When they said hes the first africanamerican to do this, the first africanamerican since mel washington, since arthur ashe, i wanted them to have results they said hes the first to do this, or hes the only american to do this and not always have to qualify it with africanamerican. It was a challenge for me to say i want to do something where they dont have to put that in to qualify how im doing or how well im doing. I just made it as my own kind of personal goal. You were ranked number one in the united states. What does it take to be ranked number one in the world . Well, number one in the states took, i mean, it was my best year ever in 2006 on the court when i won five titles. It was, it went by in a blur. It was two years after i had my father passed away and a broken neck in the span of about three months. So thinking about coming back to play tennis at all seem like a monumental task. And two years later the perspective i had, how happy i was on the court just to be playing, i was in as good of shape as i could, and it still took luck, good scheduling, great matches at big moments and all of that to have to come into place for me to be ranked ahead of andy roddick whos about to go into the hall of fame and one of my good friends on tour. I knew he was, you know, he was happy for me to get it, but he was also chomping to get that number one title back, and he did a few months later. It was a ton of fun. Its a tremendous honor, especially when i look at the people that are on that list that have been the number oneranked americans. People think about Michael Chang that also got into the hall of fame, and he was never the number oneranked american. Always had such strong american players. Its not an easy task. But you had also a ranking of number four in the world. Yeah. To hit number one, what do you think the difference between number four and number one is . Its bigger than it seems. Its bigger than just three spots. You know, its kind of like in golf where it says to get from an 18 handicap to a scratch handicap is easier to do than get from a scratch to a pro. And to get from 100 in the world to the 50 in the world was really tough. To get from 50 in the world to 10 in the world, monumentally tougher. 10 to 5, darn near impossible. 4 to 1, for me, was impossible. [laughter] some guy named roger kept taking all the titles. Its just the amount it took for me to be consistent to be four in the world, it made me more impressed for how much consistency it took to be one in the world. You cant have a bad couple of months. You have to put up result after result after result and be playing your best at all the grand slams, the masters series. The other tough part is youre being you have a target on your back the entire year. Every single match you play, andre agassi said it when i was first coming up. I said how did so and so play against you . No one plays bad against me. They have no fear and they want to beat you because theyre going to be able to tell their grandkids they beat andre agassi. And that thats the way everyone felt playing roger that year. To go out there and try to match their intensity every single day, its very, very difficult. Its why a lot of People Struggle the first time they get up into the top ten or get any sort of success on tour. They take it for granted how hard they had worked and how hungry they were to get there, and they fall back a little bit and realize, wait a minute, these guys are just as listening hungry just as hungry, and for roger to have sustained that for as long as he did being number one in the world, its not an easy task. Takes a special person. In 2011 some people would say you broke the laws of physics. You hit the ball, a forehand, 125 miles an hour. Yeah. [laughter] how is that possible . Many most people cant serve, even a lot of pros cant serve 125 miles an hour. Howd you hit a ball, a forehand at 125 . Even today many of the top players if they hit 90 miles an hour, everybody is blown away, a forehand. Whatd you do that day . Were you eating, did you eat your wheaties beforehand . [laughter] close your eyes and hope it goes in. Forehand was always my weapon, and it was a match point. I always get a special thrill playing at the u. S. Open. I grew up close to here, all my friends were here, my family would be there. So i had tons of accent lin at the u. S. Open adrenaline at the u. S. Open throughout the whole match, and it was match point. I just pretty much just like a pitcher and a batter, a batter sitting on a 30 pitch and waiting for it to be right in that one spot, i just kind of had a feeling it was going to serve, where it was going to be, and he happened to swing exactly where i was looking. I swung as hard as i could, and the ball ended up being about three feet from him, and he just walked up to the net and shook my hand. [laughter] it was pretty exciting and fun. Thats definitely one of the most memorable endings of a match for me, how excited i was and to be in new york and that crowd going craze sate the crazy at the end. People ask if i miss playing tennis. I dont miss a lot of the hard work, i dont miss the travel, but that feeling at the end of a match and the crowds appreciation, thats something that ill always cherish. Talking about the u. S. Open and the feeling, why do you think you never won a major . Everybody said, all betting people said james is not only going to win a major, hes going to win many majors. You had a phenomenal career. You made the quarters of majors. Why do you think you never won a major . Is it because somebody one word, roger. [laughter] thought so. I mean, 2005 it would have been kind of a storybook. That was right when i came back from shingles, from breaking my neck and played andre in the quarters and would have gotten a chance to play robbie in the semimies who i had a pretty good record against. He was playing great. Even if id had gotten there, the way i was playing i felt like i had i dont want to say no chance, but it would have been a complete long shot against rommer in the finals. And then the against roger in the finals. 2006 id beaten andy roddick in one of the warmups in indianapolis, playing great tennis. I think i made the finals in cincinnati. I think tennis magazine picked me to win the u. S. Open, and i got there and remember looking at the draw, and i never looked that far in advance in a draw. I look at who im playing and what could happen. And the way i was playing i felt like all i dont want to do is play roger, and the earliest i could possibly play roger, please dont have roger in my quart finals. Anything else, ill play anyone else in the world, rogers my quarterfinals. I got a set off him, played pretty well, but that match, that tournament i honestly felt like if i played anyone else in the world, i thought i could win, and i thought i would win that match, but roger was just he was the only guy in the world that i felt like when i played my best tennis, he found a different gear. He found a different level and showed me that i wasnt as good as maybe i thought i was or i didnt have that level that he had at that time. And he went on to win that tournament pretty easily. That was my best opportunity. After that, 2008 and on, my knee started bothering me, i was definitely not i never felt quite the same on the court as i did in 05, 06 and 07. Its one thing for you to hit a forehand at 125, impressive by any standard. Lets talk about being on the receiving end. In 2013 you retire, your knees are acting up and you retire after playing. Kohl slip is known, as many people know, serving close to 150. What is it like, take us, take me in the mind of james blake. What is it like to constantly be pounded and have close to 150 mileanhour serve coming at you . You probably have less than a split second. Yeah. To move. Its frustrating. I think they clock it, its less than a half a second from the time he hits it to the time you hit it. The so its even quicker than someone throwing, a pitcher throwing a 90 mileanhour fast ball, it gets on you quicker. And you have to decide how to hit it, is it a forehand, backhand and actually get it on the court. It seems impossible. I remember usa today did an article on the toughest thing in sports to do, and returning a serve and hitting a baseball were, i think, one and two. When they break it down and say how quick it gets on you, how much spin is on it, you have to decide is this kicking . Is this going straight, is it sliding . Where do i need to be, are they coming in to net, do i need to get it down, and all the calculations that go through your head, its muscle memory. Its something that you have to have done a million times or else you pretty much have no chance because you physically cant think that much in that short of a time. So seeing it that much over five sets by the end of it youre just mentally tired from having to put up with that but youve got this person standing across net from you, looks like a giant he is a giant. [laughter] hes610, a lot of people say hes even taller than 610. When thats coming at you, does it look like what does it look like . Is it like the blink of an eye . Is it a flash . What . Yeah. I mean, unfortunately, id had to see tons of him and tons of andy roddick hitting at 140, 150. All you do is react. Theres no time to think at all. Youre just completely guessing, and at times its so to frustrating because they can take the racket out of your hand. You dont get to play tennis sometimes. You play two, three great points in a row, and even if you guess right, there are times where you cant even come close. Get ace, get ace, get ace, and theres the game. You played well and you never had a chance to even swing. It can just be frustrating, but thats part of the game. I know a lot of people have said, well, theres got sob got to be some regulations, but i feel like it always balances out. They were saying that about sampras many years ago, and people figured out how to return those serves. I feel like when i started on tour i was relatively tall [laughter] when i left, i dont think i shrunk, but everyone else got bigger, and i was one of the short guys. Weve a pretty legit sevenfooter. Guys are just bigger and stronger now. I dont know if i belong on tour anymore. [laughter] as the book ways of grace, tell me about this incredible way of grace you dealt with in such a hard challenge, diversity, from the age of 13 to 18 with severe skoal owe us. Yeah. As i told you before, i was talking about this earlier, i felt like it was normal. I didnt realize it was different can. I think that happens to a lot of kids that go through something that they dont know any different, and i didnt know anything different besides wearing a back brace for 18 hours a day. That was normal to me. I knew no one else in high school was doing it, but i just thought, okay, this is what i have to do. This is why yoint fit in. I dont fit in. That was the reason i didnt, and it was just, it was just what i was going through. I brought my little bag for when i could take it off for gym class and, you know, put it back on. I dont know, it was something i didnt think about until much later when i realized, okay, everyone else didnt have to the go through that. They didnt have to be so excited to get a brace off just to the play tennis for a few hours a day. It was something that i also from a young age i think gave me perspective, because to get the braces, i had to go to the Shriners Hospital for crippled children. And i was one of the few kids that could walk in and out of there, one of the the few kids that thought playing a sport or doing anything active. So i pretty quickly appreciated the ability to do that. And so when i did take the brace off for the six hours a day, i really, really felt lucky to be doing that, to be able to play tennis, to be able to do anything i could. And i think a lot of kids take so much for granted. And at some point in their life they learn life lessons, they learn that they should appreciate what they have. I just got that lesson a little earlier. It definitely taught me a lot, and it taught me a lot about appreciating all the things i do have. Do you regret leaving harvard during your sophomore year to pursue tennis full time . No, not at all. I had a great experience at harvard. Two years there was amazing. I learned probably more out of the classroom than i did in the classroom just i growing up. I just dont think i was ready for the tour at 17 when i went off to college physically or emotionally. I still need some growing up to do, and then, i mean, i put on probably ten pounds while i was there as well. I was still about 155 pounds when i went to school, so i definitely needed it. I wasnt going to survive a year on tour at that weight. So i was still growing, and i just, i learned a lot. It was a ton of fun. My freshman year going through the normal stuff, getting the guys the gate raids, carrying gatorades, sleeping on the floor when we had to have three guys in a room for the road trips and doing all the stuff that a freshman is supposed to do but you took a lot of risk at that time. This was no guarantee of success in tennis. Yeah. It all comes up to the individual. Theres thousands of people that are trying, theres hundreds of thousands, millions of people that are trying to be one of the 128 top tennis players in the world. Not going to look back on maybe even go to Summer School to make up the classes. I wasnt going three. I was going two or four, and that year i had a lot of success and the decision was made on my christmas break, i went down to play the minor league level, future level event in orlando and won the event, these are guys trying to play for a living, guys that are really trying to page it, a lot of young guys and theyve been on tour for years. My brother was in the event and he had turned pro, and win that event while is was on my christmas break tieding for final is thought i had a chance to do that. I thought i would take the next tempt it was a risk and at first by parents werent thrilled with it. They stressed education and my dad was definitely unhappy at first until he realized this is something i definitely want to do and im 100 going to commit to doing this, then he dade complete 180, supported me 100 . Didnt know because the rules youre not allowed to talk to an agent about any deal or an agent isnt allowed to do negotiations on your part so being completely out of the tennis world, growing up, wasnt involved in the pro circuit in any way, and i didnt know if when i signed with an agent it would mean i would gate contract that said, you get free clothes, or if it would be heres a Million Dollars in cash go out and spend it and buy yourself stupid cars and jewelry and everything. Had no idea so i was taking a big risk not knowing if i would have any sort of income at the beginning, and i was fortunate enough i did get more than free clothes. Not quite a Million Dollars but enough to get me started and to get my travels going and to take that risk and a risk that paid off and luckily harvard also takes you back anytime. So i knew even if i didnt make it, i my goal was to at least make enough now to afford to go back, which the way the prices going for education i dont know if i can afford it now. Dont know if could i go back with how much it costs. That was my goal, even if i didnt macit i wanted to go back and finish my degree. Walk the through two early james black matches, 2002 against andre agassi and 2005, the same match against nadal. Nadals forehands, his top spin, about 4,000rpms. More than anybody on the tour, is off the charts. How do you beat him . Hes one of the best players, possibly the best player, him and roger did. Number two in the world at the time. Just won the french open and that was the year i waves the tour, so i didnt see his ascent from up close. Was on the sidelines watching this new young stud come up and just racing through the game, weeing the french open the first time playing it. And i went out there to play him, and the first ball never hit we him so the first ball i it in warmup the rifled the forerand down the middle. I thought, anytime for a long day. All i did was felt like i kind of had nothing to lose, attack can his backhand more and i still felt like he was for some reason playing a little tentative, maybe he felt like he hadnt seen me this whole time coming up. I was off the tour. He was kind of feeling me out and i did my best to take advantage of that and be as aggressive as i could, and i still remember for some reason i was much more calm during that match. I won the first set and then lost the second set and could have easily he always showed into much emotion, gets so excited, pumping his fists and getting excited. Remember feeling very common, 1all. Nothing to get down about. I won the first set and can win the next set. Won the third set and it seemed to me like he got a little deflated. Like i was dictating and controlling play. Then in the fourth set just kept telling myself, one point at a time. Get in front, get ahead this time. Get ahead, and i still remember thinking this is going to be so tough. Going to make this impossible. Number two the world, just won the french open, brimming with confidence no way hell get me get to the finish line without me doing something spectacular and i played one point at a time and i couldnt believe how quickly it happened, it went from third set to me actually winning the match because in my head i didnt think at all about the finish line. Was thinking about this one point, this one point, and i was shocked when he missed the last ball and i was raising my arms and i had beaten him. Andre agassi, 2002, known as one of the best returners, possibly him and djokovic, the best returners in the game. What happens during the major . He wins eight majors, playing you at this time and you shock everybody. Yeah. That was early on. My first title i ever won. Played him in the semis and expected to lose. Everyone probably would have assumed i wouldnt have much of a chance. Another time where i was just absolutely going for broke, win the first set, playing great, and then the second set im like theres no way this is going continue. At some point your level will drop, hes going to raise his level, going to be able to get into the match. Another time where it happened dish feel like it happened so fast, and maybe thats just when im playing well, things go quickly. We both played quickly in between points so a short match in terms of actual duration, but i was hitting winner after winner and i remember trying to serve out the match and thinking, theres no way hes going to let you serve out this match. One of greatest returners of alltime and i had to be aggressive. Going for winners and everything was hitting was just out of his reach and just good enough, and i just remember being again shocked at the end of it and it was actually the one tournament my coach wasnt at, attending his sisters wedding and told me at the beginning of the year, my sister getting married, im missing this and i just remember thinking how amazing it was that i was doing this without my coach and became a pretty much running joke, maybe i was bet are off without him. Clearly, clearly not true. Definitely just a joke, but he was so happy and so proud and i was dish couldnt believe i got a win over andre agassi, someone i looked up to when i was a kid and remember so many of his famous matches and i got to stand across the net from him and actually earn his respect because he then alert said that he didnt lose that match, went out and won it and i was proud that he didnt kind of make an excuse and say he was hurting. He just said, he beat me that day, and i give him a ton of credit for having the confidence to admit that. How many times a week too you play ten any now tennis now . Less than one. Im doing the average, its not often. Who could you even play with and gate workout or exercise get a workout or exercise . Is there any enjoyment in . The enjoyment i get is when dish deliver san diego now. Taylor fritz used to live there and when he was just coming up, still a junior and kind of making the transition to pro tour hem lived 1520 minutes from me so i went and hit with hem. Thats where i get enjoyment. Hitting with someone young i can help, talk to if day have a question about life on tour, what i went through, at their age, and anything like that to me thats fun and also im usually sitting in a corner running them so theyre doing all the hard work and i get to just kind of relax a little bit. That is a lot of fun. Going out and hitting, mark lived out there as well hit women if once in a while but generally he has a son, if hey two daughters, itch we have time well say, shall we play golf . So easier on the body, play golf, and for him he wants to go surfing all the time. So we get away from at the tennis court. I still may probably seven, eight, nine exhibitions all year so ill always hit a couple times before that so i dont enbarras myself, becauseunder i dont play for too long, month or something, people people still dont believe me but im just not very good at all. When i did retire, i actually took some real timeoff, probably took three months off, not even picking up a react. Worked so hard for 30 years, and i wanted to take some take break and put the rackets in the closet, and the first time i came out and hit, the same coach, he said we have a junior player at the club, getting a caulky, can you come out and beat up on this did some for problem. That will be fun. Dust off the reacts. I barely, barely beat him and i apologized to my coach im like, im sorry, probably just made his attitude worse but im really trying. This is just how bad i am right now. 16yearold, pretty Good High School player and i was really having trouble beating him. So i practiced a little bit and said have him come over to my house and well play again and it came back to me. Remembered how to play. I did my best to put him in his place. That was a lot of fun. Im really not very good if i dont player for a long time. James, last question before we open it up to odd audience questions when you grew up in fairfield, good friend of yours took a very different path than you. He didnt pick up a tennis react. He picked up the microphone you have now. Could you share his name with us and he attend your wedding and still very good friend. My question is, when is he going to do a song about you . Well, i did go to funny story and how i met and got to be pretty good friend with john mayer. He lived him and his family, younger brother is my age and my grade. Older brother is my brothers age and he is right in the middle and they lived too close to the school to get bussed, and both hit parents were teachers and they went off to workerrer and they wanted their kids on the bus, to get them to school, so what they did was they dropped them off at because his older brother is friend with my brother, his younger brother is friends with me, and they said, can we just drop the kid off at your houseband hand so they can take the bus with your kids and then well pick them up after school after they take the bus home, so all through elementary school, then middle school and then when carl is his older brother went to high school, he was on his own and would walk and john through middle school and Elementary Schools him and his issuing brother, ben, rode the bus with me. He was left out because he was the middle child and i was ailes playing with ben, my brother was hanging out with carl, and then he just i think around seventh or eighth grade, he picked up the guitar, and just started playing it, and it was he jokes that it was down in my basement where we would be there every single day after school, bring miss guitar and playing. Id have a racket in my hand can just be kind of twirling it, we both were kind of a set, we had these obsessions, and a few years later, we obviously both made a career out of it. Ive watched him perform at Square Madison square garment and he watched me at wimbledon and its crazy, hanging out in my basement and doing what we love and then later getting paid for what we love. I still remember the moment we lost touch a little bit after i went off to college and he went and kind of was starting to make it in the music scene, and we were playing davis cup, my first time playing davis cup, and it was dismiss andy roddick, todd martin and tim currier so arguments over what music to listen to in the locker room. There was a little more rap from andy and myself, little more older not so great music in my opinion, from todd and jim, and jim was still on the cutting edge of music, especially here in new york and was i got something we can all listen to and he put in a cd and i thought, this guess issue like it and said who is he . He said john mayer. Said, thats weird. Went to high school with a kid named john mayer who was a musician and really good. And i said ick see the cover . I was like, thats the john mayer i went to high school with. And so i called him pretty soon after that, after we finished the davis cup and i said couldnt believe it. Just like a jawdropping moment to see how successful you have, how great you are, and he said i just did the same thing when i was just looking through the New York Times and i was on the cover with my master, late ton hewitt, in 2001, he said im just reading the paper and starting my day and i see a picture of you, and hes like this is amazing, now our paths will cross again and what we had been doing, now were getting paid for it, and its been pretty crazy and a fun ride, and hes been so nice to me, the first time i had my Charity Event in virginia, i asked him to perform, and before i even got the question out, he said, tell me where and when and ill be there. Hes always been a tremendous supporter of mine and my foundation. Really wonderful. Can we get start with questions. Please. Gentleman there. Hold on. Theres a microphone. I can hear you. [inaudible question] the just repeat the question. What affect did Althea Gibson have on the sport of tennis. Will, she was such a tremendous athlete and she was great at so many sport us but she obviously excelled the most at tennis, and for her to be the precursor even to arthur ashe, and arthur ashe gets tons of credit, deservedly sew, about Althea Gibson doesnt get as much creditor breaking the color barrier, especially at that time, the gender bias that was going on, she didnt i think it was billy jean said, women werent allowed to have a credit card without being cosigned without their husband until the 1970s, so he was winning wimbledon before she was allowed to have a credit card. The things she faced, adversity she faced were absolutely tremendous and i dont know if she gets enough credit for how impressive it was to win wimbledon when no one wanted her there. I couldnt imagine facing those odds. Its one thing if a couple people arent your friend in the locker room and theyre against you, but to have the whole locker room against you, couldnt imagine that feeling and then going out there and turning that rage into success and theres so few people that play well angry, and i dont know how she was able to do that, but for her to do that, opened doors for myself and for arthur ashe, and for mel washington, donald young, and the williams sisters, and its i meannot anchorage trying to say without her i dont know if the williams sisters would have been what we know today. Canbe we get the microphone. Yes. When i watched you play, i was fan of yours, not for tennis but i got a quality from you that was very different from most tennis players and i felt that on some level you were evolved as a human being that picked up on. Thank you. Want to ask you a personal question. Okay. Regarding your evolvement. In a couple parts. One do you feel that tennis helped you evolve . Do you feel if disdistracted you from really being who you wanted to be in do you feel like, for example, lets say when you lost and you got down and you really got down on yourself, did it affect your sense of who you were in relation to other men to the world . Do you feel now that youre not playing tennis, are you comfortable with who you are now and with your accomplishments . Or do you feel now youre looking for Something Else to make you feel that wonderful high that you got . A lot of people use drugs to get and you got it in a real way. Yeah. Thats a detailed question. Ill do my best to answer with as much detail. First of all, thank you. Appreciate in the compliment i was a little different and i may have felt defendant at times based on the path i chose, going college, and going to Public Schools growing up, and playing on the High School Tennis team, battle different than a lot of married that were so focused on tennis their whole lives and not having as much outside of tennis. So, the losses did fake me, did affect me, especially early on. When i first got on tour i had a tough home. Was losing way more than i did. In injuries won a lot. In college i won a lot. Get to the pros you lose a lot. That does take a toll on you and thats a big jump for any player, and early on in my career, as i think a lot of Young Players do, they put part of or all of their selfworth in the number next to their name. Im ranked 32 this week, so im 32nd best player in the world and thats what my value is in this world. And when i was 19, 20, 21, i probably put too much stock in that. Even though i had, as i said earlier i gained some privilege going into the Shriners Hospital. I fell prey to that trap. And then as i got a little older i realized, one of the thing that was the absolute best thing that happened to me in 2004 when i was injured ill and hat home a lot was me taking the time to appreciate my friends and family, and for so long tennis tours almost never ending, traveling from january to november. A couple weeks off and then right back to training. So i had a lot of friends buts i still dont know what theyre daytoday life was. Would check in with them when i was back home but when i was home and saw what they did every day at work, i knew that so and so at work was bag jerk, beig a jerk and the copy machine was broken. Whatever was going on in their Police Officer, the minutiae of their life i learn and it i was excited to see them every night and would hang out for din and go out for a beer or whatever. Realized hey friend when i was down thy were cooking me dinner, being me to smile, taking me out for a beer. Didnt matter if ever won a tennis match, that it would be me friends. Indiana made a huge difference in my life, and when i would get down after a loss im still extremely competitive still want to win everything i do which bothers mist wife a little bit, but thats a whole other story. But i do really want to win but it would be much shorter lived, that down feeling, because is always had it in the back of my mind, have enough people that care about me that if i forget how to hit a forehand i still have a group i can be around and be close with and i care about them and that meant a real lot to me. Thats part of the reason why i think i may have seemed a little did. Theres a lot of tennis players that dont have support at the same time have people they tennis with and people they know through tennis and thats april. Maybe sponsors, maybe tournament directors and thats it. Had friends i had known since i was nine, ten years old, that cared about me, that didnt know much about tennis. Some of my friends joked they didnt know how to follow the tennis seasons and rank, that it would ask me the basic questions and didnt know what tournament i was at and i loved i had that feeling. So i stopped putting as much selfworth in any ranking and that sort of segways into when i retired and when im now dish dont have that high, dont have 20,000 people screaming my name at the u. S. Open and im perfectly comfortable with it, and my transition was so much easier because when i retired i had one daughter and another was on the way, so my wife had been so good about when i was travel, she did the lions share of the work with our first daughter, and the day after i retired she said, here you go. So, i became much more of an involved parent the day after i retired, and ever since then. And that filled any void could i ever imagine and it makes me more tired at the end of the day than ever six hours on the tennis court could have been, and it fulfills me with so much more of a rewarding day than any tournament i won, any driver i ever won. So, its been any trophy i ever won. So its been as easy a transitions as i could imagine. The other stuff that fills my day, comment indicating, small business, coaching kid, doing everything i can to fill my days aside from the kid, its been wonderful and great to have the time to figure out what i like and enjoy. But the kids are what make it so easy to have that transition and not miss tennis at all because i am much happier watching them playing tennis, run around in the backyard so the transition has not been difficult, and i dont worry as much about it anymore. Before we get to the next question, how many more majors do you think roger has in the tank and same thing for serena. Roger if you had to take a guess. Roger i would say the overunder at two, serena, before we get to serene newscast. Why are you setting it at two . I think he is a favorite for wimbledon this year and can win that and i think he can find a way to win one more. Whether it be the u. S. Open this year, wimbledon again next year. Why dont you think more than two . I mean, he has if anyone is going to beat it, roger will because he is that good but he is 35, about to be 36, and i just i just think even eventually theres going to be going to lose a half step, going to be a little slower, an injury will take longer to come back from. So i just think its just the numbers. And serena . Serena . As many as she want, the number. I dont know. Its crazy to think of because i think a lot of people have counted her out at times. Would say dish cant speak from experience what its like to have a baby and then come back and be a successful athletically. Know kim did it and won the u. S. Open a little over a year after she gave birth. Wouldnt put it past serena but similarry with her, father time. She is 35, i believe, as well, and to think she can still be playing when she is 38, 39, is i mean, she is the greatest or alltime but i think thats pushing its physically. Ever hit with her. I have yeah. Played hoffman cup with here and we had to hit a little bit and hit with her in l. A. When we hand to be there for the espies. I hit with her. Hour does she play against you . She is the most competitive person ive ever known, and thats including ive got ton know Michael Jordan and thess are true how competitive she is. She is exactly the same. Doesnt want to lose no matter what. I was the middle of the summer in l. A. And it was hot and i was trying to work out for a three out of five at the u. S. Open, and so, okay, we have been hitting and this is great, im going into some extra running drills. Im going do it, too. Serene knack you dont have to do it. Nope, im doing it anything you do im going adult doesnt make sense for the way you play, im going to do everything you do and she did it. And she didnt complain about it. She wanted meif i was doing anything where i was hitting my forehand hard go ahead, bring it on. She wanted to do every single thing i was doing and did not want to lose in anything, and i was so impressed with her that day. Im impressed when i watch her play. Its such an amazing accomplishment to be mentally in my opinion, stronger than so many of the other women in my opinion, the toughest mentally and the best physically, and that is the combination that is made her the greatest or alltime. Next question. The lady here. Can you pass the microphone to her. I can speak we need it for the could for cspan. Absolutely. Actually thats probably a little bit of a good segway to what you just said. I wanted wanted to ask you whatr opinion makes us perform at our best or what do you think helps us win . You spoke about how you were prepared to lose to agassi and nadal and do you feel theres something about when we have nothing to lose, thats when we actually win or perform our best . Or what is your opinion from an athlete or personal perspective . Well, just to clarify, didnt prepare to lose. Okay. I knew it was a possibility. 0 maybe when we accept we might or letting go. You have to accept that you may lose every time two people walk on the court every time, one is going home unhappy. Thats how it is. You think about that every single try. 128 start, 64 are gone after the first day. Something we have to realize and be realistic about. But the idea of having nothing lose is definitely a mental trick you can play on yourself, which im guessing, i havent spoken to him specially but Roger Federer, rafa nadal. Have something to lose, all dealing with at the pressure, found a way to trick themselves into being as hungry. I had to do even at number four in the world or top ten in the world for part of my career to a lot of the guy are pushing and want to be there. You have the pressure on stocker what i would say id hive to trick myself and say, want to show i can beat this guy, even if theyre ranked 50, i want to approve to myself i can do it and i prove to the world i belong where i am and maybe even higher wife. Have to kind of force myself to have that attitude and it means a lot and i think it can help you bus when youre protecting, its something athletes always talk about, playing not to lose, that is a curse. Youre going to end up playing agent too tentative and for an athlete to be tentative, youre reacting in a half second, reacting to 1 oohmilesanhour serve. Cant play that tentatively. Cant guess second guess yourself and not be sure and not be confident. Have to good out there with a little confidence, and that is part of the ron i think other lot of athletes get the fair or unfair treatment of being called arrogant. You have to go out there and have to be confident. Have to be like you are going to wig thin point and feel like youre going win this opinion and hit the gamewinning shot and if you dont feel that youre going to get weed out quickly. If you keep playing not to lose, youre going to lose. Can we do the question right over there please to the lady. Yes. The mic is passing back. Martina naar navratilova. I played team anyone is in with her a long time ago. What was that like some somebody that won 58 majors, picked doubles and single something people call her the greatest next to serena. A very special person as well, and. What is she like to play . You see her now and she is playing i dont know how old she is. She is i dont want to get it wrong whatever age she is at, still plays and still plays with a passion. She just played in the senior champions or whatever they call it for the french open and was upset when she lost in the finals and she really takes it seriously and still is a bit of a perfectionist and out there to prove something, and you can see that. I was never around her when she was at the height of her career, but you can see what was burning inside of her, and the passion she had for the game and still dog, and still loves it. As a commentator you can sense how much she really loves a match that keeps going long or some commentators might not want to be there for a long match. She enjoys this feeling, enjoys talking about tennis, enjoys the battle and seeing great tennis. Yes. Thank you. I had two questions. One i wanted to know what your plans were if you had a backup plan, and what you were studying at harvard, and also wanted to know if from your experience of being assaulted and wrongfully detained, if you have or are doing any future activism for students and schools and teaching people how to avoid being shot or further assaulted. James, as a leadin, maybe you could talk about, thats basically how this book one of the ways this book came about. Yes. Ill answer the question ask then talk about the book mitchell backup plan at harvard was i was studying economics, and i actually dont know if i would have stuck with that. I was take can it because well, my brother was there he was taking economics, told me it was the best way he was way smarter than me and much easier for him. Had to work hard at it. And did okay but i didnt really enjoy it a ton. Dont know how many people enjoy economics, but i know there are some that do and they become extremely successful. Theyre the ones that wright write the checks that all the athletes are cashing. Think i would have switched to sociology or africanamerican studies and if i do go back and finish, that is most likely what ill will be, thats what im much more interested in than economics. My backup plan would have been to possibly go to Business School and possiblefully advertising, marketing, Something Like that. I thought about being an agent about after seeing how hard my agent works and how much of a hoards time i gave him, hard time i gave him i think do that. Im glad my forehand ken getting better. Didnt have a set plan but planned on, if i could, still be involved in sports, maybe marketing. And then the other question about after my incident, i have we started a fellowship announces laweek, the fellowship with the new york city, civilian Complaint Review board, going to be a foal he for the next six years two years at a time. And it totally involved in the type of cases i had where theres minor injuries, not death, not severe injuries, but they over 50 last year were not seen to completion. People were just kind of seem like the city or Police Department was waiting them out and they just went away because of lack of interest or not enough resources to pay for a lawyer to help them. So, now there will be a fellow on staff to handle those cases and thats thunder exclusive job. Not trying to be beholden to the ccrb or trying climb the corporate ladder. They have a two, year fellowship and then join a big law firm. It helps with the police accountability, activism, i do want to speak out much more about accountability for police because i think its something that will do a service to society and also to the Police Officers that do the job the right way. I always hated dish dont look like using the word hate because i teach my kids not do that i always disliked the people that would call me a hero, that would call other athletes heroes for just going out and doing something they love. Do use that term to talk about firemen, policemen, military service, who do the job the right way, and the ones that diet wrong way, using the badge and shield protecting them, allowing them to be bullies to act inappropriately, think that takes away from the ones doing it the right way, and it erodes the trust the community should have with them. So i do want to speak about them being held accountable and then really rising up the entire police force, rising up our trust as a community in in them and i want to speak out with them. I was meet i hope to meet with some other families of victims, of Police Brutality and my first goal is to ask what i can do. I know my reach is only so far but anything i can do, whether its just be a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to about the experiences, thats all it will be, or if its standing also a protest, trying to get laws enacted and changed, ill do that. I know the transparency laws are ones that are a big fight, and kind of a big issue with the city right now because i still dont know what punishment the officer that did that to me received because its called 50a, and its an amendment saying that they dont have to release disciplinary hearings or the discipline of Police Officers, even to the people involved. So, he could have gotten one vacation day taken off and i dont know. Thats something that i think should be changed because i think as a society you deserve to know what the Police Officers have done in terms of that kind of discipline, if theyve have a past history, if its the pattern theyre dealing with. So, i want to fight to help make things more transparent, more accountability, and thats what led me to the book, having that experience and me wanting to speak out more, and wanting to help, and then it made me realize to at of athletes use their voice to help the site for equality, civil justice, equal rights, equal pay, and for lgbt issues, and i am just so proud of so many athletes that have done that. Want to exemplify those and show there are positive stories in sports as oppose ted negative headlines too often head and sensationalized. Those are the ones that sell papers id rather still a book talking about the positive ways athletes have made a difference in society and i really do feel like they have and they do have a special connection with their fans and have this ability to enact change in society. That started to talk about the book. Are you going to be using a civil remedy . I dropped my civil case to enact the fellship. That was settlement, the agreement dish was amazed, inning new york now and when it happened, how many new yorkered say to me i hope you sue them, sue them. And all i can think of was, youre new yorker, thats coming out of your tax money. So maybe just want to give me 10 we can say i did and it thats fine. I didnt ever want to do that. I have been extremely fortunate in my life, extremely lucky, got paid to do what i love, so i didnt want to take anything that i didnt feel like i deserved or earned, and i would rather use that to help others, so this is on the citys dime, this fellowship theyre paying, its i believe 65,000 or 70,000 a year salary for someone straight out off law school, all fun benefits so going to cost the city way over 600,000 for them to fund this fellowship, and i would much rather see that money go to someone working on the behalf of those that dont have the cinderellas i have, than it going for have the voice i have than going for know have an extra golf trip or something i dont need. I wasnt thinking of the civil remedy as rewarding you, more as punishing somebody who did a civil wrong. Unfortunately the city has paid out those kind of civil settlements and it doesnt translate to punishment for the officer. The officer in question that did that to me has had two settlements already paid out and still on the force and he received no actual discipline from the force for those. So, i didnt see it as a real punishment and i dont think by that pattern doesnt seem he learned his lesson. Ladies and gentlemen, on that note, james has kindly agreed to sign everyones books. Believe its extra books outside. Its a phenomenal book. If you want to purchase a family or friend, i urge you to. And please join me in thanking james for being so honest and brilliant. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] youre watching booktv on cspan2 with top nonfiction books and awe authorized every weekend. Booktv, television for serious readers. Here some of the programs youll see thicks weekend on booktv on cspan2. Book tv visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what theyre reading this summer. I intend to read different books. Life reading history about president s. The library of congress has a series where every so often theyll bring in the author of a book on one of the president s. The last one we had, last week, just happened to be on andrew jackson. So they give you book so theres a book, signed by the author, and i love reading