ATHLETE OF THE WEEK JAMES BLAKE '00

So you're sophomore James Blake, looking ahead to your sophomore year, and you notice that no Ivy player has ever won a collegiate Grand Slam event.

And you think that might be a nice goal, at least for some point in the future.

The trouble is you've never even advanced beyond the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, much less won one.

No matter.

In fact, why don't you just win two titles in one shot.

Blake did just that, winning both the singles and doubles titles at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Tournament one week ago, becoming only the second college player ever to accomplish such a feat in a collegiate Garnd Slam event.

In the process he battled the nation's toughest conditions, rain delays and re-scheduling, that required the war-horse to run a gauntlet of 10 sets of tennis on the final day, an almost unimaginable feat.

Blake's 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) straight-set win over Notre Dame's eighth-ranked Ryan Sachire in the singles-tournament finals put him in the record books, but it was fully six sets later--in the middle of his second-straight three-setter in his fourth match of the day--that Blake would show his true mettle.

Teamed with junior Kunj Majmudar, Blake fought back from a set down to Illinois' Jeff Laski and Gavin Sontag to earn his second title of the day with a 6-7 (11-9), 6-4, 7-5 win.

That sort of determination and sheer will are what makes athletes truly memorable.

James Blake, for re-writing the record books, putting Ivy tennis on the map and facing adversity like a true champion, you are the Harvard Crimson Athlete of the Week.