James Blake, who will be working with Jack Sock in 2015, says he won’t travel with him all year as a full-time coach. Sock, 22, ended the season with a singles ranking of No. 42, a career high. Blake, a former No. 4, retired in 2013 and helped coach the younger American at times in 2014, but he and his wife have two young daughters and wants to make sure he isn’t gone most of the year.
“I’m mainly focusing on my family, being at home and spending a lot of time with two little girls, that definitely keeps me pretty busy,” Blake told Tennis Panorama. “I don’t like to travel, I don’t like being on the road 30 weeks out of the year like I was when I was playing.
"So in terms of Jack [Sock], I just helped him with some of the bigger picture stuff, to be able to talk to him on the phone and helping keep his mind set the right way, because he’s got a full-time coach. I don’t want to interfere with that, I’m not dealing with the X’s and O’s, strokes and stuff. I’m more of a mentor and a friend, someone that’s going to be a sounding board for him.”
Sock played well in the fall, upsetting Bernard Tomic while reaching the quarters of Tokyo, upending Kei Nishikori in Shanghai, and taking Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic to three sets in losses.
“[Jack’s] going through a lot of stuff I was going through at his age, so I just want to be that resource that can help him. If I can do that for others, that would be something in the future that I’d be proud to be a part of. I went through it all and hopefully have others have that knowledge as well.”
Blake may also join the USTA very soon. “I also have stayed close with the USTA and with Katrina Adams becoming the new president. I’m proud of her and hopefully I’ll be able to be part of the staff," he said.