He led the Harvard men's tennis team to an impressive 21-5 season, including a perfect 7-0 ivy League record to notch the Crimson's fifth consecutive conference title.

The Crimson, however, bowed out in the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championships, despite singles victories by its best player.

Although the season ended for Harvard, Blake was not done. He was seeded No. 1 for the NCAA Singles Championships--the fourth and final leg of the grand slam--and No.3 with Majmudar in the doubles competition.

The duo fell in the second round, but Blake continued to storm through his individual matches, as he advanced to the finals of the tournament. There he battled a familiar foe--the University of Florida's Jeff Morrison, the No.2 player.

Though Blake had considerable success against Morrison in the past--including a victory in the quarterfinals of his Rolex championship--the Gator got the best of him in a three set thriller.

For the first time all season, the pressure of being the favorite finally affected Blake's play.

"In the final [Morrison] had no pressure and was swinging away," Blake said. "I got a little tentative and missed a few points here and there that cost me."

"I still felt that I did well to get that far considering all of the other stuff I had to deal with," he added. "It would have been nice to end the season with a win, but you've to lose sometimes to win later; I'll learn from this experience."

Despite coming up short in his quest for the national title, Blake's season was by all measures a rousing success. At season's close, Blake remained at the No. 1 ranked player in the country.

"James was phenomenal all season long," said co-captain Mike Passarella. "He proved himself to be far and away the best player in the country."

Fair Harvard

As one of the most promising young players in the nation coming out of high school, the choice to attend Harvard was not automatic by any means.

Harvard tennis, while extremely successful, is not among the country's elite programs. Other factors came into play, when Blake decided on donning the Crimson uniform.

Among them was the fact that his older brother Tom Blake '98, was a rising senior and co-captain of the team. But the chance for a top-notch Ivy League education was Blake's primary motivation.

"Well, my brother being here at Harvard was definitely a factor," Blake said, "but basically I wanted to put myself in a position that would be better for me later in life."

Although tennis was not Blake's primary concern, he still wanted the game he loved to play a large part in his life.