His career highlights included reaching the final of the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup, the semifinals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics (beating world No.

Blake was also a key performer for the victorious United States 2007 Davis Cup team, winning both his matches in the championship tie against Russia.

When he was 13, he was diagnosed with severe scoliosis, and for five years as a teenager he was forced to wear a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day, though not while playing tennis.

Blake left Harvard University, where he was a member of the A.D. Club, after his sophomore year to pursue a career in professional tennis.

The next week in Washington, he won his first ATP Tour singles title, beating Andre Agassi in the semifinals and Paradorn Srichaphan in the final.

At the US Open, he reached the third round, where he again faced the top-ranked and world number one Lleyton Hewitt for the rematch of the previous year.

In May, while practicing with Robby Ginepri for the Masters event in Rome, he broke his neck when he slipped on the clay and collided with the net post.

Blake fractured his seventh vertebra, but did not sustain any nerve damage and was ultimately able to make a full recovery from the injury.

He rejoined the ATP circuit and by August reached the final at the International Series event in Washington, D.C., where he fell to Roddick.

2 Rafael Nadal in the round of 32, Blake beat Tommy Robredo in four sets to reach the quarterfinals where he faced Andre Agassi.

At the Australian Open he was seeded 20th, and despite losing in the third round to Spaniard Tommy Robredo he broke into the top 20 for the first time in his career.

Beginning the grass court season at the Stella Artois Championships, he defeated Andy Roddick in the semifinals, losing to Lleyton Hewitt in the final.

In his debut appearance at the Thailand Open in Bangkok, Blake won his seventh singles title, defeating Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals, Marat Safin in the semifinals, and Ivan Ljubičić (for the first time) in the final.

However, he then suffered a disappointing loss in the Round of 16 at the Australian Open, losing to tenth seed and eventual finalist Fernando González.

In February, Blake made it to the final of the Delray Beach tournament, but lost it to the Belgian Xavier Malisse in three tight sets.

At AMS Cincinnati, he beat Alejandro Falla, Nicolas Kiefer, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Sam Querrey and Nikolay Davydenko en route to the final before falling to Roger Federer.

Blake lost in the third round of Paris to Richard Gasquet and thus finished outside the top eight players, losing his chance to defend the points he gained as finalist in the 2006 Tennis Masters Cup.

In the 2007 Davis Cup finals Blake won his match against Mikhail Youzhny after Andy Roddick had beaten Dmitry Tursunov in the first rubber.

The next day Bob and Mike Bryan won the doubles rubber over Igor Andreev and Nikolay Davydenko, sealing the Davis Cup win for the United States.

His success continued in the second round after deposing of Frenchman Sébastien de Chaunac in a match laden with spectator noise and bad line calls.

The 28-year-old Montanes saved two match points at 4–5 in the second set and fought back to beat fourth-seeded Blake in two hours and 14 minutes.

At the Aegon Championships at Queen's Club, Blake defeated Ivan Ljubičić, Sam Querrey, and Mikhail Youzhny to reach the semi-finals.

Following a 3rd round loss at the 2009 US Open to Spain's Tommy Robredo, Blake split with longtime coach Brian Barker.

[15] Blake, who refused to take any anti-inflammatories for his knee, called his performance "embarrassing" and said "I can't beat these guys at 80 percent."

Despite these comments, Blake played the US Summer hard court season, and reached the third round of the 2010 US Open, where he lost to eventual finalist Novak Djokovic.

Blake's reputation as a "shotmaker," combined with potentially high-error flat groundstrokes made his style of play notably flashy, characterized by both a high number of winners and unforced errors.

[19] He changed to Wilson at the start of the 2010 season, using the new Six.One Tour strung with Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power 16L strings at high tension (60+ pounds).

[31] Commissioner William Bratton apologized for the mistake and stated the "arrest raised serious questions about [the officer's] actions" but denied allegations of racism.

[31] Blake sued, but withdrew his claim, saying he was not looking for financial compensation, "on the condition that the city establish a legal fellowship to investigate police misconduct and advocate for victims of brutality.

"[39][40] Since 2005, he has hosted Anthem Live!, a charity tennis exhibition and musical event in Virginia and New York City to raise money for cancer research.