Comeback Kid James Blake

James Blake Talks To Mike Wallace About Life's Challenges

(CBS) 
James Blake’s mother is white and British, and his father was black and American.

When he was in junior tennis, the father of another player said to Blake, “I feel sorry for you because of your heritage. Both sides will hate you, blacks and whites.”

“And my mom immediately said, 'I choose to look at it the other way. You could be loved by both sides.' And that’s what I wanted to think of it, too,” says James. “And I had a ton of white friends. I had a ton of black friends. I just thought I had friends.”

Many of his opponents are his friends, but not Lleyton Hewitt, who made race an issue during a match with Blake four years ago.

Hewitt complained that James was getting better calls from a linesman because the linesman was also black.

“Yeah, and you know, to me that seemed crazy because for someone, a white player, to complain of racism seemed a little silly to me,” says James. “He just got a couple of calls he didn’t think went his way. It’s unfortunate, but he fought through it and played great.”

James just turned the other cheek, as Arthur Ashe might have done, which makes sense because now Ashe is Blake’s role model, and in his image James hopes to be a role model for the next generation.

“And I don’t want them reading about me in the police blotter. I want them reading about me in the sports pages. And possibly even some humanitarian efforts,” says James.

60 Minutes caught up with James in Brussels where he played on the U.S. Davis Cup team that beat Belgium. And his tennis continues to improve. So how good can he get?

Here’s what the No. 1 player in the United States thinks, his Davis Cup teammate Andy Roddick: “I think he is top five in the United States right now,” says Roddick. “I think James could be one of the top 10 players in the world, no question. … I see no reason why he couldn’t be.”

James had been known as “the cool dude in the dreadlocks," but he tired of the look and shaved his head. That shocked his agent, who told us that losing the dreadlocks may have cost James $1 million in lost endorsements.

His girlfriend, Jennifer Scholle, likes the bald look. They met last year when his face was still paralyzed.

James laughs when told his mother had said Jennifer was not a long-term girlfriend. “Oh, my mom. She doesn’t hear too much about my love life. Not that there is that much to hear. But this one I think might be around for quite a while.”

Blake’s triumph over tragedy, his reckless abandon on the court, and his resilient attitude have attracted legions of fans. At some tournaments, including this year’s U.S. Open, dozens of James’ longtime friends sit together in a rooting section they call the “J-block.”

“People wonder, how many of those 40 or 50 or 60 people do you know? And, I’ll tell you, I can tell you life stories of every one of those people in that J-block,” says James.

Asked what he has learned about life, with all the heartbreak and pain he has endured, James says he has learned that there are going to be up and downs. “And you got to learn to roll with them. And when you’re down, find a way to make the best of it. And that’s what I tried to do last year when I was down and I had the friends to make me do that. And now that I’m having some good times, some ups, my friends are there with me now. And I’m trying to make sure they’re having just as much fun as I am.”