James Blake survived a broken neck – but his tennis career never reached its full potential

James Blake's tennis story was almost cut short in a tragic accident. However, his comeback to the sport following a broken neck has been well documented, with his peak years showcasing a very special player. He was not on top for many years and failed to capitalise in that time with his title catalogue missing that big reward.

His accident in 2004 was in a period of his life where nothing was going right. Illness and personal losses would destroy most, but Blake was not going to be deterred. After a sharp ranking drop, he rose to World No.4 in two years and was a serious contender until 2008.

Injuries and burnout marked a rapid decline to his career as he languished in the depths of the ATP Tour. Retiring in 2013, the American's pomp was timed at a poor time with the emergence of the 'Big Three' as well as that injury which ruptured his progress to that point, delaying and slashing his time competing for big titles.

10 ATP titles, two Masters 1000 and a year-end championship final is not a bad return. However, Blake was ranked as high as fourth. To have reached only three Grand Slam quarter-finals is a hugely disappointing return, leaving many to wonder what could have been.

There was not loads of hype being centred around Blake in his youth, but he was still a very solid talent. He attended Harvard and became the No. 1-ranked college player in the US, making the 1999 NCAA singles final before leaving college to turn professional.

This was a crucial step. He trusted in himself and his own ability that he could make his own way on the ATP Tour. A place that can be very testing and ruthless. He was making big strides, finishing 2022 28th in the world before a slight decline in 2003, still seeing him very much in the top 40 in the world.

A fourth-round run at the 2003 Australian Open and three quarter-finals at Masters 1000 level between 2002 and 2004 were good steps of progression. He also reached five ATP finals, albeit only managing to win one of them. The 2002 DC Open marked a huge progression in his development and got many fans excited about him.

However, there would be a huge obstacle in the way. While practising ahead of the Rome Open, Blake suffered an unusual yet detrimental injury. He collided with a net post in the Italian capital and broke his neck, later contracting shingles. Added to all of that, in July of that year his dad died of stomach cancer, rubbing salt into the wound of what was a dreadful time in his life.

This caused him to miss a significant amount of time in his tennis career, wrecking his development and participation on the ATP Tour as his ranking suffered dearly.

A number of players would not be able to come back from these brutal setbacks. However, Blake proved his true mental strength with a marvellous return.

He won his second title at the DC Open final to Andy Roddick before winning the Connecticut Open. His best Grand Slam result came right after, defeating Rafael Nadal at the US Open en route to the quarter-finals, a huge breakthrough in his tennis career. After all he had been through in his tennis career and personal life, these results deserved and got a lot of recognition.

He added another title at the Stockholm Open, finishing the year as the World No.22 and earning the ATP Comeback Player of the Year. He would only go from strength to strength.

He reached eight ATP finals in 2006, winning five of them. This included a first-ever Masters 1000 final in which he was outclassed by Roger Federer. He culminated the year with another last-eight run at the US Open while reaching the final of the Tennis Masters Cup, again faltering against Federer.

These results saw him finish the year as the World No.4, the first American since Andre Agassi in 2003 to finish inside the top four.

That was his best season on tour, but 2007 and 2008 were also strong campaigns, but he would not live up to those heights. He lost to Federer in the 2007 Cincinnati Open final while reaching a third and final Grand Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open. Later that year at the Olympics in Beijing, he finally got one over Federer following six previous defeats in big matches. He could not add an Olympic medal to his accolades, finishing fourth.

In 2008, he appeared in five Masters 1000 quarter-finals, making the Paris Masters semi-final in the process. He made eight finals in these two years, only triumphing in two of them. His 10th and final ATP title came in the Connecticut Open in August 2007. Four more final appearances between 2008 and 2009 all ended in defeat.

He would start slowly declining from this point as he reached the latter stages of his career. His ranking slowly dwindled down, and he was not the competitive force he once was.

A loss of form and injuries also had a huge impact. From 2011 - 2013, just one semi-final appearance at the Stockholm Open translated to a disappointing return and the end of his tennis career, retiring at the 2013 US Open at 33.

There are two ways to look at Blake's career. On the one hand, he came back from a possible career-ending injury after slipping on those courts in Rome and instantly strode up the rankings to cement his name among some of the best players in the world.

The argument against that is the fact that he never officially broke into the elite or even stayed there long. His title haul has the gaping void of any Grand Slam or even Masters 1000 titles, not even reaching a major semi-final, let alone a final. To have failed this task while being ranked as high as fourth in the world will bug Blake.

It would have been interesting to see the career trajectory if that injury never occurred. Would he have stormed his way into the top four or even further up it to major stardom? No one will ever know. His pomp was in the midst of the start of the 'Big Three' era, playing second fiddle to Federer and Nadal while Novak Djokovic also entered the fray later in his career. That would have hampered his career. A decline from 2008 was also due to a poor busy scheduling plan which saw him burnout and fatigued, leading to those injury woes late in his time in tennis.

You cannot say Blake's career was an outright failure. From one perspective you could single out his lack of success on the big stage, but the fact that he came back from the brink for a flourishing period among the best is very commendable. The problem is that when he was at the top, he never fully capitalised.