James Blake says future of tennis is in good hands

LOS ANGELES :James Blake believes men's tennis is poised for another Golden Era thanks to blossoming rivalries between the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner as the ex-world number four prepares to return to action himself as part of the new Legends Team Cup.

Blake, who retired from the ATP Tour in 2013 after a career spent battling greats including Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, said every changing of the guard brings anxiety that the sport will regress.

"With every generation there's this dread of a doomsday situation," he told Reuters from a golf course in San Diego.

"What's going to happen when all these legends leave? I remember when it was, 'What is the Tour going to do when (Pete) Sampras and Agassi are gone?'

"And then before you know it Roger and Rafa show up. Novak (Djokovic) is still hanging on, not wanting to pass the torch, but at this point it's kind of being ripped out of his hands by the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz."

He said the contrast in playing styles and personalities - the passionate Alcaraz's improvisational assault verse the emotionally reserved Sinner's aggressive baseline slugging - makes them ideal foes.

"The game just gets better and better," said Blake, who is the tournament director of the Miami Open and a commentator for ESPN.

"I'm never gonna be one of those commentators that says, you know, back in my day, we would do it better than this.

"No. The game keeps getting better and I love that about it. And seeing how Sinner plays makes me very happy I'm retired. The guy just has absolutely zero holes. So it's really fun to see."

LEGENDS TEAM CUP

Blake will make his return to competitive tennis this summer when the Legends Team Cup debuts.

Blake, Spanish