for bravado. we're going for the single mom who drop asked her kids off at a school on a tuesday morning and 45 minutes later jumped to her death out of a skyscraper because that was a better alternative than burning alive inside. >> watch tonight on c-span2's booktv. and now on booktv, former professional tennis player james blake offers his thoughts on the role athletes can play in championing political and social movements. >> you are going to really enjoy this book. it's received great reviews, it's an excellent read x it's something very different and unique out there just like james in many positive byes. james -- positive ways.

james, tell me to kick start it, what happens when you're standing outside the grand hyatt many front of the public -- in front of the public, and a police officer comes up to you out of the clear blue, slams you to the ground, handcuffs you and, luckily, it was recorded by a camera? what happened and what are you thinking at the time? >> yeah. at the time it's a little strange how life works. but about three days earlier, i have a web site, and i know i'm still a dinosaur, so it's before twitter and facebook and instagram, but i still have a web site. and the person that runs it for me sends me a lot of the fan mail or e-mails that he thinks i would be entered in. a friend of mine from high school who i was just talking about, a wrestler freshman year in high school, and the seniors used to playfully beat me up. one of the guys that was a senior that i knew pretty well had written in. i hasn't -- i had lost touch with him.

wrote in to the web site, i know it's been 20 years, but we were catching up and were talking about you and we're proud of you. hope everything's going well, hopefully one day we'll see you. i thought, oh, that's a nice message. three days later standing in front of the grand hyatt and someone that's shaved head, kind of muscular just like my friend from high school starts running towards me, and i'm thinking to myself -- and if you watch the video, because you don't need to go watch because i've seen it a million times, i'm actually smiling because i'm like what are the odds in this guy found me three days after he wrote in to me. and i don't even to have time for it to sink in before i'm on the ground. and i said that's not the way we used to joke and wrestle in high school. [laughter] i realized how serious this was because i'm now on the ground and pretty scared, and he's got his knee in my back and putting the cuffs on me and saying don't say a word.

at that point then my mind immediately shifts to what i'd seen in the media, what i'd seen with misunderstandings or perceived misunderstandings with police officers and what could happen, how that could end tragically. so the first words out of my mouth were i'm complying 100%. whatever you say to do, i'll do. and even though he had never said officer, never said nypd, never said under arrest, nothing like that, he had his knee in my back and telling me to shut my mouth. i had a feeling this being noon in the middle of midtown manhattan, i didn't think he was brazen enough to mug me in front of this many people, so i did assume it was a police officer. he walked me away, and i said, look, you've made a mistake, i have my credentials in my back pocket. please take that. it's evidence i'm not involved in whatever you think it is i'm doing. just said we'll see, we'll see. eventually, finally, the fifth officer on the scene was the one that identified me and said they

had made a mistake. it was pretty shocking, and like i said, it's funny how life works because i don't know what would have happened if i really thought that person was coming at me with dangerous intentions, because my instinct would have been to put up my arms, defend myself, and had i done that, the results would have been a lot worse. i wouldn't have had a bruise on my elbow or my side, my head might have been slammed into the ground, and then i think about what would have happened if my brother was there or my family or my friends. since he never said officer, if i had a friend there, my friends are crazy. [laughter] if someone attacks me, they're going to attack him. and i don't know what would have happened to them. so i think how lucky i am that i was there by myself. >> james, some others would have approached this with rage. why didn't you? >> well, i try to generally be calm and collected and think about the best solution.

and it sometimes is, works well for me. sometimes my wife says it doesn't work well, i need to be a little more emotional. and this time i was trying to think about, and being an athlete, being a guy, i think it was kind of the way i was raised maybe, okay, i can take this. it was something that happened to me, i'm not going to complain about it, i'm not going to say anything until i spoke to my wife, and she said what if this had happened to me. and immediately it kind of brought tears to my eyes, and i thought about what would happen if it happened to her, my brother, someone i really carried about and they didn't have the same voice that i do. so that moment i decided now i am going to do something about this. and it actually spurred on a little bit of rage because i said, you know, i can take this, but a lot of people can't and shouldn't. and no one should have the take this. it made me think i need to the act, and that's when i decided i'm going to go to the press. that was before i knew there was

a video. and i think everything about this changed with the fact that there was a video. because if there wasn't a video, it would have been my word against five police officer, and before they knew there was a video, the comments they made were they were investigating whether there was excessive force and i wasn't in handcuffs, and the whole encounter was less than two minutes. so that would have been their story. and i don't even blame their superior officers, because that's what these officers told them. there should be no reason for them not to believe those arresting officers. but they were flat out lying. so having the video made it so that my story was obviously corroborated, which was the truth. >> how could sports bring us together? >> well, sports, i've always felt like, can bridge gaps. language barriers, religious bare -- barriers, any sort of wealth inequality, it can be such an equal playing field. you can get the u.s. open so many different ways. you can get to the super bowl or

major league baseball in so many different ways, but you have a respect for each other oftentimes. i mean, the tennis locker room i may not agree with a lot of the people in there this something that might be political, something that might be cultural, something that might be religious, but i have a ton of respect for how they got there, because i know how much hard work went into getting there. i know how much they sacrificed to get there. so there is always that bond with sports. and then from a basic and early age, i see it in my kids already. my kids are 5 and 3. my 5-year-old can be shy and not know someone, but then they do hopscotch together or play something together, and they immediately have a bond, and she openeds up and becomes -- opens up and becomes so much more personal. i think tennis, sports in general can just create that friendship, that partnership, and most sports, team sports, you get that camaraderie. you get a feeling of working together. there's so many lessons you can learn.

with golf you learn spotsmanship, honor -- sportsmanship, calling penalties on yourself. so i think it can teach you a lot about life. >> james, on the flip side, as the number one u.s.-ranked tennis player, what is an athlete's responsibility to the community? >> well, i mean, i only borrowed that title for a little while from andy roddick. i think the responsibility -- and i've said this a lot, tennis is such an individual sport. the responsibilitying is to be true to yourself. i think it would have shine through if you see pete sampras acting like, you know, andre agassi being a showman. i think you have to be yourself out on the court, and i always respect when people are themselves. and that's why i talk about in the booking if something really does push you and it burns you and it's a passion for you. then, yeah, speak out. and you have a voice. understand what that means and

what effect you're going to have on people. but if you don't have that passion, if you don't have something that, you know, makes you feel like you want to speak out, i don't think you need to do it just to do it. you shouldn't have to, you shouldn't feel the need to speak out for some cause if you're uneducated on that cause. if it's not something that really meanses anything to you. and that's -- i don't think there's any athlete's jobbed to do it, but i think it's their right to do it, and i think they should feel empowered to do it, and i think they should recognize that they have more of a voice hand most people do. -- than most people do. especially nowadays if you're the sixth bench player on the warriors, you've got a million followers on twitter. is with 140 characters, you can make a strong statement and have an effect on a lot of people that are following you. >> why force serena and venus williams, the journey has been so hard for equal pay. >> it takes a while for us men

to catch up, i think, and listen to the smart women that we should be listening to. you know, equal pay to such a big step forward with billie jean king, we talk about that in the book in 1973, her battle of the sexes with bobby riggs. and i learned more about it in speaking to her for this book. and that was a big step forward. it was a big step forward for tennis in general, and people a lot of times don't want to give credit to the fact that billie jean king made a huge difference in men's tennis as well because she had so many millions of eyeballs on that match, so we should all be paying her a debt of gratitude. venus and serena took it a step further. venus was the first to win wimbledon and get paid the same as roger federer when they won it. the i credit the people that are fighting for that, and there's still equality to be had in so many other areas, but females

are hopefully catching up. they should with be catching up even quicker, i wish they were, but it takes us a little while to recognize their greatness. >> but even if you take serena and maria sharapova, why does maria sharapova make so much more than serena on sponsorship? >> that's a good question. you should ask nike. that's something that's always been frustrating to me. serena's possibly the best athlete of our generation without qualifiers, without saying male, female, black, white, anything. she's one of the best athletes of our time -- >> and she's won three times as many majors as -- >> and she's a strong, powerful role model. i'm proud, if my daughters grow up and watch her and want to be like her, so i think she should be the highest paid female athlete in the world, but she

isn't. that's something madison avenue decides, i wish i was the one pulling the strings and had the ability to write and sign those checks -- >> but what do you think madison avenue's thinking is on that? [laughter] >> i mean, maria sharapova has, i guess, if you want to say the look that they're looking for? and she's been marketable. she's sold a lot of, she sold a lot of cars, watches, clothes, shoes, whatever it is that she's endorsing. she's sold a lot of them. i also don't want to seem like i'm begrudging her, because she deserves everything that she gets. but i just think serena deserves even more than she get, and she's had to fight so hard to get what she's gotten. >> why do you think there are so few african-american tennis players of the total percentage

besides serena, venus, madison, sloan and a couple of others? why so few of the percentage? >> well, i think, for one, it still has the stigma of being a country club sport. so it's not often the coolest sport to be playing as a kid. i can't say it got me a ton of street cred when i showed up at school my racquet bag. [laughter] so i think it's fighting that stigma a little bit. and then there's the issue of the if you want to have role models, you look at the effect serena and venus have had, and it's already being seen with sloan and taylor townes zenned -- townsend. there's females following them and inspire youngs. right now a kid picks up a basketball, and he wants to be steph curry, lebron james.

he sees a role model, sees someone that's having success. and for a young african-american kid right now, he's not seeing a ton of that on tv on the men's side. on the women's side there's still serena and venus, you know, having crind bl success -- incredible success this late in their careers. it's a whole other topic, how amazing they are. but if you don't have those role models, it's tough to look up and say i want to be like them. i hope you see that trickle down of young players growing up and having the talent and the work ethic and succeeding. >> does it bother you when people label you as an african-american tennis player or instead of a tennis player? they don't say rafael nadal, caucasian tennis player. [laughter] if you think about it, they don't do that. only if you're african-american, they give you the title african-american. does it bother you and did it bother you on the tour?

>> it didn't bother me. it was more -- for me, i actually thought of it as a challenge. i think a lot of people try to find their own ways to challenge themselves, and for me i took it as i want to be good enough that they just talk about my tennis. and that was part of the reason i cut my hair too. i was kind of the crazy kid with the wacky hair and dread locks, and, you know, pretty abnormal in the sport of tennis. so, you know what? i want to succeed and i want them to just talk about my tennis. when they said he's the first african-american to do this, the first african-american since mel washington, since arthur ashe, i wanted them to have results they said he's the first to do this, or he's the only american to do this and not always have to qualify it with african-american. it was a challenge for me to say i want to do something where they don't have to put that in to qualify how i'm doing or how well i'm doing. i just made it as my own kind of personal goal. >> you were ranked number one in

the united states. what does it take to be ranked number one in the world? >> well, number one in the states took, i mean, it was my best year ever in 2006 on the court when i won five titles. it was, it went by in a blur. it was two years after i had my father passed away and a broken neck in the span of about three months. so thinking about coming back to play tennis at all seem like a monumental task. and two years later the perspective i had, how happy i was on the court just to be playing, i was in as good of shape as i could, and it still took luck, good scheduling, great matches at big moments and all of that to have to come into place for me to be ranked ahead of andy roddick who's about to go into the hall of fame and one

of my good friends on tour. i knew he was, you know, he was happy for me to get it, but he was also chomping to get that number one title back, and he did a few months later. it was a ton of fun. it's a tremendous honor, especially when i look at the people that are on that list that have been the number one-ranked americans. people think about michael chang that also got into the hall of fame, and he was never the number one-ranked american. always had such strong american players. it's not an easy task. >> but you had also a ranking of number four in the world. >> yeah. >> to hit number one, what do you think the difference between number four and number one is? >> it's bigger than it seems. it's bigger than just three spots. you know, it's kind of like in golf where it says to get from an 18 handicap to a scratch handicap is easier to do than get from a scratch to a pro. and to get from 100 in the world to the 50 in the world was really tough.

to get from 50 in the world to 10 in the world, monumentally tougher. 10 to 5, darn near impossible. 4 to 1, for me, was impossible. [laughter] some guy named roger kept taking all the titles. it's just the amount it took for me to be consistent to be four in the world, it made me more impressed for how much consistency it took to be one in the world. you can't have a bad couple of months. you have to put up result after result after result and be playing your best at all the grand slams, the masters series. the other tough part is you're being -- you have a target on your back the entire year. every single match you play, andre agassi said it when i was first coming up. i said how did so and so play against you? no one plays bad against me. they have no fear and they want to beat you because they're going to be able to tell their grandkids they beat andre agassi. and that that's the way everyone

felt playing roger that year. to go out there and try to match their intensity every single day, it's very, very difficult. it's why a lot of people struggle the first time they get up into the top ten or get any sort of success on tour. they take it for granted how hard they had worked and how hungry they were to get there, and they fall back a little bit and realize, wait a minute, these guys are just as listening hungry -- just as hungry, and for roger to have sustained that for as long as he did being number one in the world, it's not an easy task. takes a special person. >> in 2011 some people would say you broke the laws of physics. you hit the ball, a forehand, 125 miles an hour. >> yeah. [laughter] >> how is that possible? many most people can't serve, even a lot of pros can't serve 125 miles an hour. how'd you hit a ball, a forehand at 125? even today many of the top players if they hit 90 miles an

hour, everybody is blown away, a forehand. what'd you do that day? were you eating, did you eat your wheaties beforehand? [laughter] >> close your eyes and hope it goes in. forehand was always my weapon, and it was a match point. i always get a special thrill playing at the u.s. open. i grew up close to here, all my friends were here, my family would be there. so i had tons of accent lin at the u.s. open -- adrenaline at the u.s. open throughout the whole match, and it was match point. i just pretty much just like a pitcher and a batter, a batter sitting on a 3-0 pitch and waiting for it to be right in that one spot, i just kind of had a feeling it was going to serve, where it was going to be, and he happened to swing exactly where i was looking. i swung as hard as i could, and the ball ended up being about three feet from him, and he just walked up to the net and shook my hand. [laughter] it was pretty exciting and fun. that's definitely one of the most memorable endings of a

match for me, how excited i was and to be in new york and that crowd going craze sate the -- crazy at the end. people ask if i miss playing tennis. i don't miss a lot of the hard work, i don't miss the travel, but that feeling at the end of a match and the crowd's appreciation, that's something that i'll always cherish. >> talking about the u.s. open and the feeling, why do you think you never won a major? everybody said, all betting people said james is not only going to win a major, he's going to win many majors. you had a phenomenal career. you made the quarters of majors. why do you think you never won a major? is it because somebody -- >> one word, roger. [laughter] >> thought so. >> i mean, 2005 it would have been kind of a storybook. that was right when i came back from shingles, from breaking my neck and played andre in the quarters and would have gotten a chance to play robbie in the

semimies who i had a pretty good record against. he was playing great. even if id had gotten there, the way i was playing i felt like i had -- i don't want to say no chance, but it would have been a complete long shot against rommer in the finals. and then the -- against roger in the finals. 2006 i'd beaten andy roddick in one of the warmups in indianapolis, playing great tennis. i think i made the finals in cincinnati. i think tennis magazine picked me to win the u.s. open, and i got there and remember looking at the draw, and i never looked that far in advance in a draw. i look at who i'm playing and what could happen. and the way i was playing i felt like all i don't want to do is play roger, and the earliest i could possibly play roger, please don't have roger in my quart finals. anything else, i'll play anyone else in the world, roger's my quarterfinals. i got a set off him, played pretty well, but that match, that tournament i honestly felt like if i played anyone else in

the world, i thought i could win, and i thought i would win that match, but roger was just -- he was the only guy in the world that i felt like when i played my best tennis, he found a different gear. he found a different level and showed me that i wasn't as good as maybe i thought i was or i didn't have that level that he had at that time. and he went on to win that tournament pretty easily. that was my best opportunity. after that, 2008 and on, my knee started bothering me, i was definitely not -- i never felt quite the same on the court as i did in '05, '06 and '07. >> it's one thing for you to hit a forehand at 125, impressive by any standard. let's talk about being on the receiving end. in 2013 you retire, your knees are acting up and you retire after playing. kohl slip is known, as many people know, serving close to 150.

what is it like, take us, take me in the mind of james blake. what is it like to constantly be pounded and have close to 150 mile-an-hour serve coming at you? you probably have less than a split second. >> yeah. >> to move. >> it's frustrating. i think they clock it, it's less than a half a second from the time he hits it to the time you hit it. the so it's even quicker than someone throwing, a pitcher throwing a 90 mile-an-hour fast ball, it gets on you quicker. and you have to decide how to hit it, is it a forehand, backhand and actually get it on the court. it seems impossible. i remember "usa today" did an article on the toughest thing in sports to do, and returning a serve and hitting a baseball were, i think, one and two. when they break it down and say how quick it gets on you, how much spin is on it, you have to decide is this kicking? is this going straight, is it

sliding? where do i need to be, are they coming in to net, do i need to get it down, and all the calculations that go through your head, it's muscle memory. it's something that you have to have done a million times or else you pretty much have no chance because you physically can't think that much in that short of a time. so seeing it that much over five sets by the end of it you're just mentally tired from having to put up with that -- >> but you've got this person standing across net from you, looks like a giant -- >> he is a giant. [laughter] >> he's6-10, a lot of people say he's even taller than 6-10. when that's coming at you, does it look like -- what does it look like? is it like the blink of an eye? is it a flash? what? >> yeah. i mean, unfortunately, id had to see tons of him and tons of andy roddick hitting at 140, 150. all you do is react. there's no time to think at all. you're just completely guessing,

and at times -- it's so to frustrating because they can take the racket out of your hand. you don't get to play tennis sometimes. you play two, three great points in a row, and even if you guess right, there are times where you can't even come close. get ace, get ace, get ace, and there's the game. you played well and you never had a chance to even swing. it can just be frustrating, but that's part of the game. i know a lot of people have said, well, there's got sob -- got to be some regulations, but i feel like it always balances out. they were saying that about sampras many years ago, and people figured out how to return those serves. i feel like when i started on tour i was relatively tall -- [laughter] when i left, i don't think i shrunk, but everyone else got bigger, and i was one of the short guys. we've a pretty legit seven-footer. guys are just bigger and

stronger now. i don't know if i belong on tour anymore. [laughter] >> as the book "ways of grace," tell me about this incredible way of grace you dealt with in such a hard challenge, diversity, from the age of 13 to 18 with severe skoal owe us. >> yeah. as i told you before, i was talking about this earlier, i felt like it was normal. i didn't realize it was different can. i think that happens to a lot of kids that go through something that they don't know any different, and i didn't know anything different besides wearing a back brace for 18 hours a day. that was normal to me. i knew no one else in high school was doing it, but i just thought, okay, this is what i have to do. this is why yoint fit in. -- i don't fit in. that was the reason i didn't, and it was just, it was just what i was going through. i brought my little bag for when i could take it off for gym class and, you know, put it back on. i don't know, it was something i didn't think about until much

later when i realized, okay, everyone else didn't have to the go through that. they didn't have to be so excited to get a brace off just to the play tennis for a few hours a day. it was something that i also from a young age i think gave me perspective, because to get the braces, i had to go to the shriner's hospital for crippled children. and i was one of the few kids that could walk in and out of there, one of the the few kids that thought playing a sport or doing anything active. so i pretty quickly appreciated the ability to do that. and so when i did take the brace off for the six hours a day, i really, really felt lucky to be doing that, to be able to play tennis, to be able to do anything i could. and i think a lot of kids take so much for granted. and at some point in their life they learn life lessons, they learn that they should appreciate what they have. i just got that lesson a little earlier. it definitely taught me a lot, and it taught me a lot about appreciating all the things i do have.

>> do you regret leaving harvard during your sophomore year to pursue tennis full time? >> no, not at all. i had a great experience at harvard. two years there was amazing. i learned probably more out of the classroom than i did in the classroom just i growing up. i just don't think i was ready for the tour at 17 when i went off to college physically or emotionally. i still need some growing up to do, and then, i mean, i put on probably ten pounds while i was there as well. i was still about 155 pounds when i went to school, so i definitely needed it. i wasn't going to survive a year on tour at that weight. so i was still growing, and i just, i learned a lot. it was a ton of fun. my freshman year going through the normal stuff, getting the guys the gate raids, carrying -- gatorades, sleeping on the floor when we had to have three guys in a room for the road trips and doing all the stuff that a freshman is supposed to do --

>> but you took a lot of risk at that time. this was no guarantee of success in tennis. >> yeah. >> it all comes up to the individual. there's thousands of people that are trying, there's hundreds of thousands, millions of people that are trying to be one of the 128 top tennis players in the world. .. not going to look back on maybe even go to summer school to make up the classes. i wasn't going three.

>> i was going two or four, and that year i had a lot of success and the decision was made on my christmas break, i went down to play the minor league level, future level event in orlando and won the event, these are guys trying to play for a living, guys that are really trying to page it, a lot of young guys and they've been on tour for years. my brother was in the event and he had turned pro, and win that event while is was on my christmas break tieding for final is thought i had a chance to do that. i thought i would take the next tempt it was a risk and at first by parents weren't thrilled with it. they stressed education and my dad was definitely unhappy at first until he realized this is something i definitely want to do and i'm 100% going to commit to doing this, then he dade complete 180, supported me 100%. didn't know because the rules you're not allowed to talk to an agent about any deal or an agent isn't allowed to do negotiations on your part so being completely

out of the tennis world, growing up, wasn't involved in the pro circuit in any way, and i didn't know if when i signed with an agent it would mean i would gate contract that said, you get free clothes, or if it would be here's a million dollars in cash go out and spend it and buy yourself stupid cars and jewelry and everything. had no idea so i was taking a big risk not knowing if i would have any sort of income at the beginning, and i was fortunate enough i did get more than free clothes. not quite a million dollars but enough to get me started and to get my travels going and to take that risk and a risk that paid off and luckily harvard also takes you back anytime. so i knew even if i didn't make it, i my goal was to at least make enough now to afford to go back, which the way the prices going for education i don't know if i can afford it now. don't know if could i go back with how much it costs.

that was my goal, even if i didn't macit i wanted to go back and finish my degree. >> walk the through two early james black matches, 2002 against andre agassi and 2005, the same match against nadal. nadal's forehands, his top spin, about 4,000rpms. more than anybody on the tour, is off the charts. how do you beat him? he's one of the best players, possibly the best player, him and roger did. >> number two in the world at the time. just won the french open and that was the year i waves the tour, so i didn't see his ascent from up close. was on the sidelines watching this new young stud come up and just racing through the game, weeing the french open the first time playing it. and i went out there to play him, and the first ball -- never hit we him so the first ball i it in warmup the rifled the

forerand down the middle. i thought, anytime for a long day. all i did was felt like i kind of had nothing to lose, attack can his backhand more and i still felt like he was for some reason playing a little tentative, maybe he felt like he hadn't seen me this whole time coming up. i was off the tour. he was kind of feeling me out and i did my best to take advantage of that and be as aggressive as i could, and i still remember for some reason i was much more calm during that match. i won the first set and then lost the second set and could have easily -- he always showed into much emotion, gets so excited, pumping his fists and getting excited. remember feeling very common, 1-all. nothing to get down about. i won the first set and can win the next set. won the third set and it seemed to me like he got a little deflated. like i was dictating and controlling play. then in the fourth set just kept

telling myself, one point at a time. get in front, get ahead this time. get ahead, and i still remember thinking this is going to be so tough. going to make this impossible. number two the world, just won the french open, brimming with confidence no way he'll get me get to the finish line without me doing something spectacular and i played one point at a time and i couldn't believe how quickly it happened, it went from third set to me actually winning the match because in my head i didn't think at all about the finish line. was thinking about this one point, this one point, and i was shocked when he missed the last ball and i was raising my arms and i had beaten him. >> andre agassi, 2002, known as one of the best returners, possibly him and djokovic, the best returners in the game. what happens during the major? he wins eight majors, playing you at this time and you shock everybody. >> yeah.

that was early on. my first title i ever won. played him in the semis and expected to lose. everyone probably would have assumed i wouldn't have much of a chance. another time where i was just absolutely going for broke, win the first set, playing great, and then the second set i'm like there's no way this is going continue. at some point your level will drop, he's going to raise his level, going to be able to get into the match. another time where it happened dish feel like it happened so fast, and maybe that's just when i'm playing well, things go quickly. we both played quickly in between points so a short match in terms of actual duration, but i was hitting winner after winner and i remember trying to serve out the match and thinking, there's no way he's going to let you serve out this match. one of greatest returners of all-time and i had to be aggressive. going for winners and everything was hitting was just out of his reach and just good enough, and i just remember being again shocked at the end of it and it

was actually the one tournament my coach wasn't at, attending his sister's wedding and told me at the beginning of the year, my sister getting married, i'm missing this and i just remember thinking how amazing it was that i was doing this without my coach and became a pretty much running joke, maybe i was bet are off without him. clearly, clearly not true. definitely just a joke, but he was so happy and so proud and i was dish couldn't believe i got a win over andre agassi, someone i looked up to when i was a kid and remember so many of his famous matches and i got to stand across the net from him and actually earn his respect because he -- then alert said that he didn't lose that match, went out and won it and i was proud that he didn't kind of make an excuse and say he was hurting. he just said, he beat me that day, and i give him a ton of credit for having the confidence to admit that. >> how many times a week too you play ten any now -- tennis now?

>> less than one. i'm doing the average, it's not often. >> who could you even play with and gate workout or exercise -- get a workout or exercise? is there any enjoyment in? >> the enjoyment i get is when dish deliver san diego now. taylor fritz used to live there and when he was just coming up, still a junior and kind of making the transition to pro tour hem lived 15-20 minutes from me so i went and hit with hem. that's where i get enjoyment. hitting with someone young i can help, talk to if day have a question about life on tour, what i went through, at their age, and anything like that to me that's fun and also i'm usually sitting in a corner running them so they're doing all the hard work and i get to just kind of relax a little bit. that is a lot of fun. going out and hitting, mark lived out there as well hit women if once in a while but generally he has a son, if hey two daughters, itch we have time

we'll say, shall we play golf? so easier on the body, play golf, and for him he wants to go surfing all the time. so we get away from at the tennis court. i still may probably seven, eight, nine exhibitions all year so i'll always hit a couple times before that so i don't enbarras myself, because-under i don't play for too long, month or something, people -- people still don't believe me but i'm just not very good at all. when i did retire, i actually took some real timeoff, probably took three months off, not even picking up a react. worked so hard for 30 years, and i wanted to take some -- take break and put the rackets in the closet, and the first time i came out and hit, the same coach, he said we have a junior player at the club, getting a caulky, can you come out and beat up on this did some for problem. that will be fun. dust off the reacts.

i barely, barely beat him and i apologized to my coach i'm like, i'm sorry, probably just made his attitude worse but i'm really trying. this is just how bad i am right now. 16-year-old, pretty good high school player and i was really having trouble beating him. so i practiced a little bit and said have him come over to my house and we'll play again and it came back to me. remembered how to play. i did my best to put him in his place. that was a lot of fun. i'm really not very good if i don't player for a long time. >> james, last question before we open it up to odd audience questions when you grew up in fairfield, good friend of yours took a very different path than you. he didn't pick up a tennis react. he picked up the microphone you have now. could you share his name with us and he attend your wedding and still very good friend. my question is, when is he going to do a song about you? >> well, i did go to -- funny

story and how i met and got to be pretty good friend with john mayer. he lived -- him and his family, younger brother is my age and my grade. older brother is my brother's age and he is right in the middle and they lived too close to the school to get bussed, and both hit parents were teachers and they went off to workerrer and they wanted their kids on the bus, to get them to school, so what they did was they dropped them off at -- because his older brother is friend with my brother, his younger brother is friends with me, and they said, can we just drop the kid off at your houseband hand so they can take the bus with your kids and then we'll pick them up after school after they take the bus home, so all through elementary school, then middle school and then when carl is his older brother went to high school, he was on his own and would walk and john through middle school and elementary schools him and his issuing brother, ben, rode the bus with me.

he was left out because he was the middle child and i was ailes playing with ben, my brother was hanging out with carl, and then he just -- i think around seventh or eighth grade, he picked up the guitar, and just started playing it, and it was -- he jokes that it was down in my basement where we would be there every single day after school, bring miss guitar and playing. i'd have a racket in my hand can just be kind of twirling it, we both were kind of a set, we had these obsessions, and a few years later, we obviously both made a career out of it. i've watched him perform at square -- madison square garment and he watched me at wimbledon and it's crazy, hanging out in my basement and doing what we love and then later getting paid for what we love. i still remember the moment -- we lost touch a little bit after i went off to college and he went and kind of was starting to make it in the music scene, and

we were playing davis cup, my first time playing davis cup, and it was dismiss andy roddick, todd martin and tim currier so arguments over what music to listen to in the locker room. there was a little more rap from andy and myself, little more older -- not so great music in my opinion, from todd and jim, and jim was still on the cutting edge of music, especially here in new york and was i got something we can all listen to and he put in a cd and i thought, this guess issue like it and said who is he? he said john mayer. said, that's weird. went to high school with a kid named john mayer who was a musician and really good. and i said ick see the cover? i was like, that's the john mayer i went to high school with. and so i called him pretty soon after that, after we finished the davis cup and i said couldn't believe it. just like a jaw-dropping moment to see how successful you have, how great you are, and he said i just did the same thing when i was just looking through "the

new york times" and i was on the cover with my master, late ton hewitt, in 2001, he said i'm just reading the paper and starting my day and i see a picture of you, and he's like this is amazing, now our paths will cross again and what we had been doing, now we're getting paid for it, and it's been pretty crazy and a fun ride, and he's been so nice to me, the first time i had my charity event in virginia, i asked him to perform, and before i even got the question out, he said, tell me where and when and i'll be there. he's always been a tremendous supporter of mine and my foundation. >> really wonderful. can we get -- start with questions. please. gentleman there. hold on. there's a microphone. >> i can hear you. [inaudible question] >> the -- just repeat the question. >> what affect did althea gibson

have on the sport of tennis. will, she was such a tremendous athlete and she was great at so many sport us but she obviously excelled the most at tennis, and for her to be the precursor even to arthur ashe, and arthur ashe gets tons of credit, deservedly sew, about althea gibson doesn't get as much creditor breaking the color barrier, especially at that time, the gender bias that was going on, she didn't -- i think it was billy jean said, women weren't allowed to have a credit card without being cosigned without their husband until the 1970s, so he was winning wimbledon before she was allowed to have a credit card. the things she faced, adversity she faced were absolutely tremendous and i don't know if she gets enough credit for how impressive it was to win wimbledon when no one wanted her there. i couldn't imagine facing those odds. it's one thing if a couple

people aren't your friend in the locker room and they're against you, but to have the whole locker room against you, couldn't imagine that feeling and then going out there and turning that rage into success and there's so few people that play well angry, and i don't know how she was able to do that, but for her to do that, opened doors for myself and for arthur ashe, and for mel washington, donald young, and the williams sisters, and it's -- i mean-not anchorage trying to say without her i don't know if the williams sisters would have been what we know today. >> canbe we get the microphone. yes. >> when i watched you play, i was fan of yours, not for tennis but i got a quality from you that was very different from most tennis players and i felt that on some level you were

evolved as a human being that picked up on. >> thank you. >> want to ask you a personal question. >> okay. >> regarding your evolvement. in a couple parts. one do you feel that tennis helped you evolve? do you feel if disdistracted you from really being who you wanted to be in do you feel like, for example, let's say when you lost and you got down and you really got down on yourself, did it affect your sense of who you were in relation to other men to the world? do you feel now that you're not playing tennis, are you comfortable with who you are now and with your accomplishments? or do you feel now you're looking for something else to make you feel that wonderful high that you got?

a lot of people use drugs to get and you got it in a real way. >> yeah. that's a detailed question. i'll do my best to answer with as much detail. first of all, thank you. appreciate in the compliment i was a little different and i may have felt defendant at times based on the path i chose, going college, and going to public schools growing up, and playing on the high school tennis team, battle different than a lot of married that were so focused on tennis their whole lives and not having as much outside of tennis. so, the losses did fake me, -- did affect me, especially early on. when i first got on tour i had a tough home. was losing way more than i did. in injuries won a lot. in college i won a lot. get to the pros you lose a lot. that does take a toll on you and that's a big jump for any player, and early on in my career, as i think a lot of young players do, they put part of or all of their self-worth in

the number next to their name. i'm ranked 32 this week, so i'm 32nd best player in the world and that's what my value is in this world. and when i was 19, 20, 21, i probably put too much stock in that. even though i had, as i said earlier i gained some privilege going into the shriner's hospital. i fell prey to that trap. and then as i got a little older i realized, one of the thing that was the absolute best thing that happened to me in 2004 when i was injured ill and hat home a lot was me taking the time to appreciate my friends and family, and for so long -- tennis tours almost never ending, traveling from january to november. a couple weeks off and then right back to training. so i had a lot of friends buts i still don't know what they're day-to-day life was. would check in with them when i was back home but when i was home and saw what they did every day at work, i knew that so and

so at work was bag jerk, -- beig a jerk and the copy machine was broken. whatever was going on in their police officer, the minutiae of their life i learn and it i was excited to see them every night and would hang out for din and go out for a beer or whatever. realized hey friend when i was down thy were cooking me dinner, being me to smile, taking me out for a beer. didn't matter if ever won a tennis match, that it would be me friends. indiana made a huge difference in my life, and when i would get down after a loss -- i'm still extremely competitive still want to win everything i do which bothers mist wife a little bit, but that's a whole other story. but i do really want to win but it would be much shorter lived, that down feeling, because is always had it in the back of my mind, have enough people that care about me that if i forget how to hit a forehand i still have a group i can be around and

be close with and i care about them and that meant a real lot to me. that's part of the reason why i think i may have seemed a little did. there's a lot of tennis players that don't have support at the same time have people they tennis with and people they know through tennis and that's april. maybe sponsors, maybe tournament directors and that's it. had friends i had known since i was nine, ten years old, that cared about me, that didn't know much about tennis. some of my friends joked they didn't know how to follow the tennis seasons and rank, that it would ask me the basic questions and didn't know what tournament i was at and i loved i had that feeling. so i stopped putting as much self-worth in any ranking and that sort of segways into when i retired and when i'm now dish don't have that high, don't have 20,000 people screaming my name at the u.s. open and i'm perfectly comfortable with it, and my transition was so much easier because when i retired i had one daughter and another was on the way, so my wife had been so good about when i was travel,

she did the lion's share of the work with our first daughter, and the day after i retired she said, here you go. so, i became much more of an involved parent the day after i retired, and ever since then. and that filled any void could i ever imagine and it makes me more tired at the end of the day than ever six hours on the tennis court could have been, and it fulfills me with so much more of a rewarding day than any tournament i won, any driver i ever won. so, it's been -- any trophy i ever won. so it's been as easy a transitions as i could imagine. the other stuff that fills my day, comment indicating, small business, coaching kid, doing everything i can to fill my days aside from the kid, it's been wonderful and great to have the time to figure out what i like and enjoy. but the kids are what make it so easy to have that transition and not miss tennis at all because i

am much happier watching them playing tennis, run around in the backyard so the transition has not been difficult, and i don't worry as much about it anymore. >> before we get to the next question, how many more majors do you think roger has in the tank and same thing for serena. >> roger -- >> if you had to take a guess. >> roger i would say the over-under at two, serena, -- >> before we get to serene newscast. why are you setting it at two? >> i think he is a favorite for wimbledon this year and can win that and i think he can find a way to win one more. whether it be the u.s. open this year, wimbledon again next year. >> why don't you think more than two? >> i mean, he has -- if anyone is going to beat it, roger will because he is that good but he is 35, about to be 36, and i just -- i just think even eventually there's going to be -- going to lose a half step, going to be a little slower, an

injury will take longer to come back from. so i just think it's just the numbers. >> and serena? >> serena? as many as she want, the number. i don't know. it's crazy to think of because i think a lot of people have counted her out at times. would say dish can't speak from experience what it's like to have a baby and then come back and be a successful athletically. know kim did it and won the u.s. open a little over a year after she gave birth. wouldn't put it past serena but similarry with her, father time. she is 35, i believe, as well, and to think she can still be playing when she is 38, 39, is -- i mean, she is the greatest or all-time but i think that's pushing its physically. >> ever hit with her. >> i have yeah. played hoffman cup with here and we had to hit a little bit and hit with her in l.a. when we hand to be there for the espies. i hit with her. >> hour does she play against

you? >> she is the most competitive person i've ever known, and that's including -- i've got ton know michael jordan and thess are true how competitive she is. she is exactly the same. doesn't want to lose no matter what. i was the middle of the summer in l.a. and it was hot and i was trying to work out for a three out of five at the u.s. open, and so, okay, we have been hitting and this is great, i'm going into some extra running drills. i'm going do it, too. serene knack you don't have to do it. nope, i'm doing it anything you do i'm going adult doesn't make sense for the way you play, i'm going to do everything you do and she did it. and she didn't complain about it. she wanted me-if i was doing anything where i was hitting my forehand hard go ahead, bring it on. she wanted to do every single thing i was doing and did not want to lose in anything, and i was so impressed with her that day. i'm impressed when i watch her play.

it's such an amazing accomplishment to be mentally in my opinion, stronger than so many of the other women in my opinion, the toughest mentally and the best physically, and that is the combination that is made her the greatest or all-time. >> next question. the lady here. can you pass the microphone to her. >> i can speak -- >> we need it for the could for c-span. >> absolutely. actually that's probably a little bit of a good segway to what you just said. i wanted wanted to ask you whatr opinion makes us perform at our best or what do you think helps us win? you spoke about how you were prepared to lose to agassi and nadal and do you feel there's something about when we have nothing to lose, that's when we actually win or perform our best? or what is your opinion from an athlete or personal perspective? >> well, just to clarify, didn't prepare to lose. >> okay.

>> i knew it was a possibility. >> -0 maybe when we accept we might or letting go. >> you have to accept that you may lose every time two people walk on the court every time, one is going home unhappy. that's how it is. you think about that every single try. 128 start, 64 are gone after the first day. something we have to realize and be realistic about. but the idea of having nothing lose is definitely a mental trick you can play on yourself, which i'm guessing, i haven't spoken to him specially but roger federer, rafa nadal. have something to lose, all dealing with at the pressure, found a way to trick themselves into being as hungry. i had to do even at number four in the world or top ten in the world for part of my career to a lot of the guy are pushing and want to be there. you have the pressure on stocker what i would say i'd hive to trick myself and say, want to show i can beat this guy, even

if they're ranked 50, i want to approve to myself i can do it and i prove to the world i belong where i am and maybe even higher wife. have to kind of force myself to have that attitude and it means a lot and i think it can help you bus when you're protecting, it's something athletes always talk about, playing not to lose, that is a curse. you're going to end up playing agent too tentative and for an athlete to be tentative, you're reacting in a half second, reacting to 1 ooh-miles-an-hour serve. can't play that tentatively. can't guess second guess yourself and not be sure and not be confident. have to good out there with a little confidence, and that is part of the ron i think other lot of athletes get the fair or unfair treatment of being called arrogant. you have to go out there and have to be confident. have to be like you are going to wig thin point and feel like you're going -- win this opinion and hit the game-winning shot and if you don't feel that you're going to get weed out quickly. if you keep playing not to lose, you're going to lose. >> can we do the question right

over there please to the lady. yes. the mic is passing back. martina naar navratilova. >> i played team anyone is in with her a long time ago. >> what was that like some somebody that won 58 majors, picked doubles and single something people call her the greatest next to serena. >> a very special person as well, and. >> what is she like to play? >> you see her now and she is playing -- i don't know how old she is. she is -- i don't want to get it wrong -- whatever age she is at, still plays and still plays with a passion. she just played in the senior champions or whatever they call it for the french open and was upset when she lost in the finals and she really takes it seriously and still is a bit of a perfectionist and out there to prove something, and you can see that. i was never around her when she

was at the height of her career, but you can see what was burning inside of her, and the passion she had for the game and still dog, and still loves it. as a commentator you can sense how much she really loves a match that keeps going long or some commentators might not want to be there for a long match. she enjoys this feeling, enjoys talking about tennis, enjoys the battle and seeing great tennis. >> yes. >> thank you. i had two questions. one i wanted to know what your plans were if you had a backup plan, and what you were studying at harvard, and also wanted to know if -- from your experience of being assaulted and wrongfully detained, if you have or are doing any future activism for students and schools and teaching people how to avoid being shot or further assaulted. >> james, as a lead-in, maybe you could talk about, that's basically how this book -- one of the ways this book came about.

>> yes. i'll answer the question ask then talk about the book mitchell backup plan at harvard was i was studying economics, and i actually don't know if i would have stuck with that. i was take can it because -- well, my brother was there he was taking economics, told me it was the best way he was way smarter than me and much easier for him. had to work hard at it. and did okay but i didn't really enjoy it a ton. don't know how many people enjoy economics, but i know there are some that do and they become extremely successful. they're the ones that wright write the checks that all the athletes are cashing. think i would have switched to sociology or african-american studies and if i do go back and finish, that is most likely what ill will be, that's what i'm much more interested in than economics. my backup plan would have been to possibly go to business school and possiblefully

advertising, marketing, something like that. i thought about being an agent about after seeing how hard my agent works and how much of a hoards time i gave him, -- hard time i gave him i think do that. i'm glad my forehand ken getting better. didn't have a set plan but planned on, if i could, still be involved in sports, maybe marketing. and then the other question about -- after my incident, i have -- we started a fellowship announces laweek, the fellowship with the new york city, civilian complaint review board, going to be a foal he for the next six years two years at a time. and it totally involved in the type of cases i had where there's minor injuries, not death, not severe injuries, but they over 50% last year were not seen to completion. people were just kind of -- seem like the city or police department was waiting them out and they just went away because of lack of interest or not

enough resources to pay for a lawyer to help them. so, now there will be a fellow on staff to handle those cases and that's thunder exclusive job. not trying to be beholden to the ccrb or trying climb the corporate ladder. they have a two, year fellowship and then join a big law firm. it helps with the police accountability, activism, i do want to speak out much more about accountability for police because i think it's something that will do a service to society and also to the police officers that do the job the right way. i always hated dish don't look like using the word hate because i teach my kids not do that -- i always disliked the people that would call me a hero, that would call other athletes heroes for just going out and doing something they love. do use that term to talk about firemen, policemen, military service, who do the job the

right way, and the ones that diet wrong way, using the badge and shield protecting them, allowing them to be bullies to act inappropriately, think that takes away from the ones doing it the right way, and it erodes the trust the community should have with them. so i do want to speak about them being held accountable and then really rising up the entire police force, rising up our trust as a community in in them and i want to speak out with them. i was meet -- i hope to meet with some other families of victims, of police brutality and my first goal is to ask what i can do. i know my reach is only so far but anything i can do, whether it's just be a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to about the experiences, that's all it will be, or if it's standing also a protest, trying to get laws enacted and changed, i'll do that. i know the transparency laws are ones that are a big fight, and

kind of a big issue with the city right now because i still don't know what punishment the officer that did that to me received because it's called 50a, and it's an amendment saying that they don't have to release disciplinary hearings or the discipline of police officers, even to the people involved. so, he could have gotten one vacation day taken off and i don't know. that's something that i think should be changed because i think as a society you deserve to know what the police officers have done in terms of that kind of discipline, if they've have a past history, if it's the pattern they're dealing with. so, i want to fight to help make things more transparent, more accountability, and that's what led me to the book, having that experience and me wanting to speak out more, and wanting to help, and then it made me realize to at of athletes use their voice to help the site for equality, civil justice, equal

rights, equal pay, and for lgbt issues, and i am just so proud of so many athletes that have done that. want to exemplify those and show there are positive stories in sports as oppose ted negative headlines too often head and sensationalized. those are the ones that sell papers i'd rather still a book talking about the positive ways athletes have made a difference in society and i really do feel like they have and they do have a special connection with their fans and have this ability to enact change in society. that started to talk about the book. >> are you going to be using a civil remedy? >> i dropped my civil case to -- enact the fellship. that was settlement, the agreement dish was amazed, inning new york now and when it happened, how many new yorkered say to me i hope you sue them, sue them. and all i can think of was, you're new yorker, that's coming

out of your tax money. so maybe just want to give me $10 we can say i did and it that's fine. i didn't ever want to do that. i have been extremely fortunate in my life, extremely lucky, got paid to do what i love, so i didn't want to take anything that i didn't feel like i deserved or earned, and i would rather use that to help others, so this is on the city's dime, this fellowship they're paying, it's i believe 65,000 or $70,000 a year salary for someone straight out off law school, all fun benefits so going to cost the city way over $600,000 for them to fund this fellowship, and i would much rather see that money go to someone working on the behalf of those that don't have the cinderellas i have, than it going for -- have the voice i have than going for know have an extra golf trip or something i don't need. >> i wasn't thinking of the civil remedy as rewarding you, more as punishing somebody who

did a civil wrong. >> unfortunately the city has paid out those kind of civil settlements and it doesn't translate to punishment for the officer. the officer in question that did that to me has had two settlements already paid out and still on the force and he received no actual discipline from the force for those. so, i didn't see it as a real punishment and i don't think -- by that pattern doesn't seem he learned his lesson. >> ladies and gentlemen, on that note, james has kindly agreed to sign everyone's books. believe it's extra books outside. it's a phenomenal book. if you want to purchase a family or friend, i urge you to. and please join me in thanking james for being so honest and brilliant. >> thank you. thank you. [applause]

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book tv visited capitol hill to ask members of congress what they're reading this summer. >> i intend to read different books. life reading history about presidents. the library of congress has a series where every so often they'll bring in the author of a book on one of the presidents. the last one we had, last week, just happened to be on andrew jackson. so they give you book so there's a book, signed by the author, and i love reading