Tennis star James Blake describes himself as "getting old" and being "a veteran on the tour," but as proven by his recent victory over Roger Federer in the Olympics, he's still got plenty of game left. So how does he feel about this year's U.S. Open? Who does he think is better, Federer or Nadal? And what are his thoughts on all the partying that went down in the Olympic Village? FanHouse talked to the native New Yorker about all this and more between matches at this year's Open. (For more from Blake, check out American Express' special Open coverage.)

Randy Kim: "So what are your expectations for this year's U.S. Open?"
James Blake: "Well, I just come in and try to prepare the best I can and be ready for anything, because I never try to set expectations in terms of getting to a certain round because I feel like sometimes that's out of my control. If a guy comes out and plays the best match of his life, you know, there's not much you can do. So I try to do my best and be ready for anything that comes my way."

Kim: "How are you feeling personally, though? Are you at the top of your game? Healthy, everything?"
Blake: "Yeah, I feel confident. I'm trying to take some positives out of the Olympics and the fact that I beat Roger Federer for the first time and won a few other pretty close matches, so I'm excited about that and I've definitely had some success this summer, so I'm definitely looking forward to this U.S. Open. Every time I get to the Open, it's a whole new shot of adrenaline for me, and the excitement of having my home fans here is just great."

Kim: "It's an obvious question, but being from New York, can you talk a little more about how special the U.S. Open is to you?"
Blake: "Yeah, for me, it's the one I circle on the calendar at the beginning of every year. It's the biggest event in tennis, in my mind, and I've been a fan of this tournament since I was a kid, so to come out here being a player, as well as a fan, is just incredible. It still gives me goose bumps walking out on to Arthur Ashe Stadium, and to get to play there and know that there's so many kids traveling down from Connecticut, up from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, just to see this event, and how many of them want to be pro tennis players, or want to be like their idols and I'm one of the people they're watching ... it's just thrilling to me."

Kim: "Did you attend the Open as a kid?"
Blake: "Always, yeah, every year I'd come down here. When I was young, I'd come with my parents, and as I got older some of my friends started getting their licenses, I'd come with them, and I would just come down here every year. Night matches, night sessions at the Open ... there's just really nothing else like it."

Kim: "And who did you root for back then?"
Blake: "I used to root for Stefan Edberg. I liked watching him, and I liked watching Jim Courier a lot as well. He had just that mentality of a worker. A guy that knew how hard he had worked, and knew he was going to out-work his opponent."

Kim: "You touched upon this, but how much of a highlight was beating Federer in the Olympics?"
Blake: "In my mind, there's a good chance he'll go down as the greatest player of all time. He'd beaten me eight times in a row, so to go out there and just keep persevering, and make sure every time you go in, you have the confidence that you can win that match even though he's beaten you so many times in a row ... he's obviously got tons of talent and ability and confidence, and to go out there and just play as well as I had to to win, and serve really well when I needed to at big times ... it was just something that boosts your confidence. Because I can go out and say as many times as I want to that I have confidence and feel like I can beat him, but until you go out there and do it, I don't think anyone really believes you."

Kim: "So it's a victory you'll carry with you for a long time?"
Blake: "Yeah, it's something I'll remember for a long time. Really, at the end of my career, I feel like that'll be one of the matches that to say that on an Olympic stage I beat possibly the greatest player of all time ... that's something that I'll be pretty proud of for a long time, I think."

Kim: "And where other pro athletes might be a little more indifferent, it was something that Federer wanted very badly; to win an Olympic gold medal."
Blake: "Yeah, I saw an interview with the IOC President Jacques Rogge, and he said that that'll be his enduring memory of this Olympics, to see Roger Federer crying on the Olympic medal stand. He's arguably one of the best known athletes internationally, and was one of the most accomplished athletes at the Olympics, and for him to win the doubles gold medal, which people might think is a consolation prize compared to the singles gold, but for him to win that and show the kind of emotion he did for his country and for his team ... it's something that's really special and it makes me know that he really did want to win badly in the quarterfinals of the Olympics singles tournament, and that he definitely gave it his all in terms of his competition with me."

Kim: "What do you think of the Federer vs. Rafael Nadal argument? Nadal's ranked No. 1, but is he truly the best?"
Blake: "Nadal's had a much better year this year than anyone else, so you've got to just tip your cap to him and say that he's improved and he's definitely shown incredible improvement from just a few years ago when I played him here at the Open. He's really improved his game on other surfaces besides clay, 'cause he's always had tons and tons of ability on clay, but he's really been able to adjust his game to the hard courts and to the grass courts."

Kim: "Does Nadal have the kind of talent to approach a Federer-type career?"
Blake: "It's possible. He's so young, and there's so many things that could happen. He could just continue to improve at the rate he's improving at, and then he could make this conversation about Roger kind of futile if he goes and surpasses it by a great margin, but he could also hit a plateau and not improve and have the rest of the tour catch up to him, so it's so hard to say when someone's that young. There's a million things that could happen. Injuries, just getting kind of bored with the situation, losing your confidence ... there's so many things that could happen negatively that if he keeps moving in a positive direction, then he could eclipse all of those records."

Kim: "So is it fair to say that focus might be more crucial in tennis than in other sports?"
Blake: "Yeah, definitely. We play 20-some-odd tournaments a year, and then you've got Davis Cup, the Olympics every four years, and there's just so many things that go into it. Your calendar is going from January to November, and if you lose focus for just a couple of months it can really affect you negatively, and there's really no time to rest and just kind of relax and get that focus back, so you've got to kind of do it on the run, and that's something that tennis players, if they're going to be successful, they've got to be pretty good at it. Obviously Rafael has done a great job so far, and Roger has done an unbelievable job being kind of the target for the last four years, so to deal with that is amazing."

Kim: "More about the Olympics ... I read on your blog that you were surprised at how much McDonald's all of the athletes ate. I was wondering if there was anything else about the Olympics Village that surprised you?"
Blake: "Well, that surprised me, because there's a huge dining hall, and there's a McDonald's right next to it, and I was surprised at how packed the McDonald's always was, and these athletes were always eating that. But overall it was awesome to see. Just to see how many people were just willing to sit down and chat with anyone on their team or on another team, and how different all these people could be. What different cultures they come from, and how they trained, how they got there, and all that kind of stuff was really a thrill for me to be a part of. And as a tennis player, we always seem to have next week. Any time you lose a match, you can always say, 'Well, I'll do better next week. I'll practice for next week,' but so many of these (Olympic) athletes don't have that. They say, 'We're going to practice for four years from now,' and that's a ton of pressure for them to deal with. I was proud to be a part of a U.S. team with so many athletes that competed at their highest levels and they really only get one shot at it, or two shots at it, in their career."

Kim: "I loved your line about how you would go to the D-Hall and see a gymnast next to a weightlifter and be blown away by it ..."
Blake: "(Laughs) Yeah, it was great people-watching, to see the different shapes and sizes of human beings."

Kim: "What about the reports of a party atmosphere at the Olympics Village? Did you see much as far as that goes?"
Blake: "Yeah, I think those people, like I said, they train so hard to get there for four years, that once they're done, they deserve to go out and enjoy themselves a little bit. Unfortunately, I didn't get to really partake in that because as soon as I was done I knew I had the U.S. Open to get ready for, so I got to hear about it, which was kind of par for the course. I'm used to (not partying as much) in terms of playing matches, especially late here in the U.S. Open and then other people tell me stories about how much fun New York City is at night here, and I don't get to be a part of it here or at the Olympics. I didn't get a real chance to, but I got enough partying out of my system when I was in college, so I'm getting old now. I'm a veteran on tour, so I don't need that as much anymore. But I heard about it in Beijing and I think they deserve that, and anyone who thinks differently, I think, is a little foolish, because I really believe they deserve everything they can and every bit of celebration. Even if they didn't get a medal, if they did their best there, then they deserve to go out and enjoy themselves."

Kim: "Yeah, either way it's four years in the making of either extreme disappointment or extreme elation."
Blake: "Exactly. So, either way, they've worked so hard, and to deal with that kind of pressure ... people in most situations, even in most pro sports, in most jobs, they don't deal with that kind of pressure. Your whole career coming down to 10 seconds on the track or 30 seconds in a swimming pool? Once you've set aside so much of your life to get ready for that, once it's all over you might want to enjoy yourself for a night or two."

Kim: "Or at least have a drink or two to take the edge off."
Blake: "Exactly."

(To find out more about special features at this year's U.S. Open, like handheld TVs that stream all of the action live to fans on the grounds at Flushing Meadows, check out American Express' special Open coverage.)