The Pickleball Slam 2 is right around the corner and it will feature some of the best names in the game. One among them will be former tennis player James Blake. After having retired from the racket sport, the American star followed his pursuit of greatness in pickleball. While his life on the tennis court could look like a happy one, it wasn’t the same as a few years ago. Beyond the court, Blake’s life has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows.

Ahead of the upcoming sporting event’s anticipation, a darker chapter in Blake’s past resurfaces. An incident where he was arrested by the police force while not even being involved in anything.

The police once arrested James Blake as he went out to play at the US Open

Back in the day, James Blake dealt with the worst phase of his life. While on his way to the U.S. Open, he suffered one of the worst incidents of his life. Mistaken for someone else, Blake was handcuffed and slammed to the ground by five plainclothes police officers who thought he was involved in identity theft. Shockingly, they didn’t identify themselves or show badges. Blake also suffered minor injuries.

He even offered to show his U.S. Open pass but wasn’t given a chance.  However, it was only later that the police got to know about the reality and they had to eventually leave him.  “At no time did he let me know he was a police officer … didn’t have a badge.”

Blake then said that a cop, who did not have a badge, suddenly rushed at him as he stood outside his hotel and tackled him to the ground without saying why. Afterward, four more officers joined the first one. They claimed they got a tip from witnesses, thinking he was involved in the supposed scheme.

“You’d think they could say, ‘Hey, we want to talk to you. We are looking into something,'” Blake said. “I was just standing there. I wasn’t running. It’s not even close [to being OK]. It’s blatantly unnecessary. You would think at some point they would get the memo that this isn’t OK, but it seems that there’s no stopping it.”

Also read: ‘We Tried to Talk to the Government’ – Miami Open Director James Blake Expresses His Disappointment With Novak Djokovic’s Ban From the Tournament

However, soon after the incident, the USTA came ahead and showed their support to the US player. They said that they condemned the act and offered their support in whatever way they could.

USTA’s supportive message for Blake

Sharing their views on the whole incident, the USTA came ahead and offered their support to the young American while suggesting that they would help by any means that they could and would make sure that everything went smoothly.

“The USTA is deeply concerned about this troubling incident. James is the embodiment of a model citizen whose triumphs on and off the court continue to inspire tennis fans and non-fans alike. We will continue to offer our support to James in any way we can as this investigation unfolds.”

What do you think of the whole incident?

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