James Blake hopes to make a comeback

James Blake lifted a trophy on Wimbledon Sunday this year, but he was thousands of miles from London.

The former No. 4 player in the world had inquired about a wild-card spot at a challenger event in Illinois as soon as Marcos Baghdatis knocked him out of the All England Club.

So less than a week after his first-round loss in London, Blake was sweeping through the Nielsen Championship on his way to 80 points, a $7,200 check and that trophy.

“I wanted to get that taste out of my mouth and get some wins and gain some confidence,” Blake said. “And I did that.”

Three weeks later Blake finds himself at UCLA for an ATP tournament far more competitive than any challenger, but still small by circuit standards. Blake and his partner Ryan Sweeting fell, 6-1, 6-4, to Michael Berrer and veteran Tommy Haas in a doubles match at the Farmers Classic just a day before Tuesday’s first-round singles match pits Blake and Berrer in a rematch.

Blake looked rusty at times on Monday, and doubles at the Classic is still a far cry from the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open — a place Blake’s been twice. But that’s exactly why he’s playing these matches. He wants to complete another comeback.

“I definitely like the way I’m hitting the ball,” Blake said. “I’m playing much better — back to the way I know I can play. … This is where I want to really kick-start my summer.”

Blake has already performed this comeback gig once. In 2004, the American hopeful broke his neck in a Masters practice when he crashed into a net post. Six weeks later his father died of stomach cancer, and Blake came down with a nasty case of shingles that left him partially paralyzed.

Then like now, he turned to the challenger circuit to rebuild his confidence, and by the time the U.S. Open arrived, he was back on the tour and playing some of the best tennis of his career.

But after two years in the top 20, Blake’s play began to unravel. In 2009, he was bounced in the first round of the French Open and Wimbledon, then split with his coach after a third-round loss at Flushing Meadows. He skipped the 2010 French Open with a knee injury and called his first-round loss at Wimbledon “embarrassing.”

It was at Farmers last year that Blake first appeared reenergized, advancing to the quarterfinals before dropping a three-setter to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.

“This [tournament] is what came in and really gave me the confidence,” said Blake, who was a runner-up in 2007. “I’ve got some good memories here.”

As it turns out, the 31-year-old Blake was the last guy accepted to the main draw this year.

Monday night Blake showed flashes of his old self with booming fall-away overheads, but he also showed signs of his age and his No. 90 ranking. He let out a scream when he netted a forehand returning a second serve early in the second set, and was broken at love to give the Germans the only break point they needed to seal the match.

“I didn’t expect to come in here and have any easy matches,” Blake said. “It’ll be a test for me to see where I’m really matching up with the top players in the world.”

matthew.stevens@latimes.com