MEMPHIS (February 22) - With DEUCE magazine making its debut in Memphis this week, the talk in the locker room is all about James Blake's modeling shoot. In a piece entitled "A Cut Above" Blake models clothes by many of the world's top fashion designers, and it hasn't gone unnoticed by his fellow professionals.

"The guys are already making comments on that," said Blake at the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis. "The jokes are out there, and they're already giving me nicknames. The Spanish players are calling me 'Modelito,' and some are calling me 'GQ Guy.'"

But for this rising young American star, it's all well-meaning banter and a side job as a model is something Blake would like to pursue. "The people who were doing the shoot down there in Tampa were all really nice," said Blake. "The clothes were really cool, although I wasn't too sure about the white leather jacket. But it's things like this that make tennis fun, and that's what I wanted it to be when I became a tennis player. So when opportunities like this arise, you're never going to turn it down."

Trouble

So did he get to keep any of the clothes? "I was trying," he said. "I really liked the DKNY suede jacket, and I was asking whether they would miss it if I took it. But it was only a test model and they needed it back, so I would have been in big trouble if it disappeared. I liked it a lot so I went out an bought one."

DEUCE, The Official Magazine of the ATP, hit the newsstands this week and is available for purchase online now at ATPtennis.com. It will be distributed at all North American ATP tournaments this season, starting with the Kroger St. Jude Tennis Championships currently going on in Memphis, and sold at selected tennis pro shops and retailers including Barnes & Noble, B. Dalton and Books-a-Million.