Melbourne  - James Blake quietly celebrated the inauguration of Barack Obama from the Australian Open, the American proud to have donated to the political cause.

"It's a very significant inauguration, a very significant presidency to have the first African American in power," said the former Harvard student known for his views outside of the court. "I really think there's no one better qualified for the job than Barack Obama right now."

But Blake kept his mind on the tennis job, preferring to get his sleep rather than rise at 3 am in Australia to watch the ceremony in Washington.

"It will be on Tivo for me when I get home. With this job, I need to be very singularly focused on the next round."

Blake added that he gave donations to the Obama campaign when he had the chance during the course of a campaign lasting for several years.

"I tried to make it to one of the events in (his base of) Tampa, but I was out of town and couldn't make it back. I helped out with a couple of fund raisers in New York, as well."(dpa)