Blake Upsets Defending Champion Nalbandian
U.S. veteran James Blake upset defending champion David Nalbandian 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday to reach the third round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic.
Once ranked as high as No. 4, Blake won the hard-court U.S. Open tuneup in 2002 and was the runner-up in 2005. But beset by a series of injuries, most recently a bad right knee, he dropped to 173rd in the rankings in March and began this week at 90th.
His victory over the eighth-seeded Nalbandian, who had a first-round bye, allowed Blake to get to the third round for only the second time in 10 tournaments this season.
"If I'm 170 in the world, I'm having fun. If I'm 4 in the world, I'm having fun. Even when I retire, I'll be having fun," the 31-year-old Blake said.
He next faces the winner of Tuesday's later match between No. 11-seeded John Isner of the United States and Tobias Kamke of Germany.
Blake dominated Nalbandian for most of their match, saving all three break points he faced and winning 31 of 39 points on his first serve against the Argentine player.
"This is the best I've served in two years, probably," Blake said.
Earlier Tuesday, a pair of young American Ryans — Ryan Harrison and Ryan Sweeting — won first-round matches, earning far tougher tasks in the second round.
The 19-year-old Harrison extended his strong showing on the U.S. summer hard-court circuit by overcoming 10 double-faults to beat Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-4, 1-6, 6-1. Sweeting, 24, defeated Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 6-4 in an all-American matchup.
Now Harrison will face No. 3-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, while Sweeting takes on top-seeded Gael Monfils of France.
In other matches Tuesday, Tommy Haas beat late fill-in Amer Delic 6-2, 6-3, Flavio Cipolla defeated Marsel Ilhan 7-5, 6-0, and Michael Berrer eliminated Paolo Lorenzi 7-5, 6-1.
Delic lost in qualifying but got a spot in the main draw when 2007 Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez withdrew from the tournament, citing a bad knee, a couple of hours before he was to play Haas.
"There was a little bit of an adjustment," said Haas, once ranked as high as No. 2 but now 576th as he works his way back from right hip surgery.
"I don't really know still exactly where I'm at with my game," said Haas, who spoke about trying to decide whether he wants to extend his career for another six months or two years.
No American man has won a major title since Andy Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open, a 31-tournament drought that's the country's longest.
But Harrison is supremely confident, on the court and off. When he was asked Tuesday where he envisions himself in two or three years, Harrison paused every so briefly before answering: "Grand Slam champion. Multiple Grand Slam champion."
"We hear what people say about Americans, and us being lazy," Harrison said, then added that the current crop of up-and-comers such as himself and Sweeting are "proving that's not true."
Against the 115th-ranked Zverev, Harrison closed the first set by breaking serve with a running forehand passing winner down the line. After hitting the shot, Harrison stumbled and fell to the court.
He slumped in the second set, getting broken in the opening game when he sailed a forehand long.
"It just got away from me really quickly," Harrison said, "and I started getting physically drained."
Quickly enough, though, he turned the momentum back his way in the third set, taking a 4-0 lead.
"I was really happy with the way my body responded in the third set," said Harrison, who travels with a personal trainer.
Source: Associated Press
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