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Blake cruises into second round
20/02/2008 11:27 - (SA)
San Jose - Second seed James Blake waltzed into the second round of the San Jose Open with a 6-3 6-1 win over Sam Warburg on Tuesday.
Number seven Sam Querrey of the US had a rocky first round encounter and was dismissed 5-7 7-6 6-3 by German Denis Gremelmayr, two days after losing to Japanese teenager Kei
Nishikori in the final at Delray Beach.
Blake used an aggressive all-round attack to climb all over
Warburg, who struggled on his first serve in the second set.
Blake played a consistent, heady match, dominating the
court with his forehand and impressive returns.
"I feel like I'm playing aggressive and making guys beat me," Blake told reporters.
"I put pressure on him and he had to come up with bigger
shots and tried to change the pace more than he normally would
have. That was pretty effective."
'More opportunities'
Blake re-entered the top 10 last week with his final round
appearance at Delay Beach. Although yet to reach a major
semi-final, the 28-year-old is pleased with his progress during
the past six months.
"I'd like to think on building on something," Blake said. "I'm looking forward to having more opportunities."
In seven previous appearances in San Jose, the ninth-ranked
Blake has only passed the quarter-finals once, in 2003, when he
fell to Andre Agassi.
"I haven't had my best results here, but it's just one of those things," he said. "I lost some close matches to Agassi, Andy Roddick and Ivo Karlovic last year where I gave it away. Maybe things will turn my way this year."
Mardy Fish, a finalist in 2004, saw off qualifier and
compatriot Tim Smyczek 6-3 6-4 in his first round encounter.
"It's tough to play a friend and someone who is so quick but my goal was to serve an volley on almost every first serve and put a lot of pressure on him," Fish said.
"I stayed on top of him and tried to come in on his second serves."
American Robby Ginepri overcame compatriot Jesse Witten 6-2
5-7 6-4 and will face eighth seed Kristof Vliegen.
On Wednesday, top seed Andy Roddick will make his debut
against Australian Chris Guccione and Japanese man-of-the-moment Nishikori will take on Argentine Diego Hartfield.
- Reuters
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