ON A ROLL: James Blake continued his dream run as he stunned Nikolay Davydenko on Wednesday. — PHOTO: AP

SHANGHAI: Surprise package James Blake recovered from a miserable start to beat Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 and move within sight of the Masters Cup semifinals here on Wednesday.

Blake, the bottom seed and last player to qualify, needed seven attempts to hold serve before he found his rhythm in the second set and broke late for the third.

It was Blake's second win over a high-ranking opponent here after he shocked World No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain in straight sets in his opening round-robin match.

Blake, who stretched his record against Davydenko to 5-0, will qualify for the last four if Nadal beats compatriot Tommy Robredo in another Gold Group round-robin tie.

Davydenko's admission

Davydenko said he was not prepared for the match after being down with a virus.

``I wasn't ready. My tennis is good but physically I wasn't ready,'' he said.

``It's not because I never beat Blake. I felt like I should have beaten him because I was playing well.

``I think if I played faster I would have had a good chance.''

Davydenko was the first to find form in an error-strewn opening set.

The Russian finally held for 4-2, whipping a forehand past Blake as he came to the net, and broke again before serving out.

Blake went down another break early in the second before eventually holding, sparking the revival as he broke for the first time for 4-4 and then again to tie the match at a set each.

The players exchanged breaks in the third set before the American converted his third match point, breaking for 7-5 as Davydenko misfired with a forehand.

Blake qualified for the tournament on the back of a breakthrough season in which he clinched five titles and entered the top 10 for the first time.

Davydenko is also at a career-high ranking after a globetrotting year in which he played 31 tournaments before the Masters Cup.

He rose to No. 3 after winning last week's Paris Masters and will face Nadal in his final group match.

Nalbandian's woes

On Tuesday, David Nalbandian, who beat Roger Federer in last year's final, was two points away from a win before the No. 4-ranked Ivan Ljubicic rallied for a 5-7, 7-6(7), 7-5 victory.

Nalbandian is now 0-2 — he lost to Federer on Sunday — and has to play Andy Roddick in his last round-robin match.

The results: Singles: Gold Group: James Blake bt Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-4, 7-5; Ivan Ljubicic bt David Nalbandian 5-7, 7-6 (7), 7-5.

Doubles: Gold Group: Fabrice Santoro/ Nenad Zimonjic bt Mariusz Fyrstenberg/ Marcin Matkowski 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3; Jonas Bjorkman/ Max Mirnyi bt Mark Knowles/ Daniel Nestor 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2).

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