The Hindu : Sport : At last, Blake pulls through in the fifth

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At last, Blake pulls through in the fifth

Mahesh Bhupathi has it good on a day of mixed fortunes for Leander Paes

— PHOTO: AP

I DID IT: James Blake, who finally won a five-setter, gives vent to his feelings during the match against Fabrice Santoro.

NEW YORK: James Blake finally managed to win a fifth set.

The American sixth seed ended his 0-for-9 drought in matches that go the distance, outlasting Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the second round of the U.S. Open on Thursday to win a 3-hour, 25-minute struggle.

“There used to be a big monkey right there,” Blake said, pointing to his back, “and now it’s gone. I got the monkey off my back. I got a five-setter.”

Dominant

However, Maria Sharapova needed only 51 minutes to overwhelm Australian Casey Dellacqua serving notice that she is focused, in-form and determined to defend her title.

The second-seeded Russian blasted 30 winners while yielding only two to her opponent during a 6-1, 6-0 rout under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I’m just trying to play solid from the first point until the end,” said Sharapova, one of 10 Russian women in the third round. “I don’t want to give my opponents any chances. I just got to do my job and get off the court.”

Sharapova landed 78 per cent of her first serves and won 52 of the match’s 75 points.

“The night matches are always a little bit of a bigger motivation factor,” said Sharapova, who wore the same elegant red dress from her opening match on Tuesday. “You’re treated as entertainers and you go on court and you feel like you have to perform well.”

Favourites through

Most of the favourites breezed through on a sunny day and a cool evening. On the men’s side, fifth seed Andy Roddick celebrated his 25th birthday with a second-round victory over Argentine Jose Acasuso, who retired with a knee injury at the end of the third set.

Roddick, the 2003 champion, said he was just glad to advance.

“It’s not the way you want to get through but at the beginning of the day all you want to do is get through to the third round,” admitted the American, who was leading 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 when Acasuso left the court.

Other winners included fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, ninth seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Britan’s No. 19 Andy Murray.

Richard Gasquet was the first casualty of the day when the French 13th seed pulled out with a fever. The withdrawal handed American wildcard Donald Young a walkover into the third round.

On the women’s side, 16th seed Martina Hingis sliced, lobbed and chipped her way to a 6-2, 7-5 win over Pauline Parmentier of France while fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova employed power tennis in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 victory over Camille Pin.

Defending champs out

In doubles action, Sania and Bethanie Mattek defeated Severine Bremond and Jelena Jankovic to advance to the second round in the women’s section. The sixteenth seeds scored a convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory. In men’s doubles, defending champions Leander Paes and his Czech partner Martin Damm crashed out with a first round defeat even as Mahesh Bhupathi and his Serbian teammate Nenad Zimonjic advanced .

Fourth seeds Paes and Damm lost 7-6(1), 3-6, 4-6 to unseeded Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut, while Bhupathi and Zimonjic, seeded sixth, downed the Russian pair of Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 7-5.

Leander Paes and Meghann Shaughnessy of United States reached the second round of mixed doubles, beating Janette Husarova of Slovakia and Pavel Vizner of Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3. — Agencies

THE RESULTS

Prefix denotes seeding

Men’s singles: Second round: 6-James Blake (U.S.) bt Fabrice Santoro (Fra) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Stefan Koubek (Aut) bt Michael Llodra (Fra) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3; 10-Tommy Haas (Ger) bt Philipp Petzschner (Ger) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5; Th omas Johansson (Sw) bt Arnaud Clement (Fra) 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-7(9), 7-6(1); 4-Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) bt Nicolas Kiefer (Ger) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Sebastien Grosjean (Fra) bt Max Mirnyi (Blr) 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3; 5-Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Jose Acasuso (Arg) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 (Acasuso retd.); Lee Hyung-taik (Kor) bt 14-Guillermo Canas (Arg) 7-5, 7-5, 6-3; 19-Andy Murray (GBr) bt Jonas Bjorkman (Swe) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1; 9-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Simone Bolelli (Ita) 7-5, 6-3, 6-3; Donald Young (U.S.) w/o 13-Richard Gasquet (Fra).

Women’s singles: Second round: 2-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Casey Dell’Acqua (Aut) 6-1, 6-0; Agnes Szavay (Hun) bt 32-Michaella Krajicek (Ned) 7-6(4), 6-3; 13-Nicole Vaidisova (Cze) bt Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-2, 7-6(0); Mari a Kirilenko (Rus) bt 22-Katarina Srebotnik (Slo) 6-4, 6-3; 7-Nadia Petrova (Rus) bt Anastasia Rodionova (Rus) 7-5, 6-1; 16-Martina Hingis (Sui) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 6-2, 7-5; 11-Patty Schnyder (Sui) bt Severine Bremond (France) 6-3, 6-0; 4-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) bt Camille Pin (Fra) 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; 6-Anna Chakvetadze (Rus) bt Nicole Pratt (Aus) 6-3, 6-4; 18-Shahar Peer (Isr) bt Bethanie Mattek (U.S.) 6-2, 6-1.

Men’s doubles: First round: 6-Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) & Nenad Zimonjic (Srb) bt Igor Kunitsyn & Dmitry Tursunov (Rus) 6-3, 7-5; Julien Benneteau & Nicolas Mahut (Fra) bt 4-Martin Damm (Cze) & Leander Paes (Ind) 6-7( 1), 6-3, 6-4.

Women’s doubles: First round: 16-Bethanie Mattek (U.S.) & Sania Mirza (Ind) bt Severine Bremond (Fra) & Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 6-2, 6-1.

Mixed doubles: First round: Meghann Shaughnessy (U.S.) & Leander Paes (Ind) bt Janette Husarova (Svk) & Pavel Vizner (Cze) 7-5, 6-3.

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