The Hindu : Sport : del Potro edges out Blake in a thriller

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del Potro edges out Blake in a thriller

TENNIS / Henin overcomes Dementieva; Clijsters has it easy, while Cilic prevails

— PHOTO: AP

Comeback queen: Justine Henin issued an ominous warning to her rivals at the Australian Open by knocking out Elena Dementieva in the second round on Wednesday.

MELBOURNE: U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro held off James Blake in a marathon five-setter on Wednesday, while Justine Henin advanced in her Grand Slam comeback with a 7-5, 7-6(6) win over fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva.

Fourth-seeded del Potro beat his 30-year-old American rival 6-4, 6-7(3), 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 in 4 hours, 17 minutes on Hisense Arena, the second showcourt at Melbourne Park.

Seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Henin, meanwhile, was producing the biggest win of her comeback from 20 months in retirement with a 7-5, 7-6(6) defeat of Dementieva in the night match on Rod Laver Arena.

The win for the unranked Henin was another step closer to a possible quarterfinal match with U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, who scored a 6-3, 6-3 win over Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.

“It was very emotional for me on the court at the end because there was so much intensity,” Henin said. “It’s magical to win this kind of match in this kind of atmosphere.”

It was Clijsters’ U.S. Open title only three tournaments back from two years in retirement that inspired Henin, her fellow Belgian, to return to the tour.

Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick had earlier continued their paths towards a possible semifinal matchup.

But the thread that ties Nadal and Roddick together from 2009 — Roger Federer, who beat Roddick in the semifinals last year before losing to Nadal in the final — will likely still have something to say about who the eventual champion is on January 31.

The top-seeeded Swiss star is on the other side of the draw and couldn’t meet either Nadal or Roddick until the final.

Nadal breezed to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 second-round win over Lukas Lacko of Slovakia while Roddick was equally untroubled by his opponent in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci.

Britain’s Andy Murray, who could meet Nadal in the quarterfinals, advanced to the third round after beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-3. Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who ended French veteran Fabrice Santoro’s 70th Grand Slam campaign in the first round, rallied to beat local hope Bernard Tomic in five sets in a centre court second-round match that finished after 2 a.m. Cilic won 6-7(6), 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

del Potro, who beat Federer in last year’s U.S. Open final, had a chance to serve for the match at 6-5 in the fifth after breaking Blake. However, Blake broke back immediately, helped by two errors from the 21-year-old Argentine.

del Potro again broke Blake for a 9-8 lead and another chance to serve it out. He closed with a big serve out to Blake’s backhand side on his first match point. Blake fell to 4-13 in five-set matches.

del Potro will now face German Florian Mayer in the next round and is projected to face American seventh seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals.

“I really showed the crowd, the people were so excited all the time. We played a very good match,” del Potro said.

After her match, Clijsters had a few words of warning for Henin after admitting that she doesn’t always play her matches “conveniently, but good enough.” — Agencies

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