Dinara Safina and James Blake granted wild cards for 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
Announced a few days backs, James Blake was given a wild card to participate in the 2011 Sony Ericson Open. Being played at the tennis center at Crandon Park, Miami, the tournament takes place from March 21 to April 3.
Tournament is the one of nine ATP Masters Series and includes both men and women main draw’s. Blake is going to introduce himself for the third time at the event, after his last performance in 2008 when he made it all the way to
the quarterfinals before losing to Spaniard Rafael Nadal in three straight sets 6-3, 3-6, and 1-6. Longing for a title this year, Blake is on his run to make his performance bettor.
Blake is one of the most interesting players to be on tour, as far as his ups and downs in the world ranking is concerned. In 2002, Blake turned out to be the fourth African American to have won ATP title in the Open Era. Continuing
his ascent, Blake made his next major stop at the 2005 U.S Open where he defeated world no 1 Rafael Nadal and Tommy Robredo reaching to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals he played an electrifying match against his idol, Andre Agassi in five exquisite
sets 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–3, 7–6 (6). Though he lost the match, his career flourished extraordinarily. In 2006 he reached his career-high ranking of world number 4 which made him the first African American to get a place in the top 10 since Arthur Ashe in 1969.
Also getting a wildcard entry into the main draw is Russian star, Dinara Safina. Ranked 91st in the world now, Safina made her last appearance at the event in 2009 when she advanced to the third round defeating Mathilde
Johansson of France but failed to carry her winning momentum to the fourth round losing to Samantha Stosur in two straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Desiring for a spot in the main draw, Safina is struggling hard to give her best this year.
Turning pro in 2009, Safina registered her career best finish in 2008 when she made it through to the quarterfinals defeating Lindsay Davenport of America in two straight sets though she failed to reach the semifinals surrendering
to Vera Zvonareva in two straight sets 7-5, 6-4. The Russian Star closed the year after entitling four career singles titles to her name. Moreover, she was accredited as the “Most Improved Player” to blow away three former world number ones including Justine
Henin, Maria Sharapova and Jelena Jankovic in the same season. In 2009, she reached her career high ranking of world number 1 due to her sheer class display of tennis and later joined her brother Marat Safin as the first brother-sister combo to accomplish
World No.1 ranking.
No doubt, these two players have been selected as wildcard entrants due to their prior performances but still they have to struggle a lot to meet their fan’s expectations.
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