Blake ousted by Sweeting
James Blake lost out to 119th seeded Ryan Sweeting at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic on Monday. Sweeting ousted Blake with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, thwarting his chances of cracking the ATP Tour Top 100 of the South African Airways ranking. The two Americans fought it out, with Sweeting taking home the match.
"I think it's my best win for sure," said Sweeting. "I just tried to keep the ball away from his forehand as much as possible. I tried to hit to his backhand and attack to his forehand so he couldn't use it as a weapon."
Sweeting is now on to round two action,.
Blake can’t break serve
Blake’s recent win in Los Angeles was his first match victory in the last few months. In L.A., the American succeeded in reaching fourth round play, before being disqualified in the quarter-finals. In the past, Blake has ascended the rankings to reach the world number four spot. In 2002, he claimed the ATP World Tour 500 title, defeating Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand in the final.
Blake was unable to break serve against Sweeting in the opening round match, despite facing three break opportunities. In the final set, Blake was provided with four chances to break Sheeting’s serve, yet failed to do so once again, giving away the lead to Sweeting, who then served for the match, claiming the first round victory.
Blake’s lacklustre performance may be attributed to his three-month on-court absence following a knee injury. "I haven't played a lot of matches this year and I would have loved to have played more matches this week," Blake commented. "I just wasn't doing the things I needed to do to win matches. I played tentative on the big points; I needed to step up to take control of the big points. Credit to Ryan for doing that."
Plagued by recurring injuries, Blake has been less than consistent throughout the last few years. After his early withdrawal at Wimbledon this July, the 30-year-old player has faced speculations of retirement. His disappointing straight set defeat to Robin Haze at the grass court Grand Slam led many to believe that Blake no longer has the athleticism required to make into the final tournament rounds.
Blake’s characteristic power and speed were not enough to race past Sweeting, who will now advance to the second round following one of the top performances of his career.
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