James Blake defeats Bradley Klahn in the quarter-finals – Sacramento Challenger 2012 CH
Most eye-catching match of this week in the ATP World Tour Challenger Tournament was witnessed at the hard courts of California on Friday in the quarter-finals of the RelyAid Natomas Challenger 2012, United States. The American
veteran, James Blake, summed up his straight sets win against his compatriot, Bradley Klahn. The duo contested against one other for the first time and Blake summed up his 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win in approximately one hour and 30 minutes.
The second seeded, Klahn commenced a classic start in the opener and confidently drew the first blood right away. He took the lead by cashing his opponent serve in the fourth game and marked a 3-1 lead. The American senior, Blake
struggle hard and broke his challenger’s serve in the ninth game. After that point, the win oscillated between the two contenders. The score line levelled down twice until the end and the American senior concluded the initial set with a 7-6(5) score after
a fierce battle in the tiebreaker round.
Ranked 97th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Blake fired four aces onto his challenger and manifested 63 percent initial serve precision, pocketing away 20 of 24 first and nine of 14 second delivery
points. Luckily, he battled across to clinch just one of the three serve breaks presented to him and his opponent followed the similar pattern. Klahn attained 21 of 29 first but just nine of 16 second delivery points.
The 22-year-old, Klahn, started the second set with a strong resolve to upset his higher ranked compatriot. The score line equalized to 2-all in the fourth game and but he cashed his rival’s serve in the very next game. Klahn majorly
dominated throughout the set but Blake cashed his serve in the 10th game and brought the score line to 5-all. Similar to the previous set, the scores squared down after every alternate game. The American senior consolidated his 7-6(4) after a close
tiebreaker round.
For the semi-finals, Blake will contest against another fellow citizen, Bobby Reynolds. In the previous round he battled against the Luca Vanni and after a tough battle, he gave his rival a three-setter defeat 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
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