James Blake rallies past Lukas Lacko into the second round – US Open 2012
World number 114, James Blake of USA, reached the second round or better for the 11th time in his 12 appearances at the final Grand Slam of the season, as he downed Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko in four sets 7-5, 6-2, 3-6,
6-3 in his opening match at the US Open on Monday.
Blake and Lacko held their serves in the first four games to equalise the score at 2-2. The American contender broke Lacko in the fifth but failed to consolidate on it, evening out the proceedings at 3-3. The next four games went
with serves, taking the score to 5-5. Blake hit a blow to the Slovakian participant in the 11th and capitalised on it to win 7-5.
The former American number one clinched a breakthrough in the third game of the second set and won his subsequent serve to take a 3-1 advantage. Blake struck for the second time in the seventh and made the most of his double break,
capturing it 6-2.
In the third set, Blake and Lacko did not lose their serve in the opening five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the latter. The Slovakian contestant nailed a break in the sixth to move ahead 4-2 and sustained his lead
till the end to close it 6-3.
Carrying the winning momentum into the fourth set, Lacko hit a blow to his American opponent in the opening game and held his following serve to go up 2-0. However, Blake bounced back in style to claim five in a row after that,
breaking Lacko in the fourth and sixth to race to 5-2 lead. The Slovakian avoided a reverse French set by holding his serve in the eighth game and taking the score to 3-5. Blake did not let away his own chance and sealed it 6-3.
The veteran American banged in a total of 11 aces and committed four double faults in the match. The 32-year-old kept his first serve percentage at 58 and converted 51 of the 69 of them into points.
Blake shared, "I can't believe that it's been 12 years I have been playing here just about every year. It still doesn't feel normal. It's still an incredible feeling to be here and to be doing what I dreamed of as a kid."
The American contender is pitted against the 24th seed, Marcel Granollers of Spain, in the second round.
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