James Blake surprises Kevin Anderson in opening round – Western and Southern Open 2012
Local wild card entrant, James Blake, stunned the South African number one, Kevin Anderson, in straight sets at the Western and Southern Open on Sunday. He notched up a 7-5, 6-4 victory against the world number 34 to power into the second round at this ATP
(Association of Tennis Professionals) Masters 1000 event taking place in Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio.
Blake with the support from his home crowd outclassed the Johannesburg native in their first encounter at this outdoor hard court tournament. After stealing the show in one hour and 25 minutes, the American assertively progressed into the second round.
The former world number four, Blake re-ignited his spark at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. He made a sloppy start and suffered the first blow in the second game to fall at 0-2. However, the American recovered in the very next game and easily swiped his
entire serves. Blake got the breakthrough in the 11th game and ultimately pocketed the opener with a 7-5 success.
Currently ranked 106th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Blake carried his momentum in the following set. He got the critical break in the third game to go 2-1 up. Regardless of squandering his edge in the follow-up game, the
American broke his opponent’s serve once again in the fifth game. He swiped his remaining serves with brilliant defensive skills and eventually sealed the set by winning six games to four.
Summing up the veteran’s performance at this Emirates Airline US Open Series tournament, the American smashed eight aces to prevail. He manifested a slightly lower first serve share of 60 per cent as opposed to his rival’s 62 per cent but acceptably marked
29 out of 42 points on it.
Up next for Blake is the conqueror of the match between Spain’s Marcel Granollers and the 14th seed, Kei Nishikori.
In the only other first round match, Bernard Tomic from Australia triumphed over America’s Ryan Harrison in straight sets. The Aussie number one lost his serve once but capitalised on two out of seven break chances to formulate a 6-4, 7-6(5) score line against
the 20-year-old.
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